The Walking Dead Season 5

[TREK_GOD_1]

I was just thinking that Tyrese was taking the moral compass role of Dale & Herschel

TWD characters who occupy that position (inlcuding Beth) are always set up for a brutal end. That says something...

Well, with Gabriel, Noah and Morgan, they're perpetuating the idea that you can't have too many black men on Walking Dead! (Ok...not as bad as T-Dog days, but still....)

Noah's dead meat...or not.

But the framing device of the episode was great and the use of all of the more recent dead characters was great, including Beth and The Governor.

For both Tyreese and Noah, as you just knew the photos of the twins was not going to lead to anything good.

So, Tyreese's inner demons would not leave him--even after Noah told him his prisoner exchange idea was the right call. Side note: in "The Grove", Mika's stab wound was not on camera, but Tyreese's hallucination confirmed she was stabbed in the stomach. Terrible. Moreover, the direction of the episode was clear once each of the guest stars appeared with their mortal wounds.

Interesting talks between Rick/Michonne and Glenn and, right now at least, it still seems Rick has an ounce or-two of his humanity, reason and compassion within him.

Oh, yes. After discovering the carnage, I took Glenn's "It would not matter" to mean if Beth escaped with Noah, she would have died at that compound?

Okay, who spotted the most telegraphed shot in all WD history??

 

[Velocity]

Gentle doesn't last.

 

[kitik]

Wow, that was just a stunning episode. A stunning gutpunch of an episode. Everybody knew Beth was going to die. We've been expecting it for nearly a year. And Bob was kind of telegraphed too. But this one was a shocker.

And the way it happened too, just beautiful. To see all those people again, especially Lizzie and Mika and the Governor, who I had assumed we'd just never see again, that was really nice.

And those radio broadcasts were just surreal.

I want to watch this episode again.

Wonder if they will find out what happened to that place?

Seriously, that was some insanely freaky stuff going on there. Apparently some people invaded that place, burned most of the buildings, chopped off everyone's arms and legs, and then tossed all the torsos in the back of a van???

Get the heck as far away from that place as possible!! Whatever happened there is so far beyond dark that there are no words. Our group needs to run away from that place at warp speed.

 

[Velocity]

well, Carol's secret is safe now.

Looks like there are no safe places. You can keep out the zombies with a little effort, but it's marauding groups of people who are the real threat. Resources must be getting scarce, and there must not be many people left who can provide new resources, so people are becoming more aggressive to just take what they need.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

well, Carol's secret is safe now.

..or, until they struggle with another unavoidable / "greater need" situation, and Carol has to shock them into action by revealing Lizzie's fate.

Looks like there are no safe places. You can keep out the zombies with a little effort, but it's marauding groups of people who are the real threat. Resources must be getting scarce, and there must not be many people left who can provide new resources, so people are becoming more aggressive to just take what they need.

I'm surprised no one picked up on--or mentioned the big, telegraphing scene in this episode.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I hate to see Chad Coleman go. He is probably my favorite actor on the show. And I typically like the moral compass characters, but I think his position really painted the picture that he would not last. I don't think that was the case with Dale or Herschel. I felt like the setup was either going to be him dying, or Sasha dying because of his weakness, and him becoming twisted.

I loved the flashbacks, and they all seemed to fit except the governor seemed a touch out of place. It was good to see some familiar faces again.

Get the heck as far away from that place as possible!! Whatever happened there is so far beyond dark that there are no words. Our group needs to run away from that place at warp speed.

Maybe a setup for the next adversary?

 

[Brent]

Loved it.

Something I learned from The Talking Dead, 17 days had passed since Beth's death till this episode. Makes sense since they were headed north. But if anyone wondered, it has been 17 days since the last episode.

I like that they are now in a new location, VA, yet, somehow, it still looks like Georgia :P I imagine it might for a while still lol

I would have liked at least a comment how other areas faired on their journey north, small towns, or big cities along their way, would have been nice just so we can get the lay of the land

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, I was just thinking that too. Noah's family lived in Virginia so a lot of time passed between the previous episode and this one, which explains why Rick's beard has gone full-wildman in the intervening time.

And, yeah, from what happened in this community, I think the actions of the next-likely big bad are fairly clear.

I didn't think The Governor quite fit either, but recall that Tyrese at first had a fairly positive experience with The Governor. The Governor took Tyrese and his group in at Woodbury and over the course of his time there lied to Tyrese about what was going on as events tenses up with the prison group and from what he heard from Karen, and what ended up happening at the prison, The Governor showed himself to be quite the villain. It was another example of Tyrese putting his trust in someone and it failing him.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It'd been 17 days according to Talking Dead.

 

[Trekker4747]

It'd been 17 days according to Talking Dead.

.... Lucid post from you.

Are you drunk or high?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Yeah, I was just thinking that too. Noah's family lived in Virginia so a lot of time passed between the previous episode and this one, which explains why Rick's beard has gone full-wildman in the intervening time.

And, yeah, from what happened in this community, I think the actions of the next-likely big bad are fairly clear.

I didn't think The Governor quite fit either, but recall that Tyrese at first had a fairly positive experience with The Governor. The Governor took Tyrese and his group in at Woodbury and over the course of his time there lied to Tyrese about what was going on as events tenses up with the prison group and from what he heard from Karen, and what ended up happening at the prison, The Governor showed himself to be quite the villain. It was another example of Tyrese putting his trust in someone and it failing him.

