प्लॉट

In the aftermath of the barn incident; the group bury loved ones, Beth falls into shock, and Rick and Glenn head out to find Hershel when he disappears.

After the massacre of the walkers kept by Hershel in his barn, Rick's group decides to bury Sophia and Hershel's family members and burn the other corpses. Beth is in shock with the violence and Hershel vanishes. Rick and Glenn head to town to look for him in the bar. Dale discloses to Lori that he suspects that Shane sacrificed Otis to save his own life and that Shane would be capable of killing someone in the group. Lori decides to find Hershel and drives away in a car. While checking the map, Lori hits a walker and has a serious car accident. Meanwhile two suspicious strangers arrive in the bar and ask many questions about the location of the survivors and Rick feels that they are bringing trouble.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Everyone is on edge after the shooting of the walkers in the barn. Rick is questioning his leadership skills, Shane is violent, and Carol is grieving. Hershel realizes he made a mistake keeping them in the barn but now wants Rick and the others to leave the farm as soon as possible. Beth goes into shock, and when they survivors look for Hershel to help her, they can't find him. Maggie tells Rick he used to drink, but stopped when she was born; Rick figures he's probably gone into town to the local bar and taken up old habits. Glenn and Rick go to fetch him, but he wants to be left alone to get drunk. While trying to convince him to leave, two suspicious strangers enter the bar. Back at the farm, Dale tells Lori he is certain that Shane killed Otis to escape the walkers when he was caught out at the school. Driving into town to get them to come back, Lori has a serious accident.—garykmcd

Rick and the others try to restore order in the aftermath a terrible discovery. When Hershel takes up an old habit and disappears, Rick and Glenn must follow him into town.—AMC Publicity

Rick lowers his gun after shooting poor, undead Sophia. Carol weeps behind him. Hershel weeps. Dale is in shock staring at the mess of familiar walkers strewn across the ground. Basically, everybody is having a hard time. Suddenly Herschel's walker wife, Annette, awakens and attacks her own teenage daughter, Beth. Andrea grabs a nearby scythe and buries it in the zombie's brain. Just another day in post-apocalyptic paradise.

Shane, naturally, is furious. He blames Hershel for putting them all in danger by hiding Sophia in the barn while the rest of the group combed the woods for her. Hershel denies it, saying dearly departed Otis might've found Sophia first. Shane moves in as if to attack the old man and is promptly slapped in the face by Maggie. Momentarily taken aback, Shane then turns his ire on Rick, calling the sheriff as deluded and naive as Hershel for ever believing Sophia was alive.

Later, Glenn asks Maggie if she knew Sophia was in the barn. Maggie is insulted he even had to ask. Glenn wonders if his gang of survivors can ever move on. "We've lost others, but this is Sophia," Glen explains. "This one was different." Outside, Rick quietly explains to Lori that Hershel wants everybody off his land -- "or Shane at least." Rick, meanwhile, is beating himself up for "chasing a ghost in a forest." No matter how hard Rick tries, people still end up dead. Once again, he doubts his own leadership.

On the other side of the farmhouse, Shane spies Dale staring hard at him. Shane immediately becomes defensive and, at the same time, aggressive. Shane demands to know what Dale has done to defend the group. "Next time I need a radiator hose, I'll give you a call!" Shane screams. Dale remains silent. Later, Andrea and Daryl ask Carol if she wants to bury Sophia. Carol declines, explaining that the body by the barn is no longer her little girl. "Sophia died a long time ago," Carol whispers without making eye contact with the survivors.

Inside the farmhouse, Hershel goes into his bedroom and takes out a hidden flask. Old demons have apparently returned to join the new horrors. Downstairs, Beth collapses at the sink, apparently from shock. Maggie searches for Hershel but he is nowhere to be found. However, the group does find a flask. "He gave up drinking the day I was born," Maggie explains. Rick volunteers to head to the town bar to find the old man. "We need Hershel for the baby," Rick whispers to his angry wife. "I'm going after him."

Later, a stunned looking Carol wanders out of the woods. She has been off crying. Shane finds the grieving mother and leads her to a water pump. He gently washes Carol's hands and arms. "I had no idea she was in there," Shane says. Dale, meanwhile, warns Lori that Shane is dangerous. "I think he killed Otis," Dale says. "I believe that Shane sacrificed Otis." Says Lori: "Shane is a hothead, but he is not a murderer." Dale warns that Shane will kill again.

Rick and Glenn drive into town in search of Hershel. Glenn confides that Maggie has professed her love. Glenn doesn't dare believe it. "I've never had a woman say that to me before," he explains. "What does she really know about me?" In any event, Glenn didn't return the favor and feels regretful. Back at the farmhouse, Beth has gotten worse. Lori goes to Daryl, asking him to head into town and help Rick and Glenn. Daryl, however, refuses. After the Sophia debacle, he is done looking for people. He is done caring, apparently.

Rick and Glenn find Hershel alone inside the bar. The old man is holding a rather large drink. "Beth collapsed," Rick explains. "Beth needs you." Hershel says that Beth just needs to mourn her mother -- something she was denied when Hershel put his undead family members in the barn. He blames himself. Hershel then pours himself another stiff drink. He, too, has lost hope. Back at the farmhouse, Lori decides to take  matters into her own hands. She hops in the car and speeds into town. When she looks down to study a map, a walker wanders into the road. Lori screams and jerks the wheel. The car slams into the walker and then catapults into a ditch, landing upside down. Uh oh.

Back at the bar, Rick explains that he promised Maggie that he would bring Hershel home. "Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel snaps. Rick tries to keep his emotions in check. "There is no hope," Hershel says. "And you know it now. Like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us." Rick tells Hershel that the people back at the farmhouse need someone to follow even if Rick and Hershel no longer believe in themselves. Just then, the door to the bar flies open and two strangers appear. Living strangers. 

Dave and Tommy introduce themselves -- and everybody shares a drink except for Hershel. "I just quit," Hershel says. Dave toasts their respective dead loved ones and explains that he has come all the way from Philly. Rick explains that his group had decided to go to Fort Benning. Dave frowns, explaining that he and Tommy met a grunt from Fort Benning in their travels. "He said the place is overrun," Dave says. "There is no way out of this mess."

Dave then inquires where Rick and the gang are living. Rick suddenly becomes cagey. He says they're all part of a larger group that is out scouting. Clearly, Dave and Tommy are not being invited into the fold. "So what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something?" Dave asks. "You on a farm?" Dave then wonders why Rick and Hershel can't make room for a few more. Both Rick and Hershel apologize, but stand their ground. "We don't know anything about you," Rick says. Tommy becomes angry. "I'll shoot you three in the head and take your damn farm!" he yells. Rick puts his hand on his gun. The tension is palpable. Dave wonders what he and friend should do. "I hear Nebraska is nice," Rick says. Dave then reaches for his own gun -- and Rick opens fire.

He shoots Dave and Tommy. Both fall to the ground. Dead. Rick doesn't appear the least bit regretful.