The Walking Dead season 5 premier

Last night the AMC TV series the Walking Dead had it’s fifth season premier. The show is a zombie horror television series based on the Robert Kirkman comic of the same name. The series has a fanatical following and I know a lot of eyes were glued to the set last night, or will be tonight as DVR’s spin up their warp drives to broadcast the premier ep. So before we talk about the episode lets first say (spoiler alert).

 

Comic-Con Trailer: The Walking Dead: Season 5 (Screengrab)Last season Rick and the Rickersons were playing a show inside a boxcar in the quaint little town of Terminus. Previously every member of the gang seemed to be making their way toward Terminus unbeknownst to everyone else. They were divided, after the Governor raided the prison, and hadn’t yet found each other. Each small group seemed to come across a sign for the directions to Terminus and it’s promise of sanctuary. Since things always go so well for everyone in this zombie apocalypse they decided to roll the dice and make the journey. Of course they found out the Terminites are a bunch of lying-liars who tell lies. Most of the gang ended up hoarded into boxcar prisons (kind of like the Boxcar Children).

 

the-walking-dead-season-5-terminusAt the start of this season I was really expecting it to slowly introduce the Terminites and how their little group worked. Maybe Rick and the Rickersons show the Terminites how bad-ass they really are and take over Terminus. I got none of what I expected.

Rick and Co. made weapons (really cool weapons) and they were really ready to give ’em hell when the Terminites drop in tear gas from from above, gain the upper hand again, and off-load ten or so boxcar kids and tie them up. It turns out the Terminites are cannibals and they are leading Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and others to the head bashin’ throat slashin’ troph… like pigs.

 

the-walking-dead-season-5-carol-mcbride-daryl-reedus-935While this episode was good and well delivered and hit all the marks we have come to expect from this AMC series, the story hit a snag for me here. Because we know they are going to get out somehow, and part of you really wants them to get revenge as well, but what we get is just luck. Rick’s group happens to be the last in line to get brained and bled out when conveniently someone else steps in and saves the day. I was glad with the choice of who, because Carol is the new Rick like orange is the new black, and I really want her to take lead for a while. Still, her timing and lucky discovery of fireworks  magically appear just in time to stop Glenn from going out (after three practice swings!).

 

thewalkingdead_season5_trailerEverything else was pretty solid. The zombie’s are a little more decayed as they continue to rot in the world “gone by”. The show still hits on most cylinders and the characters still execute flawlessly. The one thing that shocked me was how quickly they ran through the Terminus storyline. The episode was told with lil flashback tidbits, like a lot of episodes, then it was over. They were done with that place. It was interesting to see Terminus go full circle by the end.

When it was over the gang is reunited, not feeling so good, and back on the road. After 4 seasons is there an end in site. Some milestones from the comic series haven’t been hit yet (and even it’s not over). Time will tell.

 

I am excited going into this season and expect the same chaotic masterwork to unweave as it has each season prior. There are still a few loose story threads from last season that didn’t tie-up in this episode. Like where’s Beth? So there’s that to look forward to (IMDB has Emily Kinney listed in later episodes so I don’t expect she’ll turn up as a walker). It’s still a hard road ahead and the season got us going on that first step pretty well. Let’s see what next week brings.

 

As always feel free to disagree below or @werewolforigin on twitter

About Eric bookout

Writer/Artist for X amount of years. Recently worked with people from IGN on a comic and studied writing under Victor Gischler of Marvel Comics at RSU in Oklahoma more X amount of years ago. Follow me @WerewolfOrigin on twitter
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