Now this episode has a lot in it, doesn't it? Merle begging to Jesus. Not the hard guy there for one moment. But like for all of us, no Jesus is helping, and we have to do shit ourselves. This is a nice bit of Merle characterization even before the credits roll. And brilliantly acted. Then we learn he has a brother, who is basically the only one giving a shit about him. No wonder there. We immediatly think the brother will be an asshole as well.
Next we see Shane and family. Yes, it is his familiy by now. Shane really enjoys this. Not for long, poor Shane. I think he really believed Rick to be dead. He had not reason not to. Lori and Carl seem to be happy with the new arrangement too (well, Carl knowing Shane only as a family friend who now takes care of them). When the cars arrive, Carl seems to hope for Rick to come back. He is the only one who still has hope or really cares.
Rick on the other hand does not expect to find his family there, and meeting even more new people and maybe having to take even more responsibilty for others instead of findng his family clearly isn't what he wants to do. But he gets out of the car and we get a perfectly acted scene by Andrew Lincoln. He really is the master of body language. We will see that later on again. Without anything said we know that he is overwhelmed by his feeling, which he doesn't know how to express. He is the rational one, this is to much on the emotional side to be rationalized, therefor he just reacts, not really knowing what to do or to say.
And what does Lori's look say in that moment? Oh shit, what do I do now? Even Shane seems to be more glad to see Rick in that first few moments, before she comes around being (or acting?) happy.
Poor Rick is the naive outsider here. He is just honestly thankful to see his alive and cared for, thanks to his best friend, while the tension between Shane and Lori, or better between them and their conciences, is obvious.
Meanwhile the decision to leave Merle behind weighs on their mind again. Same question that will be asked again and again in the series: do you help, do you take risks for others, or do you look out for yourself no matter the cost. They already established where the main characters are standing on that question at the moment.
Later in the tent we are reminded that Rick and Lori's marriage stood on rather shaky ground before the apokalypse, and I am not really sure how to read the scene. Why is Lori asking if he wants the wedding ring back? Is it because of their problems before, or is it because she would rather he was gone again. I think it is the latter.
Morning comes, and we get more Rick characterization, walking around the camp and being friendly to everyone. Reminded me of a boss walking around his factory floor greeting all the workers - and not in a bad way. He also asks Lori what to do, although he already made his decision and she knows anyway what he will do. But instead of backing him up, she uses Carl as an excuse for what she wants. That is always the worst argument, and she uses it again and again later. Being married for 10 years or more one could expect discussions like that would be over a long time. She knows who he is by now, so why nag him about it, he won't change. I imagine they had a lot of this before the world ended, he going off to some police work, and she complaining he doesn't care enough about her (using the child as a pressure point) only because she isn't the only thing he cares about.
Daryl! Yeah!
And another nice bit of character acting on all sides. Shane is confronting Daryl relativly directly, while Rick is going into defensive mode immediatly, avoiding to much eyecontact, moving sideways and looking down. Not giving Daryl any reason to become even more aggressive, but without being submissive. Shane pops in and gets the fight going. Rick would have just let the flying squirrels go as a gesture, trying to keep the situation calm. And maybe he would even have managed that. Daryl on the other hand - brilliant. I don't know how he does it, but Norman Reedus makes it clear from the first moments that Daryl is not another Merle. Coming back with his squirrels like a little boy begging for a bit appreciation. Which he propably never got.
He also calmes down quite quickly as soon as someone actually reacts to him without rewarding or expecting agressive behaviour.
We get back to the Merle question, and despite the fact that neither Shane nor Lori see any point in getting back to save him, there is a crucial difference. While Shane at least tries to discuss it privatly, away from the other group members, Lori critizises Rick in front of everyone, undermining what he is trying to do. So Shane is more loyal to his friend, respecting his decision even when not liking it, than his own wife. Rick is showing his leader qualities again, finding the right argument for everyone - guns for Shane, a van for Dale - for Lori, no argument would work. She will just think Rick cares more about Merle or Morgan than about her. So she is pissed, and she is venting her anger on Shane. Who doesn't know what strikes him, still believing he could just stay the friend at least, like he was before. And why not? From his perspective, things haven't changed that much, despite having sex with Lori is maybe over. But he still sees himself as part of the family, and he doesn't seem to mind much, being glad to exchange a bit of the nasty for his best friend being back.
Lori does a great job to destroy all that for no reason at all. HER family is off limits? They were all happy to pretend it was his a day ago. But she turns 180 degrees and blames Shane for everything. He used the situation maybe, but it needs two to tangoo. I think if Lori had been a bit more reasonable, honest to Rick and not blaming everyone else for everything that she does, we could have had Shane as a good member of the team. But she does not, and he feels rejected for good reason, acting it out first on Ed and than slipping more and more.

So, that was quite a long one. There are more things to say, but currently to unorganized in my head to make much sense.