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"A quiet school-yard - peaceful, serene. But the zombie threat is far from over - this week&amp;#039;s Walking Dead begins with a flashback to the day of Rick&amp;#039;s shooting. In a nice reflection of Rick&amp;#039;s conversation with Shane in the pilot, Lori vents her frustrations about her husband&amp;#039;s emotionally closed-off nature to a friend... But a squadron of cop cars quickly pull up - Rick&amp;#039;s been shot and is in surgery. Shane watches as the school bell rings and Lori informs Carl of what has happened - he bursts into tears. Back in the present, it&amp;#039;s Carl who&amp;#039;s been shot by the bumbling deer-hunter Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince). Otis leads a frantic Rick and Shane to a local farmhouse, inhabited by Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson), his daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and other family members. Carl has a faint heartbeat, so Hershel sets his offspring into action. They gather up medical supplies for the old man and he orders Rick out of the room - they need space to save Carl. A dazed, blood-soaked Rick emerges from the house, while Otis protests, &amp;quot;I never saw him - not until he was on the ground!&amp;quot; Meanwhile, the other survivors are still in the words, but Lori is worried after they all heard Otis&amp;#039;s gunshot. Carol is still emotionally fraught following Sophia&amp;#039;s disappearance and there&amp;#039;s an awkward moment where she tells Andrea that she doesn&amp;#039;t want her daughter to &amp;quot;wind up like Amy&amp;quot; - ouch! Back at Hershel&amp;#039;s farm, Rick is blaming himself for Carl&amp;#039;s fate. &amp;quot;Is that why I got out of that hospital? Found my family?&amp;quot; he asks. &amp;quot;For it to end here, like this, as some kind of sick joke?&amp;quot;   Carl is in great pain, screaming as Hershel removes the first bullet fragment. Rick shares a blood type with his son and gives him a much-needed transfusion, but Hershel warns him that the boy will need more blood... Carl&amp;#039;s out of danger but Hershel will need to go even deeper with the remaining fragments. And there&amp;#039;s worse news - one of the fragments must have nicked an artery and there&amp;#039;s internal bleeding. Carl needs to be put under so that he won&amp;#039;t move during the delicate surgery, but he won&amp;#039;t be able to breathe on his own.... Hershel needs a respirator, tubing and extra medical supplies, and Otis recalls that there&amp;#039;s a zombie-infested high school around 5 miles away which could prove useful. Shane volunteers to go on the expedition, with a guilty Otis offering to act as his guide. As Shane and Otis depart the farm, the other survivors decide that their search for Sophia has been fruitless and decide to return to the RV. But back on the road, T-Dog&amp;#039;s wound has become infection and he&amp;#039;s burning up, delirious with fever. A paranoid T-Dog becomes convinced that the other survivors are going to turn on him and considers stealing the RV and leaving them behind. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ve gone off the deep end!&amp;quot; Dale warns his sickly friend. T-Dog needs antibiotics, and fast...   As the other survivors push on through the woods, Andrea drops back, but quickly finds herself menaced by a walker! She trips and falls, the creature descends on her! But suddenly a figure rides by on a God-damn horse, practically decapitating the zombie with a bat! It&amp;#039;s Hershel&amp;#039;s daughter Maggie - she explains that Carl&amp;#039;s been shot and as Lori climbs on the back of the horse, she tells the others to head to the Greene farmhouse once they&amp;#039;ve reunited with their friends. In a quiet moment, Rick and Hershel look out over the &amp;quot;serene&amp;quot; farmland. Hershel reveals that he lost his wife and step-son to the zombie plague, but he&amp;#039;s still hoping for a cure. &amp;quot;Mankind&amp;#039;s been fighting plagues from the start,&amp;quot; he tells a cynical Rick. &amp;quot;We get our behinds kicked for a while and then we bounce back!&amp;quot; They spot a horse on the horizon, and soon Rick and Lori share an emotional reunion. She&amp;#039;s devastated when she&amp;#039;s taken to see the wounded Carl. Soon after Rick gives their son more blood, but he&amp;#039;s becoming weak from the multiple transfusions... And there&amp;#039;s more worries for the Grimes clan - Lori becomes concerned when she learns that Hershel - the man who will be operating on her son - is not exactly the right sort of doctor for this kind of procedure. You see, he&amp;#039;s a veterinarian...   Meanwhile, Shane and Otis approach the school, but it is absolutely CRAWLING with walkers. Otis indicates a big mobile medical trailer across the school-yard. &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s where we gotta get to?&amp;quot; asks an incredulous Shane. On the road, the idea of heading to the Greene farm is mooted, but Carol won&amp;#039;t abandon the RV in case Sophia returns. Dale, Daryl and Andrea agree to remain behind until morning, setting up a sign and supplies for Sophia. But Dale orders Glenn to head to the farm - he needs to take T-Dog with him and find antibiotics for his blood infection. However, Daryl reveals that he still has his brother Merle&amp;#039;s old drug stash. Alongside a few recreational drugs, there&amp;#039;s a batch of antibiotics and painkillers! Back at the school, Shane distracts the zombie horde with flares recovered from an abandoned police vehicle, and he and Otis sneak into the medical trailer. Rick is worried about the pair - he&amp;#039;s convinced that they&amp;#039;ve been gone too long... But Hershel and Lori tell Rick that he&amp;#039;s too weak to go after them. &amp;quot;You wouldn&amp;#039;t make it across the yard!&amp;quot; he&amp;#039;s warned. Shane and Otis grab the medical supplies, but draw the attention of the horde as they emerge from the trailer. They flee in a panic, but are cornered by the walkers and are forced to take refuge behind an iron grille. Dozens of zombies smash against the grille, and it begins to buckle under their weight...  Watching Dead... \u2022 The flashback that kicks off this episode is a nice touch and provides an interesting mirror-image to scenes from the Walking Dead pilot. Having said that, such scenes should be kept to a minimum in future to maximise their impact. \u2022 The new series regulars make a strong impression - Scott Wilson is fantastic as the stoic Hershel, while Pruitt Taylor Vince makes for a likeable Otis and Lauren Cohen&amp;#039;s Maggie, though under-utilised here, does get that amazing moment with the horse. \u2022 Norman Reedus must be loving his role this season - Daryl Dixon is swiftly becoming the coolest character on television. He&amp;#039;s superb, whether he lends some comforting words to Carol in his own unique fashion, nonchalantly shooting zombies with his crossbow or making a dry quip. &amp;quot;Merle got the clap on occasion,&amp;quot; he notes of his brother&amp;#039;s antibiotic stash. \u2022 It&amp;#039;s an old and obvious observation, but just how damn good are this show&amp;#039;s cast? Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal and Sarah Wayne Callies are all absolutely phenomenal in this episode. 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<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-walking-dead/review/a347132/the-walking-dead-bloodletting-recap/>