Season five of “The Walking Dead” was possibly the best yet from the most popular show on cable TV. There were very few episodes that the plot didn’t move at a good pace, and there were plenty of surprises to keep us all hooked. The 16 episode season went from the demise of Terminus to a trip to a “nice little country church,” then wound up in a hopeful place called Alexandria instead of Eugene’s mythical safe haven in Washington D.C.
We are not too far away from the start of season six, although it will certainly seem like it. Surely we can entertain ourselves with some summer fun in the sun while we await the next gore and slaughter filled season which will start up in the fall of 2015. While we wait, we might as well take a look at ten of the most shocking moments of season five. There were plenty to choose from so the list took some whittling to get down to just ten.
10. Beth sees Carol being wheeled into the same hospital she is being held “prisoner” at so that gives her hope. Beth is surrounded by cops that have survived due to sheer will, luck, and the motivation of legal rape in their facility. Carol’s arrival lets her know her group is looking for her.
9. Raining zombies was a pretty cool moment as Daryl and Carol wound up in a van that toppled over a bridge. Let’s ignore the fact that the van would have never landed on all four wheels perfectly. Let’s focus on the fact that after that there were walkers pelting the top of the van repeatedly as they simply walked off the bridge to follow their prey. Hearing them fall on the top of the van before seeing them was a very nice touch to a shocking scene. Zombie tip: Don’t go near a van teetering on the edge of a bridge, even if you are bad ass survivors like Carol and Daryl.
8. Poor Bob having his leg eaten right in front of him by the remaining Terminites. This was a horrible situation of course, but the guy got some satisfaction when he revealed they were eating tainted meat as he showed them his walker bite. Bob’s insane laugh was about as shocking as the cannibalism being displayed by Gareth and crew.
8. Aaron’s arrival to recruit Team Grimes led to a close to death encounter with zombies hitting their windshield faster than gnats on a road lined with chicken houses. Rick didn’t trust Aaron of course so his decision to go toward Alexandria at night nearly got them killed. Aaron helped save them all and earned some trust at that point.
7. Abraham nearly killed Eugene after the mullet wearing “scientist” revealed his lie about being able to find a cure for the pesky Walker Flu. A couple of punches to the head and a face fall into the pavement almost ended the run of one of the most hateable “good guys” on the show.
6. We knew Carol was capable of anything after she killed off a couple of sicklies at the prison back in the day. Her confidence has continued to grow to Ronda Rousey levels now. Her chilling threat to wife beating Dr. Pete as the two stood alone in his house showed the fearless woman into which she has evolved.
5. Deanna was calm and collected. She seemed to be an easy going lady with good intentions. She happened to be the mother of nut job Aiden though. And when he bit the dust she was close to losing it. She didn’t know what really happened so she wasn’t aware how dumb her boy was and that he was lucky to have lasted this long anyway.
4. Carol went full blown bad ass warrior with her destruction of Terminus in the season opener. If not for her, Rick and company would have been batting practice for the Terminus cattle herders, then later their supper. Once exiled, unfairly in my opinion, she redeemed herself in Rick’s eyes and after this rescue she could get away with any future murders that may be necessary to save the group as a whole.
3. The hostage swap at Grady Memorial Hospital went pretty smoothly….right up til the point that Beth’s brains exploded out of her skull. Dawn just couldn’t let peace happen and tried to change the deal at the last minute. Beth wouldn’t have it and stabbed the out of control lady cop, which resulted in Beth’s death.
2. The season finale was awesome, but Deanna’s husband had to be killed to make it shocking enough for a finale. Drunken Pete accidentally killed poor Reg at the town hall meeting. That led to Deanna changing her stance on capital punishment. She told Rick to kill Pete and he did so with a great deal of glee.
1. The fist fight between Rick and Pete was very good. The “broken window theory” paid off as both men crashed through the front window, carrying the brawl into the streets as the community gathered to watch the chaos. It was a even fight for a while, then Rick eventually wound up on top, but had to pull his gun when Deanna ordered him to be stopped. He went on a crazy rant about how the Alexandrians were weak and unprepared. This was the worst light Rick had been shown in, maybe ever. He went a bit overboard so Michonne, of all people, stepped in and cracked him in his damn head. I never saw that coming at all. It’s great when a TV show can shock me, since it is not an easy thing to do.