'The Walking Dead' recap, episode 211: 'Judge, Jury, Executioner'

Dale Horvath, or Atticus Finch?

The whole episode builds up to this big "Inherit the Wind," "A Few Good Men," courtroom showdown between Dale and Rick. And when the big moment arrives, Dale dominates Rick with his tearful speech! Dale's all gesturing with his hands like a community theatre actor, wringing his Gilligan hat. And the whole time, Rick is just like "Duh, uh, I think we should kill him. I'll protect yewww!"

Here are a few of Dale's knockout punches:

A fitting farewell

Dale's last action before getting blasted is a heart-rending twitch of his coniferous brows, as if to say "Fare thee well, sweet friends. Please smile when you think about me. My body's gone, that's all."

Deliverance Dale

Remember in "Deliverance" when... — (that introduction almost always ends with "...Ned Beatty was raped by hicks?" but not here!) — ...Drew got all shaken up by the way Burt Reynolds coldly murdered that raper hick and then died shortly after? Dale's death kind of reminded me of that.

Weakest arm

Carl, throwing rocks at that zombie with the size 22 waist. The first time he winds up and releases it looks like he's throwing with Woody Allen's non-dominant arm. Then he tries again and ... *sad slide whistle sound*.

Second place: Daryl. When he's giving Randall all those knuckle sandwiches it looks like he's trying way too hard. He's doing all these little crow hops like Happy Gilmore or something, and it just looks way too unnatural.

Did you notice?

Carl approaching Randall and that zombie all wide-eyed and full of wonderment was eerily similar to Carl approaching that deer in the season two premiere when he got sniped by Otis.

Father of the Year contest

Rick vs. Hershel.

Hershel sings the Doodlebug song to Beth, who's learning how to smile again. Rick teaches wild-at-heart Carl a lesson by telling him "Don't talk, think. That's a good rule of thumb for life."

Verdict: Tie.

A thing that I wish had happened

When Hershel produced that watch to give to Glenn, I wish that he had explained how it had been hidden up a pair of poop chutes in a Vietnamese prison camp for seven years so that Glenn could have it.

In other news

Lots of web sites have been reporting on the accidental release on the AMC web site of the impending death of Shane. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I'm pretty sure that AMC did that on purpose to generate a bunch of hype.

If you wanted to make it worthwhile, it would have to be a triple shot of grain alcohol for every time T-Dog did something of note. He utters like three words in this episode before Dale cuts him off. Patricia (Patricia for goodness sake!) has a bigger role in this episode than T-Dog. The only character with a smaller footprint at this point is Jimmy. Did that guy die when I wasn't paying attention or something?

Quote board

Daryl, to Randall: "You ever pick off a scab? Start real slow at first, sooner or later you just gotta rip it off!"

Daryl, re: other group: "They roll through here our boys are dead, and the women are gonna wish they were."

Rick: "We reconvene at sunset. Then what happens, happens."

Shane: "Rick's my friend. Hershel, he's all right by me. Dale got a big mouth, but he's harmless."

Shane to Randall: "You like talkin'? "You like talkin'!?"

Shane: "Carl, quit trying to get yourself killed man!"

Daryl: "This group's broken, I'm better off fending for myself."

Daryl, to Dale: "I didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch!"

Carol, to Carl: "You know, we'll see Sophia again in heaven someday." Carl, to Carol: "Heaven is just some lie, and if you believe it, you're an idiot!"

Carol, to Lori: "I don't need you to patronize me. I lost my daughter, I didn't lose my mind!"

Hershel: "Dozen steer busted through the fence. Been wrangling the runaways all morning, but you're not here to talk cattle."

Shane: "You got balls, Dale, I'm gonna give you that."

Shane: "That blood, that's gonna be on you. You're wrong about this Dale, dead wrong."

Hershel, to Glenn: "Immigrants built this country, never forget that."

Only one choice, but a good one. The one mired in a bog who had to really tighten his belt. He made some gnarly noises, bobbed around like some kind of cursed surfer, and made confetti out of Dale's abs with his razor sharp finger nails and insanely chiseled forearms.

Best zombie kill

Only one choice. Daryl burying his Gerber knife in Tom Joad zombie's forehead.

Death count
Zombies: One, for 78 on the season. Humans: One! Dale "Eyebrows of Fury" Horvath, for six on the season (Otis, Sophia, Dave, Tony, Sean, Dale.)

Lingering questions
Is the infection starting to spread without bites? Can cattle turn into zombies? Where is Dave and Tony's camp? Are those other survivors mounting an attack on the farm? What did Jenner whisper to Rick? What has become of Merle Dixon and the father-son team of Morgan and Duane Jones?

A look ahead to the next episode, "Better Angels"
Dale gets a nice, small funeral. T-Dog loads some supplies onto a baby blue pickup truck. T-Dog says "Oh, hell no!" Randall escapes by punching Shane in the beak. Hershel finally lets the band of survivors move into the house, and everybody gets their marching orders. Rick tells Carl his origin story and then gives him his sidearm.