Josh recaps the Season 5 premiere of The Walking Dead, titled No Sanctuary, where we find out what has become of Rick and the gang after getting trapped in that train car at Terminus, and also see what Tyreese and Carol are up to! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Walking Dead episode recap for No Sanctuary? Click here to jump directly to Josh’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Violet’s thoughts on this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, titled No Sanctuary, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 1: No Sanctuary
This was an intense episode of The Walking Dead. Remember last season was left off with Rick and most of the Walking Dead group trapped in a train car, presumably by cannibals, given what we saw in the short amount of time Rick and the gang was fleeing Terminus. The episode opens up with the group still in the train car. They are determined to get out though, and many of the group have made make-shift weapons from various parts of the train car and what they were wearing, including a wooden shank Rick has fashioned from a post inside.
We also get a flashback in the same train car–of Gareth and some of the Terminus group. They are actually being held by some pretty evil men, who rape the women and kill members of the group, tormenting the imprisoned Terminus residents. Gareth tries to comfort his fellow prisoners, but one of their captors reassures them that they are not in for a good time. Gareth vows to take back his home from these evil imprisoners.
In the present, Rick warns everyone to get ready as they can hear members of Terminus coming for them. They arm up with their makeshift weapons, waiting for the door to open. To everyone’s surprise, the door doesn’t open–but a “sunroof” hatch does open above. Then a teargas grenade is dropped into the train car. The group dives for cover, but they are disoriented, unable to fight their captors.
Four of the group are taken to a building, along with four strangers. The strangers are from train car “D”. The four we know are Rick, Bob, Glenn and Daryl, some of our favorite characters. Two men who seem to be going through the “hum-drum” of their routine then begin their “job”. Their job, is having the 8 captives leaning over a metal trough on their knees, bound and gagged. And going down the line, starting with members of the “D” car, one man knocks the victim out with a bat, and the other slits the unconscious person’s throat. Very “cattle” reminiscent. The men being murdered do nothing as they see the person next to them killed, and after the 4 “D” train members are dead, Glenn is up next.
Gareth comes in at this time though, and asks the men for their “shot count”. One of the men can’t remember since he has just begun the round up job. Gareth gives him a lecture about it, and Bob begins making noises. Gareth decides to hear what Bob has to say, and Bob tells Gareth that they have a cure that they need to get to DC for. Gareth however says, “We can’t go back”. Then Gareth threatens Rick, demanding to know what’s in the bag he had buried in the woods. Rick is silent at first. Gareth threatens Bob’s eye with a knife, and Rick finally divulges what was in there. Right down to the “red handled machete” that he told Gareth he would kill him with. Gareth isn’t too concerned though, and has the two “Termites” resume their work. But before Glenn receives his whack on the head, some gun fire is heard, followed by an explosion.
Gareth tells the men to stay put and resume work, while he goes to investigate. The two men talk amongst themselves as the remaining four sit in agony. They resolve to get back to their work, but what they haven’t seen is that Rick has managed to hide his shank in his pants leg, and gotten free enough to eliminate both men. Now it is time for the four of them to make their escape.
But before we get into that, the episode back tracks, and shifts perspectives to Carol and Tyreese. They are walking among some railroad tracks, and have to hide from a pack of walkers that seem to be heading a specific direction. A large boom is heard, and they decide to investigate. Meanwhile, Carol has told Tyreese a few things. One being that he needs to get ready to kill again, or he might not make it. Two, she probably will not stay with the group if they are reunited. Three, she isn’t trusting Terminus when they get there.
As they walk, they come across a cabin along with running into a man who is trying to set off some fireworks. They stop the man, and take him prisoner. This man indicates that he is setting up timed fireworks to draw the walker packs away from Terminus. Carol decides that this actually might be a useful distraction for her to get close and investigate. Tyreese will be staying behind to watch their new “friend” and care for Judith.
