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