If he killed him the zombies probably would've still went for Shane cause he's still alive.

 

Otis screaming attracted walkers, which they seem to like. And he would've been dead he would be no use. =)

 

Eh, in all fairness, Otis WAS slowing him down at that point. If I look at it from an asshole point of view, I want to shoot him in the leg as well! Me being actually nice and all, I probably couldn't do it.

He shot him so that the zombies would be distracted eating Otis and he could make an easier exit. He wasn't being sadistic, in a sense, he was actually being practical. ONE of them needed to get those supplies back to the farm. Otis was lagging, may not have made it either way, he gets shot. Shane knew he had a better chance of making it back than Otis did.

That sounds cold, but like I said, I can pretend I'm an asshole for a minute to see what an asshole might be thinking. I don't know, it was either Otis getting eaten by himself or probably both of them getting eaten if Shane didn't shoot him.

I, NOT being an asshole actually might do it too. Which life do you choose? The kid's life or Otis' life? It's one or the other at that point. It's a messed up world. Even moral people have to do immoral things. Not that Shane was necessarily moral, at that point anyway.

I don't see why Dale was all worked up over it. I mean, yeah, he was a very moral character and that's why I liked him so much. But he didn't seem to understand what you'd need to do in order to actually survive in that world. "I know what kind of man you are." Yeah, he's the kind of man that had to choose between saving Otis and probably dying in the process, or making it back to the farm to save the kid.

I honestly think I defend Shane WAY too much in any given conversation. Or, well, I don't think that, but my friends totally do.

 

What they said, the zombies only want living prey. Leaving him alive but dis-abled gave Shane more time to make his escape

But also from a plot line point of view- I think it was to show how Shane was turning more ruthless and to begin to villify him

 

He shot him in the leg so they could have the tussle and Shane would get his hair ripped out, the writers felt it was essential for Shane to have a new hairstyle

 

I think Shane wasn't really thinking about what was a good ethical choice in that moment, he just knew he had to get the hell out of there and save Carl. Thinking in the moment, on his feet.

 

The whole scene showed that Shane wasn't thinking very clearly. He should have taken Otis's pack ("Come on, let me take it or they'll get us both!"), gotten ahead of Otis and *then* shot him in the leg. As it was, he lost most of the time he bought with Otis's death fighting with Otis and then being even more hurt in the last part of his escape.

My husband replied that Shane was unable to think about it at that level because he couldn't think about what he was about to do - that even though he knew it was necessary that leaving Otis like that was still reprehensible to him. So he acted without thinking.

I completely agree with Kevlar that a different strategy would have negated the necessity completely. It could have even kept Shane from his downward moral spiral.

 

It's interesting because I was just re-watching this part of the show and Otis says a bunch of stuff about how he knew he was slowing shane down and pretty much knew he wasn't going to make it out of there alive. So in a weird way Otis was practically begging shane to shoot him. I wound up judging shane a little less for shooting otis the second time watching the ep, which is uncharacteristic for me because i'm typically pretty pro-rick, anti-shane.

 

Absolutely, why this is even a question is dumb, common sense says they both wasnt going to make it, Shane takes the shot and he and Carl live on, if he doesnt all 3 die.

And to be fair Shane DID tell him to take the bag and get out of there but dummy Otis refused.

 

Walker were gaining with every step so who knows if they would have made it, maybe shooting/fighting Otis took less time than it would have took to reach the truck and now with Otis as bait there was plenty of time.

 

S and O may have been moving at the same speed but the walkers were gaining more with each step it seemed.

 

I mean even before Shane hurt his leg and tubby Otis got winded they were still barely keeping ahead of the walkers so it would make sense that the walkers are now faster.

 

This show is unclear with how the walkers even manage to keep up with survivors who are supposedly running at full pelt. They shouldn't be hard to outrun but this seemingly isn't the case. They either stay just ahead of them when they're running or they stay just ahead of them when they're limping. The show can't keep it consistent so I just kinda ignore it to be honest. If the implied reason for Shane shooting Otis in the leg is that they wouldn't have gotten away otherwise, I'll take that with a pinch of salt.

This argument could go on all day otherwise.