Walking Dead Episode 5 Recap: Rick Breaks and the Governor Celebrates

Rick sated his bloodlust in this week's Walking Dead, as despair and bubbling rage mixed into a volatile psychological poison.

Last episode, the crew lost T-Dog and Lori, separated from Carol, and welcomed a newborn baby to the family. When Rick saw Maggie and Carl emerge from the prison, baby in tow and without Lori, he broke. At the start of "Say the Word," Rick strides into the prison's infested wing in search of his late wife, savoring each zombie decapitation along the way.

Outside, Hershel asserts that the Lori's child will not survive without formula, which sets Maggie and Daryl on a mission to scavenge supplies from the surrounding area.

In Woodbury, the Governor kicks off a day of festivities and entices Andrea to become a permanent resident of his outpost. Michonne, eager to escape the town, breaks into the Governor's weapon stock and retrieves her sword. After an argument with Andrea, she leaves Woodbury. That night, the Governor hosts a variation of gladiatorial combat for the town's amusement, as Merl Dixon and an unnamed character engage in a hand-to-hand fight surrounded by defanged walkers. The Governor assures Andrea that the event is choreographed, crafted to dissolve the fears of Woodbury's citizens. 

Back at the prison, Daryl and Maggie deliver formula to the baby, as the fan-beloved Dixon brother soothes the crying baby in his arms.

During my initial viewing, it seemed as though Rick discovered a zombified Lori in the basement she gave birth. He notices a bullet compressed on the floor, and a blood trail leading to the far end of the room. A walker sits, back against the wall, its belly engorged. Rick sticks a gun in its mouth and pulls the trigger, then repeatedly stabs its stomach, where his wife's remains have settled. As his live wife, Rick was unable to communicate his anger at Lori, but after her passing he channels it through violence, fueled by her infidelity, Shane's betrayal, and a child that will remind him of it all for the rest of his life.

Fans of the graphic novel will be familiar with the final scene of the episode, when the phone in the basement rings and Rick picks up the receiver to answer the unknown caller.