'The Walking Dead' has returned

After months of waiting, "The Walking Dead" has returned and it did not disappoint. 

The show's cold opening gives the viewers a glimpse at how much Rick has changed. Finding a gun buried under the now fully grown crops and instead of cleaning it, he looks right at the zombies and throws the gun away, with a jubilant smile across his face. 

As the episode unfolds, we are introduced to new characters and the growing community within the prison. It's setting the new status quo of the show after the climatic battle between Woodbury and the prison camp.

It's never mentioned how long it's been since the last episode, but if the title of the episode makes it seems it's been at least a month. In this time, the community has added horses and pigs and have made the inside into a make-shift farm. 

Daryl has become a living folk-hero and seems to have the respect of everyone. He is more up-beat then usual and relishes in the fact that he is loved.
 
He leads a supply run with Michonne, Tyreese, Glen and some of the new recruits to an abandoned army camp. One of the new recruits, Bob played by Lawrence Gilliard Jr., makes a mistake leading to zombies raining down from the roof. The threat of a falling military chopper leads to an escape, but not everyone makes it.

The real interesting part of the episode was to see Rick and his new attitude. It's almost a complete 180 degree change. Rick doesn't like to carry around his gun anymore, even when he is outside the prison fences. 

He is also more welcoming, as his first instinct when finding a woman in the woods was to give her food. He then agrees to meet her husband and consider bringing them into the prison community.

Last season was all about shoot first and ask questions later, and now Rick is trying to play ambassador. It's interesting to see and really shows how 30 days is a long time in a world full of zombies. 

As Rick continues to the survivor's camp, he soon learns that things truly haven't changed outside the prison walls and gets a harsh lesson on how much the world has fallen apart. It's a nice reality check and an even better view into how Rick has learned to cope with his loss and make himself better. 

The ending leaves on a dark note as one of the new survivors begins to turn into a zombie, without being bitten. It's a nice twist and could lead to a whole new burden the survivors will have to deal with.


It started slow, but the scenes with Rick were a driving force for a fun and interesting episode. It will be fun to see what new obstacles the prison camp will face now with no overarching enemy.  

Rating
7.5 out of 10