The Walking Dead Save The Last One

tertiary episode of the 2nd flavor of The Walking Dead

"Relieve the Last One"

The Walking Expressionless episode

Shane fends off numerous walkers at the high school.

Episode no.

Season ii
Episode 3

Directed by

Phil Abraham

Written by

Scott M. Gimple

Original air appointment

October 30, 2011 (2011-x-xxx)

Guest appearances

IronE Singleton as Theodore "T-Canis familiaris" Douglas
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Otis
Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene
Jane McNeill equally Patricia

Episode chronology

←Previous
"Bloodletting"

Next →
"Cherokee Rose"

The Walking Dead (flavour ii)

Listing of episodes

"Salvage the Concluding One" is the third episode of the 2nd season of the post-apocalyptic horror goggle box series The Walking Dead, and the 9th episode overall of the series. It start aired on AMC in the United States on Oct 30, 2011. The episode was written past Scott M. Gimple and directed by Phil Abraham. In the episode, Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) desperately effort to abscond the walker-infested high school in lodge to deliver supplies to a dying Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs). Meanwhile, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Andrea (Laurie Holden) go along to search for Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz).

Production for the episode occurred in July 2011 at Newnan High School in Newnan, Georgia, after receiving approval from the city council and the Coweta Canton School Organization. "Save the Concluding One" was critically acclaimed by television critics, who praised the storyline and the episode's conclusion. Upon its initial airing, it was watched by six.095 1000000 viewers and garnered a iii.one rating in the xviii-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings.

Plot [edit]

With Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) missing for hours, Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) informs Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his married woman Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) that he must perform the surgery on their son Carl (Chandler Riggs) without the necessary equipment.

Andrea (Laurie Holden) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) get out in search of Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz), following her female parent Carol (Melissa McBride) weeping for her loss. Daryl tells Andrea most his babyhood, and expresses promise that they volition successfully locate Sophia. They stumble upon an abandoned camp, where a person had committed suicide past hanging themselves from a tree and now has become an undead walker. Daryl insists that they leave the walker alone, only Andrea firmly refuses. He asks her if she wants to go on living, to which she exclaims dubiety. Daryl euthanizes the walker equally they get out. Upon returning to the camp, Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn) attempts to reconcile with Andrea by returning her handgun.

Glenn (Steven Yeun) and T-Domestic dog (IronE Singleton) journeying to the Greene home. There, Glenn begins to pray for the well-existence of his fellow survivors, while T-Dog receives medical treatment for blood poisoning. Meanwhile Carl goes in and out of consciousness, and briefly recalls his run into with the deer before going into a seizure. A distraught Lori opines to Rick about ending Carl's suffering, but Rick insists on keeping him alive.

At the high schoolhouse, Shane and Otis carve up up later struggling against a horde of walkers. Both injure their legs while escaping, slowing their progress down. Shane and Otis seemingly are out of options for survival. They begin to limp back to their truck, eventually running low on ammo.

Rick and Lori make up one's mind to practice the functioning without the necessary equipment. As they ready for the operation, Shane arrives with the medical supplies, but without Otis. He claims that Otis sacrificed himself in lodge to save Carl. The episode flashes dorsum to prove Shane sacrificed Otis past shooting him in the leg and leaving him as bait for the walkers while he escaped with the medicine. The episode ends in the nowadays, with Shane shaving his head, wiping out evidence of a bald spot of torn hair caused past Otis during their brief scuffle.

Product [edit]

Similar to its preceding episode, "Bloodletting", principal photography for "Save the Last One" commenced in Newnan, Georgia at Newnan Loftier School in July 2011, after receiving approval from the urban center quango and the Coweta County Schoolhouse System. Site preparation initiated on July ane, and filming began at the gymnasium of the school over a flow of 4 days from July seven–8 and again from July 11–12.^[1] The location was temporarily renovated to mirror an abandoned Federal Emergency Direction Bureau military camp.^[1] Michael Riley, the production manager for the episode, contacted the Newnan Police Department to interact with producers.^[i] Considering of the large size of the filming location, Riley'due south production company notified surrounding neighborhoods to ease inconvenience.^[1]

"Save the Last One" marked the final advent of Pruitt Taylor Vince, whose character was killed off in the episode after Shane shoots him; this afterwards marks a turning bespeak for him every bit a simulated protagonist.^[2] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer Robert Kirkman explained the reaction of Jon Bernthal to the particular scene:

