Spoiler warning through Season 5 of ‘The Walking Dead’ on AMC.
Sunday night's episode of The Walking Dead sees our largely intact band of survivors on the road once again.
After fleeing from an overrun Terminus, escaping both a massive zombie horde and the creepy cannibals who ran the place, Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and company make their way into the woods. Their home away from home.
Not long into their trek they hear calls for help. Carl (Chandler Riggs) immediately wants to go save whoever it is; Rick is more hesitant. It's a tension between the two that's broached later in the episode, when Rick tells Carl that he's never safe, no matter what anybody says or how safe a situation appears to be. Carl responds by saying that he agrees with Rick that they're strong enough to survive---but also strong enough to help those in need and still be okay.
This is, of course, a fundamental question posed by The Walking Dead: How far are we willing to go in order to survive? At what point do we cross a line that makes that survival not worth it to begin with? Rick and crew will kill when necessary, and sometimes they'll leave others to die that they could have helped, but they've never gone as far as The Governor or the people at Terminus. Mostly.
The person in distress is a priest, Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam) who claims to have never killed a person or a walker. He brings the survivors back to his church, a building in remarkably pristine shape given the circumstances.
One thing leads to another. Rick doesn't trust Gabriel, and clues Carl dredges up---the words "You'll burn in hell for this" carved into the outside of the church and knife marks that look like someone was trying to get into the church at some point---indicate, to me at least, that at one point Gabriel locked up his doors and saved himself rather than giving aid to those in need: His flock.
Gabriel takes Rick and several others to a nearby town to scavenge for supplies in an overrun warehouse where a number of walkers have fallen into a flooded basement.
Here The Walking Dead reminds us just how terrific its costume and makeup people are. The walkers in the flooded basement are grotesque even by zombie standards, bloated and drooping, slouched monstrosities with rubbery grey faces.
Anyways, this is where the food is so everyone hops into the disgusting water to kill the walkers and reclaim the much-needed supplies. At one point Gabriel panics and is very nearly killed by a walker who, we later discover, he knew personally (via a photograph that also confirms his legitimacy as a priest.)
I'm also pretty sure that Bob gets bitten at this point, when he's dragged under by an unseen walker. He doesn't fess up to it, but he acts strangely from that point on, and later in the episode leaves the church to, one surmises, shuffle off this mortal coil prior to turning---a plan cut short by the reappearance of villains you just knew were about to reappear.
Rick and company enjoy a peaceful evening at the church after getting the supplies. Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) gives a rousing speech about the need to go to Washington D.C. and Rick agrees to head that direction. There's a bus they can fix up to get them there, too.
Carol, Daryl & Beth
Carol (Melissa McBride) on the other hand, appears to have different plans. Even after rescuing the group, she can't face her guilt over her murders back at the prison.She sneaks off and fixes up an old car, apparently to leave the group behind. Daryl (Norman Reedus) catches her in the act, and before he has time to confront her a car whooshes past. It's the same car that Daryl saw when Beth disappeared. So he and Carol give chase.
I'm a little disappointed to see Carol sneaking off like this. I realize she's conflicted with guilt, but she also just saved everyone's lives. As I said last week, she was basically Clint Eastwood, not batting an eye as she took down walkers and cannibals alike. She also admitted her crime to Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman) last season, easily the person most affected by what she did. Then again, she may believe that Daryl will be unable to forgive her or think of her in the same way if he finds out.
Here we see that central conflict emerge again: How far do we go in order to survive? Carol killed innocents. It was a bridge further than anyone else in the group. Now she has to reconcile that, or run away.
I was just remarking about Beth this evening and lo and behold, the mysterious car she was either rescued by or captured in appears. I'm curious who the driver of this vehicle is affiliated with. If it's the cannibals, Beth is almost certainly already dead. But it could also be related to Father Gabriel. After all, there's a cross on the back of the vehicle. It may be no coincidence that the car should appear just when the group finds the church.
Meanwhile, Bob is captured by cannibal-in-chief Gareth (Andrew J. West) and the remaining Terminus creeps. After a really villainous monologue from Gareth the camera pans back and we see they've cut his leg off and are feasting on it before his eyes. I'm not sure how they managed this without him noticing---drugs perhaps?---but it's legitimately awful. A part of me hopes he was bitten and ingesting infected human meat is one way to spread zombification. It'd be a fitting end for the cannibals.
As the saying goes: You are what you eat.
The entire episode the survivors get a sense they're being watched. Given Bob's misfortune, it's safe to assume they were being watched by the Terminus "hunters." But it's also possible that Morgan () is following at a distance. Morgan, you may recall, appeared after the credits in last week's episode. When we last saw him he was suffering something of a mental breakdown. Now he may show up in time to help Rick's group.
All in all, an exciting episode that sets the stage for lots of great action and drama in the coming weeks.
I enjoy The Walking Dead most when there's momentum. Too long spent languishing on the farm in Season 2, or in the prison for Season 3 and much of Season 4 can make the show drag. I understand why AMC would want to fully utilize the prison. After all, the set alone was an expensive and elaborate creation you wouldn't want to simply use for a few episodes and then throw away.
But the show is at its best when the company is moving. On the run. Looking for sanctuary, and barely scraping by. This is what we have now. The church itself is not a fortress the way the prison was. The onslaught of the cannibals and the disappearance of Bob, Daryl, and Carol will prompt the group to act. And if they survive they'll be on their way to D.C. to save the world.
All of which gives me high hopes for Season 5, just two episodes in.
What did you think about "Strangers?" Shout out in the comments or on Twitter or Facebook.
