The Walking Dead - Season 2 finale

**SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't yet caught up on all of your Season 2 episodes, proceed with caution. This posting will r-u-i-n it for you!**

Season 2 did not disappoint. It was zombie-licious! I guess the producers heard us screaming like we were being eaten alive, because this season had more "walkers" than last and, bar the fact that it started out pretty slowly, the second half of the season was filled with more character development, action, and the unexpected. Dale? Shane?! WTF?!?!

The biggest transformation this season was, by far, Carl. You could literally see him grow from a child into a young man throughout the 13 episodes (I love that even their number of episodes is superstitiously scary). Did it have something to do with his near-death experience or did it have more to do with his idolization of Shane? He went from being a naive, little boy to a smug, sometimes hard-hearted kid - even urging his Dad to shoot their prisoner, Randall. His cocky attitude got the best of him (and ultimately Dale) when he encountered the zombie, stuck in the mud, and egged that poor zombie on so much that it freed itself and found its way onto the nearby farm only to spill Dale's entrails all over the place. How ironic that Dale's last words were, "We don't shoot the living!" when only moments later he visually begged his friends to "put him down" as he lay dying in ghastly misery.

And, I'm sorry, but I just have to vent about Lori here. I hate her character! Every week I literally end up yelling at my TV, "Bitch! Whore!" She played Rick and Shane against each other and now that Rick killed Shane she doesn't want Rick to touch her? What the...? On The Talking Dead the producers explained that she was angry at herself. I don't know. It didn't come across that way. What I do know is that she has always been my least-favorite character. Bitch! Whore!

I do, however, like where Rick's character development is headed. "This is no longer a democracy!" It's about time this guy grew a pair. I could see it coming as soon as he killed the two guys in the bar - something changed for the better. We all knew right then, right there, that there was a new sheriff in town. Now, if we could get him to kill his wife... Bitch! Whore! Sorry, I digress.

My biggest surprise this season was Shane being killed. I really thought they'd keep Shane around because he was the perfect antagonist to Rick and his moral values along with the tension he brought wanting to be replace Rick as a husband and a father. It caught me off guard, too, when  Carl aimed his gun toward his Dad only to shoot past him to bring Zombie Shane down. Nice shooting, kid.

So, the farm is gone. Everyone carries the virus. Rick has become a tyrant. We have a new character (Andrea's savior). And there's a damn prison across the lake. I don't know about you, but September can't come soon enough. I want to know if Lori's going to give birth to a zombie baby. Bitch! Whore!