"Jon Bernthal is a tremendous talent and he's got a lot of professionalism. A lot of the actors came in to the room as we were starting this season and Bernthal was i of those actors. He was aware of a lot of the things that were coming up and we talked to him nigh his character and what we had planned for him this flavor and he was on lath with a lot of it. It was nice being able to run through scenarios with him and get his opinion on how he perceived his character. Because actors, a lot of times, think about their characters more than the writers because they're focused on that unmarried character for months of their lives, if non years. He was all prepared for this."^[2]

Kirkman expressed that the expiry of Otis was a "somewhat justifiable homicide", and retorted that "Otis was slowing him down, and Carl's life hangs in the residuum."^[2] He continued: "It's [The Walking Dead] and we're existing in that grayness expanse and we're really pushing the boundaries of that. But at the end of the day, Shane shot that guy and left him for dead and ran off. It'south a pretty dark moment and it informs Shane's character and sets up a lot of things that are going to be happening moving forrard."^[2]

Reception [edit]

Ratings [edit]

"Save the Last 1" was originally broadcast on October 30, 2011 in the United States on AMC. It was viewed by 6.095 million viewers, and attained a 3.ane rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings.^[3] The episode was the highest-rated program of the day, garnering considerably higher ratings than a stock motorcar racing issue as role of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on ESPN and The Side by side Fe Chef on Food Network.^[3] Similarly, the episode became the second highest-rated cable plan of the calendar week dated October thirty, attaining significantly college ratings that WWE Raw simply scoring considerably lower than a game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars every bit function of the 2011 NFL flavour.^[4] Full viewership and ratings for "Salve the Concluding One" moderately declined from the previous episode, "Bloodletting", which was viewed by 6.70 million viewers and received a iii.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic.^[5]

Critical response [edit]

"Relieve the Final One" was critically acclaimed past boob tube critics. IGN'southward Eric Goldman praised the episode, giving it a 9 out of ten, signifying an "amazing" rating. He opined that information technology was his favorite episode since the serial' pilot episode, "Days Gone Bye", and added that "it had scary zombie scenes, good action, interesting character interaction and a revelation at the end that gave us a whole lot to procedure."^[6] John Serba of The Grand Rapids Printing was split on "Save the Terminal I"; while asserting that information technology was "imminently watchable", he felt that the episode was unbalanced as a whole and criticized the dialogue. Serba wrote: "The show continues to display a disproportionate amount of dialogue compared to the development of its characters. It needs to do a improve job of biding its time between crowd-pleasing zombie attacks."^[7] HitFix's Alan Sepinwall echoed similar thoughts, opining, "the characters need more than depth. The show seems to exist setting itself out to be a tiresome-burning grapheme report in the context of a zombie apocalypse — and with plenty chase scenes and other scares to entice folks who just desire brain-eating activeness — and the characters need to be more circuitous than they've been shown to exist so far."^[8]

The Baltimore Lord's day journalist Andrew Conrad commended the episode, citing that the episodic pace was faster than the preceding episode.^[9] Josh Wigler of MTV opined: "Tonight's episode was all about pairs. Shane and Otis, two soldiers in a foxhole. Rick and Lori, two parents at odds over how to handle their son's failing status. Glenn and Maggie, two strangers desperate to make a connection. Andrea and Daryl, two opposites trying to find a reason to move on. Great scenes with all of these duos, and it actually goes to testify just how fantastic The Walking Dead bandage is, both in the loud and repose moments."^[x] Zack Handlen from The A.5. Guild awarded the episode a 'B+' class, and felt that the episode was superior to the previous episode.^[xi] In contrast, Aaron Rutkoff of The Wall Street Journal was less enthusiastic most the episode, expressing, "truth exist told, after 3 episodes very little has happened and then far this flavour."^[12] Boob tube Fanatic 's Sean McKenna asserted that despite not having whatsoever direction, "Save the Last One" managed to retain the "tension and action that makes this show a thrill ride every week."^[xiii] He added: "I'grand sure for some the slow pace in real fourth dimension is something of a bother, but for me it adds to the intensity of the characters' situation and the show itself." McKenna ultimately gave the episode a 4.5 out of 5 stars.^[xiii] Similarly, Morgan Jeffrey of Digital Spy stated that the episode was the strongest installment of the flavor as well equally amongst the series' all-time installments.^[14]

