10 Best Episodes Of The Walking Dead (So Far)
9. Better Angels Season 2, Episode 12
This episode closed out a great arc that has been nearly two seasons in the making. Rick and Shane have been butting heads ever since Rick woke up from that coma and found his family again. Season 1 ended with the two of them seemingly agreeing on the singular goal of going for Fort Benning. At the beginning of season 2 however, Shane seems to be intent of going off on his own. He cant stand seeing the woman he loves, Lori, back with the man he thought was dead. The Rick, Lori, Shane love triangle is ripe with confrontational drama, something that was expanded on far greater than in the comic. Having Shane survive past his tenure in the comic provided a major and interesting deviation from the source material. He was one of the main focuses of season 2, as his murder of Otis sent him on a slow descent into madness, culminating in Rick and Shanes memorable face-off under the moonlight. This one scene itself should be enough for this episode to earn a place on this list. It was a tense stand-off in a serene setting, and delivers its shocking conclusion without warning. Shane has always been jealous of Rick, whether it is for the leadership role or for the place in Loris love life. It would have been easy to make Shane a shallow character on that regard. However, the writers infused many organic layers to his character that even though some of his actions can be appalling, one cant help but sympathize with his plight. In effect, Shane became a foil to Rick, having a more pragmatic and aggressive sense of decision making. He can prove to have the right decision sometimes, but people get hurt with his tactics. Shane represented what happens when you abandon civil society and surrender to the primal and barbaric instincts of the new world. He always tried to overcome Ricks humanity, but in the end, Shanes pragmatic way of thinking was the receiving end of a tearful Ricks sharp knife. If that wasnt enough, Shane came back as a walker and was put down by Carl once and for all, mirroring an infamous scene from the comic book.