“What Lies Ahead” (2x01)
The bulk of the cut scenes comes from the opening episode of
the season, which was originally to be two episodes, but problems arose and
Frank Darabont either walked or was pushed from the show during the editing
process. The true story will never be known as to what went down, but anyway,
on with the deleted scenes:
1)
It appears that a sequence is missing here
showing Shane running away from a hoard of walkers as he desperately screams
for attention and fires his shotgun (as glimpsed in the season two Comic-Con
trailer). As evidenced from the conversation they have once Shane hops
aboard the RV and they continue their escape, Shane's vehicle must have run out
of fuel and he honked his horn to alert them. Then they come up with a plan to
buy them some time – head to the Vatos' hideout at the old folk's home within
the city.
2)
Our gang arrive at the Vatos' hideout, but
discover a series of dead bodies outside being feasted upon by walkers – Rick
says to hell with the noise and they gun down the zombies.
3)
They enter the building and discover yet more
dead bodies. Sophia begins to cry and make too much noise, so Daryl tells her
to shut up in no uncertain terms (before his character was softened as he
became more involved with the group during the season).
4)
The men continue to sweep and clear the building
upstairs. Bodies lie everywhere and there is an increasing sense of
hopelessness. Meanwhile downstairs the others hide from a passing walker
outside the now-barricaded front door, and when Sophia begins to panic Carl
calms her down. It's a nice little beat for Carl, who is clearly coping with
the situation far better than poor Sophia, and it's a nice juxtaposition to all
the death and despair around them.
5)
In an excellent moment of foreshadowing, after
they plan to stay the night in some of the upstairs rooms, Daryl points out (in
a sneering spat with Andrea) that the people have all been executed before
the zombies arrived – clearly there is now a human danger out there, somewhere,
waiting for them.
6)
“Cough drops and bonzo beans” - the group,
huddled in a small room, lay out their meagre supplies for Glenn to ration
between them all. Shane makes friends with Daryl with a peace offering of a
bottle of booze he pinched from the CDC. There's also an extra moment between
Dale and Andrea – no doubt the first moment for the two of them to have a
chance to debrief after he convinced her not to die in the CDC explosion –
which adds a horrific reality check from Andrea. Furthermore Rick begins to
blame himself for not following Shane's lead in heading to Fort Benning instead
of the CDC, but Shane and Lori say he shouldn't blame himself. After Glenn
makes a comment about their dire situation, the men exit to formulate a plan –
to ditch some of the vehicles, siphon the fuel, and head for Fort Benning.
Numerous small character beats here, as well as some exposition which covers a
couple of minor plot holes – particularly explaining why their vehicle count is
markedly different between the last shot of season one, and the opening montage
of season two.
7)
Fast forwarding to the highway, Rick returns
from his woodland encounter with walkers after Sophia ran off, and quickly
discovers the girl didn't make it back.
8)
Carol stands alone by the roadside late at night
looking into the woods.
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