The Walking Dead season 2 shambles out its latest entry with its twelfth episode “Better Angels,” but how does it hold up to the comic book continuity? The tensions only escalate as Shane concocts a plan of his own to kill Randall (Michael Zegen) and Rick, while Glenn and Daryl make a troubling discovery outside of the camp. So what’s next for The Walking Dead?
As AMC’s incarnation weaves in and out of storylines from the books and adds its own original characters . and its own developments, we’ve compiled an in-depth guide for fans of the comic as well as AMC’s The Walking Dead to enjoy. Check it out, and let us know your opinions of The Walking Dead‘s “Better Angels” in the comments below!
DALE’S FUNERAL
AMC: After the surprising and heartbreaking twist of Dale’s death, the survivors all attend his funeral “service,” buried alongside Sophia and the others of Hershel’s family, with Rick presiding over.
THE COMICS: Of course, Dale died much later in the comics, and under very different circumstances. The (different) members of group attended the memorial, though they burned Dale’s body rather than simply lay him in the ground.
BY THE HAMMER OF T-DOG!
AMC: During the montage of Dale’s funeral, we observe Shane, Andrea, Daryl and T-Dog riding out to vent their frustration on some errant walkers. If you’ll notice, T-Dog’s weapon of choice happens to be that of a hammer.
THE COMICS: T-Dog is not Tyreese, and we have been over this a thousand times, but it’s still worth noting the parallels between the two characters, as a hammer was Tyreese’s preferred weapon of choice as well, up until his death.
MOVIN’ ON UP
AMC: Noting the increased cold, and likelihood of walker attacks now that the creek bed would be drying up, Hershel begins the process of moving the survivors into his home, adding that he should have done it a while ago.
THE COMICS: Looking to preserve the memory of his recently-lost children, comic Hershel was adamant that the survivors would not be moving into his home or taking over any bedrooms, reminding them their presence on the farm was always considered to be temporary.
COMMANDER GRIMES
AMC: Taking his leader-ly duties seriously, Rick stands with Hershel in moving the survivors into the house, and assigns tasks for everyone to take specific watches and better plot how to defend themselves. With Shane denied the chance to take Randall out to be released, Rick also turns to Andrea to keep an eye on his unstable friend.
THE COMICS: Finally! After all that wishy-washing, AMC Rick starts resembling his comic counterpart’s leadership more, particularly toward fortifying their position, where Andrea was also seen as a trusted lieutenant for Rick.
CARL, GET YOUR GUN
AMC: Wracked with guilt over his part in releasing the walker that ended up killing Dale, Carl confesses to Shane and asks that he take back the gun, never wanting to touch guns again. Of course, Rick later returns it to him out of insistence.
THE COMICS: Granted Carl never accidentally caused anyone’s death in the books, you’d have a hard time getting his gun away from him. Even later in the relative safety of the Alexandria Safe Zone, Carl felt uncomfortable not carrying a gun with him.
ROOMIES
AMC: With all the survivors moving into Hershel’s home, Maggie invites Glenn to stay in her bedroom, though he declines and leaves his stuff downstairs with the others. Additionally, Hershel takes it on himself to surrender his bedroom to pregnant Lori, cracking wise about his familiarity with the couch from his drinking days. Ain’t he a sweetie?
THE COMICS: We’ve already told you how comic Hershel wasn’t too keen about moving Rick’s group into his home, and it might have had something to do with the fact that he walked in on Glenn already staying in his daughter Maggie’s room! Let’s just say, he didn’t offer him a pocket watch, nor did he offer his bedroom to Lori. He did, however, offer her the back of his hand.
LORI APOLOGIZES TO SHANE
AMC: Evidently done with slyly convincing her husband to kill him, Lori does her best to make peace with Shane, apologizing for letting things between them get confusing and thanking him for everything he did in helping them escape from Atlanta in the first place.
THE COMICS: The last interaction Lori and Shane had before his death in the books involved her clawing the side of his face, though in later flashback we learn that Lori did express her gratitude to Shane for helping them when Rick couldn’t. Also, she had just bumped his uglies, so…yeah, gracious.
DALE’S LEGACY
AMC: While attempting to start and move the RV, Andrea and Glenn bond over the memory of Dale, noting that he’d been proud of them both in spite of how they ended things by siding against him in last week’s debate. I wonder where his hat went…
THE COMICS: Being that they were together in the books, comic Andrea held onto Dale’s memory quite a bit after his death, even taking to wearing his awful hat! The RV was totaled at the prison, so it didn’t quite outlive its owner…
JUST SHANE CRAZY
AMC: Before deciding to take Randall out into the woods for a little breakneck fun, Shane sits himself down before the captive prisoner, clearly going out of his mind a bit in the fractured asides of slapping his own face.
THE COMICS: No mere killer, comic Shane too lost his mind a little bit before scampering off into the woods, where Rick followed. In the books however, Shane’s murderous attempt was far less calculated.
OH HARDY HAR-HAR, T-DOG
AMC: A moment sure to please fans of the book, on his way to free the captive Randall, T-Dog jokes allowed that the “Governor” called to save him from his execution.
