Trama

Dale fears the group is losing its humanity as Rick and the others vote to execute Randall.

Daryl interrogates Randall about his group and he learns that they are formed by thirty dangerous men capable to rape two teenage daughters in front of their father. Rick and Shane decide to kill Randall, who is considered a threat to the survivors, but Dale opposes to their decision and Rick summons the group that is supportive to the execution to vote. Dale tries to convince each survivor that they must not lose their humanity. Carl is affected by the situation and has strange actions: first he sneaks to talk to Randall; then he disrespects Carol with an offensive comment about her beliefs; then he teases a walker that is trapped in the swamp; then he decides to participate in the meeting that will judge of Randall; and finally when Rick is ready to shoot Randall in the head, Carl arrives in the barn affecting Rick. Meanwhile Dale wonders on the field and is surprised by the walker that Carl had made fun of.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

After Randall reveals that the group he was with is heavily armed and quite violent, Rick decides that they have little choice but to kill him. Dale disagrees feeling that this is a question about keeping their humanity and Rick gives him time to talk to the others about the situation. Dale doesn't have much luck convincing anyone to let the boy live. Shane is fed up with Rick and Herschel and is thinking of staging a takeover. Carl begins to rebel against his parents authority but there is a price to pay after he finds and taunts a walker in the swamp. Herschel has a man to man talk with Glen about his relationship with Maggie. One member of the group is killed.—garykmcd

Rick sides with Shane on an important decision, causing Dale to worry that the group is losing its humanity. Carl's actions have unintended consequences on the group.—AMC Publicity

Randall (Michael Zegen) sits inside the barn with his hands tied behind his back as Daryl interrogates" the young man by punching him repeatedly in the face. Daryl wants information on the men who Randall was running with. Crying and pleading, Randall says the men had "heavy stuff" in terms of ammo. They also had women and kids in their roving community. Randall then says that he isn't like the other men in the group, which had raped two young teenage girls. Horrified, Daryl kicks Randall in the face once more for good measure.

Later, Daryl returns to camp and shares news: 30 men with "heavy artillery" and no respect for women. "He's a threat," Rick says of Randall. "We have to eliminate the threat." Dale objects, telling Rick that he "can't just decide on your own to take a life... There's got to be a process!" Says Rick: "We reconvene at sunset and what happens, happens." Dale wants a civilized world. "The world we know is gone," he later tells Andrea. "But keeping our humanity? That's a choice." Andrea reluctantly agrees to guard Randall for Dale.

Shane then approaches Andrea. "You buy into Dale's side of the story?" Shane asks. "These guys aren't going to go through with this. They're going to pussy out and we're going to have a big problem on our hands." So what is Shane going to do? He not-so-subtley suggests mutiny against Rick and Hershel. "I want to know what it's like to sleep without keeping one eye open," Shane says. Randall, meanwhile, overhears everything. Randall then looks up and spots Carl in the rafters of the barn. "I don't know what people been saying about me, but I didn't do nothing," Randall says. "You help me, I'll take you and your folks back to my people!" Suddenly, the barn door is thrown open and Shane enters. He scolds Carl for getting so close to the prisoner.

Later, Lori approaches her husband about talking to Hershel about staying inside the house -- and then changes to the subject to Randall. Lori will support her husband's plan to kill the prisoner "if you think its best." Outside, Carol approaches Carl and tells him that they will see Sophia in heaven one day. Carl rebuffs his elder, telling the grieving mother that "heaven is just another lie and anyone who believes in it is an idiot." Carol goes directly to Rick and Lori, complaining to the latter that everyone "ignores me or treats me like I'm crazy." She storms away. Rick then confronts Carl. "You owe Carol an apology," the father says. "You made a mistake. Fix it." Carl then asks if that's why Rick is killing Randall -- to fix a mistake. "That's different," Rick insists.

Dale, in the meantime, tries to recruit Daryl and Hershel to his side of sparing Randall. Hershel, in particular, leaves the decision to Rick. The old man wants the intruder away from his daughters and doesn't care how it happens. Carl, meanwhile, wanders away from the camp and finds and a gun stowed away in a motorcycle saddlebag. Carl takes the gun and continues to wander, eventually coming upon a walker. Carl watches the walker, whose feet are stuck fast in he mud on the side of a stream. Carl torments the walker by throwing rocks at it.

Dale approaches Shane to try to "change your mind." Dale admits that the two don't see eye to eye, but that he wants to "talk like men." Shane says that if the group decides to keep Randall alive, he won't argue. But when Randall does hurt someone in the group -- and Shane is confident that he will -- then the blood will be on Dale's hands. Inside the house, Hershel comforts Beth, who is recovering from her recent suicide attempt. Glenn enters the room and soon finds himself in a conversation with Hershel. Hershel talks of his dead wife. "Maggie is a lot like her," Hershel says. "No man is good enough for your little girl... until one is." Hershel then hands Glenn a family heirloom pocket watch. The old man approves. Glenn is shocked. "Thanks," he manages to mutter.

Carl, meanwhile, has inched closer to the walker. The boy draws his gun and aims. Just then, the walker pries its leg loose from the mud and lunges at Carl who looses the gun in the process. The boy barely manages to escape and sprints away into the woods.

Back at the farm, it's sundown. Time to decide the fate of Randall. Everyone gets together in Hershel's living room, including Carl, who doesn't mention his encounter with the walker. Shane, of course, wants to execute Randall. So does everybody else -- even Glenn, much to Dale's chagrin. "This a young man's life!" Dale yells. "We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him?!" Dale claims they're no better than the men they're afraid of. He tells his fellow survivors that if they execute this young man, then civilization is truly dead. "Please, let's just do what's right!" Dale pleads.

At the last minute, Andrea sides with Dale. "We should try to find another way," she says. But no one else says anything. It seems Randall is a dead man. "This group is broken," Dale says to Daryl before exiting the house. Moments later, Rick, Daryl and Shane drag Randall into the barn. Shane blindfolds the boy, who begins to weep. "Do you have any final words?" Rick asks. Randall begs for his life. Just as Rick is about to fire, Carl enters the barn. "Do it, dad," Carl says. "Do it." At that, Rick lowers his gun. He won't do it.

Rick and Carl then head back to camp. "We're keeping him in custody for now," Rick tells the other survivors. Later, Rick tells Lori that Carl wanted to watch. "I couldn't," Rick says. Lori hugs her husband, telling him it's "okay." Dale, meanwhile, wanders out into Hershel's field and finds a dying cow lying on the ground. Just then, the walker that Carl had been taunting appears and falls on Dale. Dale screams and Rick and Daryl come running. Daryl knifes the walker in the head, but it's too late. Dale's stomach has been ripped open. Andrea weeps as Dale slowly expires. "Do something!" she yells. Hershel says there is nothing that can be done. Rick pulls his gun and is about to put Dale out of his misery when Daryl takes the weapon instead. "Sorry, brother," Daryl says before pulling the trigger. R.I.P. Dale.

Carl, meanwhile, looks at the dead walker and recognizes it as the one he taunted, but didn't kill. His face crumbles and he runs to his mother.