THE WALKING DEAD “Strangers” Review

How will the series follow on from such an awesome season premiere? Read on to find out.

The official description from AMC:

With supplies running low and not knowing whether to trust the people around them, Rick leads a mission where the risk might not be worth the reward.

The Walking Dead returned in a big way, with last weeks “No Sanctuary” being one of the best premiere’s in the shows history. Taking the show in a much more focused direction, Season 5 is definitely not messing around, with “Strangers” emphasising how surviving has become much more important for the group now than it ever was before. This all plays into the hands of the series going forward, as though I loved the groups time in the prison, there wasn’t any real threat bar the Governor.

As the group continue to get as much distance between them and Terminus as physically possible they run into a priest desperately in need of help. The priest is revealed to be none other than Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), a character that fans of the comics will know very well. Having been announced as a new character coming into this series I was looking forward to seeing how he’d be introduced. Brilliantly as it turned out, as between Gilliam’s performance and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman‘s script it felt true to his introduction in the comics. Kirkman also showed more connections to the comics, with Gareth (Andrew J. West) playing the exact role from the comics that I expected he would since his first appearance. At the expense of one of our beloved characters.

Naturally the addition of a new character means a change in character dynamic, and this is reflected perfectly through the actors performances. Most noticeable amongst these was probably Andrew Lincoln (Rick) with the tension between Rick and Gabriel being perfectly reflected in his and Gilliam’s performances. Andrew J. West also gave yet another wonderful performance as Gareth, with the actor quickly being just as sinister as David Morrissey was in the role of the Governor. Besides that the remaining cast members all gave strong performances, with Michael Cudlitz showing Abraham’s desire to get back on course to Washington, and Alanna Masterson continuing to show Tara’s remorse for her involvement in the Governor’s actions.

The Walking Dead is quickly reminding us why it’s one of the most talked about shows on the air, with Season 5 shaping up to be the best yet. “Strangers” also does a wonderful job of introducing another character from the comics, and despite being slightly slower than the premiere it still comes highly recommended.