The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 205 ‘Chupacabra’ Review

The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 205 Chupacabra ReviewThe Walking Dead seems to have hit a serious speed bump. Yes, we got to see a secret Hershel’s Farm has been keeping in the barn. Yes, we got the return of Merle, sort of. And yes, Andrea finally got to fire a gun at someone’s head.

With all of these events occurring, one would think ‘Chupacabra’ was an amazing and engrossing episode. Instead it was as boring as an afternoon conversation between two zombies.


Finally, Merle returns. Though it really wasn’t Merle, but might be the closest thing to Merle we get for at least a few more episodes.

Daryl, still on the hunt for Sophia and on a stolen horse, gets thrown from the horse and falls down a ravine, landing hard and becoming impaled by one of his arrows. He struggles to get back and climb up when, delirious with pain and adrenaline, Merle appears to him.

We know this is Merle not just because of the fact that we’re seeing Michael Rooker’s face, but also because we hear his colorful take on race, politics, and masculinity. However, this is only a vision of Merle and not the real deal. We also know that not just because Daryl flat out says it, but he’s got two hands. So what we see is Daryl utilizing Merle to express his concerns, frustrations, and insecurities about his current situation both in the ravine and amid the group of survivors.

The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 205 Chupacabra Review

Daryl comes out of his daze just in time to see a zombie nibbling on his shoe. The zombie almost immediately feels the brunt of a heavy tree limb until his head is caved in while another gets shot with the most hardcore arrow Daryl has ever shot, pulled right from his own stomach. Switching into Dolph Lundgren Universal Soldier mode, he then eats a raw squirrel and fashions a zombie-ear necklace.

When Daryl finally makes it back to Hershel’s Farm, Andrea is perched up high with a rifle and an awesome amount of glare. Daryl is trudging along, exhausted and mentally spent, and Andrea mistakes him for a Walker. She fires, and proves exactly why she shouldn’t be given a gun. Not only does she shoot Daryl, but she couldn’t even make it a clean shot, just a graze. Daryl comes to and presents his one piece of good news, Sophia’s doll, thus continuing the search that has been grinding The Walking Dead to a screeching halt.

During a dinner that Carol helps prepare as a show of goodwill to Hershel and his people, Glenn gets a note slipped to him from Maggie who has been playing hot and cold with him ever since their condom usage in last week’s episode. Glenn attributes this to the possibility that all of the women menstrual cycles are syncing up, something he shares with Dale in one of the best exchanges this season. Glenn’s writes a note back to Maggie asking her if she has ever done it in a hayloft. She doesn’t get to read it as daddy Hershel is sitting right there. She really should have at least given it a peek.

The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 205 Chupacabra Review

Off Glenn goes through the night, all giddy to use yet another condom. He climbs up into the hayloft of a barn and hears some odd noises. Flashing a light down to the floor of the barn he sees a gaggle of zombies, all clamoring for his attention, or his brains. Maggie enters behind and says “You weren’t supposed to see this.”

If you haven’t read the graphic novel, I won’t ruin the purpose behind the zombies in the barn. But if you recall the conversations between Rick and Hershel, you can probably figure out what’s going on.

These scenes by themselves would have made for a decent episode, but there’s a lot of filler in between. Even these scenes, aside from Daryl’s, all seemed rather flat rather than tension-filled like we’re used to.

The Walking Dead is really starting to lose some diehard fans and there is too much exposition needed with the characters to really grab brand new viewers mid-season. Something is going to have to get kicked up a few notches or the ratings are going to take a severe dip. I worry so much that The Walking Dead is going to go the way of Heroes, and nobody wants that.

– James Zappie

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