Really enjoying so many perspectives in this thread. Learning a lot!
Ok, a few observations:
Tyreese has not shown himself to be given to rage up to now, I have a hard time believing he'd swing at Daryl or Rick - or that Rick, a trained cop, would go into "ass-kicking mode" clearly after a fight is over. He would be conditioned for minimal force, not rage. So for me, that fight, while dramatic, seemed a bit contrived. Then again, two men talking over details is not exciting television, so it's forgiveable.
Rick inferred that Carol was guilty, and by asking Carol if she'd "do anything to save the group" she said yes, plain as day. They both knew the answer - I was actually surprised she admitted that. Now, she tries to walk off but Rick has to stop her to ask her directly "Did you do it?" (I paraphrase). This is where his law enforcement conditioning seems to resurface - trying to pin people down with their words. Enforcing some consensus of legality - but his mandate as representative of the law is purely metaphorical at this point. Moral authority vs survival, interesting theme.
So I find his behavior incongruent - as a matter of fact if he were smart he might have abandoned the case, and relieved himself of having to mete out "justice" in the inevitable ethical dilemma/quagmire/shouting/shooting match. Or maybe he's clinging to law enforcement - which may be a strength or a liability in the new condition.
"Was it murder or mercy killing?" Karen and David would have been dead by the time of their conversation anyway - and Carol might have prevented the crisis they now face. Now that Rick knows, he's insinuating himself right in the center of a crapstorm a smarter man might have neutralized with better framing.
On the other hand, all Carol had to do was wait out their illness and be there to deliver a death blow after they had turned. So yeah, more easily avoided drama in reality, but of course for the TV show, let's shoot first and attract more zombies and injure ourselves with our gratuitous fighting later. Let the driver watch the !@#$% radio, while the rest of us daydream on our way to grandma's house.
For me - give me more Michonne hunting the Gov, more Tyreese hulking out on the zombies - not in the bloody wings, in center stage - than this maternal crap. I know, the audience is bigger than my demographic. But I'm patient and won't judge until I see the whole arc. Oh, Michonne's katana FX are superb, love it!
Marylin Manson communicates a lot like Sarah Palin - making many intuitive leaps and inferences. This style of inferential communication is shared by about half the population, and does obstruct understanding among the other half of more direct communicators. Think Dennis Miller vs Jay Leno. Circular vs linear.
No references, no inferences, no understanding. He's actually communicating a lot with fewer words, but seems disjointed and incoherent if you hold it up to direct connect-the-dots communicating. It's easy to mock - especially in his larger-than-life persona - but mockery distracts attention away from not getting the references.
It's not about ignorance or irrationality - it's simply miscommunication. Now, labeling people, that's something else.
