TS-19 - Recap

Shane is running through a hospital, trying to avoid military personnel
and Walkers alike. He ducks into a room where Rick lies in a coma. "If
you're going to wake up, you better do it now!" Shane tells his friend,
but to no avail. Rick remains unresponsive, so Shane reluctantly leaves.
He puts a gurney in front of Rick's door, for whatever little good it
might do.

Back at present day CDC, Rick, Shane and the rest of the survivors enter
the CDC building. It seems abandoned until Jenner makes his presence
known. He demands to know if anybody is infected. They will all have to
have blood tests before they come any further.Rick, as spokesman of the
group, agrees. If they have anything outside, it needs to come in now.
Once the dock door closes, it stays closed. Rick and Jenner introduce
themselves.

As Jenner leads them underground, Daryl asks if he always packs heat
like that. He tells them he wasn't sure who he would be meeting, but
this lot looks harmless enough. Except Carl. He'll have to keep his eye
on Rick's son. This wins him a small smile. Jacqui asks if they are
underground, and he asks if she's claustrophobic. She answers "a
little", so he tells her to try not to think about it. He tells his
computer to bring up the lights in the big room, and she complies. He
welcomes them to Zone 5.

A talking computer (Vi) with a female voice has been his only company.
He apologizes for being the only one left. As he takes her blood, Andrea
snaps at Dr. Jenner. What's the point? If they were infected, they'd all
be running fevers. He tells her he broke every rule in the book, letting
them in here. He'd appreciate it if she'd indulge him on this one. She
has a stomach cramp when she stands up, and Jacqui tells Jenner that
Andrea hasn't eaten in days. None of them have.

Jenner shares his wine with the survivors. Dale points out that children
in Italy and France would be partaking. Lori says he's not in Italy or
France, but Rick doesn't see why it would hurt anything to let him have
some. She gives in, and Carl tries it. He grimaces to show how nasty he
finds it. Everybody gives a toast to Jenner before Shane asks him what
happened, where did they all go. Rick tries to stop him, but Shane
presses on. This is why they're here, right?? To get answers. And all
they found was one man. Jenner explains that a lot of people just left.
Went off to be with their families. It got worse when the military
cordon got overrun. The rest bolted. Shane sardonically says "Every last
one?" Jenner says no. Some couldn't face walking out the door. They
'opted out'. There was a rash of suicides. It was a bad time. Andrea
asks why he didn't leave. He just kept working, hoping to do some good.

Jenner is walking the survivors to their new area. Most of the facility
is powered down, including housing. The couches are comfortable, or
there are some cots in storage. He asks the kids not to plug in the
video games, or anything that draws power. And if they shower, go easy
on the hot water. Glenn looks like he's just been handed a miracle. Hot
water. Everybody is overjoyed to be fully and completely clean again.
Rick joins Lori in her shower stall. Shane drinks in his. Andrea sits in
hers, looking anxious and sad.

Dale hears Andrea sobbing and vomiting. He goes to care for her while
she's sick. When she's done, she tells Dale everything's gone, there's
nothing left. She doesn't mean the wine. Dale sees a chance to make a
new start, but she thinks he's talking like a fool. She saw the look on
Jenner's face. There is nothing left.

Rick checks in with Jenner, asking about the blood. Jenner tells him
there were no surprises. Rick is drunk, and falls when he attempts to
sit. He tells Jenner they would have died out there, it was only a
matter of time. The Walkers seriously outnumber them. He never told Lori
what he really thought. He just kept it in, and kept them moving. Jenner
tells him it will all be okay.

Lori is blissed out on having a clean, dry body in clean, dry clothes.
She stops to check on Carl. Grace gathers the kids to put them to bed,
but Lori stays behind to check out the books.

Shane finds Lori alone and confronts her. "I'm going to tell you a few
things and you're going to listen to me," Shane slurs. "How can you
treat me like this?!" Lori says this isn't the time, but he mockingly
says it's never the time. He tries to explain the massacre at the
hospital the night he left Rick behind. The machines were down. He put
his ear to Rick's chest and listened for a heartbeat, and he did not
hear one. He starts manhandling Lori while he talks to her. She tries to
get past him, but he shoves her back in the chair. He would trade places
with Rick back then, he would trade places with Rick right now. He wants
Lori to know that he loves her. He starts trying to have sex with her.
She lashes out at his neck, leaving marks. He walks out.

Rick goes back to their room. Lori feigns sleep, but he pulls her over
and tells her they don't have to be afraid anymore. They're safe here.
She continues crying.

The next morning, Rick is hungover. Several other survivors are in worse
shape than he is. Jenner sent down aspirin to help. T-Dog makes
powdered eggs for the survivors. When Shane enters, he tries to conceal
the scratch marks on his neck, then claims they are self-inflicted. Rick
says he's never seen Shane do anything like that before. He replies me
either, then catches Lori's eye and says "Not like me at all."

