The Walking Dead Season 5 review

Thanks to a liberal dose of propulsive, bloody action and enough compelling character moments to reward longtime fans, The Walking Dead's fifth season continues to deliver top-notch entertainment.

"What Happened and What's Going On" (Episode 9)

The Walking Dead had a solid return after the midseason break, and an extremely somber one in fitting with the show's bleak tone. Rick and the survivors explored a new location, with tragic results for Tyreese. The episode was brilliantly directed, giving it a surreal, trippy, dream-like feel as Tyreese encountered the ghosts of past characters we've lost over the years. Speaking of, the plot device of all the faces showing up from the past worked because Tyreese joined them in the end. And Chad L. Coleman gave a great performance as always in his role of Tyreese, given his meatiest part in the whole series in what was tragically his final appearance. Though not new to the series, the idea of hopelessness was handled well.

"Them" (Episode 10)

With food and water in dangerously low supply, Rick and the rest attempted to walk their way to safety. I appreciate that they adapted Rick's "We are the walking dead!" speech for the show, and thought Andrew Lincoln's delivery was pitch-perfect. The "pushing walkers aside/Sasha goes nuts" set piece was pretty good. I'm also glad Aaron made an appearance as it was an intriguing and effective cliffhanger that asks a lot of questions about the future of the show. My only gripe would be that the episode pored over ideas and themes that were already well-established.

"The Distance" (Episode 11)

Tensions remained high this week as Michonne and Rick were confronted with an offer that could have been a trap. It's not the final episode, but it would've made a good season finale with its final shot of the group entering the gates of Alexandria. The final shot was great, as it made you feel hope for the characters, but also at this point, a little sceptical of this new safe haven. The only downside is that Rick's distrust was exhausting at some points, but all of this still effectively showcased Rick's huge transformation on the show over past few years.

"Remember" (Episode 12)

In this week's episode, Rick and his group of apocalypse-weary survivors investigated their new surroundings upon arrival at Alexandria. What made this a good episode for me was the fact that there was hardly any zombie action, but the quality of the writing and the eerie atmosphere created in this new location made it just as exciting and suspenseful as if there was. Unfortunately, they did add some walker scenes for the sake of it and they felt a bit forced; it would've been fine without them. Some standout scenes included the group's tense and insightful interviews with Deanna, which backtracked the series' past and showed us just how much everyone has changed, and Glenn punching Aiden, which was awesome. Daryl started to feel more distant from the crew than ever as he doesn't fit in at suburban Alexandria and prefers life on the road, making him an outsider. Still, he was up for playful bickering with Carol ("You look ridiculous!"). I don't like this new girl Enid, and I fear Carl is romantically interested in her, which means she'll stick around for a while. But Rick's final line, where he said they were going to "take" Alexandria, promised they aren't settled and there's still some great action coming up.

"Forget" (Episode 13)

While Rick and Carol hatched a plan to protect themselves, Daryl struggled to find his place in Alexandria, and it made for an interesting episode. The standout from the whole hour was Carol confronting Sam when he caught her stealing the guns ("One morning, you'll wake up and you won't be in your bed. You'll be outside the wall, far far away, tied to a tree.") It was his own fault for snooping around, following her. This gives Alexandria edge, as now there's conflict between the main cast and the other inhabitants in this seemingly safe and perfect place. I think Daryl and Aaron make a good pair, and I'd love to see more scenes with them together in the future, as they are both outcasts but in different ways. Rick awkwardly made a move on Jessie, and how that will affect their relationship in future episodes is unclear. Also, Sasha's freak out was suitably intense. This week's episode was not standalone, as it also opened up mysteries that tie into the history of the series, like the "W" carved on walkers' heads. Could this have something to do with that strange "Wolves Not Far" graffiti that's been popping up on walls and on the sides of barns?

"Spend" (Episode 14)

Our heroes found themselves in trouble outside the walls of Alexandria this week, and it was one hell of an episode! I was growing concerned that nothing happened in Alexandria and the show had become boring, but "Spend" really reminded me of just how thrilling and exciting The Walking Dead can be. The whole revolving door sequence was phenomenally done, and Noah's death was so emotional and shocking and gory, like the best-crafted character deaths on this show. I was a bit disappointed that he died, since he was always a likable character but he was just becoming a valuable asset to the group, and now his life's been sadly cut short, but I will admit it was an effective shocker. I admire the character development of Eugene finally growing some balls and stepping up as one of the heroes the other protagonists have become, like Abraham with the construction crew who wanted to leave newcomer Francine to die. And the gore was top-notch, as always from this show's fantastic and underrated makeup crew.

"Try" (Episode 15)
This week Rick really went crazy, and revealed all his angers he had about the residents of Alexandria in one big Shane-ish rant, only to be cut off by Michonne smacking him in the back of the head with a rock just as he was about to announce to Deanna their plan to overthrow her and take over the town. This is a big ending, and unpredictable, setting up what will hopefully be a satisfying conclusion to a great season in next week's finale. There will be an all-out war of Deanna vs Rick over who gets to keep the town. There were also mysteries, like Daryl and Aaron finding hints of the Wolves, who will probably have something to do with the finale, and Carl and Enid's romance is blossoming. I'm likening to Enid; I had my reservations at first, thinking she was stuck-up and potentially some evil spy for the Wolves, but from what we've seen this episode, she's just a misunderstood kid, and I get that. Unfortunately, given our past experience with Noah, when you start to like a character it means they will probably die soon. Basically, this week was a build-up to next week, when we will be seeing an extra-long, 90-minute season finale. By the laws of season finales, someone will die, that's for sure, but given this extra runtime, maybe we'll be saying goodbye to even more. Either way, it's very exciting, and I can't wait to see how the battle for Alexandria.

"Conquer" (Episode 16)
I was expecting more closure from the season finale, but I like how they've left it open to continue into the sixth season. While we now know roughly what those “W” symbols mean, it turns out to be more of a tease than anything else, setting up what’s presumably going to be a big conflict come October. Rick gave another of his famous speeches, which he does every few episodes and which keep getting stronger, however it does seem Rick has come full circle to becoming Shane. Father Gabriel attempted suicide, which was odd, first by walker which he changed his mind about at the last second, then by Sasha which she changed her mind about at the last second, unfortunately leaving him alive. Aaron and Daryl got caught in a trap, and Glenn and Nicholas (kinda) sorted out their differences in the woods. These storylines were varying degrees of effective and together they didn't amount to much. It was slightly disappointed and fell a bit flat, which might be what Abraham actor Michael Cudlitz meant when he said it would "piss off fans." Tense moments came when Glenn and Daryl almost died, but didn't. This was effective because it had the heart racing as if they were going to go without the disappointment that they wouldn't stick around in the future. However, Rick and Morgan are reunited finally and hopefully he'll be joining the main cast for future episodes, so it's not all bad.