Yeah RedHood the part in the hospital was funny if you want to really dig into it. First off the military are pretty much killing everyone and you don't bother to waste one bullet to take out the comatosed patient, come on man!

Then a military squad gets taken by the slow ass walkers? come on man! The military ain't going down like that, not even weekend warriors. Which has always nagged me from the beginning how they got overrun yet a small group with a limited amount of ammo can do what the army couldn't, yeah my ass.

I hope that the series has a different ending than the books just so all the spoilers turn out to be wrong, that of course from one that hasn't read the books

**SPOILERS**

Well I never even thought of theory #1, and I was certain #2 was what was said since we do know that it is true, but now you have me thinking Joe!  To me, they were mounting the tensions in the Shane/Lori/Rick triangle, so the pregnancy would be the smarter way to go if they are trying to lead into Shane's fate.  I was also thinking that a nice way to lead into it would be Shane's final mental breakdown.  The comments he was making about wanting to trade places with Rick may have put the thoughts into his delusional head that if he kills Rick, Lori will become his again.  He has already shown that he definitely has the capability of that level of violence and that he is just a tad unbalanced.

**END SPOILERS**

I have to take a minute and disagree with Hanso's comment that the entire episode was a waste of time and that we didn't learn anything that we couldn't via a simple conversation.  You are correct in saying that "we" didnt learn anything, but the characters sure as hell did.  I thought it was a smart way for the writers to educate or group on the "virus" and at least a little on how it works.  The odds of running into a survivor on the streets that has studied and learned what Jenners had about the walkers are unlikely and now they know the time it takes for the dead to turn and that the person they were before is now gone after turning.  Its now officially wabbit huntin season!

I also liked the extra character developement.  Andrea and Dale are heading into their comic story quite nicely as well as the Rick/Shane/Lori story.  My only complaint, like others are already saying is that the episode did not have a finale feel to it.

Now for next season....I assume we will have the return of Morgan and his son, the appearance of Tyrese and Julie, the introduction to Hershel and his family and the introduction of the prison.  I dont think we will get any Michonne or The Governor until season 3.

Oh, and Joe.....I must know more of this Mexi-Cali game you speak of!!

 First off, good episode, not great but good. 

SPOILER

As for the notion that everyone is infected, they aren't. Doc Jennings said everyone was clean. It was a quick throwaway line that I almost missed myself. So it's definitely #2 and I believe Dr. Jennings probably added, "..and it's not yours." Which is what got Rick to widen his eyes. 

END SPOILER

As for the CDC part...well, I guess they added it to give viewers a sense that not even the government knew how this had happened. There's always one person in the room that needs to why or how something happened instead of just accepting it at face value. We don't know why the dead get reanimated. Good enough for me. 

As for TS-19, the reason she wasn't kept 'alive' after she turned was that she volunteered herself to be studied in how the organism worked in reactivating the brain. What the pathway was, and to see if there was a way to stop it from activating other people. Not to study the undead. They had plenty of test subjects roaming around outside for that if they wanted. So once they got the info of her turning, they terminated her. 

Frankly, I would have liked to have seen the season end with the discovery of the group's next stopping point (which I won't mention if you haven't read the comic). There's still a lot left unsaid....Daryl's brother, Morgan and his kid, the other family that split from the group, and the ever elusive reason for the undead rising. Much like the comic, I believe these are items that we're going to come back to as the second season opens (or even possibly saved until the third season). 

I love, love, love this show. But, can someone answer one question that continues to nag me: Just how long was Rick in a coma?

It doesn't seem any where close to possible that he could have lived more than two weeks while in the hospital. No fluids, no food. With dehydration and starvation, it would have been 2 weeks max. Maybe 3. My girlfriend, who is a nurse, says on the out side three weeks.

So, with that said, did everything happen in just two weeks? That doesn't make sense either. Am I missing something? Can someone please elaborate for me. This is the one glaring mis-step of an otherwise great show.

I'll get to everyone in a bit, but I want to address DaForce right now. I don't recall Doc Jenner saying everyone was clean, I thought he said something vague along the lines of "no surprises." That of course could be interpretted as the doctor knew what to expect, as in, everyone will be infected. 

Secondly, unless I'm wrong, a doctore couldn't have told whether or not Rick was the father from that type of blood test.... maybe he could, but I don't think he was testing for paternity. 

