Sick



"Sick" is the second episode of Season 3 of The Walking Dead. It premiered on October 21, 2012 at 9/8c on AMC.

Synopsis
After the traumatic event of Hershel losing his leg after he was bitten, the prisoners that have been hiding out in the broom closet of the cafeteria come out, noticeably uneducated about the apocalypse. They mention that they had been locked in the broom closet when 'riots' broke out by one of the guards, Tomas being given a pistol to protect the five. Rick and company initially leave the prisoners be, taking Hershel back to Cell Block C. Upon leaving Hershel to Glenn and the rest, Daryl points his crossbow at the corridor as he sees the prisoners following them. A standoff occurs, and soon Rick intervenes. The eight of them go outside, the prisoners in disbelief over Rick's group being able to kill "at least 50 bodies." They also show they'd never known that only the damage and/or destruction to the brain will kill a walker, as well as the fact that a bite is not needed to turn.

Soon, Tomas begins demanding that the prisoners be let back into cell block C, due to their having been in the prison longer. Rick instead demands that Tomas' group abstain. Soon, Axel begins to propose a compromise of moving into a different cell block. Rick and Tomas eventually make a deal: In exchange for half of the prisoners' food supplies, Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl shall help clear out a different Cell Block. First, Rick and company take half of the supplies back to Cell Block C. The group of 8 then begins to go over what they have to fight with. In the beginning of the clearing, the prisoners have poor fighting technique against the walkers, focusing more on the stomach than on the head. However, they eventually get in the habit of striking the brains. In the middle of fighting, however, Big Tiny ends up being scratched in the back of his shoulder, a part that couldn't be amputated. A short argument ensues over what to do with him, only to be interrupted abruptly when Tomas savagely kills Big Tiny.

Meanwhile, Maggie, Beth, and Glenn are busy trying to assist Hershel. Glenn had been put to the task of making sure Hershel doesn't come back if he doesn't make it. Glenn frequently tries to convince Maggie to be prepared, and subsequently Maggie tries to convince Beth to not get her hopes up. Carl, having been assigned to organizing the food, instead returns with a small amount of medical supplies that he obtained from the infirmary, albeit a risky move to go on his own. He claims that he killed two walkers, which only worries Lori. Soon, the argument leads to Carl bluntly telling his mother to "get off his back." The women notice this, looking at Carl. Before he leaves, Lori gives one last comment of praise for finding the desperately needed supplies.

Rick and Daryl have agreed to kill Tomas given the first wrong move. Arriving near the destination Cell Block, Rick tells Tomas to open only one of the double doors. However, Tomas doesn't listen, instead opening both doors at once, resulting with the walkers pouring into the room. During the fighting, Tomas makes a swing at a walker, killing it but in the process takes a swing at Rick. Tomas then pushes a walker into Rick, attempting to get him killed. Daryl, fortunately, steps in and kills it. Within moments, the walkers are all killed, and a short discussion leads to Rick slicing Tomas' head in two with his machete. Andrew retaliates by attacking with his baseball bat, only to be knocked down easily. He then runs into the corridor, which has now been cleared, leading to Rick pursuing, leaving Daryl and T-Dog to watch Oscar and Axel.

Carol requests that Glenn come with her outside. She reveals that she wishes to select a female walker to practice a C-Section on, knowing that if Hershel even survives, he won't be able to help Lori deliver the baby, and that she'll probably have to perform a C-Section on Lori due to Carl having been born that way. Glenn distracts the rest of the walkers, giving Carol time to drag the female walker in.

After Rick ends up chasing Andrew into an enclosed yard of walkers, he shuts and locks the bar door behind Andrew, leaving him inside of the space. Andrew pleads with Rick to let him in, but Rick coldly refuses. He closes the inside door behind him, and all that is heard from Andrew is screams of terror, his fate, although unknown, he is presumably killed by the walkers.

Beth comes into Hershel's cell to check in on him, to find he's stopped breathing. Lori then performs a successful CPR on him.

Rick then comes back to Axel, Oscar, T-Dog and Daryl, threatening to kill the former pair. Axel pleads that he and Oscar aren't violent like Tomas was, begging that they be left alive. The three then turn to Oscar, who refuses to beg or plead. Rick realizes that Axel's words are true, and leaves the pair to the now-cleared-out cell block. Axel shows deep sorrow at the sight of his fellow prisoners laying right outside of their cells, dead, only hearing T-Dog's final suggestion of taking the bodies out and burning them.

Upon returning to their group, Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl find a now-unresponsive Hershel inside the crowd. Sitting alongside Hershel, they eagerly await the man's fate. Hershel's eyes open, to which Maggie and Beth begin to cry tears of relief.

Co-Stars

 * Nick Gomez as Tomas
 * Theodus Crane as Big Tiny
 * Vincent Ward as Oscar
 * Markice Moore as Andrew

Trivia

 * Laurie Holden and Danai Gurira  do not appear in this episode despite being credited.
 * This title references a comment made by Oscar and T-Dog's subsequent response near the end of the episode.
 * Axel claims that it has been 294 days since his group had been locked in the cafeteria, hinting that it has been around ten months since the outbreak started.
 * This was the last appearance of Big Tiny and Tomas.