The name's Rick Grimes bitch!

I'll try to be as spoiler-free as possible.

AMC's 'The Walking Dead' (TWD) returned to television last night to resume the second half of its second season.  Last time we saw Darabont's character study, Shane (Jon Bernthal) led a little uprising on Hershel's (Scott Wilson) farm that led to the most shocking development on the show thus far. The entire back story of the first half of the second season was spent searching for the lost little girl Sophia. It ended with a shocker.  It also was the return of the tough Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), putting a bullet through Sophia's head.

With 'Nebraska', it seems that the writers of the show aren't ready to fully break the spirit of Rick Grimes just yet. After all, it's only the second season. It seems that they're returning Rick Grimes back to form to make the tough decisions and to show that he's still very capable of leading this group. The ending of this new episode, "Nebraska", is even more proof of Rick Grimes ability to maintain his mental focus of 'right' and 'wrong' even though they may be questionable. The encounter with two Philly natives in the bar was just what the audience needed too –  Rick Grimes is still a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, you get the feeling that Rick's decisions have some serious consequences (i.e., leaving Sophia in the woods to fend for herself).  There's a larger Philly contingent out there somewhere and Rick and company may have to answer to them in the near future. TWD's version of 'The Others' perhaps? We'll see.

One of the main draws of TWD for me, is the constant clear and present danger surrounding the cast. It really makes for an interesting character study and it seems that the writers have chosen to put Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) on the hot seat. Lori's character serves as the buffer in the power struggle between Shane and Rick. She's their mutual Kryptonite.  I'd imagine in her temporary absence that there's going to be an interesting power battle between Rick and Shane, especially since each has made a strong case with the audience on why they should lead. It's almost like the writers built them both up on purpose for this power struggle to be interesting. One half of the group applauds Shane for his actions at the barn. The only Rick supporter, outside of Lori, is arguably his son Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn).

I sense that the next sacrificial lamb to the TWD character study might be Dale.  Lori is the only person to know Dale's theory on Shane murdering Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and she just happens to be missing from the group now. Then again, there's a small possibility that Lori's next.  It'd be a bold move by the writers if Lori's character is sacrificed.

Where does the TWD character study go from here?

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