****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
** WARNING SPOILERS **Brutality aside, this is just the best dramatic study of human reactions to unfathomable situations that you can get. I'm no fan of gore and violence, and the sheer brutality of the scenes in the opening few minutes of this episode leave you reeling with disgust. This has been a calling card of the series, though, and it's what makes this series such an amazing rollercoaster ride. I think about how I gasped and looked away in horror at that scene, but how much I rooted for Carol with her almost Terminator calm creating a diversion and exposing Terminus to vulnerability and then striding in there and taking out the baddies with as much cool as Clint Eastwood in any of his movies, and to the end where so much emotion wells up when you see the badass Darryl run up to Carol like a little boy when they are reunited. Even my husband looked like he was going to cry (to his credit, he didn't, but Darryl does that to us; he's like the hardest nut on the outside, but we all know he has a delicious gooey center).As others have said, the character development is so spot on. There's a whole scene of psychomanipulation between Tyreese and one of the Terminites, who is trying to get under his skin and scare him into leaving. Bob Stookey, one of the thinkers in the group, also makes an attempt to communicate with their captors and reason with them, not manipulate. Thankfully, it buys them time, because otherwise at least Glenn would have been bleeding out before Carol caused a ruckus. Even though all our guys are pretty badass, a lot of luck happened or they would have just been the Terminites' next meal.Little details made me think, like why did Carol not tell Rick about Judith instead of saying "you have to come with me." AT first I thought it was just a dramatic device, but then it hit me; better not get his hopes up. A lot can change in a short time in post-apocalyptic zombie land. And why didn't Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita all hop in that working car at the shed and head for DC? Instead they opted to go on foot in whatever direction the group was going in. Abraham told Rosita they would talk to Rick, but "not now." Why pass up the car and their mission? I think we all know the answer. Abraham has seen the strength of Rick and his group now and I think he likes his odds better with them than without them.I'm excited to see the rest of the season. I think one thing we all can be sure of though, is that there will be more zombies and there will be more bad humans. The zombies are what keep them on their toes. The bad humans are actually what really tests our group who is trying to keep some of their human dignity in the face of all these formidable challenges, and the bad humans are actually the true source of conflict in the show. One thing I've noticed about our group is that they are all adept at taking out zombies hand-to-hand (...or should I say hand-to-brain?) with the exception of Eugene, and that the bulk of other survivors were mostly relying on their guns. Our group tends to save their bullets for the more serious threat: Other humans. Smart move. But all that hand-to-hand with the zombies has given them practice at taking out humans that way too when they need to, and Rick has now had to do it on more than one occasion with whatever (his teeth?) was handy, so they are definitely being primed for taking on even tougher baddies in the future.First, let me say I LOVE The WD...but there were things I really didn't like about some Season 5 episodes. The whole Terminus/cannibal thing didn't seem realistic to me at all, esp. that they just lost their well-established home at Terminus and decided to walk through the woods, hoping to get one of the Rick's group to eat, for revenge, I assume. Then, when they get one, they decide to have an outdoor BBQ and eat him right outside of a building loaded with zombies trying to get out? I'd think their first priority after losing their home would be to find a secure location. It just didn't jive that these people who had it so together as to manage a radio broadcast for their place, after losing everything, the best they could do is catch Bob, and chop off his leg and eat it, right out in the open. And, why didn't the zombies smell this bbq and come after them? And, after seeming so upset to find out that they just ate someone who had been bitten, why did they bother taking Bob back and leave him at the church?Even worse than that was the hospital scene. I still don't understand that whole thing. And, the perhaps the least believable thing was that Beth would just stab that police officer who ran the hospital, in front of all her people with guns on her, just because she wouldn't let Noah go. It was totally out of character. And, killing Beth, esp. in that way, just seemed like a cheap way to engage viewers during a really boring story line. Like a lot of other reviewers on here, I'd like to see them move out of this area and into a place where people are starting to rebuild, or maybe they could even start to rebuild on their own like they did at the prison. There's got to be some progress made at some point? If you develop the relationships between the characters a little more, that could make up for not having them constantly fighting off zombies. And, showing how you could rebuild society, with all the problems that would entail, would be interesting too. I hope after all they've been through, that when you end the series, it ends on a positive note....Oh, and btw, I watched the first 4 seasons on Netflix with no problem. With Season 5, I had to buy them from Amazon and one episode, I couldn't watch at all until I called Amazon and had to unplug my TV and spend like 15 minutes on the phone with them and then it worked. Two other episodes buffered so much that it would have taken me an hour and a half to watch a 40-minute show, but for the second one, I called Amazon and spent like 45 minutes on the phone, had to unplug my TV two times, and had to go down to the basement to unplug the router too, but finally it worked, with just occasional buffering. I did get a 5-dollar credit after I said I was not happy with Amazon and felt like I shouldn't have to pay for this episode.A great season of the Walking Dead, beginning with the nightmare of Terminus, ending up in Alexandria after an adventure based around the Grady Memorial Hospital. Rick Grimes continues to grow as a dramatic character, all his morally dubious actions being both understood within the drama due to his clear motivation but also recognised as troubling all the same.As with all Walking Dead seasons, image quality on Blu-ray is grainy as that is the way it was shot, so hardly a reference disc to show off your hi-def set up. Extras are good with audio commentaries on some episodes and decent behind the scenes features - best watched after you've seen all the episodes to avoid spoilers.I did not expect this zombie series to be so gripping, despite all the gore and violence. It is the behaviour of the survivors - not the zombies - that make it so fascinating. I am on season 7 now and it is still excellent.Still as good as ever. From the tense first episode to the brief reunion of fan favourite Morgan and Rick in the finale. The deaths of characters are still felt as strongly and character development continues to be seen. Beautifully filmed, great effects (one chain three zombies heads removed in the finale...brilliant), scares galore. Minor quibble the finale felt more like a teaser for season 6....still it's 5 stars. Season 6 is near are you Team Rick or Team Morgan....Season 5 starts off great with an action packed first episode escaping Terminus then settles into a slower character driven pace for the first half and picks back up in the second half with the group arriving at Alexandria followed by the new villians the Wolves and the return of Morgan. one of the best seasons of the show.Amazing series would recommend to anybody if haven’t seen
