The Walking Dead: Season 5 (Review)

We do what we need to do and then, we get to live... Because this is how we survive. We tell

ourselves that we are the walking dead. - Rick Grimes

We've made it to Season 5 of The Walking Dead! In my opinion this is one of the best seasons the show has to offer so far. The writers continue to expand on the groundwork they laid in Season 4, and push the story forward in both exciting and heartbreaking directions. Cinematographer Michael E. Satrazemis keeps up his unique approach to handling the camerawork. Again, as I said in a previous review, The later seasons of The Walking Dead make me feel like I'm watching an indie-film because of the cinematography and I love it! Season 5 also has one of the most stressful, well done premieres of the entire show.

This is a must see season for any fan of The Walking Dead. The pace is great, the stories told are intriguing, and the production value is top notch. Be on the lookout for a great walker gag involving melted walkers and a spinal cord! This season continues with the more character driven focus of Season 4 and pushes the characters to new levels emotionally. One of the stand out aspects of this season is how fast things change. This can definitely be seen as a transition season. Where the characters start in Episode 1 is an entirely different place than where they end in Episode 16 both in location and emotions.

This is my review for The Walking Dead Season 5.

Season 5 of The Walking Dead picks up right where the previous season left off. Rick and the rest of the group are locked in a train car by the people of Terminus. They are pulled out after an escape attempt leading to one of the most intense, nerve wracking scenes of the series. Rick and several members of the group are lined up in front of a trough. The survivors watch in horror as the people of Terminus go one by one down the line hitting other survivors over the head with a baseball bat (more on that in Season 7) and then slitting their throats. The rest of the episode focuses on our group finding a way out of this situation with the help of Carol who comes back just in time after Rick sent her away last season. As I said before, This is one of the best season premieres of the show.

In Season 5, the story can be broken up into four different pars. Part one spans the first three episodes primarily dealing with the people from Terminus. This first story arc focuses on the question of how far our survivors are willing to go to survive and what is defined as too far. Our survivors are met with the most depraved group they've encounter thus far in the apocalypse. The people of Terminus even go as far as cannibalism. The moral question posed is: 'What violence is acceptable to combat this level of depravity?' This ultimately culminates in our survivors massacring the group inside of a small church they seek shelter in much two the horror of some members of the group. A new character and owner of the church, Father Gabriel, who is wonderfully played by Seth Gilliam, particularly takes offense to this action. This is a house of God, he laments. No. It's just four walls and a roof, Maggie replies. This scene epitomizes the entirety of this arc.

Episode 4 starts the second story arc in the season, following Maggie's sister, Beth, who has been missing since the second half of Season 4. She finds herself in a hospital in downtown Atlanta that is run by a group of police officers. They have a system in place where one must work to pay off any resources used on them. However, it is revealed that this group brings people to the hospital against their will, often times injuring them in the process, and then forces them to repay them for 'saving' them. Beth learns that the situation is volatile as Dawn, the leader of the group, cannot control the officers that are below her. This arc lasts through Episode 8 and follows our group as they try to recover Beth. This all comes to a head in Episode 8 as Rick wants to sneak into the hospital and assassinated the officers until they reach Beth and take her back. Tyrese and Daryl both oppose this plan and decide they should instead take hostages and offer a trade. They go with the latter plan and meet with Dawn. Everything seems to go well until Dawn demands that they also give back Noah, played by Tyler James Williams, who used to be a part of that community. Noah does not want to go back leading to an altercation between Beth and Dawn that results in Beth's tragic death. This event is a catalyst for the characterization of Rick throughout the rest of the season. He now feels vindicated in his views on threats to the group and refuses to take any more chances, leading us into the the third story arc of the season.

Episodes 9 through 11 contain the third story arc. Our survivors are once again on the road forced to face the harsh realities of the world they now live in. This arc focuses on showing our survivors struggling to survive once again while trying not to lose themselves. On top of this struggle many of them have had major losses in the events that preceded these episodes. We get three episodes that drive home how hard it is living on the road which includes an iconic speech from Rick. He tells the others, That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then, we get to live. But no matter what we find in DC, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves... that we are the walking dead. That speech encapsulates the entire theme of this arc. Episode 11 brings into another small transition when the Group encounters a man named Aaron, played by Ross Marquand, who tells them of a community that they can live at named Alexandria. After much debate and distrust they finally decide to go with him leading us to the final story arc of the season.

Episodes 12 through 16 focus on our survivors trying to adjust to a new way of life that seems unrealistic after what they faced in the past. The town of Alexandria has been relatively unscathed by the apocalypse and its people seem completely oblivious to the harshness of the world around them. The questions posed are: 'How can our survivors adjust to normal day life after everything they've been through?' and 'Are the people of Alexandria living in a fantasy land unable to fend for themselves?' This arc is a unique change for the show creating some interesting scenes that almost feel like they are from something other than The Walking Dead. A scene where Rick is running around the suburban neighbourhood looking for Judith comes to mind as one particular instance. After seeing our survivors on the road for so long, this juxtaposition puts us in a similar mindset as our characters as we adjust to the new setting of the show.

This arc culminates in a hour long finale that wraps up each story for our characters that the preceding episodes set up while opening up new themes for the show to explore in Season 6. After a few losses, including Noah who dies on a run because of one of the Alexandrians, and a confrontation between Rick and a member of the community who is abusing his wife and sons, the people of Alexandria are met with a rude awakening as a small group of walkers make it inside the community. Rick takes care of it while Deanna, the leader of Alexandria played by Tovah Feldshuh, and the rest of the community are discussing how to deal with after he cracks and explains to them how weak they are while waiving around a gun (super subtle Rick).

He shows the people of Alexandria that they are not truly safe and need to open their eyes and learn how to survive. The ones out there, the living and the dead, they'll try to get in here. 'Cause we're in here. They'll hunt us, they'll find us, they'll try to use us, they'll kill us. But we'll kill them. We'll survive. I'll show you how. You know, I was thinking, how many of you do I have to kill to save your lives? But I'm not going to do that. You're going to change. After this speech, Pete, the abusive father, walks into the meeting and kills Reg, Deanna's husband. In grief Deanna turns to rick and tells him to execute Pete. This marks a shift of power in the community. As this happens, Daryl and Aaron, who have been going on runs together, walk into the scene accompanied by Morgan, who fans will remember from the first episode of the series and the episode titled 'Clear' in Season 3. He seems shocked by Rick executing Pete setting up an interesting dynamic for the following season. The story with Morgan also introduces to a new group who becomes a threat in Season 6.

This has been my longest review for The Walking Dead so far, because this season is packed with story. Watching Season 5 honestly feels like you are watching at least two seasons of the show. The writers handle this, however extremely well. We are introduced to many new characters and locations and they all feel natural within the story telling of the season so kudos to Scott M. Gimple and the rest of the writing staff. As I said before, this season is a transition season that leads into new storytelling possibilities, but this does not diminish the enjoyability of the season. Season 5 is one of my personal favourites and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the show. The creative team also begin to take more risks both visually and tonally with the show keeping things fresh and gifting the viewers with a different experience episode to episode. For example, Episode 9 titled 'What Happened and What's Going On,' is told in a nonlinear fashion and takes place a lot inside of a dying character's mind.

For continuing to push the story in new interesting directions and keeping up strong production value, I give Season 5 of The Walking Dead 4.5 out of 5 cauldrons!