The Walking Dead (TV Series) Chupacabra (2011) User Reviews

Back in Due Course

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 15 November 2011]

Rick organizes search party teams to seek out Sophia. While he walks with Shane, his friend advises Rick to call off the search since Sophia is probably dead after three days missing in the woods and the group is getting weaker and weaker. Hershel wants to keep his family apart of the survivors and asks Rick and his friends to keep distance from his group.

Meanwhile Daryl's horse startles with a snake and Daryl falls off a cliff and is wounded by an arrow. He dreams with his older brother Merle and is challenged in all his fears. The wounded Daryl climbs the cliff and returns to the farm and the unstable Andrea disobeys the instruction and shoots him believing that he is a walker. Maggie invites Glenn to have sex with her and he suggests in the barn. When Gleen arrives in the spot, he discovers a secret about Hershel Greene and his group.

"Chupacabra" brings "The Walking Dead" back in the due course, with an engaging and dramatic episode centered in Daryl, my favorite character of this show. The situation of Daryl, wounded and alone in the woods and then shot by Andrea is outstanding and the conclusion with the discovery of Glenn is breathless. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Chupacabra"

Note: On 10 April 2016, I saw this show again.

Daryl.. you are every bit as good as them!

[and_mikkelsen · 8/10 · 7 January 2024]

Daryl is one of my favorite Walking Dead characters, so seeing an episode where he gets most of the attention and development, is automaticly gonna make the episode a little better!

The episode delves deeper into Daryl's character and his complexity as well as the complex relationship he has with his brother! Its obvious he has a human side that he is affraid to show to others!

He is not good at expressing feelings and mostly wants to maintain a badass exterior! All this come from how he was treated back home!

Emotions and weakness are not an option!

I think Carol sad it best.. you are every bit as good as them!

The beginning shows another flashback that gives us more insight in how it was before everything went to hell!

Incredible Episode!

[g-bodyl · 9/10 · 2 June 2014]

This is the fifth episode of the second season of Walking Dead and I was impressed once again. It's still relatively light on the walker action, but human tensions begin to mount big time and it will be interesting to see how all of this is sorted out. This episode focuses on the characterization of Daryl and we there is a surprise in store here that has something to do with Daryl.

In this episode, "Chupacabra," tensions begin to increase as Herschel believes his guests are taking him for granted and he even warns his daughter not to associate with Glenn. Rick and Shane argues whether or not it's the right thing to keep searching for Sophia. Lori is deciding whether to tell Rick about her pregnancy. Finally, Daryl gets injured while searching for Sophia and suffers from hallucinations.

Overall, this is a very dramatic episode that is only intensified by this cliffhanger that came out of nowhere. It's clear now that the second season is better than the first season. Another excellent episode. I rate this episode 9/10.

Daryl Against the World

[inefableataraxia · 10/10 · 19 December 2018]

Problems in paradise Glenn? Maggie seems indifferent to Glenn, while he is soo pure. Meanwhile Daryl found Sophia doll but before that he fall down of his horse to only have an arrow go through his body. He have hallucinations of Merle that tells him horrible things. Just when he got up and had gone back home Andrea shot him. Glenn finds out about the walkers Herchel kept in his farm, maybe the girl is there? Overall this episode have many intersting moments and Daryl development.

Goat sucker

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 30 May 2018]

Had heard nothing but great things about 'The Walking Dead' from friends and IMDb reviewers. It took a while to get round to watching, both from being busy and also not being sure whether it would be my cup of tea. Finally getting round to it a few years ago and slowly working my way through it, having had a very long to watch and review list, 'The Walking Dead' turned out to be very much my cup of tea and as good as the hype made it out to be, have found it extremely addictive.

"Cherokee Rose" was a slight disappointment, being the weakest of Season 2 up to this point and the weakest of the overall show up to this early stage. "Chupacabra" sees a step up in quality, the tension, guts, emotion and tautness much stronger and more frequent here. It is still a strong reminder of how Seasons 1-5 of 'The Walking Dead' to me were absolutely brilliant and seeing the show in its full glory days (Season 6 was uneven, Season 7 was a huge disappointment and am still debating whether to watch Season 8). It may lack a few of the things that made the previous episodes so great but there is plenty of what is particularly good about the show.

