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'The Walking Dead' Season 5, Episode 3 Recap: An Unexpected End

'The Walking Dead' Recap: An Unexpected End (SPOILERS)
AMC

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. Read on only if you've already seen "The Walking Dead" Season 5, Episode 3, titled "Four Walls And A Roof."

Not even ten minutes into the new episode, I was already screaming, "I knew it!" Last week, many viewers, myself included, had the theory that Bob was bitten after he was attacked by a walker at the food bank. Turns out we were right. As Gareth attempted to persuade Bob to join his group -- while still eating his leg, no less -- Bob was quick to inform him that he was bit. Cue the communal gagging.

My first thought at this point was, what does this mean for the Termites? Will this “food poisoning” make them turn as well? Is this how the Termites ultimately meet their end? The incident brought up so many unanswered questions. Luckily, the episode managed to answer most of them, but in an unexpected way.

In the end, the Termites decided to return Bob to the others, which naturally lead Rick and the gang to gear up for an intense confrontation. Is it just me or has this season of “The Walking Dead” really amped up the shock and awe? In every episode there always seems to be a moment that surprises, impresses, and disgusts me all at the same time. In this episode, that moment came when Rick pulled out his machete to kill Gareth. While the gore was unexpected, I have to admit that it was wicked to see Rick kill Gareth just as he promised he would. Poetic justice, anyone?

But I was surprised that Gareth and the rest of the Termites died so early on this season. It seemed odd for the show to feature their flashbacks in the premiere with no plans to delve deeper into their story. I was so intrigued (and still am) to find out how this group progressed to cannibalism and to find out who these people were before they found Terminus. Although, I suppose with so few Termites left and with Gareth as the only compelling lead in the group, there wasn’t much to go on.

After the big showdown, Abraham was adamant about leaving for DC. In fact, he was so set on leaving that he was actually going to ditch Rick and the gang to fend for themselves against the Termites. He only stayed when Glenn, Maggie, and Tara promised they would join him if he helped.

I found Abraham’s impatience odd considering he just gave a heartfelt -- albeit aggressive -- speech to the group the night before urging them to join him. Why beg them to go with you if you were just going to ditch them anyway? I guess patience can only last so long. Nonetheless, I hate the fact that the group is splitting up again after they finally reunited in the last episode. I greatly disliked the second half of Season 4 because of this slow, split-storytelling approach, so I fear for the rest of this season. But if these first few episodes are any indication of what the rest of Season 5 will be like, then I suppose I really have nothing to worry about.

I am looking forward to the DC storyline filling out and learning more about Abraham’s character. So far we really don’t know much about him at all except for the fact that he used to be a military man and that he’s a serious badass. It was already nice to see more of his personality come out when he wrote a quick note to Rick in the map he left him.

The final thing of note in this episode was when Daryl finally returned, looking dirtier than usual. Michonne was clearly relieved to see him. When asked where Carol was, Daryl turned to the trees and said, “Come on out,” and the episode abruptly ended there.

Now the questions is, who was he talking to? Did something happen to Carol? Did they find Beth? Daryl’s facial expression left little clues as to what we should expect. You’d think he’d be happy to be back with the group, but he gave no indication of that. Instead, he just walked slowly and carefully out of the trees. His actions made it seem like he needed to show Michonne something, rather than tell her.

My guess is that Carol isn’t with him. If she was, she would have shown herself by now. I also doubt it’s Beth since it couldn’t have been that easy (and quick!) for him and Carol to save her. That being said, I honestly have no clue who could possibly be with Daryl, but I know “The Walking Dead” has a lot of WTF moments up its sleeve. So until the next episode, I’m bracing myself.

Random Thoughts:

  • We finally learned Gabriel’s secret: He always locks the church doors at night. While this might not seem so bad, it is when you have hundreds of people trying to get in to escape the walkers. But who can blame him for being so scared?
  • When the Termites offered to let Gabriel go free if he opened the door in the church, I was almost certain he would cave. After all, people do crazy things out of fear. Luckily, he managed to stay strong.
  • Michonne got her sword back!! We should probably brace ourselves for more wicked kill scenes to come.
  • I didn’t realize how much I would miss Bob until he died. I absolutely loved his last words to Rick: “Just look at [Judith] and tell me the world isn’t going to change.” His positivity will be sorely missed.
  • Abraham’s note to Rick in the map made me laugh: “Sorry I was an asshole. Come to Washington. The new world’s gonna need Rick Grimes.” I have a feeling Rick and the gang will get there, one way or another.

“The Walking Dead” airs on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.

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