No, I think we'll definitely see him delve into a dark place. He's going to have his hands full with a lot more stuff and thangs this time around. LOL But seriously, in the comic he slipped into a short coma right after the prison fell, 409 was pretty much verbatim. My opinion on that has always been that after suffering his first gun shot wound and subsequent coma and poor/no treatment that he is now sort of more prone to becoming comatose when severely injured. But just like in the comic, he wakes up after a few days, and now we'll see what kind of state he's in emotionally. Just be patient, the next 7 episodes are going to be a doozy!

 

No. I think people are just expecting too much too soon. I think it was a slower episode but I also think that dramatic build can be a good thing. I think Rick deserved a rest day after being 3 seconds away from being choked to death. But then again, I didn't read that article so I wasn't expecting a dark Rick this episode.

 

Rick was very emotional during his naps.

 

He was pretty emotional at times...he was constantly mad at Carl though. But it's just the first episode...he'll act differently in the future episodes. He was to tired to do much of anything. After being shot and almost chocked to death it's pretty normal for him to pass out like that

 

^ We all know how our beloved Rick loves a good coma!:zombies_lol:

 

I think hype surrounding this episode was meant to lead us to believe a lot more was going to happen right away. While I did not think this episode was bad in and of itself, it's pretty clear that deveptive advertising was used. Case in point, in most of the previews we are lead to believe that the episode will follow several of the splinter groups, but it only follows Rick/Carl, and Michonne. Now they never came right out and said Darryl, Beth, Maggie, etc. would be in 409, but it was implied. The same can be said about Rick's "emotional journey". So, to sum up my point, I think its just more an issue of clever false advertising than the show getting any worse. As a matter of fact, I think the show is about to Mike Tyson punch us in the face.

 

Rick was "sleepy" because Rick was just beaten to a pulp and was seconds away from being choked to death. He lost a lot of blood, was shot, and probably, by the sound of his wheezing, punctured a lung. If he hadn't of rested, he probably would of died. This is by far the worst mental and physical states we have seen him so far in the show. Maybe he isn't seeing things but he has a really depressed attitude throughout the episode.

 

I'd like to see Rick's hands full of Carl's throat! What a lil' brat...
[video=youtube;WeBdtmYVp18]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeBdtmYVp18[/video]

 

I just assumed this was a Carl and Michonne centric episode and Rick would get his later in the season. I wouldn't really say it's a bait and switch unless we get to the end of the finale and we still haven't seen Rick deal with losing Judith, the prison, and his friends.

 

It has been stated in quite a few interviews with some of the execs from the show that most of the lingering plot issues left up in the air from the first half of season 4 will be resolved/revealed in the back half. Like Judith, Carol's status, the rat feeder, etc.

It also was fairly well known that epi 9 would only be Rick, Carl and Michonne. But I can see how some folks would not be totally aware of that.

 

Damn right he was in the worst place he has ever been. He seemed to be on the verge of dying for a big part of the episode.