The Best of ‘The Walking Dead’ – Season 5

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Episode 510: ‘Them’
Original Airdate: February 15, 2015

‘Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves… that we are the walking dead.’

-Rick Grimes

​One common trope that pops up often in zombie themed storytelling… is comfort and safety. Because regardless of how many zombies are roaming the world in that story, and no matter what kind of dangers the heroes face… they are always comfortable. Especially when it seems as though their luck has run out. For instance, they might find a food stash that will sustain them for ages on end when they’re starving, or a water supply at their absolute thirstiest. Or they happen to find the perfect place to set up safely. Such as a mall or an isolated community that is tucked away from the horror and it makes sense as to why this trope persists. For that offers the audience and the characters some sense of hope, so that the story never overwhelms. 
 
But thankfully, not every single zombie story holds to that notion, and those are the best zombie stories out there. For they are the ones that truly scare us and leave us worried for the health of the heroes we connect with, and sometimes… those same stories make use of that trope to lull us into a sense of comfort and stability before robbing us of that. It’s something that George Romero was a master of regarding his Dead saga and surprisingly, The Walking Dead is another zombie story that made a point to remove that sense of sense of safety in its later seasons. To truly challenge the characters and the audience like never before and perhaps the finest example of how impactful and powerful this can be… would be the season five episode, ‘Them’.
 
For this is a story that is quite frankly, bleak. After all, Tyreese was lost at this point, as was Beth Greene and everyone was simply trying to make their way to Washington D.C. to try and find some sense of safety and hope, only to find none. In fact, all that awaited them on the road was desolation. Because every time we expected them to find a river, they found mud. When we expected them to find shelter, they only found more trees and the living dead and when we thought food might show, they ended up having to eat wild dog to have something in their bellies and it really doesn’t get much darker or hopeless than that and well… that’s the perfect way to shatter the norm and to also terrify the audience.

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​Because this is the kind of story that features so many intimate and oddly realistic moments, that it manages to prey on our own primal fears about our world. Some of which came to life in recent years thanks to the pandemic, since we saw supply chains struggle and saw supplies run out and, in that moment, we weren’t sure what we would do or how we would survive if it all dried up. Which is echoed on screen here and that is damn scary, and it also moves us and fills us with worry for our heroes. For they are weak here and desperate, and there are genuine moments that one has to wonder if they will reach their destination or collapse and end and return again, since that is the new nature of this world.
 
But thankfully, the show didn’t go that dark, since that would have meant children suffering and a devastation that we haven’t really experienced since Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. But it definitely takes us to the brink, and it doesn’t hurt that the entire cast sells the suffering here. For you feel their hunger thanks to their performances and thirst alongside them and you too, struggle with Rick’s words and are desperate for hope. Which we do get in the very end, which some might see as a cop-out or the true return of that trope. But that’s not the case. Because all they do… is survive, and it takes a little while before they find shelter and safety, with worry in their hearts and well, all of that makes this a brilliant episode for certain.
 
Because this is what horror is all about. Preying upon our deepest fears, really pushing the envelope or explorations on the human condition like never before, and the story is fully enhanced by the grief that Sasha and Daryl carry here for the fallen and it is… everything this story needed. So that our heroes had to earn what comes next and earn their humanity back and that is why this episode is hands down the finest that season five had to offer. For it is quite brave and powerful, and now that we’ve reached the end of this harrowing journey, it’s time to turn our attention to season six’s best episode. One that challenged these characters in a vastly different manner. Until next time.

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