Also, does that mean Rick's wife started seeing Shane within a couple of weeks? Wow, that woud be kinda' not classy. ...lol

DaForce1...I don't think the doctor was interested in pregnancy screening, just checking for viral loads.  Also, he couldn't have known who the father was even if he did do a pregnancy test, he would need a blood sample from the baby, and at this point if she is pregnant...it's just a speck and safely inside her womb, not floating around in her blood stream.  ;)

Samson...I've wondered the same thing!  How the hell he could have survived in the hospital like that.  The man is awfully lean, so he couldn't have survived long off of stored energy (fat), and he would have died of dehydration well before two weeks, especially considering the temperature.  It looks like summer...that hospital would have been VERY warm without air flow!

Hey Joe Great review again and I really like the psych profile you did on Shane, That was pretty much spot on. Now as for the last episode of this outstanding season , I have to say I felt conflicted as well , until I rewatched it. The last episode gets you going from the start and I really love that we got to see what happened in the Hospital with Shane and Rick and it does lend to understanding how helpless Shane had felt by leaving Rick behind. As we move forward through the episode and arrive back at the CDC, things take a change , like many others I thought the Doc was going to use our group as test subjects, but that turned out not to be his intent. The Doc had know from the start that time was running out  and that by letting these refugees in that he would be sealing their death also, but he lets them in anyway. I think he does this not for study but because he thinks he is doing the humane thing but giving them a last supper and a quick and painless death, its called the Kevorkian effect, its usally seen in care givers who work with terminally ill patients. So as our crew has a meal and begins to get  Hammered,  they begin to remember why they are here and that for answers. Now one of the things I liked about the books was there was never any real info as to what caused the zombies, and I loved that after this trip to the CDC they arent any closer to those answer, so now the story can move forward, I say this for one reason when someone has now way of getting an answer they stop looking for one, now it just becomes about surving and saving what ever you can. Like they said evrything is gone, there is no offical help out there, the Government isnt coming to help them , the army is nt going to swoop in and annilate all the dead, they are on their own. This all begins to set in on our group and thats when they start to lose hope , I think this is one of the truest feeling anyone might have and It brought me back to Merle and how he must have felt on the roof, so where are group. Now you guys brought up Daryl and his almost comedic actions of late, and I say this, You ever have that friend that always says the same thing over and over even after its been worn out, or that kid thats always first to jump, Daryl's that kid, hes a tough SOB, but I really dont think he's like Merle , but he wants to be , and I think he is constantly think what would Merle do and Merle would react the same way, except Daryl really does care about these people. Some of you might be saying how can i say that , look at VATOS, when they took Dale, he wasnt pissed that he got beaten with a bat , He was pissed they took Dale, he was concerned for him. Im not going to say much about the Shane and Lori sence because i think Joe you summed that up perfectly but I will say this , Rick is a shitty ass cop sometimes, I have 4 degrees 1 in criminal Justice ,1 in crime scene tech, 1 in Psychology , and it is extremely easy to to identify scratch marks, and Shanes hands are way to big to cause those self inflicted lacerations, but thats sort of nit picky. 

So on to the big question what was said, i like many of you thought the same thing , Lori is Preggers, well that just doesnt make sense to me, and not because the Doc wasnt doing a pregenacy test, first off he would have done a full spectrum analysis on the blood, so yeah if she was it would have popped up, but from watching Ricks reactions, I find it hard to beleive he just found out that his wife is preggers, but I might be wrong. I think its more likely that the Doc told them that they are all infected and they are the Walking Dead, which would have been a great line to end the season on. (Rick gets in the winne the CDC explodes , Lori turns to Rick and asks what did he tell you and Rick looks at Lori and the rest on the winne and says " He told me that we are all infected and we are the Walking Dead"  role credits.

Overall I really liked the episode it gives you a chance to see everyone extremely happy for a moment like there is hope for them , just to have the rug pulled out from under them again, by finding out there is no Hope. This wasnt a Grade A episode and I would have liked them shown moving onto the next stop in the book , but I do understand they set the show up in case there wasnt another season. I give it a a solid B   

Re: Shane - I love the scene at the beginning where he has no idea what to do with Rick and his only thought is to look at unconscious Rick and plead with him "What do I do?" The helplessness and fear was palpable. Wonderful job.