"Bloodletting" is the second episode of the second season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, and the 8th overall episode of the series. It initially aired on AMC in the United States on October 23, 2011. The episode was written by Glen Mazzara and directed by Ernest Dickerson. In this episode, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) rush to save the life of Rick's son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), and discover a possible safe haven in the process. Production commenced in Newnan, Georgia at Newnan High School in early July 2011, after attaining approval from the city council and the Coweta County School System. The episode featured guest appearances from Scott Wilson, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney and Pruitt Taylor Vince, amongst several other recurring actors and actresses for the series. "Bloodletting" was well received by television critics, who praised the character development in the episode. Upon airing, it gained 6.70 million viewers and garnered a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings. Plot In a flashback, Lori Grimes is talking with other mothers about a fight she had with her husband, Rick. Rick's partner, Shane Walsh, pulls up in a police cruiser and tells Lori that Rick has been severely wounded in a highway shootout. Lori then tells her and Rick's son, Carl the news, causing him to break down in tears. In the present, Carl has been accidentally shot by a man named Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince), who was hunting for deer. Otis brings Rick, Carl and Shane to a veterinarian named Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson), for whom Otis works as a farm hand. Hershel lives with his daughters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney), Beth's boyfriend Jimmy (James Allen McCune), and Otis' wife Patricia (Jane McNeill). He treats Carl, but he reveals that the bullet was broken into six fragments. Rick must donate blood to Carl in order to keep him alive. Lori, Glenn, Carol, Daryl, and Andrea are still searching for Carol's daughter, Sophia, when they overhear a gunshot. Meanwhile, on the highway, Dale believes that T-Dog has contracted a blood infection from the wound he received in the previous episode, prompting their fruitless search for antibiotics. At the Greene farm, Hershel reveals that Carl needs major surgery to live, and that he will need a respirator. Otis suggests that they might find supplies at a nearby high