The Walking Dead

Last night's episode (as with almost every one) was amazing, but little did I know that Lori (whom I normally find very irritating) would be so  magnetic and comforting. The actress who plays her (Sarah Wayne Callies) is as thin as a rail and her personality as sharp as a blade, but last night she was...almost, well, almost kind.

In keeping with the ever present theme of survival in a post-apocalyptic world, "18 Miles Out" attacked Beth's problem with vigor and raw honesty. Having witnessed her mother's zombie "death," long after her actual death offscreen, Beth slips into a catatonic state and doesn't talk to anyone for days. When she's finally ready to speak, all she can talk about is suicide.

"I can't promise that everything will get better but we can make what we have now alright." Lori, desperate to reassure her, to prevent Beth from hurting herself, speaks with a quiet passion she's not often known for and though other characters also rush to try and help Beth (her sister Maggie and the lone gunwoman Andrea who lost her own sister to zombies) ultimately Beth herself takes matters into her own hands when it comes to her fate.

It is a magnificent episode and that line ("I can't promise that everything will get better but we can make what we have now alright.") still haunts me. It's probably one of the most hopeful sentences ever uttered by anyone on The Walking Dead from the last person you'd expect to say it...