They're baaaaaaaaaaaaack.
Its been an EXTREMELY long 7 months, but The Walking Dead is back. OH MY FRIGGEN LORD it's back. With one of the most intense opening scenes to any season of any show in history, The Walking Dead did not disappoint in it's Season 5 Premiere. Then again, I can't think of many episodes that were terrible. Just another reason that makes you scratch your head when it comes to Emmy nominations. How can a show THIS GOOD continue to be snubbed for acting, directing or simply "Best drama". I'll never understand it.
That aside, lets jump into this ridiculously amazing premiere in a Spoiler-full 4 list (don't forget to stick around after the commercials and scenes from next week for a Walking Dead easter egg too)
Top 4 reasons to watch 'No Sanctuary'
4. The Reunions
It was bound to happen (hopefully) but Rick and Carl were finally reunited with baby Judith in one damn emotional scene. After The escape from Terminus, Rick and the gang are met by Carol, who happened to run into a Terminus scout and overhear what they were planning to do...enough about that for now. Upon regrouping in the woods near the weapon stash, The group is met by Carol, the main reason they were able to escape. Daryl makes a B line and lifts her up in a warm embrace. Its about time we see Daryl show some heartfelt emotion other than bashing his brothers face in. It was nearly enough to bring one to tears considering Carol was excommunicated by Rick early in Season 4. After hugging it out with Rick as well, Carol tells the group they have to follow her, She has "something they need to see". She takes them to a cabin where Tyrese was held up with Judith and their prisoner. Upon seeing Judith in Tyrese arms, Rick bursts into tears and runs to hold his daughter. The one he thought died months a long time ago at the prison slaughter. Carl jumps into the cry fest and all is right again in the Grimes clan. I'm surprised she didn't blurt out she had Judith as soon as they met, but this is television folks, and the writing is pretty damn good and sets up a lot of great television. This scene being one of them.
3. The attempted murder of Judith Grimes
Have I mentioned how good the writing is on this show? Yeah well you can blame the good writing for one of the freakiest scenes in the episode. Carol and Tyrese happen to sneak up on Martin, a Terminus Scout, talking on a walkie-talkie as he talks about a women with a sword being "bad news" and stating he "wants the kid's hat after they bleed him out" . Carol and Tyrese know hes talking about their group. They take him hostage as Carol devises a plan to try and rescue them from terminus before its too late.As Tyrese is keeping guard on Martin , 4 or 5 walkers happen to come upon the cabin they are in. Tyrese goes to the window to assess the situation. Its then Martin gets up and gets a hold of Judith's head... that's right... her head. He threatens to break her neck if Tyrese doesn't leave the cabin to an apparent death outside with the walkers. What is Tyrese to do. any movement other than to his own death, spells the death of baby Judith to yet another deranged survivor is this already nightmarish world. He threatens again as he comes ever closer to breaking her neck while she screams out in pain. Tyrese has no choice, he opens the cabin doors into an onslaught of walkers. we here screaming, he here commotion, he hear it all end with the exception of one moaning walker. Convinced Tyrese just died, Martin lets go of Judith's head and gets up to look outside. Tyrese busts through the door, knocking Martin down and bashing the ever loving shit out of his face, all while chanting "I wont do it!... I wont do it!". We cut to the next scene outside the cabin. Tyrese slaughtered all the walkers with his bare hands, leaving one impaled on a post, left to moan. Tyrese is turning out to be one of the best characters in the series considering his head should have been cut of in place of Hershel's .
2. Opening scene
You can't get much better than this opening scene. as most already guessed, Terminus is full of cannibals. They harvest meat off the survivors they trick into coming there. We open to the survivors preparing themselves to fight off anyone that comes through the train car door. Rick is making a wooden blade out of a 2x4 using a zipper as a saw, the rest are fashioning whatever they can to use as weapons. as they prepare to jump the guards at the door the roof hatch opens and in drops a can of tear gas. The survivors are outsmarted (oddly since last season ended with a great line from the comics..."theyre gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.... theyre fucking with the wrong people") They are then bound and gagged, Rick, Bob, Daryll and Glen are lined up, on their knees in front of a troff next to 4 other men. Terminus workers start bashing the backs of the prisoners heads with a metal baseball bat to knock them out, then slitting their necks to let them bleed out in the troff. Luckily they start at the opposite end. They go down the line bashing and slicing.. you want horror and gore, you got it!. We see Rick, slowly pulling the sliver of wood he cut off out of his boot, and just hoping he gets to use it before its too late. Just as they're about to bash and slice Glen, Gareth walks in and asks "what was your shot count"...the men stop short. At this point Bob cries out, telling them they don't have to do it. Gareth removes his gag to better hear what he has to say, Bob repeats himself and explains they have a cure.. Gareth, rejects any comments and replaces Bob's gag. He turns to Rick and asks him about the bag he entered the woods with but never came out with. Rick at first is not willing to comply until Gareth takes out a knife and holds it up to Bob's eye ball. Rick has no choice and is forced to tell him the contents. He names off some guns and a compound bow as well as "a machete with a red handle..... that's what I'm gonna use to kill you". Gareth replaces the gag and they go back to work. As soon as they get to Glen again gun shots ring out, followed by a loud explosion...everyone is jolted and fall to the floor..cut to a commercial.
Yeah.. this is The Walking Dead and this is why I watch. You won't find this on network television.
1. The badassery of one Carol Peletier
So we already know Carol and Tyrese came upon Martin and learned they were going to kill members of their group. This is when Carol devises a plan. You have never seen Carol like this and it is FREAKING AMAZING. Carol Leaves the Cabin, smears herself in zombie guts, covering her poncho and face. She makes it to Terminus walking along with Zombies the whole time. As the Terminus guards fend off the zombies at the fence, Carol pulls out an assault rifle with a scope along with some firework rockets. She takes a few shots at a gas tank, Pressurized gas rushes out. She then lights the rocket and shoots it off at the tank.. KABOOM!!! zombies flying everywhere (you see, because this is how good the writing is. everyone knows just shooting a bullet at a gas tank in "real life" won't make it explode. I'm so glad these writers pick up on the little things like this.)
This explosion is what rocks the bash and slice room. As the all fall to the ground, Rick sees his chance to use the sliver of wood to cut his ties, and make quick work of the workers.
Carol then hides in the group on walkers entering Terminus. She steps off to the side and starts to pick off Terminus snipers. I LOVE CAROL...She then stumbles upon the Terminus shrine as seen in Season 4 where she is ambushed by Mary (Denise Crosby). Its at this point I'm angry, because I know how the Walking Dead works and just when you start to live a character they kill them off. I was convinced Carol was done for and was pissed it would be at the hand of an old, crappy cannibal .. but HELL NO. She gets the jump on Mary as Mary tells her to drop her weapons. They drop to the floor and Carol kicks even MORE ass! This episode was full of Kick Ass Carol and it was simply awesome. If you never liked Carol before, you sure as hell will now.