***SPOILERS AHEAD***

This week’s episode of The Walking Dead, we can confirm two things. One, Tyreese is terrible at following through and secondly, we will definitely get a “tainted meat” quote very soon.

In “Strangers,” it is immediately established that the gang is very skittish due to the fact that they have not been entirely alone and react with guns cocked when a squirrel-carrying Daryl. This scene essentially demonstrates just how traumatic the previous events had on the psych of the group in terms of the terrors of humanity. While everyone has encountered people who had awful character traits, the impersonal and calculating of the Terminus group demonstrated how far society can devolve when given the chance.

Also, Bob and Sasha are all together too adorable, which basically is a death sentence in TWD universe. They are playing this game where Sasha names awful things about their new existence while Bob would reply with an optimistic twist on it. It is a super bright and happy scene where everyone is smiling..until they hear screams..oh, how Robert Kirkman plays with my emotions.

We meet Father Gabriel along the way, teasing a horde on top of a boulder with his tantalizing human parts. After some heroic words from Carl, he is rescued by the crew. We get it really hammered into our minds just how much Terminus has made Rick and the rest very reluctant to trust any strangers they may meet. Father Gabriel pukes up the remains of his last supper and then asks if anyone had anything to eat. Apparently, not only has the priest had no contact with other people, but he has been holed up with a supply of food that has lasted this long and has finally run out. Although Father Gabriel offered them a place to stay, his off-colored joke of a potential ambush revealed just how out of touch the “good” Father was with the rest of the world’s population and his rather ambivalent remark of “sinning every day” to Rick shows he is not as innocent as he seems.

After a tense search of the place, it is decided they must divide up to go search for supplies at a local food bank. We also see Abraham’s D.C. mission wheels turning as well, only to be held off by Michonne’s practical words that no matter where they go, they still needed to gather items for the journey. Carol and Daryl go separately into the woods to bring back water and along the way, find a getaway vehicle that you know will probably be necessary at some point. Tyreese and Carl remain at the church with Judith while the rest of the group leaves to go into town.

Rick reminds Carl that he is not safe but season 1 Carl is trying to make a comeback (STAY IN THE HOUSE, CARL) and declares that they have been through enough to deal with anything. YEAH, OKAY. Those who are up to date on the comics know just how true that statement is.

The entire time, Bob and Sasha are STILL being adorable. There is all this cute kissing and Tyreese isn’t even going all protective big brother on Bob. All I could think about was how doomed Bob was. This made the entire mission very nerve-wrecking.

The group get to the food bank and from the looks of it, the shelter was a refuge spot until the roof started leaking and things just went downhill from there. Rick leads them towards a hole in center of the food bank and it reveals a cesspool basement filled with collected rain water, blobs of walker flesh moaning, and a HUGE supply of canned goods. Instead of luring all the walkers toward the opening and then spearing each one individually from a safe distance, everyone jumps INTO the water and push the shelves up against the approaching zombies.

This scene made no sense to me. WHY WOULD YOU GO INTO THE GIANT POOL OF BLOATED, SMELLY ZOMBIES?! Also, I would not have gone anywhere near that floor between the water damage AND THE GIANT HOLE IN THE GROUND.

Father Gabriel seems increasingly shook up as each member begins to eliminate the former inhabitants especially when he sees a walker with a pair of glasses turn her attentions onto him. Of course, he wanders away from the group and lies in wait for the approaching group of zombies to make a meal of him. Luckily he is saved but not before a couple of scary moments, including one where Bob is ambushed by a submerged walker and is seemingly saved by Sasha.

They return triumphantly with carts of food and prepare to feast that night. This mood is only dampened by Carl who insists on pointing out how there are scratch marks on the window frames and the words “You will burn for this” carved on the church wall, almost as if it might mean something about what Father Gabriel is hiding about his survival these past few years. You also see Father Gabriel looking at a picture of him and what seems to be the walker with the glasses suggesting that he may feel somewhat guilty for her ending up in that food bank.

We end the episode on a warm note, with everyone enjoying a nice meal except for one minor detail. Bob seems jovial as usual and continues his game with Sasha of seeking out kisses from her. However, he goes outside and begins to cry after smiling so happily at the joyful scene of happy people enjoying a momentary escape from the nightmare world. It looks as if Bob is going to go off into the woods because he may have really been bitten, despite what he told everyone else. Bob leans against the tree with his back to the woods to contemplate life and BAM! He gets take out by not a walker but….. GARETH AND OUR FAVORITE GROUP OF TERMINUS CANNIBALS!

Turns out, Tyreese had lied about killing his hostage and while Gareth is wounded, he is still very much alive. It would seem that the remains of Terminus had regrouped and were the ones “hunting” Rick and Inc. Bob is reminded of that one time he and Gareth had that lively exchange before a pig trough and reminded again how this was nothing personal, that there was no going back from where they were..also they had eaten Bob’s leg and he was pretty tasty.

This scene was super exciting because as a reader of the comic series, this is touching on some very interesting story lines namely the Terminus crew becoming the “Hunters,” a word Gareth subtly slips into the conversation that means SO much in the comic universe.

OH. And we finally make some headway into the Beth side of the story. Daryl sees the car that took Beth away and grabs the getaway car with Carol to chase after it! There is a lot of dust that rises from the back of the car as they speed off in pursuit, we know nothing else. UGH.

While this episode did not skimp on action or story, it did feel a little more predictable than previous episodes. Granted, in the undead genre, you are constantly expecting a person to be eaten. However, you knew something terrible was going to happen to Bob from the first scene. Even when the Hunters grabbed Bob, you knew something was going to happen right then and there. Too much shadowing on the face, maybe?

It was also funny to see the awkward exchanges between Maggie and Tara about that little incident with the Governor, and Tyreese and Carol with that ‘killing his lover and burning her body thing’ that they had. I am not saying that it would not happen, it just seems rather shoehorned into the whole episode. I get that this entire season is about the steps taken to survive (and the consequences) in a post-apocalyptic world, but the whole apology scene between these two groups seemed forced.

Aside from that, TWD really stepped up their zombie make up designs and the action was awesome. I enjoyed the exchange between Michonne and Rick about those who have died including Andrea..I really miss her too. Not her T.V. character, just what she could have become. Also it made you think about a lot of things..

Does human flesh take on the quality of what they eat, and if so..does Bob count as a carb? Is cholesterol a concern for these guys between the high sodium canned foods and the stress? Does Father Gabriel have a dry cleaners’ tucked away in the basement because his clothing are super fresh? Lastly..WHEN WILL WE GET MORE MORGAN?!