It still shocks me at how an intelligent, well-made (so much so that it is easy to mistake it for a film) show about zombies could be made when so many films have tried and failed abysmally to do so.

Not a masterpiece as such. Some of the action at the Greene farm lags a bit and again slightly too heavy in talk.

Also am yet to be completely sold by Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori, she still doesn't have the presence or nuances of much of the rest of the cast.

Like all the episodes of the show, "Chupacabra" is incredibly well made in the production values, with gritty and audacious production design, photography of almost cinematic quality, effects that look good, have soul and are not overused or abused and pretty frightening make-up that make the walkers even more creepy. The music is haunting and affecting, having presence but never being too intrusive.

The writing generally is intelligent and thought-provoking, with lots of tension and emotional resonance and continues to show signs of character complexity and multiple layer storytelling. The highlights here are the shocking ending and the character development for Daryl.

Appreciated the ever strong and still progressing story and character building, which the episode has a bigger emphasis on.

The world building is still stunningly immersive and effective. Direction is smart and atmospheric while the show throughout has been strongly acted. Andrew Lincoln is an excellent lead, with an even better performance from Norman Reedus giving Daryl intensity and pathos.

To conclude, excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Daryl solidifies his significance within this series, in this episode. Solid acting by Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker!

[theburrus1 · 8/10 · 30 August 2020]

My favorite part of this episode was the exchange between Daryl and Merle, his brother as a hallucination. It says a lot in a brief span of time of the two character's backgrounds. But it shows Daryl's commitment to his cause and Michael Rooker is best in this scene as well.

Otherwise the series continues normal character and story development as usual, Shane continues his downward spiral as well, but I still enjoy Jon Bernthal's acting here. All in all, an 8 out of 10 for this episode.

8.8/10

[CillianMurphyEnthusiast · 9/10 · 14 August 2023]

"Don't be too hard on yourself. We've all wanted to shoot Daryl" -Dale Horvath. The opening scene of this episode was amazing. Shane and Lori watch Atlanta get bombed and they met Carol and her family. The "Rick and Shane" scene IN THE WOODS was amazing. It started off with them just messing around talking about their high school love lives. Then it gets all serious and they have a big argument about the search for Sophia. I loved seeing Merle again even if it was only for a few minutes and only Daryl's hallucinations. Andrea is so stupid. I understand that she couldn't realize that Daryl was a walker but she just straight up wasted a bullet. Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog were all there to kill the walker without wasting ammunition. She missed anyway. It grazed Daryl's head. That wouldn't kill a walker. Jimmy actually existed in this episode instead of being in his room. I guess he thought he perfected the form of holding his gun sideways. This episode ended off with a great cliffhanger of there being walkers trapped in the barn.

Mind Merle

[richjepson24 · 7/10 · 6 December 2011]

This week's episode of The Walking Dead was all about one man, or should I say one redneck, Daryl Dixon. Daryl's relentless quest to find Sofia started off as a horseman of the apocalypse routine with him striding through the woods picking off squirrels with a crossbow. It was nice to see the episode soon flip this back and turn into the near apocalypse of the horseman instead, which really brought this episode to life and gave us more insight into Daryl. The Sofia storyline has been dragging on a little too long for my liking and has really slowed the pace of things back at the farm. Although, the closing scene where Glenn stumbles upon Hershel's prize-winning zombie collection should kick the next episode up a gear.

We also saw the return of Merle in this episode, which may have a few knock-on effects for Daryl in the remainder of the season. Merle in the first season was just awful in every respect, Michael Rooker did the best he could with him but he is too much of a stereotype to really care about. Those of you that were attentive to the opening credits would have noticed Rooker's name appear, therefore robbing you of any surprise when Merle reappeared at the creek.

At first I thought this was going to trash the episode before it really got going but thankfully this wasn't the case. We've never actually seen the two Dixie, sorry Dixon, brother's on screen together so it was always going to be interesting to see how they would interact, especially as they're not in the comics. This was a great way to bring Merle back, having him play a few mind games with Daryl worked well and the two actors had a great chemistry in their scenes. Showing Merle as a projection of Daryl's subconscious may have implanted a few seeds of doubt into his role within the group, which could have a few repercussions later on. Although, Susanne bringing Daryl some food & saying he did more for her daughter than her father ever did may have eliminated this from his mind – hopefully not as this could make for some great viewing.

