This week’s episode of The Walking Dead thrilled me for one simple reason…it highlighted my two favorite characters. Daryl and Glenn both got screen time!

Glenn has been at the top of my favorites list from the moment his voice came across the walkie-talkie while Rick sat trembling in the tank in season one. Glenn is the perfect horror hero–an everyman with no real skills, but lots of heart. This week he ended up being dropped down a well with a walker, screaming in seeming panic, and still came away looking pretty clever. And then there is the pharmacy scene. I can’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but it reinforced the ‘anything can happen’ aspect of the show (this time in a non-gory way) that marks this show as excellent. Would we have been worried over Carl’s injury if Amy hadn’t died in season one?

Daryl’s character has been slowly developing in season two and his search for Sophia this week was another quiet but important step in his journey. His character wasn’t really forced to make any decisions (which yields dramatic growth) this week, but he was allowed the space to reveal a bit more of his core personality. His conversation with Carol gave him another moment of connection that was brilliant.

Sadly, I don’t much like most of the other characters on this incredible show. That’s okay though. My dislike isn’t because they aren’t believable; rather they are very believable people that I wouldn’t want to be stuck with when the apocalypse hits.

Straying away from the topic of characters for just a moment, I continue to be impressed with the cinematic brilliance of this show. They use almost beautiful framing of images from above to give some terrible imagery a real wow impact. This week it was the overhead imagery of looking down into a well with a walker trapped below. The end of that sequence is disgusting and you can see it coming, but you just can’t look away.

Anyone else in love with this show? Who are your favorite characters? What makes the show work for you?