Written by: Scott M. Gimple Directed by: Michelle MacLauren The Walking Dead makes a lot of missteps with its overall season plots, but somehow always (thus far) manages to resolve them with style and power. The textbook example of this is Pretty Much Dead Already, an episode dedicated in a subtle way to bringing the threads together and resolving the meandering "Sophia Missing" plot line in a massively cathartic manner. This is another episode that could be on the list purely for one scene in it. The final scene, in which Shane and most of Rick's party open fire on the captured Walkers in Hershel's barn is at once a striking image and a thrilling emotional sequence - perfectly directed by Michelle MacLauren (expect her name to show up again in this list). We know the Walkers are not human, but we are almost forced to watch the scene from Hershel's eyes, seeing his last grip on the old world being torn down by Shane's violence. And then there's that last moment: little zombie Sophia steps out of the Barn, and Rick steps up to shoot her down. It had to be Rick, who hadn't fired a single shot before then. This was a moment that reaffirmed why he was the main character - he will try his best to make things work without violence, but when the chips are down, he is the only one who will step up to do what needs to be done, even if that involves shooting a little girl in the head.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
