The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 3 - "Four Walls and a Roof"

Blair Fink (Twitter: @BlairMFink, Instagram: @BlairFink)

Steve Bethel (Twitter: @the_lazy_gamer, Website: steveisthelazygamer.blogspot.ca)

"We're leaving because of your beard, Rick."

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 3, "Four Walls and a Roof"

AIN'T NO HALF-STEPPIN'

"They're screwing with the wrong people."

When Rick delivered this line at the end of last season with way too much gravitas and mood music, I rolled my eyes. It was really cheesy. Yet, despite that, it is proving to be true. This group has experience. This group is learning. This group is better. This group is finally comprised of mostly likeable characters that I find myself cheering for, wanting to succeed because I think they are capable of it and not dreading the next stupid thing they do that gets somebody killed. This is a big shift from earlier in the show's run when a lot of narrative and character conflict was derived from everyone being stupid and annoying. Sure, there are still some underdeveloped characters (looking at you, Rosita) but gone are the problematic Lori, Dale, Andrea and T-Dog, among others. Also a change from previous seasons, as I noted in the last two recaps, is the pace of the show. I really, really hope it keeps chewing through plot at this rate. I have never been more hopeful for this show to start firing on all cylinders, something it has rarely ever done.

This season is moving way faster than previous ones. Three episodes in and we are about to leave our second venues. We have reunited and broken up the group, and reunited again (hopefully, depending on who Daryl was talking to in the bush). We have met Gabriel, been curious about him, and have gotten our answers about his past. We met our "big" bad, only to have him killed off shortly after. There is going to be a lot of action this season if the first three episodes are any indication! I can't wait!

Bob! I knew it. I'm glad there was actually a reasonable motive for Bob to wander forlornly out into the darkness. I will really miss Bob. He gave this show a shot of much needed optimism and hope. He was a big part of the making sure the show didn't veer too far into Misery Porn territory. Who fills that void now? Will Sasha carry it on or will she be too sad and angry? Michonne has lightened up a lot but isn't quite there yet. I'm not holding my breath for Father Gabriel to start cracking wise anytime soon.

Well at least we were right, Bob was bit in the basement, which does shed some light on his foolish behaviour of going outside alone. Whether it was to brood or off himself at least there was some justification for it, not just to move the plot. Is Bob one of the people in the know about how everyone is infected? Regardless, using it as a way to stave off any more dismemberment was a good play. Obviously, we the viewer know that that has no effect on Gareth and his crew as everyone they have eaten is infected.

Wait a minute, Steve. Is there not a difference between universal latent infection and bitten infection? Sure, everyone carries the latent infection in them but would eating someone who has been bitten mean you are as doomed as they are? This is unclear. However, the mystery of the tainted meat didn't exactly matter in the end anyway since The Termites weren't around long enough to show any effects.

The climax of this episode had me so worked up! The last time I felt like this watching the Walking Dead was the barn scene. That whole build up was great. Really amazing scene. The mood, lighting, long camera shots. The shot of the sign, waiting for something to happen. If it wasn't for the ambient noise I thought for sure my PVR had froze. The tension that that whole scene built up and delivered on was awesome. Gareth calling out everyones names who were still there. Even when they showed Judith even she seemed surprised that he knew everyone there! The two doors, the shots of everyone hiding, the long shots of Gabriel, Judith fucking it all up. TENSE.

Don't you dare speak about Judith that way! #TeamJudith

I was mad as Hell when they were all suiting up to go attack Gareth. I mean come on! They just dropped off Bob, they clearly are watching the church waiting for the perfect time to attack. I thought there is no way they are going to be that stupid and leave the church but alas they did think like I did. The whole plan was to draw Gareth out and get the jump on them. Well payed Rick. Rick...oh boy. We may be seeing Rick falling back off into the deep end. Is he coming unglued again? Or is this a new, tired of trusting people, vengeful Rick.

I thought it seemed pretty clear that it was a Termite trap with the talk of it being a risky play beforehand. The only question in my mind was if Gareth and Co. would die and if so, would they take anyone with them. Rick is definitely still giving off the odd whiff of crazytown bananapants  but hopefully Carl, Judith, Michonne and Bob's parting words are enough to keep him grounded, at least temporarily. Speaking of which, when are we going to get a Richonne (Michick?) romance?

