Watch The Walking Dead Cast And Crew Talk Huge Changes In The Rest Of Season 5
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The first half of The Walking Dead season 5 is in the books. As usual, they wrapped things up with a bang, and while the hit zombie drama is on its annual mid-season hiatus, there is still a lot for fans to talk about. Now AMC has released this new video of the cast and crew discussing the future of the post-apocalyptic survivors as they move into new episodes starting next year.
You probably already guessed this, but if you’re not caught up on this season of The Walking Dead, you might want to sit this one out because we’re taking a trip to spoiler country for the next few hundred words. If you’re current, however, by all means, continue, and watch the aforementioned video below.
Over the last couple of years, each half of a season on The Walking Dead has been its own distinct arc, and the back eight episodes of season 5 are no exception. After losing Beth (Emily Kinney), and leaving the church, the group find themselves on the move once again, dealing with some heavy emotional baggage. But things are definitely changing. There aren’t a lot of specifics given here, but as Norman Reedus (Daryl) says, where they once ran from things, they now run towards things.
Chad Coleman (Tyreese) says the characters are going to “go through even more hell,” in the upcoming episodes, and from everything you see here, it sounds like they’re going to use this darkness to explore the various personalities and the situation in even greater depth. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) has to cope with her sister’s death, and you’ll see a dark side of her we haven’t experienced yet. Though it will be sad and bleak, with people trying not to be brutalized by their experiences, trying to be the people they were and accept the people they are, there will also be moments that show the humanity that keeps them going in the face of impossible odds.
Since taking over, this is what current showrunner Scott Gimple and his team have done the best. They pushed the zombies and the gore to the side in order to focus on the people, and as a result the show has never been better or more engaging. Though he promises more “crazy moments,” he also promises more emotion and character work as well.
Thus far, the show follows a rough outline of the story from Robert Kirkman’s comics, a trend that is reportedly going to continue. As a result of that knowledge, and some hints dropped throughout the first eight episodes of season 5, we have an idea where the survivors are heading. Now that Washington DC is off the table, we suspect the will wind up in the Alexandria Safe Zone before the end of the year.
Andrew Lincoln (Rick) says that what they’ve filmed of the rest of the season is like a different show visually and story wise, and Alexandria, a walled off community where some of them still are in the comics, is a definite shift in just about every way. We’ve seen set photos of the production erecting walls around a neighborhood outside of Atlanta that seem to support this idea, and at one point recent addition Noah (Tyler James Williams) mentions that where he is from is surrounded by sturdy walls. It may take them a while to get there, they may not arrive until the end of the season, and it sure as hell won’t be an easy road, but we definitely think this is where they’re headed, or at least a close approximation of this place.
What do you think? Did you like the first half of season 5? Do you like where The Walking Dead is headed, or would you prefer they change course? Sound off below.
