Last night's THE WALKING DEAD nearly made Chris lose bladder control!

And mind ya, that was just from the final five minutes!!

Two things I will say before anything else: that after "Home", this week's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead, David Morrissey has damned-well earned enough street credo to be top choice to play Randall Flagg in that forthcoming film adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.

Yeah, just try to get that idea out of your head now that I've put it there. I dare ya...

Second: Daryl Dixon is the most awesomesauce-loaded BAD-ass on television since the invention of the cathode ray tube:

Norman Reedus more than deserves an Emmy nod this year, for the life he's brought to Daryl. Along with Chandler Riggs (hey, wouldn't it be soooo appropriate if both Daryl and Carl got supporting actor nominations?).

"Home" delivered everything that has made The Walking Dead the best drama series on television right now. I emphasize "drama" because it was past the halfway mark of this episode before we saw any walkers get offed. But when that finally came we got perhaps the most gruesome zombie-slaughterfest of the series to date (note to self: a hatchback is a potent weapon against the undead).

(By the way, Merle might be dumb, but he did at least have the good sense to ummmm... "disarm" himself before he answered the call of nature. 'Fess up now: how many others out there also caught that.)

The dialogue between the Brothers Dixon following the Skirmish of Yellow Jacket Creek was so compelling that I had to rewind the DVR and watch it again. Glenn has become a man motivated by wrath: something we haven't seen before in the poor guy. I'm feeling conflicted because as much as that kind of thinking tends to lead one to a bad end, you gotta admire how this show isn't afraid to shake its characters down to the core.

Andrew Lincoln went 3/4ths of this episode before getting a spoken line of dialogue. But even so, he's so persuasive playing Rick as a broken and despondent man that it was almost like watching silent film of the finest form.

Yeah, everything about "Home" was spot-on flawless.

And then came those final five minutes.

I ain't saying anything else, for sake of those who haven't caught the episode yet, 'cuz it really is worth it to go into this episode pretty cold. But I will make this comment: that what we saw at the end of "Home" was NOT the real war with Woodbury. That is no doubt still to come. And if the final minutes of "Home" are any indicator, when the full-bore all-out conflict comes it is going to make everybody watching it scream out and cry for Momma.

And that music that Bear McCreary came up with for the attack (including the "bomb") was terrific! Yet one more reason why we need to get a proper soundtrack CD or three of his The Walking Dead work (hey AMC are you guys listening yet??).

If "Home" isn't the best episode of The Walking Dead so far, it's pretty dang close. Gonna watch it again later tonight :-)

Categories: amc, television, the walking dead