At first I was thrown off when Glenn motioned to leave with Abe, but if you watch him in the showdown scene you'll see he is just standing in there, watching as his friends brutally beat these strangers to death, pure shock. It's not pretty, and he doesn't seem happy about the direction Rick is going.

You're right, Glenn has had some negative body language towards Rick's brutal actions recently so that could have made the decision to go slightly easier. Mostly though, it is just too hard for the writers to manage that large a cast when they're all together. Splitting up the group makes sense narratively, making it easier to give each character more time in the spotlight. It'll be interesting to see when and if they meet up again. Who has seen who for the last time?

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-Although Tyreese is a pretty broken man, it still shows him as a stronger character when it comes to Sasha. Mainly stepping up to take care of Bob.


-Will Bob's dying words get through to Rick? I think the majority of viewers would side with Bob's thoughts.

-I'm hoping we see shades of Bob in both Sasha and Rick going forward.

-Who was with Daryl? Carol? Beth? Both? Someone new?

-My money is on E.T. being in the bushes with Daryl.


-How far behind will Rick's group be from Abe's? Now that Daryl is back will they move on to DC?

-I think it really depends on who is with Daryl. Does he show up with Beth and her fellow captives? Does he show up with a plea to go back to wherever they found Beth (assuming they do)? Does Father Gabriel join the group?


-Will this be a season of many villains or will we get a new Big Bad?

-From the previews for next week's episode, it looks like we'll be checking in on Beth and whoever is holding her captive. Looks like she's in a hospital.

Blair's Rating: A

Steve's Rating: 5 out of 5 found katanas

Blair's MVP: Bob

Steve's MVP: Bob

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Rosita

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Tara

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 2 - "Strangers"

Gareth the Gobblin' King

THE SIN-EATERS

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 2, "Strangers"

Blair Fink (Twitter: @BlairMFink, Instagram: @BlairFink)

Steve Bethel (Twitter: @the_lazy_gamer, Website: steveisthelazygamer.blogspot.ca)

And let us not grow weary of doing good.

For in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

-Galatians 6:9, on a framed embroidery on the wall in Father Gabriel's church 

Bob. It's what's for dinner.

I have a feeling this season is going to be DARK! I don't just mean like "oh woe is me, things will never get better for the group" dark. I mean "these are some dark times and people around here are survival of the fittest poster children". There are going to be a lot of cringe worthy moments this season. Could you put yourself in their positions? Would you have the gall to do what had to be done? Would you be the butcher or the cattle?

This show doesn't really have much of a choice but to get darker with each passing season because that's what the audience expects. With each insane thing that we witness, it gets harder and harder to shock us. There's been some pretty gruesome stuff so far but thankfully, the quickened pace doesn't leave us much time to dwell on it. I'm really happy with how quickly the narrative is moving so far this season. If this continues, it would, in my opinion, address a huge flaw and make the show that much stronger. The Walking Dead is not going to be Mad Men, full of brilliant insight into character and complex relationships expertly fed to us at a snail's pace; The Walking Dead needs to be pulpier, faster, bigger, devouring plot like Gareth devouring...well, we'll get to that. Let's start at the beginning.

Who doesn't love a good walking montage? We see bonding, love, hope, and camaraderie. All well and good. As we can all learn from Bob, these are the moments to cherish. Hard time / stronger character, always in a group / friends to watch your back....unless you wander off at night and not tell anyone? Come on people! Do we still not understand the buddy system? Bob wanders off, gets got! Carol wanders off, (are we assuming she was going to take off?) good thing she's got her guardian angel.

I was not a fan of the walking montage. I liked the music and the slow motion walking but the whole package of those scenes spliced with disjointed dialogue felt like awkward housekeeping to me. I feel like Alanna Masterson (Tara) is kind of a brutal actress. Maybe I'm crazy. I did really enjoy Bob and Sasha's “Good Out of Bad” game. Although their happiness was a huge red flag that something bad was about to happen to at least one of them. This turns out to be true later on...

...let's get back on track. So we meet Father Gabriel who, right off the bat, I don't trust. I fall into the Rick camp of thought rather than Carl's trust-them-till-they-screw-you-over-then-deal-with-it idealism. When Rick started asking his golden questions it brought a huge smile to my face.

My first thought was that he had previously assumed the guise of a pastor to either lure strangers into a trap or to just be a more sympathetic figure and gain the protection of a group. This theory appears to be false due to the photograph of himself as a pastor and the lady who attacked him as a zombie.

