TV Recap: 'The Walking Dead' Episode 206 - 'Secrets'


The Walking Dead Episode 206


Written By: Angela King

Directed By: David Boyd

Original Airdate: 20 November 2011

In This Episode...

Glenn sucks at keeping secrets. He finally spills about Lori and the walker barn to Dale, who simply stares at him, slack-jawed. Dale brings up "moans from the barn" to Hershel, who is immediately defensive. "Schizophrenics can be dangerous; you don't shoot them." Among the zombies in the barn are Hershel's wife and stepson. He believes that one day they will be cured.

Lori is still torn over what to do about her pregnancy. She expresses her gratitude to Hershel for all their help, and he says that since Carl is doing better, "I expect you guys will be moving on soon." Lori is taken aback by this, and confronts Rick about. He promises that he is working on Hershel, but this seems to push Lori towards a decision. She takes Glenn up on his offer to help, and sends him back into town. Maggie accompanies him. She is mad that Glenn told Dale about the walker barn, and now her dad is mad at her. Part of this frustration is that she has developed feelings for Glenn. At the pharmacy, Glenn picks out sundries while Maggie goes for the drugs, including what Lori sent Glenn after: the morning after pill.

While Maggie is behind the counter, she is attacked by a walker. Glenn handles him easily, but Maggie is scared and clings to Glenn. Back at camp, she is furious at Lori for using Glenn as an "errand" boy, even though Glenn doesn't see it that way. He brought something else for Lori, since she seemed to be having a hard time making a decision: pre-natal vitamins. Alone in the tent, she considers both, finally settling on a handful of morning after pills. Almost immediately she changes her mind, runs far from camp, and vomits them all up.

Rick finds the empty packaging in the tent and finally puts it all together. He chases down Lori and they have it out. She didn't want to burden Rick's conscious with the decision. He is less mad about her trying to abort the baby than he is about Lori thinking he wouldn't support her no matter what her decision. Rick promises that he will make sure she and Carl are taken care of, but he tells her they cannot have any secrets. Lori finally admits that she and Shane hooked up. Rick knew, and doesn't blame her; after all, she thought he was dead. The look on Lori's face suggests they were having an affair before the world went to shit but honestly, that doesn't seem to matter.

Shane leads a shooting class, which includes Andrea, Otis's wife and daughter, and Carl. Andrea is a natural, so when the others go back to camp, they stay behind so Andrea can take the advanced course which includes shooting at a moving target. She is having a hard time, and Shane is riling her up like drill sergeant which frustrates her more. When Shane brings up Amy, Andrea storms away. He chases after her in the car with an apology and a peace offering: come with him as backup while he searches for Sophia. They don't find her, but they do find a small herd of walkers. Shane backs Andrea up, but makes her shoot her own zombies, which fills her with confidence and adrenaline. On the way back to camp, Andrea grabs Shane's crotch. He smiles, pulls over, and they go at it (finally). Upon their return to camp, Andrea and Shane's goofy smiles allude at what they were up to, and Dale strongly urges Shane to leave the camp. It's almost a challenge to Shane, who makes a veiled threat at Dale and seems more determined than ever to stick around.

Dig It or Bury It?

This was probably the best episode of the season. Yeah, it was a lot of talk. But the talk led to doing, not whining. The problems were real. Lori and Rick's fight near the end was especially real. Despite the fact that television broke the abortion taboo back in the late 1970s with Maude,  you still almost never see characters on TV going through with it. Occasionally you will see them struggle with the decision for an episode or two, maybe even make an appointment to have it done, but at the last minute, they can't go through with it. Lori's situation is similar, but she went further with it than most characters would, and whether or not she made the right decision is still debatable, but by no means final.

While watching Lori try to decide she should abort or not, I had very conflicted feelings about it (every single thought I had revolved around how it would affect the veracity and plot of the show, not about morality). On the one hand, I didn't want her to pussy out like 99% of TV characters do; but on the other hand, a pregnant Lori would make for a great plot device. Ultimately, I found the entire conundrum to be something that wasn't watered down for television. I just hope it doesn't turn into a "who's the baby daddy" drama. I don't care who the baby daddy is. This isn't 90210.

Kill of the Week

When Maggie is attacked by a walker at the pharmacy, Glenn attacks with a shelf he pulled off a display. He swings it and nearly takes the zombie's head clean off. Nearly. Maggie hugs him, but the zombie isn't dead, and he comes after them with his head hanging off to the side. Glenn pulls out a knife and stabs it in the skull over and over until it is dead-dead.

Humor of the Walking Dead

Glenn desperately wants advice from Dale, but he can't seem to put it in words. "What if someone tells you something that someone else should know..." he stammers. Dale doesn't have time for this. "Spit it out, Glenn." "There are walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant," Glenn spills. Dale just stands their, jaw on the floor. He wasn't expecting that.


Next week is the midseason finale, and Carol seems to have given up any hope of finding Sophia. I kinda hope they do find her - but she is a zombie.