So Carol makes her way to Terminus, after dressing herself up in zombie-chum for blending in, and she walks up right when Rick, Glen, Daryl and Bob are being taken to their death–so she knows nothing good can come of Terminus. Additionally, see has seen the walkers have made their way in, and the “city” is trying to defend against them. And finally, the big thing she sees is a large propane tank. She takes aim at the tank, allowing gas to escape, then, apparently she “borrowed” one of the firecrackers, and launches that at the tank–creating a massive explosion. This creates chaos in the camp, and creates Fire Walkers–and no this isn’t the Coal Running variety, but zombies engulfed in fire, still chasing down the inhabitants of Terminus.
Now the storylines begin to merge. Rick, Glenn, Daryl and Bob begin working on their escape. In the confusion, they are able to move fairly freely. Rick is able to take down a guard, and grab his gun. They also come across a train car with people still alive. Rick wants to just leave them, but Glenn insists on freeing them. They do so, and someone who has been in there for too long has lost his mind. Turns out this man is the one who imprisoned Gareth to start with.
Carol, meanwhile, has mingled with the zombies to allow herself to get into the camp more easily, and unnoticed. She ducks away from them into a building, and winds up running into the woman who greeted Rick and the gang into Terminus initially. Mary, the woman, tells Carol the back story of Terminus–it was initially a sanctuary, but was taken over, and the people there were imprisoned, raped and murdered. Gareth took the place back, and decided that they had to be the monsters if they wanted to survive this world. She is much more crazy this time, and attacks Carol, but Carol is able to take her down pretty easily. Meanwhile, Rick has mowed down some of Terminus’ members with his gun, and wounds Gareth in the arm as he tries to escape.
So Rick is finally able to get back to the train car, and frees the rest of the group. They flee into the forest while the chaos continues. Rick then tells the group he wants to regroup and go back and finish the rest of the Termites off. No one else seems to share the same sentiment though, and they all just want to leave. Before the conversation can be finished though, Carol emerges. Daryl, overjoyed, rushes to her, and hugs her tightly. Then Rick walks up and asks, “You did this?” She confirms so, and Rick thanks her for saving them. Then, Carol tells her that she has to show him something.
But before that happens, we have to finish the Tyreese storyline. At the cabin, the Terminus guy is talking a lot, telling Tyreese one of them is going to die, and if Tyreese is unwilling to kill him, Tyreese will be the dead one. Finally, the Termite gets his opportunity, and grabs the baby, threatening to kill it if Tyreese doesn’t go outside. Tyreese goes outside, where two walkers have been banging on the cabin for some time. Outside, the Termite hears rustling and movement, but then all is quiet. But it was just the calm before the storm, as Tyreese bursts in, and beats the snot out of the man. Baby Judith is safe in her cooler, so all is ok there.
Carol brings Rick and the gang to the cabin. Tyreese is outside holding baby Judith, and Rick and she are reunited. It is a happy time for Rick, and for a moment, things seem ok in the world of The Walking Dead. For this group at least.
And finally, there is one small scene left, but it’s a big one at the same time. We see a man walking the railroad tracks–the same ones leading to Terminus. The signs have all been altered, removing the sanctuary part of the signs–presumably done by Rick and the gang as they run across them. But his man pauses and removes his mask. It is Morgan Jones, the man who makes appearances every other season, it seems. Dun dun dun!
Josh’s Thoughts: The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 1: No Sanctuary
This episode of The Walking Dead was amazing. The scene in the beginning was gut-wrenching, and suspenseful. Waiting for Glenn to get the bat to the head was so hard to watch, and in the end I am glad that it didn’t happen.
But the scene stealer this episode obviously was Carol. She certainly has come a long way since being the abused wife of an overbearing husband with two children that are now dead. She was the woman with a plan, and executed it so perfectly, no one lost their lives–from their group at least. It was a lot of fun watching her make her way into town and saving the day.
It was very satisfying when Rick was able to take those two Termites down with his shank as well. I hated those two guys so much! Especially how they were acting–as if this was just another day at McDonald’s.
