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It’s been over a year since the end of the world, or the events of season one (I’ve done some mixed-media math using Robert Kirkman’s guesstimate for the time line of the comics series). The cast have gone from scraping by on the open road to hiding out on a farm to holing up in a Georgia prison, which is where the current season opens. The protagonist, Rick Grimes, along with the other survivors of the clash with last season’s main villain, the Governor, appear to be doing more than just eking out an existence. The setting is near idyllic, with farm animals, crops, and makeshift indoor plumbing—which, of course, means it can’t last.
Six episodes in, there are new menaces: A mysterious and deadly superbug has decimated the prison “population.” The perimeter’s been compromised by swarming walkers. The infection spread quickly, thanks to close quarters and poor sanitation (I take back what I wrote about the indoor plumbing), and the walkers have been lured to the fence with nightly rat feedings, courtesy of someone inside the prison. What’s that saying about hell and other people?
