Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale

I seen the mid-season finale for the Walking Dead TV show a few hours ago.
[spoiler ahead]
It was quite surprising to see the zombie, or "walker" influx toward the last few moments.. and even more surprising to see Sophia arise as the last of the dead from the barn, even after reading spoilers before the episode aired (I'm a huge Walking Dead nut, what can I say.)
[end spoiler]

I'm quite pleased with the mid-season finale! Although I'm not surprised, I don't understand the repeated gripes that plague the show's Facebook. Clearly, season 2 was not as thrilling as season 1; but ultimately, what draws most people to the Walking Dead TV show is not gore and zombies; it's the storyline along with something that seems so sci-fi, yet moderately (if not completely) plausible in our day and age.
I've introduced the series to a number of people, none of whom are 'horror' or 'zombie' fans - whom now love it just as much as I do. Of course, if it were all gore and zombies, they'd likely like it just as much, because the aesthetics are incredible; but, if season 3 is close to strictly zombies, as the trailers state, that will be the new complaint: 'too much zombies, not enough storyline.'

In my opinion, they should stick to the formula they've already got going, and add in a decent mix of a bit more walkers, just to please those of us that grave the gore.

TV-wise, there's never been this much good shows to choose from in the horror genre!
In order of preference:
The Walking Dead
American Horror Story
Dexter (Showtime)
Not yet seen, but based on the trailers, I will be definitely watching:
Bag of Bones (previously a novel by Stephen King, so no doubt the show will be good!)
True Blood (HBO)