The opening flashback was great (even with the wife-beating Ed having an input) seeing how the initial group of survivors formed is something we've not caught much of a glimpse of so far. What was also good was the fact that it gave us an impression of how Shane & Lori started to get together as the pair witnessed the napalming of Atlanta. It seems the US government pulled out all the stops to prevent World War Z from happening.

Andrea sniping Daryl was pretty much redundant as it couldn't have been more obvious that they weren't going to kill him off after spending half the episode developing his character. I did chuckle when I saw Suzanne pegging out the washing again, the ridiculous image of her ironing at the camp in Season 1 came flooding back, here's hoping Hershel doesn't have a Corgi trouser press lying around.

And what about poor Glenn, not only is his new relationship with Maggie more like the romance between a moth and a light bulb but he also gets a bunch of flack from Dale about dating the farmer's daughter. To rub even more salt in the wounds when Maggie eventually slips him an invite to a second date of his choice, he chooses a flesh-eating barn dance. It doesn't rain but it pours.

All in all a pretty decent episode that keeps the storyline moving forward, the scene is set for next week's edition and it will be interesting to see how Hershel is going to handle the Q&A about his ranching of the undead. Now all that's left is to give 'Chupacabra' a Google and find out what it actually is.

7.5/10 Scene of the episode – Daryl pulling his own arrow out of his side and firing it straight into the attacking zombie's head – kill of the season so far.

Something About That Barn

[Deadlyknights · 8/10 · 3 November 2022]

Starting with a flashback to when Atlanta was overrun and everyone was getting evacuated, we see a scared and frightened Lori and a comforting Shane overlooking the firebombing of Atlanta. We pan back to current time. Everyone is more or less healed up and start a large organized effort the look for Sophia. Tensions with Rick and Shane escalating. Daryl ends up falling down a canyon and getting beat up pretty bad. He starts to hallucinate Merle talking to him and we get a very interesting conversation. Hershel voices his concerns to Maggie on how well her and Glenn start getting along. Daryl ends up showing back up to camp pretty injured and Andrea, mistaking him for a walker, ends up firing. Shane and Lori's pressing relationship reaches heights and Shane's mental deterioration is starting to show. When Glenn sets up him and Maggie's next meet he ends up making a terrible discovery in the barn.

This episode could have been perfect. It could have been among the best this series has to offer. This episodes shows the real constraints the show runners had with the budget. Scene's going on for a bit to long. Like Merle in the cannion. Repeated lines. The pacing is what tears this episode down for me. It's a really good episode that unfortunately has killer flaws.

"Chupacabra" combines thrilling survival action with profound character study

[fernandoschiavi · 7/10 · 29 February 2024]

"Chupacabra" delves into the harsh realities and challenges of survival, both from the walkers and the group's internal dynamics. This episode is particularly memorable for its focus on Daryl, who, while on a solo mission to find Sophia, endures a series of misfortunes that test his physical and emotional limits. The episode is a blend of intense survival action and deep character exploration, particularly of Daryl, whose hallucinations of his brother Merle provide insight into his conflicted feelings of loyalty, worth, and isolation.

The episode effectively uses Daryl's ordeal to explore themes of identity and self-worth. His hallucinations of Merle criticize him for his allegiance to the group that doesn't fully accept him, highlighting Daryl's internal struggle with his sense of belonging. This psychological depth adds layers to Daryl's character, making his journey not just a physical one, but an emotional and existential exploration as well.

"Chupacabra" also advances the overarching narrative concerning the group's tension with Hershel Greene over their presence on his farm and the discovery of walkers in his barn. The episode skillfully balances this larger story arc with the immediate drama of Daryl's plight and the ongoing search for Sophia, maintaining a compelling narrative pace.

Moreover, the episode's title, referencing the mythical creature that Daryl jokingly claims to have seen, serves as a metaphor for the elusive hope and the monsters - both human and otherwise - that the group faces. It highlights the blurred lines between myth and reality in a world where the unimaginable has become everyday.