THE COMICS: Boom! We fans of the books know this to to be no abstract reference, but rather foreshadowing of the famous Walking Dead villain The Governor, who we’ll meet for certain next season!
SAY, HOW COME RANDALL DOESN’T HAVE ANY BITES?
AMC: Long after Shane snaps his neck, Daryl and Glenn encounter the zombified Randall walking around the woods, and put him down. Afterward Glenn and Daryl observe that he doesn’t have any bites that could have led to his becoming a walker, only the broken neck.
THE COMICS: What a twist! This marks the first definite TV identification of the mythology of the books, where it was revealed that the dead will come back to life regardless of how the died, and whatever causes zombification must already be inside the living survivors. In the books, Tyreese’s daughter Julie was the first to return without being bitten, and alert the other survivors to the phenomenon.
SHANE THE MASTER PLANNER
AMC: Not only does Shane trick Randall into thinking he’s being released, after Shane snaps his neck he bashes his head against a tree to give the effect he’d been injured, leads Rick, Daryl and Glenn out into the woods to get Rick alone, and attempts to kill his friend under the impression he can make it look like Randall’s doing.
THE COMICS: Like we mentioned before, the comic Shane didn’t concoct an elaborate scenario to get his friend out in the woods, but rather stormed off after Lori smacked him, and Rick followed. Once there, Shane started breaking down, and first raised his gun to Rick.
GOODBYE, SHANE!
AMC: It finally happened. After leading him out into the field, Shane pulls his gun on Rick and demands he raise his, so that he might murder his friend. When Rick refuses however, he briefly gets Shane to lower his guard for a moment, and then stabs him in the heart, ending his old friend’s life.
THE COMICS: The final confrontation between the two unfolded somewhat similarly in the comics, though there Rick wanted only for his crazed friend to lower the gun. Before he got the chance, Shane had a bullet whiz through his neck courtesy of young Carl.
HELLO, ZOMBIE SHANE!
AMC: Though Rick seems to linger over his dead friend with some anticipation, Carl’s appearance distracts him long enough not to notice Shane’s re-animated corpse lurching to life behind him!
THE COMICS: Luckily, the time in between his death and his burial wasn’t long enough for comic Shane to return to life as a zombie. However, some time later after Rick was made aware that the dead return to life no matter what, Rick set out on his own to return to the Atlanta campsite, rouse his former friend from the grave, and put him down once and for all.
CARL PULLS THE TRIGGER
AMC: Initially Carl seems to draw his gun on his bloodied father, but afterward Carl is ultimately the one to put a bullet through the zombified Shane’s brain, ending him once and for all.
THE COMICS: In the books Shane was still alive when Carl shot him, making the experience that much more heartbreaking for a child to have to do. In either case, he still shot Shane to protect his father from him.
SOMEONE RANG THE DINNER BELL!
AMC: Unseen by Rick and Carl as they stand over the corpse of Shane, an entire herd of walkers attracted by Carl’s gunshot slowly shamble their way toward the farm in the closing moments of the episode.
THE COMICS: The initial moments of father-son consolation in the wake of Shane’s death went undisturbed by the arrival of any walkers in the books. Similarly, Hershel’s farm never experienced an attack of this size, though Glenn did mention that with the springtime brought increased packs of roamers to the property.
What did you think of The Walking Dead season 2 episode 12, “Better Angels?” Were you sad to see Shane go? Did we miss anything else from the comics you might have caught?
Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check back next week for our in-depth comic-to-TV comparison of episode 13, season finale “Beside the Dying Fire,” The Walking Dead season 2 in general, and other coverage of this and your other favorite shows!
Want even more Walking Dead? Be sure to check out our in-depth-comparisons of the first eleven episodes right here!
The Walking Dead 2.01 – “What Lies Ahead” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.02 – “Bloodletting” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.03 – “Save the Last One” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.04 – “Cherokee Rose” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.05 – “Chupacabra” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.06 – “Secrets” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.07 – “Pretty Much Dead Already” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.08 – “Nebraska” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.09 – “Triggerfinger” Comic-to-TV Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.10 – “18 Miles Out” Comic-to-TV-Comparison
The Walking Dead 2.11 – “Judge, Jury, Executioner” Comic-to-TV-Comparison
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Does the comic reveal how the zombification actually started? What is it already in everyone that causes it?
Robert Kirkman has gone on record saying that he'll never reveal outright what causes the zombie plague, since it's not really important to the story HOW there are zombies, just that there are. However, characters do figure out bits and pieces on their own over time.
very sad about Shane departure. As evil as he became, it looks like he was infected after the Otis incident. next week is the ;last episode so look for more deaths. My prediction, hershal/ jimmy? Beth? patricia/Carol? anf T-Dogg.
Maybe! Do you think Shane's behavior was a result of the disease, or he was crazy in his own right? And I wouldn't be surprised if a few of Hershel's family bit it next week, but I don't know about Carol or T-Dog just yet.
I do think a bit of both. Shane behaviour became worse after the Otis incident. Anyways the show will not be the same without him. I was hoping that Shane would of left the group and his future unknown, that way he can always be brought back. Does not look like that will happen. RIP Shane, the best villian on TV, in a long time.