Episode Five: The pre-credits scene of The Walking Dead’s season two’s fifth episode, “Chuapacabra”, opens with a flashback that takes place during the time when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) was in a coma and presumed dead. In a nighttime traffic jam, teeming with refugees, his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) waits with their son Carl (Chandler Riggs). Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) flips the radio dial, searching for news about the refugee center, but is frustrated by recorded messages and uselessly repeated emergency broadcasts. Suddenly an air convoy flies overhead, and as the stunned crowd watches, napalms nearby Atlanta. Lori breaks down into Shane’s arms…

Post-credits, we return to the present. Camped out on Hershel’s farm, the survivors have settled into a routine. While doing laundry, Carol (Melissa McBride) confesses to Lori that she needs to keep her mind off her still-missing daughter, Sophie (Madison Lintz), and suggest that they cook dinner for Hershel (Scott Wilson) and his family. Lori agrees.

An eager Glenn (Steven Yeun) confronts Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in continuing their tryst. Maggie spurns his offer, and mocks their lovemaking as a waste of time. Glenn is left hurt…

Rick maps out new ways to search for Sophie, and the search parties arm themselves and split up. While searching out in the woods, Rick and Shane share a little private time between old buddies. What starts out as good-natured “guy talk” of sexual prowess and high school conquests turns ugly. Shane, angered, feels that Sophie must be dead by now, and that the sane thing to do is to head for Fort Benning; Rick disagrees.

Daryl (Norman Reedus), on Hershel’s horse (taken without permission), heads out by himself. From a ledge, the experienced tracker scans a river below and notices a doll lying limply in the water. Wading in to retrieve it, and assuming Sofia must be nearby, he calls out for her. With no response, he heads back to the trail with the doll. A snake startles the jittery horse, who throws him. Daryl slips and rolls down the steep rocky hill, but not before one of his arrows pierces him in the side. Bleeding and in pain, he uses his torn shirt as a tourniquet and begins the herculean task of climbing back up the mountain, but he slips and falls back down. Laying in the river banks, a dazed Daryl hallucinates that his brother Merle (Michael Rooker) – not seen since the early episodes of The Walking Dead – approaches him and mercilessly taunts him into showing his resilience. Merle’s final words and vision fade out as a walker tries chewing on Daryl’s booted feet. Daryl snaps to consciousness and beats the walker to death, ripping out the arrow in his side just in time to use it to kill a second walker. Daryl sets out again, and after Merle’s vision re-appears, he scales the hill successfully. Later, as he approaches Hershel’s farm, a trigger-happy Andrea (Laurie Holden) mistakes a bloody Daryl for a walker and shoots him…

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Episode Six: The pre-credits scene of episode six of The Walking Dead’s second season, “Secrets”, shows Patricia (Jane McNeill) entering the farm’s henhouse. Grabbing a few chickens, she breaks their legs as they squawk in pain. Quietly entering the barn, she throws the helpless birds into the walkers’ pit. The snarling creatures scramble hungrily after their food…

Post-credits, Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) – the latter shot by Andrea (Laurie Holden) in the previous episode after being mistakenly for a walker – are recuperating. Glenn (Steven Yeun) – the only one in Rick’s group that is aware of the hidden and captive walkers – confronts Maggie (Lauren Cohan) about this gruesome development. Maggie reveals nothing but asks Glenn for secrecy. Later, Glenn confronts Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) about her pregnancy, offering to go on another run for vitamins and other needed pregnancy supplies. Lori – like Maggie – asks only for secrecy.

As Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Jimmy (James Allen McCune), and Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) pore over maps in their search for the missing Sophia (Madison Lintz), Patricia and Beth (Emily Kinney) request shooting lessons, explaining that they have Hershel’s consent. Carl, with his mother Lori’s grudging permission, joins. Shane and Rick take them and Andrea to a makeshift shooting range for instruction. Andrea turns out to be a natural shooter, hitting a stationary target with ease, but finds it difficult to hit moving targets. Shane presses her into bearing down harder, but angers her by mentioning her murdered sister, Amy. After calming down, the two go to look for missing Sophia in a nearby suburb. Paralyzed by the horrific sights – they find decaying and charred bodies scattered throughout the upscale homes – hordes of walkers appear in the streets, alerted to their presence…

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Episode Seven: The pre-credits scene of episode seven, “Pretty Much Dead Already” shows the survivors early in the morning, eating breakfast in their outside camp. The sky is overcast and the overall mood is glum, as the group silently munches on pancakes prepared on the makeshift stove. Glenn (Steven Yeun) suddenly stammers the truth about the walker-filled barn as the survivors stare at him, shocked. Approaching the barn warily, they stay at a safe distance as Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) peeks in through the cracks and sees the creatures shuffle aimlessly in the dark. Shane gets ticked off, demanding that the survivors clear out the barn or leave Hershel’s farm; Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) objects, reminding him that they are Hershel’s (Scott Wilson) guests and need to stay and find Sophia (Madison Lintz). In the ensuing argument, Shane and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) almost come to blows until Rick steps in. The noise alerts their presence to the walkers, who suddenly strain against the barn door from the inside. The survivors reel back in shock…

Post-credits, Shane later returns, fixated on the barn. After gingerly testing the lock and chains, the aroused walkers push suddenly against at the barn door. An ominous glimpse inside the barn shows the hungry creatures watching Shane, waiting…

Hershel’s daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is upset with Glenn’s open revelation of the trusted secret and expresses her displeasure by smashing a raw egg on his head. Meanwhile, Carol (Melissa McBride) confronts a recovering Daryl as he saddles up to search for Sophia. Warning him that he can worsen his injuries, even she begins to openly express doubts about the search. Daryl, angry, curses Carol and storms off. After calming down somewhat, he takes her to a pond, showing her another Cherokee rose, a symbol of Sophia’s imminent safe return. Her spirits are lifted somewhat.

As Hershel is eating a quiet lunch alone, Rick comes by and reveals that they discovered the barn and captive walkers, raising Hershel’s ire. In a curt, assertive tone, the country vet demands that the survivors leave at the end of the week. Rick argues that the world is different now and begs Hershel not to send them out there again, arguing that his wife is pregnant and they need the safe refuge that Hershel can provide. Rick storms out and finds Shane, still watching the barn and brooding about clearing it out. They argue and as Rick walks away, he tells Shane all about Lori’s pregnancy…

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Evan Rothfeld