That brings up one of my concerns on the episode though. How easy is it for someone to turn into what Terminus is? Based on the small snippets of the history of Terminus, Gareth and the rest of the people seemed to be good at heart. Is it possible in the time they were captured and tortured, all humanity could be removed? Gareth and Terminus not only seemed evil, but they seemed devoid of empathy. It was almost as if sociopathic tendencies somehow were forced into them. It is so hard for me to fathom that a group of good-doing survivors would change to a cannibalistic group of sociopaths. But in this new reality, I guess it is hard to say how people would react.
I am hoping Rick reels in his emotions though, and returns to the more noble Rick. I am probably one of the few people who are of fan of that Rick, but I really would like to see that at least some people can retain their humanity when pushed to the brink. Carol was awesome this episode, but she has shown that her humanity has slipped. Right now I feel that Rick is doing the same thing, and what is worse, he is doing similar things that Shane would do, which might make Rick an even worse person, considering Shane was put down for essentially what Rick is on the brink of doing now. Carol also was sent away for a similar reason. I really do not want Rick to become a heartless, hypocrite, like every other person in the Walking Dead universe.
All in all though, this was a great episode. Everyone being freed and reunited was exciting. I am wondering where we go from here though. Terminus seemingly is done, although Gareth might not be completely out of the picture yet. I really look forward to this season and hope it continues in the exciting direction it started with!
Violet’s Thoughts on The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 1: No Sanctuary
HO. LY. WOW, that was a great episode! This was an amazingly strong opening to this season of The Walking Dead, and I never expected most of what happened to happen, much less happen so soon! Considering that last season led up to getting to Terminus, I never thought that, now they made it there, that they would already have left by the end of the first episode this season.
Oh my gosh, that opening scene, was so disturbing with the way they so coldly slaughtered the occupants of the train car, just like it was another day at the office, and so intense the way they kept teasing moving forward to Glenn being the next victim! I mean, you knew in your heart of hearts that they wouldn’t kill off Glenn, not like this, not at the very beginning of the season, but still — it was so nerve wracking every time they were just about to do it, but got interrupted! And the brutal way in which they did it, just wow. What a way to start the episode. It definitely seems like The Walking Dead has upped the ante this season.
Carol definitely kicked butt this episode. If she hadn’t blown up the propane tank, would the two slaughterhouse guys have taken Glenn out, or would Rick or one of the other guys have been able to fight back against them in time to save Glenn, and themselves? I guess we’ll never know for sure. In any case, Rick was right, those Termites were screwing with the wrong people. And they paid for it. What’s sad is that we learn that Terminus actually used to be a sanctuary for real — that is, until some bad people came and took it over and started raping the women and stuff. Both Gareth and Mary, the welcoming lady, had been there before Terminus was taken over, and were both abused by the bad guys who came. But I guess at some point they figured, well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. And Terminus has been cannibal central ever since. Until now, since it’s gone. Thanks to Carol’s awesomeness.
I suppose that this “kill or be killed” attitude is one which all of the Termites share, considering the conversation that Terminus guy was having with Tyreese. I mean, really? Is it really necessary for one or the other of them to die? Can’t they just co-exist? Apparently not. When Tyreese was forced to go outside, was anyone actually afraid for his well-being? I sure wasn’t. As soon as he went out the door, I was like, oh, he’s fought his way out of a horde of walkers before, when it looked like he was dead for sure, so this is no big deal. It’s unfortunate for the Termite that Tyreese had to come back in and kill him, but it’s his own fault really.
So yes, at the end we get all these amazing, emotional reunions. I was on the verge of tears, I’ll admit. Where do we go from here? Continuing the journey to DC with the cure, I suppose? Will our group resort to the “kill or be killed” mentality? And what’s up with Morgan?? So exciting to see him again, I hope that the group runs across him soon, on friendly terms. More importantly — WHERE IS BETH??? Definitely looking forward to what’s to come this season, as it looks like it will be an exciting one!
Scenes from The Walking Dead, Season 5 Episode 2: Strangers
Here are scenes from the season finale of The Walking Dead, titled Strangers:
