Last week The Walking Dead intersected with religion in wrestling the big questions of life in the face of apocalypse and life as the seemingly absurd. Tonight, with the episode “Save the Last One,” it not only raised questions about God’s existence,but also perfectly illustrated an existential question from twentieth century philosopher Albert Camus. In The Myth of Sisyphus he wrote:

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest – whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories – comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer [the questions of suicide].”

This question was raised at the conclusion of Season One as one of the cast members chose suicide with the destruction of the Center for Disease Control. This season the pressing question is raised again, not only with the daily challenges of survival amidst the zombie apocalypse, but also in light of Carl Grimes clinging to life after a gunshot wound. His mother Lori wonders aloud whether his death would be better than life in the world of the walking dead. Thus far her husband Rick clings to a positive answer to this dilemma, choosing life rather than suicide, interpreting a deer in the woods after a prayer for a sign as a glimpse of wonder and therefore as some kind of “signal of transcendence,” in the words of sociologist Peter Berger. Season Two of The Walking Dead gives every indication that it will press difficult existential questions further than the founding season, drawing upon various aspects of human culture in helping viewers grapple with these issues.