Episode 16: Conquer
Here we are, finally at the end of Season 5 and having seen the 90 minute finale, we're exhausted! It seems like just yesterday we were baited with a shot of the prison over Rick and Daryl's shoulders in preparation for Season 3, and now we're in pre-production on Season 6, nearly ready to begin filming back in good ol' Georgia.
Instead of giving a synopsis, we'll just say the internal conflict between the Alexandrites and Team Rick are coming to a head. The townsfolk are holding a tribunal of sorts to decide if they want to kick Rick out, Nicholas and Glenn are going at it, and even Father Whinesalot is paying his dues via an embittered Sasha who shows him just how bad of an idea it is to proclaim her and the group 'evil'. The big twist of the finale? Well you knew there'd be one, right? It's not that Pete gets the ax (though he does, it's just not a surprise- so long #PorchDick), but that Morgan finally finds the group by way of rescuing Aaron and Daryl from a sticky spot that would have otherwise been certain death. So we're going into Season 6 with the 'you must change your ways' line firmly drawn in the sand and Morgan fresh from the field on board to help bring Rick back from another brink.
At long last, Morgan has arrived, and is sane enough to finally join the group! He has, however, discovered some bizarre zen-state where he deems all life valuable... even the bad ones. It's his excuse for coming to Aaron and Daryl's aid, though in the beginning he seems to be leaving two of The Wolves to be chewed on (he loads their unconscious bodies into a car and then honks the horn... one would assume to draw walkers to them but as Lennie James explained on TTD afterward -the surprise cast guest-, it was to ensure the coast was clear for him to exit instead). This will for sure be an interesting contrast to Rick's 'trust no one' attitude and seems to introduce our new 'voice of reason' for Season 6, now that Tyreese is gone. That said, it cannot last forever since the very baddies Morgan let live have already struck again. Shucks, that always happens.
The mid-season finales tend to be more cliff-hangery than season finales, and this one follows suit (the only real cliffhanger in the bunch was Season 4's terminus lockup, the rest were mostly setting the scene for the following season). Now they can bounce forward past winter again as they've done in seasons past without causing much of a hiccup in the storytelling if they so choose. We might not be surprised, then, if when we get back from the break we find things at the ASZ much altered with Rick in power now that he has finally been proven right by Pete murdering Reg right in front of Deanna, though ZenMorgan is definitely not going to approve of the fact that he walked in for their much awaited reunion just in time to see Rick shoot the man in the face.
One of the most exciting things of this year's finale by far is the first release of the trailers for the spin-off, Fear The Walking Dead. Set in Los Angeles at the outbreak of the virus, we're going to be treated to the goings-on at the onset that we were largely left in the dark on before, thanks to Rick's coma. The idea of a fresh start in the same vein of the original but with an entirely new cast is oddly enthralling, despite how much loyalty we have toward our current crew. The fact that it comes mid-summer may be just what we've always needed. And yes, it is a new cast and highly unlikely to cross over at all, though some fans immediately assumed going back to the onset meant bringing back to life some of our dead cast members.
So, cheers on a great conclusion to Season Five! We'll be back atcha in July when the new gang hits the airwaves.
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