The Walking Dead is known for making dramatic, heart-breaking, and all- about great episodes, and the season 5 mid-season premiere is no different. In fact, I can say confidently that this is one of my favorite episodes of the series to date, up there with No Sanctuary, Too Far Gone, The Grove, and Pretty Much Dead Already.
So first, let's talk about the opening sequence. It begins with a funeral, presumably Beth's, and cuts to several other sequences featuring a blood-covered picture, a chalk-drawn sun on the sidewalk, and the creepiest of them all, Lizzie and Mika covered in blood saying "it's better now." The overall feel from this opening scene reminded me of The Grove. It's clear that everything is not as it seems.
Once the credits roll, we skip forward to present day and watch Rick, Tyreese, Michonne, Glenn, and Noah head toward Richmond, Virginia, the place Beth wanted to go with Noah. Carol, Sasha, Carl, Daryl, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Tara, and Judith are apparently a bit behind them. After some conversation between Noah and Tyreese, they arrive at "Shirewilt Estates" only to find that it has been overrun. The facial expressions from Glenn and Michonne upon finding this out tell the story well; they've journeyed 500 miles only to find out that this world really is gone. Noah breaks down over the loss of his family, and Tyreese...the new voice of hope after Beth...tries to console him by telling him not to give up. Everybody knows you never want to be the voice of hope in The Walking Dead.
After the speech, Noah leads Tyreese to the home he used to live in, and the two maneuver through the house. Tyreese finds one of Noah's twin brothers lying on a bed dead and begins to focus in on a clipboard with several pictures of the children pre-apocalypse. At this point, I believe Tyreese gets too caught up in the images, perhaps because seeing the twins reminds him of Lizzie and Mika. Regardless, this proves to be deadly, as the second twin brother comes up behind Tyreese and bites him on the arm. Noah, which I'd say has the kill of this episode, grabs a toy jet and stabs the walker in the head before running to get the others.
As the virus begins to spread throughout Tyreese's body, he begins to have hallucinations of those he feels guilty about: Lizzie and Mika, Martin, Beth, and The Governor. It was really awesome to see all these characters again; I never expected to see The Governor in an episode again. Anyways, Tyreese gives an absolutely amazing and heartfelt speech, saying that he's not giving up and it's not over.
On the other side of the community, Rick, Michonne, and Glenn are arguing about whether to stay at Shirewilt or move on to Washington (as that's the place that has the best chance of surviving people according to Eugene). Eventually, Rick decides they'll head toward Washington. It's at that time that the three hear Noah's screams for help. They run toward the sound and fight off several walkers trying to eat Noah. All four of them head back to Noah's house to try to save Tyreese as they cut off his arm and get him back to the vehicle. But it's clear that it's too late. After riding for a bit, they pull over and it's implied that Michonne takes her sword through his skill to prevent reanimation. The episode ends with all of our characters laying a shovel-full of dirt on Tyreese's grave to honor him. Poor Sasha.
The way this episode was directed and shot was incredible to say the least. Because of the circumstances, we were led to believe that the funeral at the beginning was Beth's. It was actually Tyreese's. This was the second time they used this technique, the first time being when they showed Shane shaving his head in season 2. There were several intricately-placed "clues" (for lack of a better word) throughout the episode, such as Tyreese looking at the clock lying in the middle of the street to represent time's up. The radio in the bedroom Tyreese is bitten is stuck at 5:09, as in season 5 episode 9. The radio broadcast itself details the events at the beginning of the apocalypse; the amazing thing is that it also represents our group's journey to date. The radio lists cannibalism (Terminus), the burning of Prisons (The Governor), the wholesale destruction of entire villages (Woodbury), people being chopped with Machetes (Gareth), and people being burned (Karen and David).
I cannot even begin to understand why this episode has been given so many harsh reviews. It was an emotional and well-written episode for sure.
So first, let's talk about the opening sequence. It begins with a funeral, presumably Beth's, and cuts to several other sequences featuring a blood-covered picture, a chalk-drawn sun on the sidewalk, and the creepiest of them all, Lizzie and Mika covered in blood saying "it's better now." The overall feel from this opening scene reminded me of The Grove. It's clear that everything is not as it seems.
Once the credits roll, we skip forward to present day and watch Rick, Tyreese, Michonne, Glenn, and Noah head toward Richmond, Virginia, the place Beth wanted to go with Noah. Carol, Sasha, Carl, Daryl, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Tara, and Judith are apparently a bit behind them. After some conversation between Noah and Tyreese, they arrive at "Shirewilt Estates" only to find that it has been overrun. The facial expressions from Glenn and Michonne upon finding this out tell the story well; they've journeyed 500 miles only to find out that this world really is gone. Noah breaks down over the loss of his family, and Tyreese...the new voice of hope after Beth...tries to console him by telling him not to give up. Everybody knows you never want to be the voice of hope in The Walking Dead.
After the speech, Noah leads Tyreese to the home he used to live in, and the two maneuver through the house. Tyreese finds one of Noah's twin brothers lying on a bed dead and begins to focus in on a clipboard with several pictures of the children pre-apocalypse. At this point, I believe Tyreese gets too caught up in the images, perhaps because seeing the twins reminds him of Lizzie and Mika. Regardless, this proves to be deadly, as the second twin brother comes up behind Tyreese and bites him on the arm. Noah, which I'd say has the kill of this episode, grabs a toy jet and stabs the walker in the head before running to get the others.
As the virus begins to spread throughout Tyreese's body, he begins to have hallucinations of those he feels guilty about: Lizzie and Mika, Martin, Beth, and The Governor. It was really awesome to see all these characters again; I never expected to see The Governor in an episode again. Anyways, Tyreese gives an absolutely amazing and heartfelt speech, saying that he's not giving up and it's not over.
On the other side of the community, Rick, Michonne, and Glenn are arguing about whether to stay at Shirewilt or move on to Washington (as that's the place that has the best chance of surviving people according to Eugene). Eventually, Rick decides they'll head toward Washington. It's at that time that the three hear Noah's screams for help. They run toward the sound and fight off several walkers trying to eat Noah. All four of them head back to Noah's house to try to save Tyreese as they cut off his arm and get him back to the vehicle. But it's clear that it's too late. After riding for a bit, they pull over and it's implied that Michonne takes her sword through his skill to prevent reanimation. The episode ends with all of our characters laying a shovel-full of dirt on Tyreese's grave to honor him. Poor Sasha.
The way this episode was directed and shot was incredible to say the least. Because of the circumstances, we were led to believe that the funeral at the beginning was Beth's. It was actually Tyreese's. This was the second time they used this technique, the first time being when they showed Shane shaving his head in season 2. There were several intricately-placed "clues" (for lack of a better word) throughout the episode, such as Tyreese looking at the clock lying in the middle of the street to represent time's up. The radio in the bedroom Tyreese is bitten is stuck at 5:09, as in season 5 episode 9. The radio broadcast itself details the events at the beginning of the apocalypse; the amazing thing is that it also represents our group's journey to date. The radio lists cannibalism (Terminus), the burning of Prisons (The Governor), the wholesale destruction of entire villages (Woodbury), people being chopped with Machetes (Gareth), and people being burned (Karen and David).
I cannot even begin to understand why this episode has been given so many harsh reviews. It was an emotional and well-written episode for sure.