It's Episode Deux; Do You Care Yet?

EPISODE DEUX

Nick’s sister looks for her missing boyfriend. We can’t see, but he sounds like he has a virus, and not just any ol’ bug, but THE virus, ya know, the one that turns you into a zombie. MM and step dad are buzzing around in the truck with Nick. Alicia can’t help him; he has a high fever. We fans of TWD know that he is a goner, but they don’t. Turns out he has a bite. They profess their love for each other, and he tells her she needs to leave; he’ll be fine.

L.A. looks pretty gritty, because what we’re seeing is the grimy downtown, which I hear has been cleaned up a lot, but still. Out of the dirty downtown and into the innocuous suburban landscape of friendly neighbors and quaint mailboxes. The neighbors are having a party! Yay. Zombie themed. Not many kids coming ‘cause of “that bug going around.” Is it time to start nailing boards across the doors and windows? The only worried people we see so far are Militant Mad Mom and English Tr Dad and their drug-addled son Nick, who is about to go into withdrawal. Travis  (I got a name) leaves in the charmed truck and MMM stays behind. I don’t know her name, except the aptly named Mrs. C, and does it really matter?

Travis tries to warn his ex and wants to know where his son is, but she thinks he’s just dicking around about their custody agreement. He drives right into another traffic jam, which is not, I hear, uncommon for the L.A. area, but there are also an awful lot of police and ambulance sirens going off.

It sounds as if Nick has been in and out of withdrawal several times. There’s talk of a bucket, I guess for him to puke in, and he’s cold. The doctor isn’t calling in the prescription he needs, too busy tending to feverish patients about to turn zombie. MMM goes to school? No one else is there. The halls are eerily quiet as her high-heeled boots that I imagine she wears click on the linoleum floors. Perhaps, indeed, she is NOT alone. Desperate to help Nick, she appears to be breaking into the nurse’s medicine cabinet, but it’s kind of dark and I can’t quite tell. Tobias startles her. What the heck is he doing here? He wants his frigging knife back, the one from the pilot.

A bunch of angry citizens surround a couple of cops who may or may not have shot a homeless man. He’s down on the ground, for now.

MMM is softening; she returns Tobias’ knife! Does he know that helpful dictum about stabbing the undead in da head? Let’s hope so.

Alicia is leaving Nick to be with her sick boyfriend Matt, although Nick is pretty darn emphatic about Matt killing her. Then Nick has a seizure when Alicia turns around and returns.

Travis’ son is all into the protest, impulsive youth and the like. He wants to stay at the protest, unaware that the dead homeless guy is probably contemplating biting his cheeks off right this minute.

Tobias and MMM scan through the school for supplies. Tobias has stocked up supplies at school, you know, just in case things go south.

Alicia is scrubbing the stains of Nick’s vomit from the floor, reluctantly. “I hate you,” she calmly shares.

Boy, does this show jump around or what? How many mini paragraphs can I create?

Tobias is prescient re impending doom. He has it all wrapped up. Leave it to the pimply faced, slightly chubby nerdy high school student to have it all in the bag! They hear a zombie over the intercom, and make a run for it posthaste. MMM sees Artie, but he’s already a goner, and MMM thinks she can help him! Tobias meanwhile valiantly struggles with him, and what does MMM do? Butkus, until it’s almost too late. Then, I think she brains him. Hooray! Tobias is safe. Not sure if I care about MMM at this point. She’s a little dim.

So, everyone is a little dazed, and by everyone I mean Tobias and MMM. Travis is looking for his son at the lame protest. Christopher’s mom says listen to your father. A zombie chick is felled by the cops, but for how long, forsooth? People scatter like roaches, roaches who like to loot, of course, because that’s what douchebags do when things get bad. A kindly barber and his wife let Travis, his ex, and son in. Travis is one smart cookie; he immediately establishes a lookout from the shop. Tobias and MMM part ways, for now, but one suspects that their paths will cross again.

Travis and his former family are hunkered down in the barbershop. Travis notes that the dead come back. Doy, Travis. Doy.

MMM returns home to a darkened home. Nick has perked up. Alicia is sullen. MMM knows not of Travis’ barbershop getaway. She gives Nick some oxycodone. Yummy! He seems pleased. Alicia, being a teenager, is of course on her cell phone. MMM cleans Principal Artie’s blood off her clothes and cries. Travis calls. He’s stuck. They engage in a bit of chit-chat. Then a loud boom happens. The plan is to go to the desert, because everyone knows that zombies don’t like dry heat; it makes them super thirsty! MMM is kind of in shock.

And for your listening pleasure, a soulful musical interlude that is very annoying. A brief, slo-mo montage of cars burning accompanies.

For the first time, we see self-preservation kick in when Alicia and MMM witness a zombie neighbor attacking people. MMM slams the door shut. Don’t look. Don’t get involved. Stay alive! End of episode!