There is a ton of symbolism in this episode, but with a preacher as the focal point how can there not be? We have Daryl passing a wood carving of the last supper, which is then mirrored later on in the episode as the group has their feast. This is a huge foreshadow. This is probably the last time we are going to see a full, happy group. The way Gabriel mounted himself on the wall in the watery basement scene, very J on the cross.

We first find Gabriel on top of a large boulder, in the middle of a bizarro Sermon on the Mount, where instead of relaying teachings to his disciples, he is trying not be devoured by them. Later he is, as you say Steve, taking a position in the cellar resembling that of Jesus on the cross, arms outstretched, awaiting the death that approaches him. Perhaps Gabriel is partly suicidal, not taking a lot of care or at least subconsciously putting himself into dangerous spots as the guilt of whatever his sins may be weight heavier and heavier upon him. One of the scripture references seen on the walls of the church points us to Revelations 9:6:

“And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”

Signs that Gabriel has done some bad shit, as I see it: cans lining the walls at the alter in the church for some sort of candlelight vigil. Combine that with an abundance of children's drawings of biblical references that Gabriel has held on to for some purpose, the carving in the back of the church, "YOU'LL BURN FOR THIS". Also as soon as he commented on Judith I had a funny feeling, I even said to Gabriel, out loud, "Careful!" Rick is right, Gabe has done something terrible. Personally, I think he performed some sort of mass child sacrifice. Like I said, this season is going to be dark.

I have a hard time believing he is a villain but he is clearly haunted by something. You might be right, signs point to him locking one or more persons out of the church during an attack while he stayed safe inside. An offering to a wrathful God? He said he did not believe in violence and had not killed any humans but maybe he thinks not saving someone is not the same thing as killing them. I am definitely intrigued.

The last part of the episode gives us our Big Bad. Will he last all season? Yes, as we both suspected, Gareth lives, and boy is he pissed. We all know by now that if you don't see someone drop dead with your own eyes then there is a good chance they will be back. We've seen it before, Merle, Morgan, the Gov, Carol. Again, more dark shit! Gareth and his crew can't be bothered to scavenge, they would rather hunt. And poor Bob is this weeks chef special.

Rough. Just rough. Poor Bob. I hope he somehow comes out of this alright and without too much of a damper on his optimism. He was a bright spot in Rick's Miserable Band of Saddies. I hope he doesn't last all season and we burn through Gareth by at least the midseason finale in that he dies or he is somehow reformed in an interesting way. Keep chewing through plot, writers! Om nom nom nom.

QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-I really liked Carl in this episode. Still wants to believe people are good but is still smart enough to find the signs about what Gabriel is hiding.

- Will Daryl and Carol catch Beth? I knew we'd get these side adventures with these two.

- Daryl mentions Beth last episode. Daryl mentions Beth again this episode. Has Maggie given up on her? You'd think the writers would be at least throwing a quick spotlight on that element of Maggie's character once or twice.

- Will we ever find out about the preachers dark past?

-*shakes Magic 8 Ball* [WITHOUT A DOUBT]

- What does Bob taste like? Chicken? Shish kaBob? BobBQ? Bob's Burgers?

- How long will Bob hang on to be carved up? Do I get partial points for my deadpool pick?

- No partial points. Bob is still breathing.

-Why did Bob wander out into the night to cry? Emotional at being happy? I actually thought from the way he was acting that he had been bit by that walker that attacked him in the water and he was going out to leave or kill himself or something. How awesome would it be if that turned out to be true and Gareth and the Hunters are eating infected meat.

- Martin, The Asshole, was among the hunters. So Tyreese didn't finish the job.

- I'm supplementing my deadpool pick with EVERY single person that is involved with Beth's capture. Daryl is going to mess everyone up.

- I really hope, if Daryl and Carol rescue Beth, that some weird love triangle doesn't form. I hope the weird vibes between Daryl and Beth last season don't resurface. Daryl and Carol 4Ever!

Blair's Rating: A-

Steve's Rating: 9 out of 13 guests at the Last Supper

Blair's MVP: Rick

Steve's MVP: Rick

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Rosita

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Rosita

The Walking Dead - Season 5, Episode 1 - "No Sanctuary"

"Yippee ki yay, motherwalkers!"

