The Walking Dead S5Ep10 Them Review

The fifth season of The Walking Dead is moving forward at a fast pace. After Beth died in Atlanta and Tyreese died in the previous episode the cast continues to change. TWD is unforgiving. It took a while to warm up to Beth and Tyreese but their deaths were certainly heartbreaking. The series needs to find a new dynamic if it doesn’t want to be remembered for killing off its main cats one by one. Doing so is made difficult by the comic books which still act as a rough guideline for the TV-series. Though by my reckoning Carol should have died in the previous season. This week’s episode introduces the Alexandria Safe-Zone. First mentioned in issue 67. As 137 issues have been officially released we are thus at the half-way mark. Though I wonder if the cast want this show to continue for another 5 years (at a minimum). Anyway, below is my review of ‘Them’, the tenth episode of season 5. It is an episode that attempts to bridge the timeline between the death of Tyreese and the trek to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. So sadly, there are no major plot developments.

The Walking Dead S5Ep10 Them Review

On their journey to Washington, the survivors’ van breaks down, forcing them to travel on foot. The group is exhausted and dehydrated due to dwindling supplies, and they begin to question their chances of survival. They continue to be disheartened from the deaths of Beth and Tyreese, with Daryl, Maggie and Sasha taking it the hardest. Rick orchestrates a plan to eliminate walkers by throwing them off the end of a bridge, but Sasha dispatches them with her knife, forcing the group to abandon the plan and take on the walkers head-on; Michonne continues to chastise Sasha for her recklessness, and warns her that she might end up like her brother. Maggie is disturbed when she discovers in the trunk of a car a bound and gagged walker, which is killed by Glenn afterwards. While the group is resting, a pack of dogs arrive, which are swiftly eliminated by Sasha and eaten by the group. Despite comfort from Carol, a grieving Daryl begins to self-inflict pain.

Daryl rejoins the survivors, who are suspicious of several water bottles in the middle of the road, with a note that they came from “a friend.” Rain begins to pour, and the group rejoices by catching the water with their mouths before realizing that the rainfall has aggravated into a thunderstorm. They retrieve the water bottles before hiding in a barn Daryl found. While the survivors are huddled in a fire formed in the barn, Rick tells the group that they have to live with reality, to “do what [they] have to do”, and to tell themselves that they “are the walking dead.” Daryl looks outside the entrance to see that a herd of walkers have converged; the group works together to fend them off. The next morning, the storm has decimated the walkers, and Maggie and Sasha decide to travel outside. The two are approached by a man named Aaron, who identifies himself as the “friend” and wishes to talk to Rick.

Conclusion

It is easy to criticize this episode of TWD. Nobody seems to be doing the right thing. Both Daryl and Sasha each have their moments when they simply don’t want to continue forward. Sasha takes her feelings out on a group of walkers which nearly gets one of the group killed. The close relationship between Daryl and Carol is once again exemplified when she suggest he ought to be able to feel the loss of Beth. Maggie and Glenn have a similar moment but his help merely causes her to become more resolute in her disapproval of Gabriel. This odd chain of interaction had the effect that Gabriel confronts his own mistakes. Wwhich earns him the respect of Maggie. All told the character development in ‘Them’ is slow, but moving any faster forward would make it feel forced. The introduction of Aaron by the end of the episode also introduces the Alexandria Safe-Zone and with that Douglas Monroe and Negan. I can’t wait! This was The Walking Dead S5Ep10 Them Review, I hope you enjoyed reading.

Score; 7 / 10. A slow episode, but perhaps a necessary one.

Source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)