The Walking Dead s05e02 "Strangers" Grade: A-

Original air date: 10/19/14

60 second recap:
As Rick and the gang regroup after their escape from Terminus, they hear a defenseless priest, Gabriel, calling for help in the woods. Gabriel invites them back to his untouched church. The group goes on a supply run and Bob has a close call with an underwater walker. Tara makes amends with Rick and Maggie regarding her prior allegiance to The Governor. Abraham makes an impassioned speech to convince the group to continue their mission to Washington D.C. Daryl catches Carol in the act of running away but they're both distracted by a passing car that bears the same white cross as Beth's kidnappers. After suspiciously going outside to cry, Bob is kidnapped by Gareth and the other Terminus survivors. He awakens to find that they have cut off his leg and are eating it in front of him.




Major Character Development:

Rick/Carl:

Rick is doing his best to balance his inner-Shane with his inner-Dale. He's Dale enough to help Father Gabriel but Shane enough to be insanely suspicious of him. He's humble enough to ask for Carol's forgiveness for banishing her and reasonable enough to pardon Tara for her former ties. He has built a network of loyal family members that would follow him to the ends of the earth. Rick is finally becoming a formidable leader and he has Carl to thank for that. Carl is a valuable yin to his father's yang. He keeps Rick's humanity in check when he gets too hardened but also brings out his inner "mama bear" instincts when things go south. It's nice to see how mature their relationship has become. They have overcome some traumatic things together and instead of straining their bond, they've only made it stronger. 


Kudos to Carl for being....kind of great now. I'll admit, he hasn't always been my favorite character (still not over Dale's death). As an adult, it's easy to forget how hard going through puberty was, never-mind during a zombie apocalypse. I'll cut him some slack and begrudgingly admit he's turning out to be a pretty cool kid.

And now, a short series of 
"are you shitting me right now?" Rick faces:

Bob:
Poor Bob. 

He's suffering from the dreaded "get lots of scenes right before something really bad happens to you so that the audience is really sad when it does" curse. From a depressed, superstitious alcoholic to an upbeat, lovesick puppy, Bob's character has done a real 180. It's clear that Bob is no Morgan; he's someone who needs human interaction to be happy. He has the unnerving ability to look on the bright side, no matter what disturbing events just took place (i.e. almost getting your throat slashed by cannibals). 

I'll admit that it was surprising to see Sasha be so open about her and Bob's romantic relationship (last time we saw the two love birds, Sasha seemed more hesitant). But there's no denying their cuteness together. It's too bad that The Walking Dead eats happiness for breakfast. 

::cue sad music::

Carol:

Carol did a lot of soul searching this episode. Thanks to Melissa McBride's (consistently) moving portrayal of Carol, we got a good glimpse into her tortured state of mind. She feels lonely despite Daryl's persistent offer of a (muscular) shoulder to cry on. She acknowledges his plea that they "start over with each other" but deep down, she doesn't believe they can. She feels like she's too far gone to ever fit in with her old group again. You can see it in the panicked expression she has after Tyreese suggests they tell everyone about Karen and in the awkward way she accepts Rick's apology. Even though it has been almost two years since the virus started, most people are still having a hard time shaking off the "old" rules of their pre-apocalyptic lives. Before the turn, a troubled kid like Lizzie would have been given psychiatric help for what she did. Unfortunately Carol didn't have the luxury of a psych ward or prison. She did what she had to do but now she's paying a price for it. Any sane person, no matter how many messed up things they've done would have trouble fighting the instinct not to kill children. 


It's sad to see Carol struggling so much. Hopefully she'll learn to take advantage of the emotional support Rick, Tyreese and Daryl are so willing to give her.

All together now: d'awwwwwwwwwwww.

Father Gabriel:
What a mystery this guy is. He's skittish and weak, like a dog that's been beaten one too many times. He has a tone deaf sense of humor and is suspiciously naive about the zombie apocalypse. Is he good? Is he bad? Why hasn't his church been discovered by groups like Terminus or "The Claimers"? Is he being protected by someone else? If so, at what cost? It's pretty obvious that whatever Gabriel did, the words carved into his church walls have something to do with it. If Rick learns to trust Gabriel, will he come along with the group on their journey to D.C.?







Overall:

So, this week's episode felt at times like taking a freshman course in religious themes: 


1.Baptism scene? Check.
(Bob's tousle with the water zombie) 

2. Crucified Jesus image? Check.

3. Character has the same name as a famous angel? Check.
 (Father Gabriel)

4. A Last Supper scene? Check.
(Rick and the gang eating dinner in the church)

5. Sacrificial eating of the flesh? Check.
(Gareth and the Terminus folks eating Bob's leg, i.e. the Eucharist is eating Jesus's flesh)

6. Crosses, churches and bible versus? Check, check and check.
(Father Gabriel's church)

It's always difficult for an episode to follow one as strong and action packed as "No Prisoners", but "Strangers" held its own. It was the perfect blend of action, suspense and character development.  

And now, a series of wonderfully awkward moments brought 

to you by, The Walking Dead:

And bonus: Tyreese creeping in the background, hard:

Walker kill of the week:
Sasha using the plastic box to kill Bob's waterlogged attacker. I'll never be able to look at Tupperware boxes the same again.





Best quotes:

1. "We surrender."---Daryl and his squirrels

2. "We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like."--Abraham, making no sense whatsoever

3. "Let us take a look around first? We just want to hold onto our squirrels."--Rick

4. "If a sewer could puke, this is what it would smell like."--Bob

5. "I don't know what that was but it wasn't life, not like today, stumbling around in three feet of slime for some peas and carrots....thats living."--Michonne




Favorite moment:

Runner up: when Michonne talks about her missing katana sword. I always enjoy scenes between Rick and Michonne, especially when the both of them are smiling. They're good for each other. There's a lot of genuine respect and friendship there. (Am I alone in really wanting to see that relationship turn into something more?)




Acting:
Acting shout out to Andrew Lincoln: his performance as Rick has had its ups and downs although, the downs usually depend on how ridiculous the script asks him to sound (i.e. "stuff and thangs") But lately, he's been doing a really great job. Ever since the tail end of season 4, Lincoln has really brought the troubled, complex side of Rick Grimes to life. He adds a lot of depth and weight to the small, quieter moments we've seen a lot more of these past few episodes (i.e. his talks with Carl, Daryl, Carol and Judith).





Say what?!
Again with the super human strength walkers! The one that attacked Bob was literally just skin and bones and yet Bob looked like he had to wrestle pretty hard with it to keep it from biting his face.


Episode grade: A-



Trailer for next week's episode: