TWD Season 5 “What Happened and What’s Going On” 509
When last seen hero Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his band of zombie apocalypse survivors had just lost one of their own in a gasp-inducing standoff.
The dramas return isn’t as gangbusters. It’s cryptic opening moments - with trippy images of a sun-dappled tree, a zombie in a car - merit just a “HUH?”
Then Dead enters very familiar territory; a desolate Highway, with the traumatized group in search of a safe oasis.
The latest destination is a barricaded community nearby, where new friend Noah (Tyler James Williams) has family, and Dead maintains its masterful eeriness every step of the way.
Cicadas chirp ominously as Rick, on a crackly walkie-talkie checks in with Carol (Melissa McBride) and the others back at the camp.
And those ever-looming walkers seem especially vicious, their hungry eyes and slavering mouths shown in nimble close – up.
But after the inevitable attack, the thrills stall.
One petrified member has some weird hallucinations (cryptic intro explained) that go on forever. Dead’s occasional contemplative episodes can offer a respite from the typical pulse-pounding fare, but this one feels like merely a prelude to the next creep out.
Which, of course, can’t come soon enough.
Us Magazine