Review: The Walking Dead: “Triggerfinger” Season 2, Episode 9

Suspense, gore, characters’ on the brink of death: one would think these would be common elements in a television show set in the zombie apocalypse but for much of Season 2, The Walking Dead has focused on character development and drama with varying degrees of success. In “Triggerfinger”, the show returned to emphasizing the inherent dangers of living in a world infested with flesh eating corpses and characters defining their own moral code when they are no longer bound by law or social norms. After Rick shoots two strangers, named Dave and Tony, the sound of the gunshots draw the attention of the strangers’ companions to the bar. From the outside of the bar, the companions question Rick, Glenn and Hershel if they know the whereabouts of their friends. Rather than telling a lie that might have prevented further violence, Rick confesses Dave and Tony are dead which results in the strangers firing at them. The expression on Hershel’s face is priceless as he reacts to Rick telling the truth to the strangers. When Glenn exits from the back of the bar a bullet nearly kills him and without hesitation Hershel shoots the gunman in the chest. Walkers descend upon the downed gunman who is still alive, gruesomely bitting of his nose and devouring his flesh. The gunman yells out while Hershel looks on with gun in hand, unable to end the life and suffering of the man he just shot.