There will be spoilers for S05E14 ([em]Spend[/em])
So shit hit the fan again in a major way. The slow build-up from the previous episodes has culminated in a deliciously gory return to the old zombie survival shtick. The foreshadowing from the previous weeks made me dread the return to Bad Decisions Sunday, but luckily this time the characters we want to hit over the head for pulling dumb shit aren't the ones we are rooting for. [em]Spend[/em] shows us the cruel consequences of the kinds of stupid actions we were bemoaning in TWD's previous seasons. Unfortunately it cost another black actor his job (I was hoping we could keep some more racial diversity after leading Tyreese to the chopping block).
Noah's dead, barely half an hour after receiving five minutes of character building (I should have seen that coming), sacrificed to show us that the Alexandrians really are the sheltered cowards we suspected they were. To highlight that discrepancy even further it's "As all things are equal" Eugene who gets his moment of heroism when he carries unconscious Tara into the rescue van. McDouche bites the bullet, but not before revealing to Glenn that the people they had lost before were dead because of their ineptitude. And speaking of Glenn (who is possibly my favourite character [kill him and I will drop-kick the writers, I swear]), trapped in the revolving door, seeing Noah rent apart completely shatters him. After the admittedly dramatic scenes from the trampled closed community it seemed he had regained the mental fortitude to carry on, only to have it brutally torn out of him.
I particularly liked the scenes with Carol and little Ben. Even Rick suspected something was up at the domicile of Mr. Pete ViolentDrunk and Jessie McPrettyface, but it was Carol who, through her own experience, was able to lay her finger on the darkness that is lurking beneath the solar-powered roofs of Alexandria. The only solution she offers Rick is to kill Pete, which to me seems perfectly reasonable (I mean, who barges into people's houses, drunk at two in the afternoon?)
Abraham, albeit reconciled with Rosita, is still dealing with some pretty severe PTSD, but he too gets his moment of liberation when a horde of walkers stumbles into the construction site they were borrowing metal sheets from. Rushing to the rescue of a trapped girl, he almost single-handedly fends of the zombies, revelling in the all-familiar dance of guts and entrails.
Finally there is Gabriel who we saw metaphorically throw his priesthood away a few episodes ago, this time tearing up a bible, unable to reconcile his faith with the happenings in the United States of Zombies. In the last minutes he delivers a speech to the Mayor like a mad zealot, warning her that the group she was so fervently trying to take in is actually a hiccup away from a violent coup.
TL;DR: I'm happy that the show has fairly sensibly been returned to a more high-tensed situation.
So shit hit the fan again in a major way. The slow build-up from the previous episodes has culminated in a deliciously gory return to the old zombie survival shtick. The foreshadowing from the previous weeks made me dread the return to Bad Decisions Sunday, but luckily this time the characters we want to hit over the head for pulling dumb shit aren't the ones we are rooting for. [em]Spend[/em] shows us the cruel consequences of the kinds of stupid actions we were bemoaning in TWD's previous seasons. Unfortunately it cost another black actor his job (I was hoping we could keep some more racial diversity after leading Tyreese to the chopping block).
Noah's dead, barely half an hour after receiving five minutes of character building (I should have seen that coming), sacrificed to show us that the Alexandrians really are the sheltered cowards we suspected they were. To highlight that discrepancy even further it's "As all things are equal" Eugene who gets his moment of heroism when he carries unconscious Tara into the rescue van. McDouche bites the bullet, but not before revealing to Glenn that the people they had lost before were dead because of their ineptitude. And speaking of Glenn (who is possibly my favourite character [kill him and I will drop-kick the writers, I swear]), trapped in the revolving door, seeing Noah rent apart completely shatters him. After the admittedly dramatic scenes from the trampled closed community it seemed he had regained the mental fortitude to carry on, only to have it brutally torn out of him.
I particularly liked the scenes with Carol and little Ben. Even Rick suspected something was up at the domicile of Mr. Pete ViolentDrunk and Jessie McPrettyface, but it was Carol who, through her own experience, was able to lay her finger on the darkness that is lurking beneath the solar-powered roofs of Alexandria. The only solution she offers Rick is to kill Pete, which to me seems perfectly reasonable (I mean, who barges into people's houses, drunk at two in the afternoon?)
Abraham, albeit reconciled with Rosita, is still dealing with some pretty severe PTSD, but he too gets his moment of liberation when a horde of walkers stumbles into the construction site they were borrowing metal sheets from. Rushing to the rescue of a trapped girl, he almost single-handedly fends of the zombies, revelling in the all-familiar dance of guts and entrails.
Finally there is Gabriel who we saw metaphorically throw his priesthood away a few episodes ago, this time tearing up a bible, unable to reconcile his faith with the happenings in the United States of Zombies. In the last minutes he delivers a speech to the Mayor like a mad zealot, warning her that the group she was so fervently trying to take in is actually a hiccup away from a violent coup.
TL;DR: I'm happy that the show has fairly sensibly been returned to a more high-tensed situation.