The Governor fit because of his repeated quoting of Tyreese's "earning our keep" (or something along that line), which--in the bigger picture--appears to be a guilt-inspired reference to Tyreese's unwillingness to become as brutal as others have in the ZA world. Earning his keep for that world. The Governor throwing that back at him, also ties into his "had your eyes open, but did not see" line, and Martin's ghost repeating his prediction that a guy who saves babies would not last in that world.

I think just about everyone understood the "driving with the departed" scene's message of being "taken to Heaven", particularly when you consider Beth and Mika's lines to him as he lost consciousness.

Just when you thought things could not be worse, Nicotero revealed that things for the characters would take that turn during the rest of the season.

Aside from the possibility of more mutilations, I guess this means this season will break the season 3 record for main character deaths.

Glenn's comments about his desire to shoot Dawn is the turning point for the character. For two seasons, he was adopting Hershel's worldview of not losing humanity, but he seems like's at the revenge, kill-or-be-killed stage, so much that Rick studied him carefully during that conversation.

If he is back to angry/revenge Glenn of the season 3/post kidnapping period, that would set him up to make poor decisions when facing the next threat. ...aaaannnd, there's the baseball bat....

 

[Kosh Naranek]

I was stunned. But, wasn't the other twin in a room with a shut door? Perhaps Tyrese did not look at it close enough or we are going back to Morgan's wife twisting the door handle of the house, but I thought he was safe until he lingered too long looking at the photos. Probably the saddest death on TWD for me thus far. It is almost to the point that I don't want to watch any more. (Granted, I will probably be back next week, but...sad.)

 

[bbjeg]

^I get the feeling.

Great episode. It's a shame to see Tyreese go, but great episode. It's tough to put in words, I didn't expect that at all. Tyreese, he who faced a wall of zombies, taken out in a daze. After three main character deaths this season, I don't know how they are going to move on from this. There's no hope for hope left. Completely FUBAR.

I can't wait for next week.

 

[Scout101]

Bit of a shock, but didn't have much use for the character at this point. He's a big strong guy in the ZA that keeps shying away from killing zombies. He's relegated to lookout duty, or staying back to watch Judith now. Like it said, not earning his keep anymore. Get that he's burned out, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Not arguing brutality, but when you don't even want to go after zombies anymore, you're gonna get it eventually.

I don't need a character to stand there and be the moral compass for me, I'm just fine. Zombies aren't people anymore, fair game. Try not to kill other humans, but gotta protect what's yours too, so push comes to shove...

It's been a while since the ZA started, most of the 'good' groups are gone now. Should be down to the more tough and rugged or resourceful groups now, for better or worse. Pushovers just aren't surviving at this point, you either had to learn or die.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

But the series has al but shouted that most groups are not--as you put it--"rugged and resourceful", but barbaric to one extreme or another.

Look at the list so far:

1. Randall's gang - implied rape (Tony's opinion of sex/women)
2. Tomas & Andrew - still predatory / murderous, even after learning the state of the world.
3. Woodbury - 'nuff said.
4. Joe's Claimed gang - murderers / rapists.
5. Terminus - cannibals.
6. Dawn's hospital group - a system of constant rape, physical abuse, kidnapping and a self-serving "doctor" who killed to maintain his own value.
7. The group responsible for the massacre at Noah's compound / carving "W" on dead bodies / dismembered bodies.

Only Rick's group even plays with the idea of moral ideas / actions, or at least struggles with it, but all others simply jumped on the barbarity bandwagon not long after the start of the ZA.

That's why the next antagonist group will simply turn up the horror, with no true good guy(s) support, aside from one person--Morgan.

 

[bbjeg]

^The Vatos were good and so was Abraham's previous/remaining merged group (minus Eugene's lying ass).

 

[Ethros]

It's a sign I watch too much TV when it seems fairly obvious David Morrissey filmed his scenes on a different day to everyone else!

 

[Ryan8bit]

The Governor fit because of his repeated quoting of Tyreese's "earning our keep"

I think it's more like an above poster said, something about the filming of him was off. Plus, it just feels like the Governor plot line lasted far too long, so any more appearances of him feel somewhat gimmicky to me. It does matter in-universe somewhat, although his situation wasn't as fresh as all the others that appeared.

Something that we don't get in the context of the show, is that it hasn't even been a month yet since the Governor attacked, when we saw that over a year ago.

Just when you thought things could not be worse, Nicotero revealed that things for the characters would take that turn during the rest of the season.

I was kinda wondering about him saying that. I mean, by now that should be exactly what we expect from this show. However, if the show only delivers what we expect, it's going to get tiresome pretty quick. I think it's safe to say there will always be bad things happening, but I wonder if the last half of this season is more going to be the characters dealing with the repercussions of losing Tyreese, Beth, Bob, etc. Rather than more deaths, I think there will just be a lot of inner conflict and change in the characters.

 

[Corran Horn]

I was kinda wondering about him saying that. I mean, by now that should be exactly what we expect from this show. However, if the show only delivers what we expect, it's going to get tiresome pretty quick. I think it's safe to say there will always be bad things happening, but I wonder if the last half of this season is more going to be the characters dealing with the repercussions of losing Tyreese, Beth, Bob, etc. Rather than more deaths, I think there will just be a lot of inner conflict and change in the characters.

Well, it's possibly getting to where you're watching and imagining if this had really happened and you just envy the dead.

 

[Silvercrest]

It's a sign I watch too much TV when it seems fairly obvious David Morrissey filmed his scenes on a different day to everyone else!

How can you tell?