This episode begins with a flash-forward of a buff, shirtless man standing before a sink, shaving his head. As his face is perfectly framed by the mirror, we realize that it’s not a sneak peek of next season’s Breaking Bad but instead our very own Shane Walsh. Shane flashes his most convincing Full Metal Jacket glower and then we’re peeling back to a few hours before, when Shane still had both his hair and his soul.
• I can’t help but wonder if Frank Darabont watches this episode now and feels a kinship a with the sold-out Otis. Especially in light of this quote by Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane, about Darabont’s firing: “Look, I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t a very tough, jarring thing for us to go through … That being said, this cast and this crew loves the heck out of each other, we love the heck out of this show, and nothing was going to slow us down or keep our eyes off the prize.â€