The Walking Dead New Episode Review: 'The Distance' Provides Some Hope for Rick Grimes and Company

The Walking Dead posted its strongest installment of 2015 on Sunday night with the latest Season 5 installment entitled "The Distance," The first two episodes of the second half of this season were rather subpar, but the new episode finally moved things forward and set us up for some fascinating developments for the rest of the season.

The moment Maggie and Sasha led Aaron into the barn, you knew the situation was going to go badly for him. Rick Grimes has pretty much lost the ability to trust anyone, especially those who say and do all the right things. As he pointed out to Michonne, every possible oasis or safe haven the group has found thus far has either fallen apart or been a ruse designed to lure people in and harm them. So when someone like Aaron comes along with a sanctuary that is too good to be true, then it probably is.

It's understandable, then, that Rick immediately tied Aaron up and refused to trust him. For all he knew, Aaron had people in the woods waiting to ambush them all. Except he didn't. Aaron had an answer for everything, and the group soon discovered that everything he said checked out. For once, they met a decent human being who was telling them the truth. He represented a safe zone in Alexandria, and his job was to recruit new members for the community.

Aaron was particularly impressed that the group had not turned on each other despite a lack of food and water. He recognized that they were good people and wanted to help them. And after taking the necessary precautions, the group decided to go with Aaron to Alexandria to at least check out the community.

Of course, this is The Walking Dead, so the road trip was interrupted by a horde of zombies. But after some twists and turns, the group arrived at the massive steel gates of Alexandria, and it appears to be everything Aaron had promised.

Now there would obviously be no show if this community turns out to be completely safe and Rick and the rest just spend their lives living happily ever after inside these walls. This is not to say that something sinister has to be going on at Alexandria as there was at Woodbury and Terminus, but something has to go wrong or else the show ends this season.

[WARNING: COMIC BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD]

As fans of the comic book know, Alexandria is still up and running in the series today, and it is the longest running location in the history of the book. So if the show follows the same pattern, then Rick and company aren't going anywhere anytime soon. But the show still has plenty of material to mine from the book with regard to Alexandria.

We know that there were problems within the leadership of the community, and Rick eventually becomes the man in charge of Alexandria. We know there are zombie problems that break down the walls of the community somewhat. We know that the community eventually gets into all-out war with Negan and the other communities in the area. There is no shortage of story to be told with this community.

But for now, Rick and the group remain cautious about Alexandria. Next week 's episode should introduce us properly to the community, and we'll see how the show decides to handle things from there.

Notes:

- The nighttime zombie fight in this episode was extremely cool.

- I appreciate that the show did not make a big deal out of the fact that Aaron and Eric are homosexual.

- Aaron's mom sounds like a bit of an unhealthy woman.

- Carol told Rick that he's still right no matter what happens at Alexandria. It'll be a while before Rick trusts anyone or anything outside his group again.

What did you think of "The Distance"? Let us know in the comments section.