LIVE FREE OR WALK DEAD

The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 1, "No Sanctuary"

Blair Fink (Twitter: @BlairMFink, Instagram: @BlairFink)

Steve Bethel (Twitter: @the_lazy_gamer, Website: steveisthelazygamer.blogspot.ca)



Before we start, we would just like to welcome everyone back to another season of our incoherent ramblings about this television program. Steve is taking a well-deserved break this year from compiling and posting so I'll be slapping the words on my blog. To our small but gorgeous audience, thanks for reading.


Was it just my short memory or was this episode more gruesome and gory than episodes past? The zombie gore is typically piled on but the live human throatcuttery and faces getting nommed on was more than we're used to. Not easy to watch when stuffed with Thanksgiving turkey, that's for sure.


To be honest, I was getting settled in for at least a half season stay in Terminus, as this show is wont to do with fresh locations. So it was to my great surprise to see the writers go “Yup, they're cannibals! Burn this mother down!” and have the gang set off to the next place. This excites me for two reasons: one, the writers are learning from their previous follies of staying in one place for two long (Hershel's farm being the worse offense) and two, maybe they have so much juicy storyline to get through this season they just don't have time to spend farting around at Terminus. Based on the flashbacks and scenery chewing in this episode, we obviously haven't seen the last of Gareth but I'm assuming we're essentially done with the Terminus set piece.


Terminus has come full circle. Taken, corrupted, taken, corrupted, lost. The group is on the move again and bad ass as ever. And what a big group it is. From my understanding regarding apocalyptic scenarios big groups don’t always work out for the best. I thought after all the work trying to get there they would have at least tried to salvage something. Instead it's back out on the road again. For how long this time? Will they head to DC right away or spend half the season wandering around aimlessly?


Rick, Glenn, Daryl and Bob are saved by Carol doing her best John McLane impression, essentially single-handedly bringing down Terminus before sheepishly meeting up with Rick and Co. for an Erkel-esque “Did I Do That?” moment. I'm not going to think too hard about this analyzing this development and just enjoy how awesome and badass it was. As long as it doesn't get too out of control, having Carol be Rambo could be a welcome addition to the show.


Carol is still as bad ass as ever. Looking forward to some Carol/Daryl adventures. Tyreese is near his breaking point. However being reunited with Sasha might turn things around for him. That can also be said for Rick. Seeing Judith will provide some new found hope for the Grimes' and the group as a whole.

Despite Rick's emotional progress at the end of last season, he is still showing some cracks after veering towards the “Butcher” mentality that the Terminus folks subscribe to after he gets the same taste of being “Cattle” like they did (as shown via flashback). I agree, Steve: Perhaps reuniting with JUDITH! and the whole gang will help provide a tether to humanity. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing Rick and Morgan, who we see in the post-credits scene tracking the group, interact again. The last time we saw Morgan was in “Clear” and that was my favourite episode of season three.


In the closing scene we see Abe and Rosita have an exchange and he says something. Is that in relation to DC or something else entirely? I'm still weary about Eugene, something about him irks me. I don't know if he does have the cure or its some elaborate lie to keep himself alive. Was his story true?

I've come to realize that this show has become a bit of a comfortable and reliable blanket that I can settle into each week. The tattered remains of a bleak, miserablist, blood-soaked blanket. What I mean is that it's become, after some cringeworthy struggles early on, competent enough at developing enough of its characters so as to not be offensive to the audience's intelligence. The world is getting bigger, the plot is slowly getting better and their is now enough narrative history to build conflict and relationships from. I don't expect The Walking Dead to ever be a truly great show, but it seems to be settling into being a consistently decent one.



QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

-How sketchy is Eugene, really?
-How bad does Eugene need a haircut, really? He's closing in on Carl for top spot in the Needs a Haircut Power Rankings
-Did anyone else get out of Terminus?
-I'm guessing Gareth and maybe a minion or two escaped.

-Where did Carol learn such great trigonometry? Given a fire cracker that has an average velocity of .5m/s and a weight of 3 oz. You are 100 yards away from the tank at an elevation of 10 m higher than the tank. At what angle would you have to rest a rifle against a chainlink fence to achieve a tragetory to ignite the gas? Show your work.

-Agreed. She didn't really even seem to aim it. Maybe it was a homing fire cracker?
-Where is Beth?!
-Meh. I'm fine with Beth being gone but I'm sure we'll see her sooner rather than later.

Steve's Rating: 4 bananas out of 5

Blair's Rating: A-

Steve's MVP: Carol

Blair's MVP: Carol

Steve's Deadpool Pick: Bob

Blair's Deadpool Pick: Rosita