He really does. Actually I think he is written quite well.

I think tonight's episode was quite good. It's laying the groundwork for a lot of what's to come and the mysterious death of the nerdy buy at the end doesn't bode well for the other folks in the prison. Since he wasn't bitten or killed, there is apparently another way that the "zombie disease" is spreading.

*Spoilers*

I thought last night's episode was good, it was just totally different than everything prior. It had a different vibe to it, although that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I love how they introduced Patrick (the nerdy, Harry-Potter look alike). How he was treating Daryl like a celebrity and asked to shake his hand, then Daryl looked at him like "WTF" and licked his fingers before shaking. I started laughing so hard.

The "walker storm" in the store was f****** awesome. Props to the writers, director, etc for doing that scene. It was especially cool when that one dude (the alcoholic) was trapped under the shelf when a walker started crawling up to him. He put his hand out, grabbed the walker's head and pulled apart the skull. Daryl then came over and stomped the walkers face into the ground.

Did anybody notice how Herschel had a fake leg? I think they should've made a bigger effort to mention that in the show. About halfway through, I was like, "Wait, is he actually walking?"

The bits with Rick and Clara (crazy lady) were intense. The two characters were like mirror images of each other: Rick had redeemed himself from becoming psychotic, but Clara killed herself. That scene really exemplified Rick's character and how far he's come throughout the series. And the coolest part was that he mentioned that to Hershel later on in the episode.

That brings up the theme of redemption. Is it worth living through a catastrophe and trying to make the world better again? Is there hope beyond this world?

Patrick's death and the pig's death are obviously related somehow. But I don't think it's something as simple as "the virus has gone airborne." That would be TOO obvious, and the writers are much more clever than that. Plus, if everybody has a chance of catching the virus, then they would all die and the series would end right there. So, airborne disease is not the answer. It must be something that only a limited amount of people/animals have come in contact with. Which leads to the next question: can animals become walkers, too?

And what the heck happened to the Governor? He and his little group are going to come back eventually.

Death predictions:
I'm pretty sure Tyreese's wife dies at some point, and that might cause his character to change.
Carol has to go. She's absolutely pointless IMO.
Hershel, maybe. He's the moral leader of the group, so killing him off would be interesting, especially looking at Rick.
Or maybe on of Hershel's daughters will die.
Glen, maybe.

NOTE: How many of you watch Talking Dead afterward? You can find out a lot of insider information by watching that show. For instance, it's been seven months from the end of season 3 to now.

They're all already infected. How they catch it is moot because they already have. That's been mentioned several times in the series. No matter how you die you turn when you go. So I think Potter died of some other disease and then the natural series of events unfolded. So I'm guessing that they've probably got some other non-zombie "plague" going on. We'll see how the laundry unfolds.

I think you're right, critter.

"I'm pretty sure Tyreese's wife dies at some point, and that might cause his character to change."
Sasha is Tyreese's sister. That's why he's hitting on the other gal.

I watch Talking Dead also. Sounds like it's going to get intense very quickly. I think you're right that Sasha may die because I think something is going to change Tyrese from the teddy bear to a more angry person.

If what killed the kid is some type of virus, it was pretty fast acting which will be very scary for everyone. If anyone can die and then turn that quickly, everyone better sleep with their doors locked, and lock up anyone who seems a bit sick.

@rockwall: Yeah, I knew Sasha was his sister. I meant the other girl, though. Not sure why I called her his wife. I guess either her or Sasha will die.

And yes, I realize that everybody is already infected. But the walker bite causes intense fevers, which kills them (mentioned in the very first episode). And plus, if you're getting eaten by a walker, you might as well be dead anyways because those things are gonna keep biting you until you die.

Check out this info from the Walking Dead Wiki page:
Episode 4-2 Infected: "The group faces a new enemy; Rick Grimes and the others fight to protect their hard-won livelihood."

Ep 4-3 Isolation: "A group leaves the prison to search for supplies; the remaining members of the group deal with recent losses."

Ep 4-4 Indifference: "The supply mission faces hurdles; the situation at the prison worsens."

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Season_4

And also, I heard that the Governor's actor is still listed as a season 4 regular, so I'm assumning we will be seeing more of Ol' One-Eye.

Well, Michonne is out looking for him so I expect she'll flush him out one way or another.

I've been reading the Walking Dead Compendium. It's really interesting to see the differences in the original comics and in the show. For instance, Dale and Andrea are an item in the comic and so is Tyreese and a younger Carol until Michone breaks them up. I'm about half way through but haven't met the Governor yet in the compendium.

My first notion was that Darryl's spit on his hand might do the same thing a zombie bite does to accelerate the process but once I reasoned it out I decided that's probably a major stretch. Curious to see what they'll do with it anyway.

You know what? Perhaps Daryl in fact DOES have something to do with it. Because isn't he the one that caught the swine, as well? Very good, interesting point Critter.

If that's the case, Beth may catch it too because she hugged Daryl for such a long time in that scene toward the end.

How long do these stage two infected people run around after "died"?

"Walking Dead” returned Sunday with a monster average audience of 16.1 million viewers — more than 5 million viewers better than last year’s 10.87 million and more than double where it kicked off its second season in October 2011 (7.26 million)."

The idea that Daryl might be some type of 'carrier' of a virus is something I hadn't thought of and pretty scary. It makes sense given how they made a big deal out of him licking his fingers before shaking the kids hands who later died. Not sure what the ramifications will be if that's the case.

Jonathan, I'm not sure I really understood your question.

I hope they don't have to kill or exile Daryl. He and Michonne are the only ones who don't annoy me.

Saw this article on the BBC today: (Looks like they're planning a spin-off)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24532272

I always forget the actor playing Rick isn't actually American until I hear his normal voice in an interview.

Here's an interesting theory I heard today:

In Sunday's episode, there is a scene where Hershel gives Rick some farming tips. He mentions something about how the leaves can be broken off and replanted to make a new plant.

In essence, this represents that the offspring of the survivors could be inherently virus-free. Notice how the mother pig's little piglets weren't sick at all?

If this is true, then Judith is naturally clean of the walker virus.

That would be very cool although I don't know how they would ever figure it out unless someone born after the initial infection died of natural causes and then didn't come back to life as a zombie. Since they generally shoot loved ones in the head after they die BEFORE they can re-animate, they might still never find out!

I would bet money that it will be a long time, if ever, before they kill Daryl. He is WAY to well liked. I don't think they would be that daring.

I haven't trusted writers since Joss Whedon's thirteenth or fourteenth killing spree. And then there's Moffat... MOFFAT!!!

While I do agree with you on how much Daryl is liked...
do not be surprised as Robert Kirkman has a tendency, in the comic book series, to KILL OFF characters that you would never expect.
But...this IS Hollywood and they do not like to kill off PROFITS

The Walking Dead makes World War Z look like a Saturday morning cartoon!

Is Daryl even in the comic book? I thought that I had heard that he was in it but got killed of fairly early but I'm halfway through Compendium 1 and I don't think he's ever been introduced. Unless I just missed it.