Doctor Jenner, a bad guy? Not as bad as Shane...

The gang heads into the CDC with creepy Doctor Booze Jenner. There’s wine! Hot showers! Attempted rape! The next day the countdown clock to decontamination begins. What is decontamination? Glad you asked – it’s when the computer (Vi, or Hal, whichever) creates an explosion to destroy the building; Jenner believes it's better to burn up than to fade away. The gang gets out of the building, mostly, and set off on the road again.

"Shane should have been the one to padlock the cafeteria and write 'dead inside' on the door."

There’s a flashback, but one that actually advances the action! (The Event? Take notes!) Shane is at the hospital with coma Rick. The military comes in and starts shooting everybody, walker or not. Shane is stumped by the machines, and did everybody love Shane’s stumped face here? It was awesome. The machines go off, Shane checks for Rick’s heartbeat and finds none. Did he actually think Rick was dead? Shane runs. Shane should have been the one to padlock the cafeteria and write “dead inside” on the door.

Back in the present, the gang gets into the CDC where Booze Jenner warns them that once the doors close they will not open again. He asks if anyone is infected and takes blood samples. Then he feeds everyone and gives them bunches of wine! Hooray! And they all get loaded and seem to have a little fun and joyful shower scenes ensue – Rick joins Lori in the shower; a bottle joins Shane.

Dale helps Andrea who is throwing up her wine, and throwing up her hope as well. She has decided everything is gone, there is nothing left; but Dale has decided that this sad, sad glass is actually half-full, and that they can see this as an opportunity to build something new. Dale is officially very loveable. Rick is officially very drunk, as he tells Booze Jenner that he was hopeless outside of the CDC but couldn’t tell anyone, he just had to keep them moving.

Lori is browsing for books in the rec room and Shane finds her alone.  He confronts Lori, who accuses him again of lying about Rick being dead, and Shane tries to describe to her how awful it was at the hospital, and that he actually did think that Rick was dead. Plus, he saved their lives, and doesn’t that count for anything? Then he tries to force himself on her, and she fights him off, scratching his neck in the process. Rick stumbles into their room – Carl is asleep, Lori is crying. He assures them that they’ll be safe, that they don’t have to be afraid anymore. Except that they're locked up with Shane, who is getting more out of control by the moment. Oops.

The morning after the night before, the gang enjoys powdered eggs and aspirin. Breakfast of champions! Shane tries to explain the scratches on his neck as self-inflicted; Booze shows the playback of Test Subject 19, and explains how the walker virus kills the brain and then later, reactivates the stem only. The test subject is shot in the brain, and Jenner tells Andrea, “I lost somebody too, I know how devastating it is.” Just then, Dale notices that the clock is counting backwards. Apparently the facility generators are about to run out of fuel, and when that happens, the computer will begin decontamination.

"We get it! Rick good! Shane bad! Enough already!"

The gang wants to escape, but Jenner tries to convince them that it’ll be better to go quickly, in the fiery flame of decontamination, which will destroy the building and everyone in it in a single, huge explosion. To that end, Jenner locks them all in the computer room. Shane goes all crazy with a gun in Jenner’s face; and Rick fights Shane off. Then Rick gets in touch with Jenner’s humanity – he admits that Test Subject 19 was his wife, and that he promised her to keep trying to find a cure until the end. (During this moving exchange, Darryl is in the background, hilariously trying to break through the sealed doors with an axe.) Rick, the good guy, convinced Jenner that he should let them go, once again succeeding where Shane’s force failed (We get it! Rick good! Shane bad! Enough already!) As the doors open, Rick thanks Jenner but he tells him not to thank him yet, then whispers something in Rick's ear. What? Everyone runs out the door except Jacqui and Andrea. Jacqui chooses the fiery flame instead of going back out with them. Now who will come up with handy zoning regulations and sewer entrance locations? They are so screwed. Andrea is too depressed to go on, but Dale won’t let her stay alone.

How do you think that made Jacqui feel? Unpopular to the end, can’t even get someone to risk their lives to convince her not to go for suicide? Yikes, I bet that just makes her want to burn up in a fiery flame just short of a nuclear explosion. I guess this is her lucky day.

Anyway, the gang is upstairs and trying to break out of the CDC; when Carole remembers that she has Sheriff Rick’s grenade in her purse from when she was doing laundry. I bet she has the 20 bucks I left in my jeans too. Frigging Carole. As the gang breaks through the building windows with the grenade and make their way to the RV and trucks, shooting walkers (aaaw! just like old times!) Dale and Andrea burst through the windows as well! Jacqui and Jenner watch them on the cameras then hold hands as the explosion comes.

And it is a big, giant explosion which takes the whole building down but oddly does not burst the windows or tires of the RV and trucks. And the gang, bruised, battered, and depressed; low on fuel and now missing Jacqui, head out on the road again.

Only three hundred days till season two! But who is counting? Besides me. Anyone?

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