BWW Preview: THE WALKING DEAD, Fine Young Cannibals

I am always amused when someone says to me, "I don't watch THE WALKING DEAD, it's about zombies." Zombies are so inconsequential in this show that it is downright amusing when non-watchers take that approach. But the joke is on them, because to miss out on these rich and layered characters is their loss. Let's look back on Season Four, shall we?

Part One - Bottom of the Lake

Remember those first few glorious scenes of Season Four when everyone looked happy and it seemed that all would be all right? However, as long-time viewers, we're not that naive. At the end of episode one, Patrick drops dead of a mysterious cause. So now there's a new threat at the prison besides the walkers; illness. What a great plot twist! Here are these people fighting for their lives every day against the walkers, but they still have to fight common everyday problems, like influenza, or whatever the heck this thing is.

The virus slowly picks off victims one by one sending Tyreese, Bob, Daryl and Michonne out on a medicine mission. They come across an unbelievably big herd of walkers. Tyreese hesitates only slightly reeling from the death of Karen but perseveres. Discovering Carol burned Karen and David, Rick excommunicates her.

And then... guess who shows up? The GOVERNOR! He and his new "family," Lilly, Tara and Megan run into Martinez who has his own camp run by himself and two brothers, Pete and Mitch. Not a fan of authority, the Governor soon kills Martinez. As Pete and Mitch struggle with who's in charge now, Brian, now slowly transforming back into the Governor, kills Pete, and makes Mitch his right hand man. And we thought the aquarium full of heads was creepy? Can we say LAKE GRAVEYARD?! Oh dear... nightmares for decades.

After Meghan is once again nearly killed by walkers, the Governor takes the crew to the prison where they immediately take Hershel and Michonne hostage to negotiate. Hershel is decapitated thus inducing screams that my downstairs neighbors will never forget. And now the war may begin. Lilly arrives with a dead Meghan in her arms and any trace of Brian is now gone. Rick and the Governor finally come to blows in a hand-to-hand battle that is only stopped when Michonne stabs the Governor through his chest.

The gang all goes their separate ways.

Part Two - I don't even like flowers!

In the second part of Season Four, we get hour long glimpses of the new groupings of our favorite survivors as they journey toward a reunion at Terminus. What a fascinating glimpse into these characters, as they learn to survive now in smaller groups with new people.

We begin with Rick and Carl. I'm so happy that Carl is finally displaying teen angst, hating on his Dad, resenting that Rick couldn't save Lori or Judith; acting out, thinking that he can do just fine without him. That is SO teenagery, I wanted to jump for joy. (#chocolatepudding) Michonne is flashing back and we finally get to meet her boyfriend/baby-daddy and her son, Andre. She finds Rick and Carl and are happily reunited with them. They are blissfully settled for a bit, until the house they are holing up in is reclaimed by a nasty gang. Rick kills one of its members, Lou, and narrowly escapes with Carl and Michonne.

Daryl and Beth have wound up together. He is very protective of Beth. He greatly respected Hershel and wants to protect her at any cost. Daryl trains Beth in being tougher and shooting the crossbow and drinking. So naturally she is kidnapped by an unknown assailant. With no other option, Daryl takes up with the nasty gang from Rick's house.

Tyreese has acquired Lizzie and Mika and a very alive, Judith, but he sure has his hands full. Luckily they run into Carol in the woods and she joins them. They too find a "safehouse" for a while until Carol realizes that Lizzie is a little "off." Okay, maybe that's an understatement as Lizzie kills her little sister Mika to prove to Carol that she has what it takes to survive. Realizing that Lizzie is a legitimate threat to the baby, Carol advises her to "look at the flowers" as Carol kills her. While burying Lizzie and Mika, Carol confesses to Tyreese that it was she who killed Karen. Well timed, Carol. Even Tyreese had to admit that at that moment, it didn't really matter.

Glenn is on his own but runs into Tara and the two set off together after Tara confesses that her sister Lilly had been killed by walkers after she offed the Governor. The two run into our three new characters; Abraham, Rosita and Eugene who has the best mullet thus far in post-apocalyptic Atlanta. Glenn is insistent on finding his "wife," Maggie. Abraham informs them that Eugene is a scientist and knows how to fix the zombie problem so they are escorting him to D.C. to make all well with the world again.

Maggie, Sasha and Bob are walking together as Maggie is just as manic about finding Glenn. The two groups finally converge and Glenn and Maggie are reunited. They all head to Terminus. Upon arrival, they are warmly greeted by Mary and invited to eat and get comfortable.

Back on the outside, Daryl's new scary gang leader, Joe, finds Rick, Michonne and Carl and swears vengeance for his buddy, Lou's, death. As Joe threatens the unmentionable things he'll do to Michonne and Carl, Rick leaps forward and bites out Joe's jugular. Yeah...that happened. (Sorry, downstairs neighbors, I didn't think I could outdo the Hershel scream...)

Group #2 arrives at Terminus but are able to sneak in. Gareth and Mary are none too happy about the security breach but again welcome the group with warmth. Caught red-handed snooping around, they are led to a train car where they are reunited with Group #1 as they all realize that maybe Terminus wasn't their best decision? It's okay, though. Nobody wants to mess with a pissed off Rick and Daryl.

Exhale. That is a LOT of information for 16 episodes. They don't mess around on this show. I think I know some of these characters better than I know my own family (and honestly, that's fine). I highly doubt we will spend much time at Terminus in Season Five, but it sure will be fun to watch them get out of it. It's pretty widely known now that they're cannibals and that sure wasn't pork ribs on that grill. And this Eugene guy... maybe it's the hair, but I'm guessing he's not a scientist? Where the heck is Beth? From the Season Five trailer, it doesn't look good for her. And was it my imagination or was Mary wearing Beth's sweater at Terminus? I don't think anybody has any idea where they will go next but I am sure that it will be even more cringe-worthy than before which will induce many more screams. (And don't feel bad for my downstairs neighbors, they're kind of jerks.)

THE WALKING DEAD Season Five premieres Sunday, October 12th at 9/8 central on AMC. And don't forget THE TALKING DEAD airing directly after the broadcast. It provides great insight and comedy to ease your mind before trying to go to sleep. Follow me on Twitter at @eponineq.