In conclusion, "Chupacabra" is a standout episode that combines thrilling survival action with profound character study. It showcases the series' ability to explore complex themes such as identity, belonging, and the nature of humanity against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. Daryl's character is given remarkable depth, and the episode's contribution to the season's narrative arcs ensures its importance within the series' continuity.

Strongly themed episode with great visuals

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 24 August 2021]

Problems arise at the farm as the search for Sophia continues.

This is a strong episode with some good observations of humanity back to its primal state.

The plot is quite character-focussed and it shows the survivor group living on the farm and relations with Herschel becoming strained. There is an interesting theme about leadership and actions taken to ensure the survival of the group at odds with wellbeing of individuals. This is quite explicit in the introductory sequence that shows some destructive measures taken for what appears to be the survival of humanity. There is a great image in this scene where one of the regular characters watches but the other has to look away.

This theme is carried through the episode with the interactions between Shane and Rick and Shane and Lori. Also, the general division between the survivor group and Herschel appears (so far) to be based on Herschel's quite different outlook. This is highlighted well by the episode's slightly predictable but intriguing finish.

It is a good episode for Daryl who continues to be a compelling character. His determination to survive is shown as clearly as his compassion towards those who need help. One scene of him walking through a field injured and the reaction of the others is darkly funny.

Visually it is excellent as ever with a number scenes filmed and edited in a way that clearly tells the story. The scenes with Daryl are particularly well done, as is the dinner table sequence, and the intro.

All performances are great as always.

It's an 8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

Another Cliffhanger Ending

[slightlymad22 · 7/10 · 23 October 2014]

Plot In A Paragraph: Daryl has a few problems whilst out looking for Sophia, whilst tensions arise in the group as Shane suggest calling off the search. Whilst Glen continues to bond with Maggie, Lori asks him to keep quiet about her news.

Another less than solid episode that is saved thanks to the performances of Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln and Scott Wilson. And a cliffhanger ending.

We also get to see Michael Rooker again as Merle. Once again Dale and T-Dog are relegated to the background. Once again it's good to see Steven Yeun get some good screen time as Glen. The character of Andrea is starting to irritate me, not as much as Sarah Wayne Callies but she is on her way.

We also get another cliffhanger ending.

Daryl becomes good person. 😁

[XueHuaBingYu · 5/10 · 1 July 2019]

I never thought that my thoughts will change. This episode is the only one episode so far which can change my view on Daryl. He looked very annoying and a bad guy, but now, he's really helping Carol to find her little girl. I like him for that.

Talking about Carol, she is very lucky to have those people who are very helpful. Even Daryl has become very much into searching for Sophia. And Sophia? She's like her mother. She's very cute and so, I'd like to see she's with her family soon.

On the other hand, I don't like Hershel keeps asking Rick to leave. I mean the world is ending and people have nowhere to go and he has a safe place. Why can't he let Rick and the others to stay in that house together with them? Maybe because of the secret they have. The final scene is very interesting. I'd like to know why they have zombies in the barn. That's very dangerous and they shouldn't keep them near the house they are living. Thus, it makes me wonder the answer to that question.

Daryl is a little stupid, I think. He knows Merle cut his hand. When he appeared, Daryl should know that it's not real because Merle had two hands. That being said, the appearance of Merle is also good. It gave Daryl some strength to climb up. So, yeah, thanks to Merle.

About Merle, I kind of want to know what happened to him. There's no mention of him since a long time. I hope I could see some clues of him in the next episodes. All in all, this episode is kind cold. But it's ended with an interesting thing. So, I'd say it's not that bad. 😁

Amazing moments, shocking scenes and a twist makes this episode great.

[kkoller0693 · 9/10 · 17 November 2011]

Finally we see Daryl do some crazy s*** this episode. "Chupacabra" isn't the best episode of the season but it was still very entertaining. The season has really found it's momentum and is beginning to move forward if I am analyzing the ending of this episode right. By the way, I don't know if I'm alone here but this whole Sophia crap has to go. This whole storyline with Sophia DID NOT HAPPEN IN THE COMICS! So the question I must ask is, "Why would you waste our time with a character we really don't care about anyway!." Honestly, if Rick would listen to Shane and stop looking for this girl, I would feel sorry for less than a second and continue on. These writers have really screwed up with this stupid plot point - but I digress.

