TS-19
Encyclopedia
"TS-19" is the sixth episode and the first season
finale of the post-apocalyptic
horror
television series The Walking Dead
. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on December 5, 2010. The episode was written by Adam Fierro
and Frank Darabont
, the creator of the series. It was directed by Guy Ferland
.
was convalescing in a coma after his gunshot wound. His partner Shane was trying to get him out when the outbreak hits the hospital. Shane observes military personnel executing the patients, medical staff and walkers
roaming the halls. He initially tries to carry Rick out, but Rick is attached to life support equipment. A soldier opens the door to the room, but leaves the comatose Rick alone. When the hospital loses power due to an explosion, the life support goes off. Shane checks Rick's heartbeat and hears none. Distraught, he exits into the hall. With walkers coming in from one side, and soldiers executing people in another, Shane closes Rick's door and blocks it with a bed before making his escape.
The main episode begins with the survivors having just entered the CDC
headquarters. They are confronted by Dr. Jenner, armed with an automatic rifle, who asks if any of them are infected and insists on a blood test as the price of entry. The survivors have the luxury of food, wine, and hot showers. During dinner it emerges that many of the CDC staff left early in the outbreak to look for their families, and that later—after the military cordon had been overrun—most of the rest committed suicide, leaving Jenner as the only researcher left in the entire facility. Shane, drunk, confronts Lori to explain his actions, professes his love for her, and nearly rapes her before she scratches his neck.
The next morning, Jenner shows the group clinical results from test subject 19 (TS-19), a person who was bitten by a walker and volunteered to be observed for research purposes as the infection took over. The time-lapse MRI
video shows the disease attacking the subject's brain in a meningitis
-like fashion, ultimately killing the victim, and then restarting the brainstem to reanimate the body with only basic urges at the center of the brain. Jenner states that the "Person you knew, is gone. There is nothing left of them". This helps cement the knowledge that the walkers are indeed "The Walking Dead" and nothing that made up the individual before remains.
Jenner reveals that the outbreak likely affected all the other research facilities as well, and that the building would begin automatic decontamination procedures when the generators ran out of fuel, in approximately 1 hour. As the survivors scramble to gather their equipment and escape, Jenner locks them in and tells them that the decontamination procedure will mean the destruction of everything inside the facility—offering a quick and virtually painless death to everyone inside. It also is revealed that TS-19 was his wife, the facility's head researcher.
Rick and Lori plead for the doors to be opened; Daryl and Shane try to go after and want to force Jenner to open the doors. He relents because they know if they kill him they will not get the combination to open the doors then all of them would indeed die. Finally, with less than five minutes remaining, Jenner opens the doors after Rick's pleading with him to let them at least "try" to overcome this tragedy and not be forced to die. Two of the survivors, Jacqui and Andrea, choose to stay behind, and Dale refuses to leave without Andrea. Before Grimes leaves, Jenner (who had already decided to stay behind) whispers something to him, and the rest of the group heads for the exits, using a grenade to blow out one of the front windows, and fight their way to their vehicles through several walkers. Andrea and Dale emerge from the building moments before the building detonates spectacularly; Jacqui stayed inside with Dr. Jenner. As the episode ends, the survivors form a convoy in their vehicles leaving the area, while a massive column of smoke and flame marks the place where the CDC building had stood.
The Walking Dead (season 1)
The first season of AMC's television series The Walking Dead premiered on October 31, 2010 and concluded on December 5, 2010. The series is based on the series of graphic novels of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard; it was developed for television by Frank Darabont, who...
finale of the post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
television series The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead (TV series)
The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic horror television series developed for television by Frank Darabont and based on the ongoing comic book series, The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard...
. It originally aired on AMC in the United States on December 5, 2010. The episode was written by Adam Fierro
Adam Fierro
-Biography:Fierro began his television career as a freelance writer. He wrote two scripts for the first season of Resurrection Blvd. in 2000. In 2002 he returned as a co-producer and writer for the third season and contributed a further three episodes....
and Frank Darabont
Frank Darabont
Frank Darabont is a Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and producer who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe. He has directed the films The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, all based on stories by Stephen King...
, the creator of the series. It was directed by Guy Ferland
Guy Ferland
Guy Ferland is an American film and television director.-Career:After Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious inspired him to become a filmmaker, Ferland went on to study cinema production at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television, graduating in 1988, and received...
.
Plot
The prologue of this episode begins with a flashback to the hospital where Rick GrimesRick Grimes
Rick Grimes is a fictional character in the ongoing black-and-white comic book series The Walking Dead and as well as its television series adaptation, The Walking Dead.-Comic book series:...
was convalescing in a coma after his gunshot wound. His partner Shane was trying to get him out when the outbreak hits the hospital. Shane observes military personnel executing the patients, medical staff and walkers
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
roaming the halls. He initially tries to carry Rick out, but Rick is attached to life support equipment. A soldier opens the door to the room, but leaves the comatose Rick alone. When the hospital loses power due to an explosion, the life support goes off. Shane checks Rick's heartbeat and hears none. Distraught, he exits into the hall. With walkers coming in from one side, and soldiers executing people in another, Shane closes Rick's door and blocks it with a bed before making his escape.
The main episode begins with the survivors having just entered the CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
headquarters. They are confronted by Dr. Jenner, armed with an automatic rifle, who asks if any of them are infected and insists on a blood test as the price of entry. The survivors have the luxury of food, wine, and hot showers. During dinner it emerges that many of the CDC staff left early in the outbreak to look for their families, and that later—after the military cordon had been overrun—most of the rest committed suicide, leaving Jenner as the only researcher left in the entire facility. Shane, drunk, confronts Lori to explain his actions, professes his love for her, and nearly rapes her before she scratches his neck.
The next morning, Jenner shows the group clinical results from test subject 19 (TS-19), a person who was bitten by a walker and volunteered to be observed for research purposes as the infection took over. The time-lapse MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
video shows the disease attacking the subject's brain in a meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
-like fashion, ultimately killing the victim, and then restarting the brainstem to reanimate the body with only basic urges at the center of the brain. Jenner states that the "Person you knew, is gone. There is nothing left of them". This helps cement the knowledge that the walkers are indeed "The Walking Dead" and nothing that made up the individual before remains.
Jenner reveals that the outbreak likely affected all the other research facilities as well, and that the building would begin automatic decontamination procedures when the generators ran out of fuel, in approximately 1 hour. As the survivors scramble to gather their equipment and escape, Jenner locks them in and tells them that the decontamination procedure will mean the destruction of everything inside the facility—offering a quick and virtually painless death to everyone inside. It also is revealed that TS-19 was his wife, the facility's head researcher.
Rick and Lori plead for the doors to be opened; Daryl and Shane try to go after and want to force Jenner to open the doors. He relents because they know if they kill him they will not get the combination to open the doors then all of them would indeed die. Finally, with less than five minutes remaining, Jenner opens the doors after Rick's pleading with him to let them at least "try" to overcome this tragedy and not be forced to die. Two of the survivors, Jacqui and Andrea, choose to stay behind, and Dale refuses to leave without Andrea. Before Grimes leaves, Jenner (who had already decided to stay behind) whispers something to him, and the rest of the group heads for the exits, using a grenade to blow out one of the front windows, and fight their way to their vehicles through several walkers. Andrea and Dale emerge from the building moments before the building detonates spectacularly; Jacqui stayed inside with Dr. Jenner. As the episode ends, the survivors form a convoy in their vehicles leaving the area, while a massive column of smoke and flame marks the place where the CDC building had stood.
External links
- "TS-19" at AMC