The Walking Dead S05 E07: Crossed

We each carry a demon in our back pocket. A guilt of something we did or didn’t do that haunts us. Carol carries Lizzie and Sophia. Daryl carries his childhood abuse and Merle. Last week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” showed our team was split up and vulnerable; some at the church, some at the hospital. Carol’s survival is in Beth’s hands, but the devil is in the details and will someone die tonight?

Preparations

The team is splitting up again. As Rick picks out those who will take part in rescuing Carol and Beth, Sasha takes out her angst of losing Bob on the church pews and, while Carl and Michonne make the church safe, Pastor Gabriel scrubs away the blood with spit and elbow grease.

Carl is still a child, but sometimes that kid is a lot smarter than the adults. He tells Gabriel that he needs to learn how to fight. No place is safe and it’s better to know how to use a weapon because out there; it’s hell. That look in Michonne’s eyes tells us that she just realized that Carl was describing her life ever since this apocalypse began. There is no sanctuary for our team. Michonne tries to comfort Pastor Gabe, but I think she should be checking out what he’s doing with that machete. What is under those floor boards?

Hostage Negotiations

I liked Rick’s plan of getting the girls back. Use the tactics that work for the Navy Seals: stealth, speed, clockwork precision and, take down the enemy. But, unfortunately, the team went with Tyreese’s plan of using a hostage swap to negotiate with Officer Dawn, the wicked witch of the apocalypse. I love Tyreese, but he is too forgiving, too much a peacemaker and he don’t have killer instincts. I was thrown over by Daryl’s backing Tyreese, but this episode you’ll see it is all about trust issues. The team trusts Tyreese. He’s earned it.

Beth’s insistence that Officer Dawn not stop treatment on Carol has the opposite effect. And since we’re talking about trust issues; the wicked witch gives Beth the keys for the drug cabinet and tells her to save Carol. Dawn is busy playing God, deciding who lives and who dies and this is not good for our comatose Carol. Good ole Dr. Edwards not only tells Beth what meds Carol needs, but not to trust Dawn. Yeah right. This warning comes from the man who lets people die just so he can feel important.

Our little Beth has grown to be very resourceful and with a handful of strawberries, she earns the needed time to get the epinephrine for Carol. Beth has to watch her back because Dawn realizes that Beth is no push over and that means Beth will have to die. Did you know that epinephrine is used in emergencies to treat very serious allergic reactions and acts quickly to improve breathing, stimulate the heart, raise a dropping blood pressure? Lets hope it works on Carol.

Abraham

Eugene is still in a coma and Sgt. Abe is no better. Without a goal, Abe’s right back where he started when he first met Eugene. Abe trusted Eugene to save the world, but at this point in the apocalypse, what is there to save? The world is rotting away and the walkers are disintegrating at an alarming and disgusting speed. Fresh water is nowhere to be found and food… well, that’s a pleasant memory. If Abe has a death wish, Maggie and Rosita soon set him straight, but, will our soldier snap out of it? Eugene is waking up and Abe… I guess his reaching for that bottle of water means he’s decided to join the living. It remains to be seen if Eugene will be forgiven.

Conclusion

Crossed! As in double crossed is what tonight’s episode is all about, which brings us right back to trust issues. Michonne trusted Gabriel to be one of the team. He isn’t and used the machete to dig his way out of the church. He is a loser who can’t even escape without getting a nail stuck in his foot. Unable to kill the Christian walker lady, what’s Gabe going to do now that he’s found his bible and Bob’s other leg?

Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) is having a hard time over losing the man she loved. Tyreese has been there and tries to comfort his sister, but her trust in love is lost and all she is interested in is getting the job done. In the midst of melting street walkers, napalm walkers and bowling ball walkers, Team Rick managed to capture, lose, and recapture some of Dawn’s cops including Officer Bob Lamson better known as Bob # 2. I knew they should have gone with Rick’s plan, especially after Daryl almost got nibbled on.

Glenn, Tara and Rosita while searching for fresh drinking water, go fishing. In an apocalypse, be it disease, war or zombies, the most important thing to have is fresh drinking water. You can survive for a longer time without food, but without water… you’re dead in three days. The world of “The Walking Dead” has been rotting away. Would you know how to treat the water to make it drinkable? You would if you knew how to bug out for long stretches of time.

Sasha decided to trust Bob #2. He seemed like a decent cop and after all his name was Bob. He wanted her to put a bullet into one of the melted street walkers. It was an old friend of his. But, Sasha’s been crossed and now she’s unconscious and Bob’s escaped.

 

Sometimes the only thing you can trust is the weapon you hold in your hand. See you next week, my little zombie snacks. It’s the mid-season finale until the show returns in February 2015. Sonequa Martin-Green revealed on “Talking Dead” that she is eight months pregnant. Congratulations, and I wonder if the baby will be worked into the series.