After breakfast, Jenner asks the computer to replay the TS-19 footage.
The TS stands for Test Subject. The test subject was bitten by a Walker
and then volunteered to have his status monitored. They all watch as the
subject's brain synapses corrode and shutdown, then flicker back to life
during "resurrection." The brain stem reawakens, but nothing else. "The
neo-cortex, the human part; that doesn't come back, Jenner says. It's
just a shell driven by mindless instinct. That's all Jenner knows. He's
nowhere near to finding a cause or cure. The replay concludes with what
is obviously a bullet plowing through the brain stem, ceasing all neural
activity. Andrea notes that that was Jenner, shooting his patient to death.

Dale sees a clock that is counting down to zero. Jenner explains that
the basement generator will eventually run out of fuel. And what happens
then? Jenner doesn't answer, so Rick asks Vi. She states that
facility-wide decontamination will occur.

Rick leads a group to the basement, where they start investigating.
Shortly thereafter, Vi announces that emergency lighting is on. T-Dog
reports back that he found a lot of dead generators, and more empty fuel
drums than he could count. Only one generator remains up and running.
Upstairs, Lori notices that the air conditioning stopped.

Jenner has shaved, combed his hair and put on a tie. He tells the photo
of his dead wife that he did the best he could with the time that he
had, and he hopes she can be proud of that. He picks up his work badge,
and murmurs that we always think there's going to be more time. The
lights go out as the CDC commences shutdown. Rick confronts Jenner, and
he explains how things unfold at the end. The computers will keep
running until the last possible second. There's 30 minutes left.

He finally answers Andrea's question. It was the French. They held out
the longest. While 'our' people were bolting, and committing suicide,
they held strong until the end. They thought they were close to a
solution. Jacqui asks what happened, and Jenner tells her the same thing
that happened here. They ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil
fuel. How stupid is that?

Rick tells everybody to grab their gear and move out. Jenner seals the
door, locking everybody inside. He explains that it would be pointless
to run. The computer has locked all the exit doors on the street level.
Basically, the facility will auto-self-destruct, killing everyone
inside. The CDC houses multiple strains of deadly viruses, and is
designed to make sure nothing escapes when power is lost. Vi explains
how they will die, and the survivors are devastated. The air will become
fire, and they will die instantly. No pain. No more sorrow or grief, or
regret. Jenner thinks it sounds wonderful.

Shane and Daryl start beating at the door with axes, but they get
nowhere. Jenner informs them that the doors are designed to withstand a
rocket launcher. Jenner tells them there's no hope. There never was.
Andrea asks what part of "Everything's gone" does Rick not understand.
Jenner calls it an extinction event. Grace doesn't want her daughter to
die like this. Jenner thinks he's being compassionate. Shane pulls a
rifle on Jenner and orders him to let them go. He starts shooting. Rick
disarms him.

Rick tells Jenner he knows he's lying. It's not all over. If it was,
Jenner would have taken the easy path, bolting or suicide. He took the
hard path. Jenner refuses to answer, claiming it doesn't matter. Rick
says it does matter. It always matters. Jenner stayed when others ran.
Why?? Jenner says it wasn't because he wanted to. He stayed because he
made a promise to her, his wife. TS-19 was his wife. She was an Einstein
in their field. She would have found the answer. He should have died.
Not her. He had a choice. They want a choice. Just let them go, so they
can keep trying as long as they can.

Jenner opens the sealed door, but warns that the topside exits remain
shut. They head out the door. Jenner tells Rick "There's your chance,
take it." He whispers something in Rick's ear as he shakes his hand. As
the group rushes out the door, Jacqui and Andrea announce that they are
staying. They would rather die an instantaneous and painless death than
face the outside. "This isn't what Amy would want for you!" Andrea tells
Dale that Amy is dead, and he needs to leave. She refuses to look at
him. The rest of the survivors rush to the front lobby. They desperately
try to break the glass, but it withstands even a shotgun blast. Carol
pulls a grenade from her purse. She found it in Rick's uniform his first
day in camp, when she did his wash. Rick takes the grenade, sets it
against the glass entrance and pulls the pin. It works! The glass
breaks, creating an exit. Dale tells Andrea she wins. If she stays, so
does he. She tries to send him away, but he won't hear it. She made him
care. She doesn't get to just check out now.

The survivors run for their vehicles, killing Walkers as they go. Lori
notices Dale and Andrea running, so they wait for them to catch up.
There's just 10 seconds to spare. That's not enough time, so they take
cover as best they can while the CDC explodes and burns. Andrea and Dale
are uninjured, and run to the vehicles. Andrea stares daggers at Dale,
and he shoots them right back. All that's left of the CDS is a black cloud.

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