- If you haven't figured out they're all cannibals yet, you might be able to be outsmarted by a Walker. Pretty much seems like they're fattening them up with powdered milk and/or baby formula, and that's also why they're keeping them alive in the boxcars.
- To be honest, Rick ripping out Joe's throat with his bare teeth didn't surprise me at all - nor stabbing the other guy over and over. People are promoting it as if "Rick's character is changed forever," but I didn't find it at all surprising. Rick's always been a bit off-kilter since Lori died, and we already know he's willing to do anything to keep his people and especially Carl alive. He already stuck a hatchet in the forehead of the last guy who sought to betray him. Just seemed to be "business as usual" to me, this is post-virus world, Deliverance fatboy was about to break in Carl, and there's nothing Rick wouldn't have done in that circumstance to kill all of those mofos.
- Carl's conversation with Michonne was interesting, where he doesn't feel he can live up to the image his dad has for him. But the look on his face when he was powerless was horrific, it's not just unsettling for being so vulnerable, but might have shaken his masculinity and sense of self as well.
- Daryl showed a lot of character. He didn't just come out with gun blazings but offered to take the punishment for his friends and find the least devastating resolution for everyone. But Joe didn't want to play by that rule. There's no doubt where Daryl stands; he also seems to have been changed the least in terms of becoming "less human"; he's actually more like the "white knight" of the show, capable of facing some pretty nasty things while not having lost his humanity. Merle was amoral, rather like The Comedian or The Joker, thriving in the chaos and tuning himself to it; Daryl, while undergoing some pretty fierce anger/grief (with Beth), goes by his own inner code and refuses to let the world change who he is. In fact, as the world gets darker, he seems to become an even BETTER person. It's burning away the dross and revealing all the good stuff underneath.
- I thought it was kind of touching when Rick says to Daryl, "You're my brother." I was just thinking that, with Joe and the gang, Daryl had to always be on his toes. But Rick is not going to backstab him, he doesn't have to be so guarded and sleep with one eye open. And, also, Daryl's relationship with Merle was such a mess and ended tragically; Rick's comment is giving Daryl a place and a family again, cementing the bonds. Also, we see how Rick protects his family. Rick is saying that he will do anything for Daryl, regardless of the cost to himself.
- I'm glad we figured out they were herding Rick and Co, and not just the shittiest snipers in the history of war. I mean, auto weapons on full blast, and they couldn't hit four guys standing in the open? But yeah, they don't want their meat source to die early.
- Finally, reviewing the episode again, there's a large motif of "Who are we?" Carl asks his dad that, and his dad doesn't answer. But each character addresses it in some way. Rick, well, Rick does what he has to do even if it changes him and showers him in blood. Does that make him a monster? Carl believes himself to be a monster, and in flashbacks, Herschel suspects stuff is up with Carl and keeps encouraging Rick to set a positive peaceful example for him rather than one of blood and violence. Michonne says she became a monster for awhile, but people brought her back -- Rick, Carl, etc. The Alley Cats are all pretty monstrous and die as monsters, by the violence they persisted in. Daryl actually seems the least monstrous and even has compassion for Rick, understanding why he did what he did. And then of course, we find the guys at Terminus, who are likely scavenging the trusting to sustain themselves as well as stealing all their crap -- the point is driven home when we see them wearing the body armor, wearing the poncho, taking Herschel's watch that he gave to Glenn as his adopted son (in law); they seem even more monstrous. Anyway, the episode seems to hinge on identity and "what have we become / who are we?"
- I miss Herschel.