The Walking Dead - Season 1 (My Version)

Tell It to the Frogs

In the roof of the store, a handcuffed and delirious Merle mutters to himself about a violent incident from his past where he punched a black sergeant in the army. When some walkers start to fiddle through the padlocked door, he becomes hysterical until he spots a hacksaw from the overturned toolbox. Taking off his belt, Merle repeatedly tosses the buckle end to try to grab the hacksaw lying just out of reach.

On the road, Rick is driving to the camp while Donna advises him not to feel bad about having abandoned Merle since no one is going to miss him, except perhaps for his younger brother, Daryl. At the camp, Lori gives Carl a haircut while Shane promises to teach him how to hunt frogs later that day. Their tranquility is interrupted by the sound of Glenn's sports car alarm approaching. Jim disconnects the alarm while Shane chastises Glenn for drawing attention to their location.

The van arrives at the camp. Andrea and Amy tearfully reunite as everyone watch the happy reunion. Glenn says a "new guy" helped them escape the city and Allen adds that he's a police officer like Shane. Rick emerges from the van and recognizes Carl and Lori. The family runs towards each other and tearfully embraces in a hug as the rest of the group watches the scene astonished, especially a speechless Shane.

That night around a campfire, Rick describes the disorientation he felt waking up in the hospital. Lori explains she was told Rick would be evacuated to Atlanta but it never happened and then Carl adds that his mother had told him that he had died. Rick replies that she had every reason to believe that and then thanks Shane for saving his family. Lori exchanges a guilty glance with Shane.

Nearby, Ed Peletier stokes his family's fire with a log. Shane intervenes and asks him to remove the log so that they cannot be seen from a distance. Ed reluctantly obeys and orders his meek wife Carol to pull the log from the fire. Shane then bids Carol and her daughter Sophia good night as Ed glares unpleasantly. Dale asks the group what they will tell Daryl about his brother while Andrea reasons that Merle was out of control. Rick volunteers to deliver the news, as does Allen, still filled with guilt for dropping the key. He tells the group that he locked the stairwell door before escaping and therefore Merle was still alive.

Later in their tent, Rick says goodnight to Carl and then crawls into bed with Lori. They reflect on their past mistakes and are grateful for the second chance that life was giving them. Lori returns him his wedding ring she had been keeping in her locket and they make love discretely. Outside, a melancholic Shane stands guard on top of the RV and stares at Rick and Lori's tent with anger in his eyes.

The next morning, Rick wakes up to find a fresh pair of new clothes laid out for him. Outside, he finds Carol ironing his freshly laundered uniform and thanks her for her kindness. Nearby, Glenn laments as Dale and Jim strip down the sports car for essential parts. Rick comforts him by saying that maybe they could steal another car one day. Shortly after, he tells Lori he plans to return to Atlanta for Merle and she gets shocked. Before she can say anything, they are interrupted by screams.

After finding the kids unharmed, Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, and Allen run to a clearing where they find a walker eating a deer that has some crossbow bolts sticking out of it. They beat the walker until Dale arrives and decapitates it with an axe. A man with a sleeveless top, Daryl, emerges from the woods and laments that the walker has eaten the deer he had been hunting. When the walker's head starts growling, Daryl fires his crossbow into its skull and then heads in search of Merle.

Shane tells Daryl that Merle failed to return, but Rick confesses that they left him handcuffed on the roof of a building in Atlanta. Daryl pulls out his knife but Rick disarms him and Shane locks him in a chokehold. Allen cuts in and adds that he chained the door to the roof shut so he was still alive. Rick informs him that he had already planned to go back to Atlanta. Shane questions his decision to risk his life for Merle but Rick reminds him that he was left like an animal caught in a trap.

Rick recruits Glenn and Allen volunteers as well. Shane tells Rick that he is putting them all in danger because they need everybody to protect the camp in case more walkers show up but Rick replies that they need more guns, which he'd be able to retrieve from the bag he dropped in the streets. Lori still isn't convinced but Rick confesses that he also needed to retrieve his walkie-talkie from the bag so he can warn the man who saved his life away from the city. Lori eventually understands his reasoning and kisses her husband goodbye, which makes Shane leave the scene quietly. Once the rescue group departs from the camp, Lori goes to her tent and drops some tears in silence. Carl enters and assures his mother that if everything that happened to his father until that moment did not kill him, it is because nothing can do it anymore.

The rescue group arrives at a train track in Atlanta and continue their mission on foot. In the quarry lake, Andrea, Amy, Carol, and Donna do laundry and discuss the division of labor. Near them, Shane and Carl try to hunt frogs with a net and a bucket while playing around splashing the water. In Atlanta, Rick and the others open a gap in a metal fence and enter the city. They decide to look for Merle first for being closer and then they would recover the weapons.

While washing the clothes, the women begin to miss the luxuries of modern life. Amy misses texting, Donna misses hot showers, and what Andrea misses the most is her vibrator. Carol mischievously admits that she does too and her confession causes them to laugh. Ed, who watched them from afar, reprimands them for making a lot of noise and orders them to focus on their work.

Lori arrives at the lake and orders Carl to return to the camp. She warns Shane to stay away from her family, still full of guilt for their romance, but he wants to explain how things happened. Lori snaps and says that he could tell it to the frogs, and Shane asks if she thinks he is not happy for Rick's return. She replies that he shouldn't be since he told her that her husband had died and storms off as Shane looks down in frustration. In Atlanta, the group moves stealthily through the store. Rick notices a walker missing half its face roaming around and gives a signal so Daryl kills it with his crossbow before they can continue moving.

Meanwhile, Ed continues to loom over the women doing laundry. Andrea finally confronts him and Ed threatens to knock her and then demands Carol to leave with him. A strong discussion takes place between the women and Ed ends up slapping Carol hard across the face laughing. Shane, still fuming from his confrontation moments ago with Lori, throws Ed to the ground and begins to punch him aggressively. The women look in despair and Carol cries asking him to stop. Shane warns Ed that if he hurt his wife, daughter, or any other member of the camp again, he won't stop next time. He then kicks Ed hard in the chest twice and leaves as a crying Carol runs to help her husband.

In Atlanta, Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Allen cut through the chains on the stairwell with the bolt-cutters and emerge onto the roof where they find on the ground the hacksaw beside Merle's severed hand as well as the bloodied handcuffs hanging from the pipe above. Daryl screams in desperation as the others look on helplessly.

Starring:

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes

Jon Bernthal as Shane Walsh

Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori Grimes

Deborah Ann Woll as Andrea

Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale Horvath

Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee

Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes

Guest Starring:

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon

Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon

David Harbour as Allen

Emma Bell as Amy

Andrew Rothenberg as Jim

Co-Stars:

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier

Adam Minarovich as Ed Peletier

Jeryl Prescott Sales as Donna

Madison Lintz as Sophia Peletier