BWW Recap: There's Far Too Many of You Dying on THE WALKING DEAD

Good God, that was brutal! One episode in and I'm already exhausted. Blood and fire covering a painting of a happy home, well, isn't that just the best way to start the second half of season five? Losing a major character in episode one is probably a pretty clear indicator that this season is not going to be a lighthearted one.

It is clear from the beginning that the tone of this part of Season Five may be a little different than previous seasons. From the start, it felt like a tone piece rather than a post-apocalyptic thriller. As we are lead through flashes of the entire series mixed with scenes from a grave being dug and a funeral, we are slowly led into the episode. With everyone still grieving from the loss of Beth, a small group including Tyreese, Rick, Michonne and Glenn escort Noah to his hometown in Virginia. It was what Beth wanted and they want to honor her wishes and get Noah back there. As they arrive, they quickly see that the housing development has no survivors and now Noah is alone and will have to become part of the group. Rick tries desperately to console Glenn and the uncharacteristically fragile Michonne in the loss of not only Beth, but their hope. Since they are so close to D.C., they decide that swinging by the nation's capital may not be a bad idea anyway.

Meanwhile, Tyreese tries to console Noah and advises against him going to his house but he goes anyway only to find his family brutally murdered. Tyreese himself, is attacked by Noah's little brother and slowly begins to die as we realize that the scenes from the beginning of the episode were Tyreese's life flashing before his eyes. He is visited by visions of Lizzie, Mika, Bob, Martin, Beth and even the Governor himself as they all try to convince him to let go. Rick and crew arrive to chop off his bitten arm to try and save him ala Hershel, but it is too late. And that funeral we were led to believe was Beth's, at the beginning, is actually Tyreese's.

I guess on this show we're so used to brutal deaths, and don't get me wrong, this was completely brutal, but it was also poetic. The mood music throughout the episode reminded me of a dirge as Tyreese made peace with the murderous things he had done knowing it was all in the spirit of survival. As well as succumbing to the words of Bob and Beth to find peace as opposed to the Governor and Martin trying to egg him into believing he was dying because he deserved it. And then to be taken out by the very essence of innocence, a child... well, how fitting is that for our beloved Tyreese? Also, a nice touch was the radio broadcasting throughout the episode after Tyreese had mentioned that his father had always made him listen to the radio as a child. (Was that Andrew Lincoln in his Brit voice on the radio?) It was poetry, in my opinion. A very fitting, albeit devastating, end for a hero. As he was in the car and seeing Beth and Bob and the kids, it was clear he had finally found his peace and had accepted his end. And that's how he should end his journey, on his terms, not at the hands of someone else. And that last vision of his beanie hanging on his makeshift grave... just heartbreaking.

A high kudos to Greg Nicotero to this tone poem of an episode that was a beautiful tribute to the end of an amazing character. And of course, the incomparable Chad Coleman as Tyreese. What a performance! What a pity that award shows tend to ignore this show. Although my heart is broken, it was a remarkable episode.

So the stage has been set. We are in the second half of the season and the group literally has no destination now and what little hope they had is truly gone now. Poor Sasha, she cannot catch a break. As usual, we have no idea where they are taking us, but we are completely committed to the journey. But the question is, Dale, Hershel, Tyreese... who is the moral compass now?

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Photo Credit: AMC

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