Season 1, Episode 5—Wildlfire

Do you ever wake up with a grim view of life?

After watching Season 1, Episode 5 of The Walking Dead, I’m sure I will wake up happy for quite a while knowing that I’m not facing what Rick, Lori, Shane, and all the others had to go through after the surprise attack from the night before.

This episode took some very interesting twists as we see the survivors deal with the shock of loss, the grief process, and the rapid change that needs to take place in order for them to survive.

One of the tensest moments for me came when Shane was severely tempted to carry out a ‘hunting accident’ on Rick. In my mind I figured that the show wouldn’t off a main character, but it still felt for a moment that Rick was going down. (Thanks for showing up at the perfect time Dale!)

I also thought that the scene with Andrea and Amy was a touching and powerful moment in the episode. Andrea seemed to be in total denial, and it looked to get ugly when Amy “came back”, but all along she simply wanted closure for the grief she was now processing.

Could you have done that?

At the 9:00 minute mark, the show demonstrates one of the more human moments when Dale approaches Andrea and Amy:

Dale: I came to pay my respects. Did I ever mention how I lost my wife?

Andrea: Cancer, wasn’t it?

Dale: Yeah. I dragged her to every doctor, every test. And after all the surgeries and the chemos, she was ready. She accepted it, you know? But I never could. And I spent the last few years so angry. I felt so cheated. Since she passed, you girls were the first people…that I cared anything for.

Dale: This is her birthday?

Andrea: Her birthday was always like…like a week long affair. But I somehow always missed it. I was away at college or too busy for kid’s parties. She’d call all excited. I always said that I’d make it home and I really always meant to, but I never made it past that phone call.

Dale: I know things are hard enough for you without adding guilt into the mix, huh?

SEASON 1, EPISODE 5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. If your sibling or loved one was killed during a Zombie Apocalypse, would you sit with him/her until he/she woke up? Why or why not?
2. What do you think was going through Andrea’s mind as she waited for Amy to “wake up”?
3. Where can we find hope when we lose people close to us?

Read the following passage from Scripture:

And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 The Message)

5. In what ways does this passage give us a different perspective on those who have died?
6. What does Paul mean when he encourages us to “not carry on over” the people we have lost?
7. What is the balance between ‘carrying on’ and feeling loss when we lose our friends and loved ones?
8. How does knowing that we will see our saved loved ones again help us deal with guilt and regret from those relationships?
9. How does the hope in a future resurrection change the way you see/live life today?

Wrap up
In this episode, we see how different people deal with the aftermath of loss- Carol with anger, Dale with sympathy, Andrea with regret. This is a great reminder that as Christians, we can have a different perspective when we lose our friends and family who are believers in Jesus. Yes, we grieve, but the grave is not the ‘last word’ in our lives. This week, take some time to think about how you have dealt with death, and look for opportunities to come alongside those who are dealing with loss right now?