The Walking Dead Season 5: Crossed Review

Editor’s Note: Okay, I don’t have to tell you there are a whole bunch of spoilers in these reviews, right? Unless you’re a zombie…

Dammit, Bob! No, not that one…But I always knew Bob would come back to bite us…Okay, seriously, I’m done. Yikes, Sasha needs to get it together. Although her relationship with Bob is still of the plastic “we only developed this for two episodes” storyline that The Walking Dead loves to push for bigger feels, at least it’s better developed than Tyreese and what’s her name. Literally, what is her name?

I’m not even going to bother looking her up on Wikipedia because that’s just how unimportant to the entire show she was. Bob at least had time to be a loner, an alcoholic, redeem himself, fall in love, and die in a meaningful way. He was the softest spot in a group that has become almost carnal. And Sasha is feeling the aftereffect of all that. 

It’s kind of boring to see her going through the same exact things that Rick, Andrea, Abraham, and Tyreese did when they lost people. The manic smashing and killing and all around hating yourself. We see it so often on this show that we’ve become desensitized to it by now, right? It’s just all a lot of misery porn. 

A Tale of Three Cities

Really, Carol is the only character who processed the death of a loved one in a unique way. She seemed to retreat into herself and come out of it much stronger than ever before, “shedding her skin” as she said last week. Carol never became the angry killer that the others did. Her development has been much more interesting, and just goes to show you that Gimple and his team can really write a great character when not focusing on the over-the-top archetypes from the comics. When Carol inevitably dies next week (still calling it), The Walking Dead will have lost its BEST character.

Because Carol is so obviously going to die, right? There’s not even a doubt? She’s been screaming for the “time to die a meaningful death” treatment for the past few weeks. Last week’s episode even outlined her several brushes with death, quiet rendezvous that reminded her that death surrounds her everywhere she goes. It’s why she wants to leave the group. No more death. It’s time she go off and get what’s coming to her. At least that’s what Carol thinks. I’m crying on the inside.

Carol, Dale, and Hershel being the only characters I’ve ever truly become attached to on the show, I’m pretty worried that after midseason, we’ll be left with badass zombie killers and no depth. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe Eugene will be enlightened. 

Speaking of which, the Washington portion of the show is again kind of just there, although I’m pretty happy Maggie was actually allowed to speak this week. I’ve read in your comments that it seems so unlike her to just follow the will of the group or whatever Glenn says, that her suffering has been quietly brushed under the carpet for progression’s sake, and I agree with all of you. I’d rather see Maggie going through a lot of shit over her dad and sister than Sasha suffering over Bob. But she does have some great moments with Abraham, who is pretty much catatonic and machista throughout the episode. 

Actually, the image of Abraham kneeling before the road ahead, quietly supplicating, is a nice little return to the religious themes of the season. It’s all about faith in the end, and Abraham’s is being tested to the max. It’s a nice juxtaposition to Father Gabriel, whose faith seems to be attacking him at every turn. Just as long as I don’t have to see any more flashbacks I don’t care about or musical montages, I’m cool with Abraham taking center again in the future. 

The Washington group does seem like it’s in Glenn and Maggie’s hands now, though. What they do next will almost absolutely come from the creative minds of the show’s power couple. Most likely, they’ll be forced to push forward into the road full of zombies because how could the writers miss such a great opportunity?

So we might get two big action sequences next week, the other being the brave hospital rescue mission, led by Trigger Rick (it’s what I’m going to call him from now on) and his A-Team. It’s crazy when we live in a world where Daryl has to be Rick’s voice of reason, but that’s just kind of where we are now. I would’ve preferred Rick’s way, personally. Blowing through that hospital is all I think any of us have ever wanted to see. 

But we return to Bob the Cop, who played Sasha like a video game, and hauled ass out of harm’s way. Will he get to the hospital in time to warn Dawn? I bet he will because, again, how could the writers miss such a great opportunity for a big shootout with zombies? 

Midseason Finale Predictions

So here we are: who is going to die, who makes it out, where to next? Here are my predictions:

Carol – big death of midseason, maybe sacrificing herself for Beth or Daryl or Rick 

Dawn – dead

Bob Cop – dead

Dr. Edwards – dead

Beth – survives?

Noah – survives

Eugene – dead 

Rosita – dead

Tyreese – dead

Everyone else is safe…unless they’re not! Yes, I’m feeling particularly bloodthirsty, but c’mon, the cast is HUGE. You gotta thin this baby down a bit!

As for where to next, I’m pretty sure we’re getting the Alexandria Safe-Zone. We might even get a quick glimpse of a new character or two by the end of the episode. Wouldn’t that be neat?

For more on The Walking Dead, visit our coverage hub!

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!