Critics praised the character development of Shane in the episode, as well as the execution of Otis. Nate Rawlings of Time felt that information technology was a dark moment for the serial, and felt that it added anticipation to future development. He wrote: "At some point, Shane will have to come clean with Rick about what happened to Otis. Given Rick's extremely rigid morale [sic] code and Shane'southward at present demonstrated willingness to practise whatsoever it takes to survive, the showdown promises to be bigger than but a battle of two alpha males. The Rick/Shane divide is a battle of 2 leaders with different ideas of humanity and survival."^[15] Mark Maurer of The Star-Ledger opined that "the multi-layered opening [...] illustrates how Shane's impulsive nature makes him a valuable if ruthless warrior."^[16] Handlen appreciated the character development of Shane, writing, "Shane has long been the dark equus caballus of the grouping, the one nearly likely to go off the morality reservation, and this reveal works well to bring him that much closer to darkness. It's non the subtlest moment [...] but, given how friendly and absurd Otis was, and given how well the two seemed to be working together, it's a strong twist."^[11] He added that because of the expiry of Otis, the prove now has a sense of management. "His conclusion to sacrifice Otis is easy enough to rationalize; somebody had to go back for Carl's sake, Shane was faster, and both of them probably weren't going to brand it. That'south the beauty of information technology. In a certain light, he made the right option."^[11] Morgan Jeffrey wrote: "This week'due south installment delivered even more than scares than usual — Shane'due south escape from the loftier school was nearly unbearably tense."^[14]

References [edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Melville, Elizabeth (June 15, 2011). "'Walking Expressionless' Tv series to moving picture at Newnan High". Newnan Times-Herald. Newnan, Georgia: The Newnan Times-Herald Inc. ISSN 0883-2536. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved November xvi, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Collis, Clark (October 24, 2011). "'Walking Dead' writer Robert Kirkman talks about this night'south episode and THAT shocking death: 'Information technology was a somewhat justifiable homicide'". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Seldman, Robert (November 1, 2011). "Dominicus Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Drops, Still Tops; + 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Homeland,' 'Dexter' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 3, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Seidman, Robert (November i, 2011). "Cable Top 25: 'Mon Night Football,' 'The Walking Dead' Top Weekly Cable Viewing". Television receiver by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November iv, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Gorman, Bill (October 25, 2011). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead' Slips, However Tops; + NJ Housewives, 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Homeland,' 'Dexter' & Much More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Goldman, Eric (October 30, 2011). "The Walking Dead: "Save the Last One" Review". IGN. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
^ Serba, John (November one, 2011). "'Walking Dead' postmortem: 'Save the Final Ane' veers from one farthermost to another". The M Rapids Press. Dan Gaydou. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Sepinwall, Alan (October 31, 2011). "Review: 'The Walking Expressionless' - 'Relieve the Last I': Lori's choice". HitFix. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Conrad, Andrew (Oct thirty, 2011). "'The Walking Dead' recap: Episode 203, 'Save the Final One'". The Baltimore Lord's day. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Wigler, Josh (October 30, 2011). "'Walking Expressionless' Recap: 'Save The Last Ane'". MTV (Viacom). Retrieved Dec 26, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Handlen, Zack (Oct 30, 2011). "Save the Final One". The A.5. Club. The Onion. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Rutkoff, Aaron (Oct 30, 2011). "'The Walking Expressionless,' Flavour two, Episode three, 'Save the Last One': TV Epitomize". Wall Street Journal. Les Hinton. Retrieved Dec 26, 2011.
^ ^a ^b McKenna, Sean (October 31, 2011). "The Walking Dead Review: Survival of the Fittest". Television set Fanatic . Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Jeffrey, Morgan (October 31, 2011). "'The Walking Dead': 'Relieve the Final Ane' epitomize". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
^ Rawlings, Nate (Oct 31, 2011). "Walking Dead Recap: Relieve the Last One". Fourth dimension. Time Inc. Retrieved Dec 26, 2011.
^ Maurer, Mark (October thirty, 2011). "'The Walking Dead' recap, 'Save the Concluding Ane': In the midnight hour". The Star-Ledger. Accelerate Publications. Retrieved Dec 26, 2011.