Beside the Dying Fire 

As the farm is overrun by walkers, the group fights to escape.

Director:

Ernest R. Dickerson (as Ernest Dickerson)

Writers:

Frank Darabont (developed by), Robert Kirkman (series of graphic novels)

Stars:

Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Andrew Lincoln	...	Rick Grimes
Jon Bernthal	...	Shane Walsh (credit only)
Sarah Wayne Callies	...	Lori Grimes
Laurie Holden	...	Andrea Harrison
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Dale Horvath (credit only)
Steven Yeun	...	Glenn Rhee
Chandler Riggs	...	Carl Grimes
Norman Reedus	...	Daryl Dixon
Melissa McBride	...	Carol Peletier
Irone Singleton	...	Theodore 'T-Dog' Douglas
Lauren Cohan	...	Maggie Greene
Emily Kinney	...	Beth Greene
Scott Wilson	...	Hershel Greene
Jane McNeill	...	Patricia
James Allen McCune	...	Jimmy

Storyline

Rick and Carl return to the farm but quickly realize that that they are being followed by by a large group of walkers. Mayhem ensues as the humans try to save the farm but they are eventually forced to flee realizing that the it is lost. Several of them do not survive the onslaught and others are separated into small groups. Some are reunited but fed up with the constant bickering and complaints about his leadership, Rick lets it be known that people will now do as they are told. Andrea meanwhile, on her own and separated from the others, is rescued by a hooded stranger.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | confession | reunited family | retreating | pump action shotgun | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official iTunes Season 2

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Highway 20, Hampton, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Circle of Confusion,Valhalla Motion Pictures,Darkwoods Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though this episode marks the first appearance of Michonne, actress Danai Gurira does not portray her in this episode. Michonne had not been cast yet which is why we never see her face. Her face is covered by a shadow from her hoodie. Her casting was announced on Talking Dead (2011) which aired right after the season 2 finale.

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Goofs

When firing on the walkers outside of his home, Hershel fires a shotgun over a dozen times without having to stop and reload. Shotguns generally only hold between seven and nine shells fully loaded.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Andrea: [Andrea and the group wait at the farm house for Rick] I'm going after them.
Lori Grimes: Don't, they could be anywhere. And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here.

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Connections

Featured in The Walking Dead: The Journey So Far (2016)

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Soundtracks

The Walking Dead Main Title
Written by Bear McCreary

User Reviews

The Walking Dead Collides With The Young And The Restless

The post-apocalypse genre is an interesting one to write about. It's different from every other genre in that society has collapsed and the world reverts to a prehistoric state (by 'prehistoric' I'm referring to roaming bands without permanent settlements and the lack of organized government). This limits what you can write about, but it also opens some doors. You lose the ability to write about conventional political intrigue, for example, or of contemporary every day life, or of society or culture because all of that is gone.

With The Walking Dead, it should be a visceral show about survival, and how out of their element these characters are, and of how their relationships develop and struggle. Instead, we have a soap opera on a farm with the occasional reference to a zombie.

I'm fine with a lack of zombies. In fact, I'd prefer if there were less zombies and more human conflict (because the way some of these characters slice through a zombie skull like it's butter doesn't depict them as much of a threat). And we did get that. Sort of. There really weren't many zombies, and there was human conflict. If by human conflict you mean atrociously written soapy drama about problems that shouldn't matter as much as they do, thereby completely ignoring the survival aspect of the show.

Episodes seemed to drag on and on with subplots that last half a dozen episodes longer than they should have. A skilled writer would have taken this season and condensed it into two or three episodes, trimming all the laughable drama and terrible dialogue along the way.