This episode mainly focused around Daryl and his brother Meryl. Even though Daryl sees his brother after a brutal injury by falling down a cliff, it was a real letdown that Meryl wasn't here at all. I was so hyped up for this episode because I thought Meryl would return and come after Rick and T-Dog. So yes I was a little disappointed with these "dream scenes." However, these scenes were key for Daryl's character and we finally see his anger being unleashed. When it was when he pulled an arrow out of his body or it was him limping back to the farm, we see some true changes to Daryl that will become incredibly interesting in the next couple of episodes.

There were a couple of holy s*** moments in this episode. The scene where Daryl takes out two zombies while injured was suspenseful and entertaining and when Adrien shoots Daryl because she believes he's a zombie was gut-wrenching. The reason why that particular scene was so amazing was because after she shot Daryl (with a sniper that had a glare in the scope mind you), it immediately went to commercial. I seriously thought Daryl died but he wasn't as the bullet barely hit his head. That was one of the most suspenseful moments in this season so far and I hope more of these moments come soon.

Awesome scenes and shocking "cliffhangers" aside, the side stories were pretty good as well. Glenn was trying to seduce Maggie yet again with the "I have six condoms left" sentence that sort of backfired on him until the end of the episode. The episode also showed more arguments between Rick and Shane. Shane believes that they should stop looking for Sophia (and I am 100% with him on this one) and Rick believes she is still alive. They only had one scene together that started out pleasant but then turned into an argument in the end. Lori is trying to keep her pregnancy away from Rick as Glenn thinks she should tell him. There was also a funny scene with Glenn and Dale if Lori and Adrien are on their periods - it wasn't needed but it was funny while it lasted.

The ending is shocking as we finally know that zombies are locked up in the barn. Now with this twist, it better succeed. I have a feeling that by looking at these characters who live on the farm are keeping those zombies in for a reason instead of killing them. Whatever the reason might be I just pray that the story at the farm ends next episode. We need to keep Season 2 going. This episode was great but "The Walking Dead" has this reputation of being slow. Now a lot of series do this (Breaking Bad, Mad Men) but they end up being fantastic seasons in the end. This twist better be played out great and get the group away from the farm peacefully or violently. And I want to see more damn zombies! I mean, this is a zombie show right? 9/10

Something is building.

[devinpbuffington · 10/10 · 29 June 2023]

This episode is mostly remembered as it has a return of a pivotal character from season one.

As Daryl goes out in search for Sophia with the others his horse gets spooked leading to him falling down a cliff and landing on his arrow. As he fades in and out of consciousness we see the return of Merle. It's not exactly happy though as it's revealed rather quick that Merle is actually a Walker and not really there, but we also get more insight into how Merle was an abusive older brother to Daryl who used his narcissistic ways against him for respect.

Maggie and Glenn hit some turbulence as Maggie isn't exactly sure about what to do with their hook up last episode, Lori struggles with the idea of having a sick child and now being pregnant with another of questionable paternity, Carol gets some hope as Sophia's doll is found in the creek bed by Daryl, and Hershel isn't happy to know that Daryl took one of his horses for the search without his approval.

Rick and Shane are the meat and potatoes of this episode however as it becomes clear that Rick wants to focus on Carl and Sophia, and Shane wants to move on from Sophia and find a better camp. Shane is once again not entirely wrong, and that's what makes him such a good character. He's not a bad dude for having the opinions he does, but he's also not articulate enough to present those opinions as more than frustration towards Rick, some of which has to do with his jealously over Lori and Carl not being his anymore.

Of course another star here is the finale which shows that Hershel has walkers in the barn. Something that has been hidden from the survivors as only hints have been dropped that Hershel doesn't understand the real severity of the walkers.

Once again another solid episode that nails the drama of the world without making it petty.

Overrated

[ahmgamal-62077 · 4/10 · 27 September 2020]

One of the most overrated episodes I've ever seen... really. Just trying to fake unreasonable events to lead to danger/ death/ breathtaking scenes. Bad scenario!