Strangers (The Walking Dead)
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Episode 2
| "Strangers" | |
|---|---|
| The Walking Dead episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | David Boyd |
| Written by | Robert Kirkman |
| Cinematography by | Michael E. Satrazemis |
| Editing by | Avi Youabian |
| Original air date | October 19, 2014 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Strangers" is the second episode of the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 19, 2014. The episode was written by series creator Robert Kirkman and directed by David Boyd. In the episode, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)'s group encounters a priest, Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam), who provides them solace in his church, while Rick contemplates Abraham Ford's (Michael Cudlitz) proposition to escort Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) to Washington, D.C. to cure the walker virus.
"Strangers" features the debut of Father Gabriel Stokes, a major protagonist of the graphic novels of the same name. Commentators gave the overall episode positive reviews, but most gave an alarmed response to the episode's ending scene, with some calling it one of the show's most shocking moments.
Upon airing, the episode was watched by 15.14 million viewers and received an 18-49 rating of 7.7, down a whole ratings point from the previous episode, which attained an 18-49 rating of 8.7.
Rick's group continues to flee from Terminus, although Daryl senses that someone is following them. They rescue Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam) from a horde of walkers, and Gabriel shows them to his church, where he has been living in solitude since the onset of the apocalypse, surviving on canned food from a food drive just prior. Rick is suspicious of Gabriel, and warns his son Carl that he should never let his guard down.
Gabriel suggests that Rick's group help scour a nearby food bank that is overrun by walkers. Rick, Michonne, Bob, and Sasha join Gabriel as he leads them there. They start to deal with the walkers, when Rick sees Gabriel seemingly ready to submit to a female walker, but Rick dispatches the walker first. Bob is also attacked by a walker, but he is rescued by Sasha. As they collect the salvageable food, Rick realizes Gabriel knew the person that became that walker. The other members of the group do their own supply runs, and Daryl and Carol find a working car nearby, which they plan to save as "backup". When Rick returns with his group, Carl shows him writing scratched into the woodwork of a windowsill outside the church: "you'll burn for this".
The group celebrates that night with a feast. Rick announces that he has decided to follow Abraham's proposal to head to Washington, D.C. to deliver Eugene there to help work a cure for the outbreak. Afterwards, Tara confesses to Maggie about her affiliation with the Governor and the prison attack, for which Maggie forgives her. Meanwhile, Gabriel sneaks off to be alone in his office, sadly looking at a photo of himself with the woman that became the walker from the food bank. Carol, who is still coming to terms with being exiled and the events of The Grove, leaves and goes to the car she found earlier. Daryl follows her and asks what she is doing. She replies she doesn't know, and Daryl asks her to come back with him. Just then they see a car race by with a white cross in its back windshield, which Daryl recognizes as the car that took Beth. The two get in the car and set off to follow without telling the others.
As the feast dies down, Bob steps outside the church, weeping. He is knocked out by a hooded figure and when he wakes up, he finds himself watched by Gareth, Martin, and four other Terminus members, all seeking revenge toward Rick's group as their actions forced them to abandon Terminus and wander. Gareth says they have devolved into "hunters" and the shot expands to show that they have cut off Bob's left leg and are eating it. Gareth casually states, "If it makes you feel any better, you taste much better than we thought you would."
Production
Actor Andrew J. West addresses Gareth's presence in the episode, saying: "I read that script and when I got the last couple pages, I was just shocked — but in a good way. I was smiling from ear to ear. All Scott [M. Gimple] had told me was that I was in episode two. I kept reading and got to the final pages and my God. I'm a fan of the comic book, too, so that was informing what I was reading and I recognized certain things. But it was a huge surprise and a pleasant one at that for me to be able to get to do something like that."[1]
Certain elements of this episode were produced to resemble certain elements in "Volume 11", "Issue #63" of the comic book series, including:
- The group's arrival at Father Gabriel's church.
- Gareth's monologue in final scene (resembling Chris in that issue of the comics).
- The shot of Bob discovering that his left leg is missing (resembling Dale without his leg in the comics).[2]
Actor Andrew Lincoln (and others working with the show) insisted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that "It's a grown-up show this season. And some of the violence is moving into a territory where it's human violence, the most scary aspect of this show."[3]
