Guns, gore, and girl-power control post-zombie society in The Walking Dead’s season five premiere.
Contrary to the show’s typical season premieres, “No Sanctuary” picked-up exactly where season four left off. Though the show’s lack of a time-lapse was uncharacteristic, it allowed the action to start earlier and ultimately led to an exceptional episode.
Rick, Deryl, Glen and Bob are ready to fight the Termites. Rick, armed with a shard of wood, has confidence in the situation until the Termites drop tear gas on Rick and company, rendering them useless. After the Termites drag Rick, Deryl, Glen and Bob behind the slaughter-house, gory images of butchers and dead bodies paint the picture of the Termites’ cannibalism.
While waiting for their execution, the captives are approached by Gareth, who is currently taking a head count. Gareth asks about Rick’s weaponry he has hidden in the woods, and the over-confident Rick says that they are the weapons with which he plans to kill Gareth.
Glen is on the chopping block when, in true Walking Dead fashion, Carol, now the series’ biggest bad-ass, blows up the slaughter-house and saves the group.
The group later finds refuge in a shipping container where they meet-up with some characters from the past. As only he could, Rick introduces his ideas of how to not only leave Georgia, but also potentially save humanity.
As if this episode didn’t highlight Carol enough, we later see her take on one of the coolest and most impressive anti-walker tactics that we’ve seen in the show. She decides to viciously kill a walker and then rub his remains on her clothing so that she could hide in plain sight around the other walkers. As disgusting as it was, it worked wonders as she was able to walk with the undead, never blowing her cover.
Rick and the group later travel to the cabin, where they meet Tyreese. While he was an exciting sight, baby Judith took the limelight. Rick was overjoyed seeing his infant daughter, whom he believed to be dead.
It is easy to say that this season started-off right with a new views of the Termites and Carol and some heavy foreshadowing by Rick. However, the moment when Rick sees saw Judith took viewers by more surprise than any of the action.
This season premiere had some exceptional kills, a new hero, in-depth character development and, of course, exploding cannibals. If season five can maintain the intensity and plot-thickening that was displayed in this episode, it will not disappoint Walking Dead fans new or old.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC at 9/8 p.m. CT.
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To contact Lifestyles editor John Connor Coulston, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com
