It’s the second biggest episode of the year—the midseason premiere—and it started (SPOILER ALERT) with us losing yet another beloved character, Tyreese.

Sadly, Tyreese had stepped up into the role of “moral compass” for the show. First Hershel, now Tyreese… who’s next?

It’s intriguing that this show was the mid-season premiere, because in it’s own poetic format, it paralleled Season 5, Episode 1 where Tyreese debated with Martin about the moral decision to save baby Judith. Now, as Tyreese is bleeding out and hallucinating

It only took about 75 seconds into this week’s episode for us to realize exactly how far Rick was willing to go to protect the group.

How far would you be willing to go?

This season The Walking Dead has been begging the question, “Is it okay to kill someone to protect yourself or your loved ones?” We’ve encountered these moments several times. In the very beginning of the season when the group escaped from Terminus, Rick urged the group to go back and wipe out Gareth and the other murderers, ending their tyranny. But the group urged him to forget about it and move on. That choice eventually cost

Murder, self-esteem, trust… this episode touched on so many topics. And as much as we could talk about Tyreese’s growing influence of pacifism (Is it ever right to take lives?), I can’t help but gravitate toward discussing the scenes where Rosita began to recognize her true value.

Value and self worth are an intriguing real world topic, especially when entertainment media constantly sends us messages of “you’re only valuable if you’re…” fill in the blank: smart, sexy, an athlete, an amazing musician…

Sadly, many of us drink the Kool-Aid. We feel the need to “earn” worth

“I’m trying.”

It’s the phrase Carol and Daryl kept saying in this episode. And who can blame them. In a world with no rules, no moral code, and at times… no hope… survivors probably wonder, why even try?

That’s the way the two of them felt when they took a minute to collect their thoughts.

The scene begins about 15 minutes into the show (including commercials).

Carol: Said we get to start over.

Daryl: Yeah?

Carol: Did you?

Daryl: I’m trying.

Eugene has been carrying around a huge burden… and I’m not talking about his mullet. He’s been living a lie, hoping it would award him value and protection, but really it’s just been eating him away.

I’ve been waiting for this moment to erupt. As a fan of the comics, I knew Eugene was a fake (or suspected anyway… the comic is not always parallel with the show). But I was curious how the truth would rear its ugly head.

Tara might have been the key to

Beth is back, and she wakes up in a hospital bed in a scene all too familiar (Season One, Episode One). But Beth isn’t free to walk out the front door and go find her friends, because she’s held captive by an entirely different type of evil.

Enter Dawn, Gorman, and Dr. Edwards stage left.

Cops, a doctor, a clean hospital… sounds like a dream come true compared to

If you open your Bible to the book of James, the author concludes his first chapter with the following verse:

²⁷ Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  (James 1:27, NLT)

The last two weeks of The Walking Dead have taken place inside a church. The church brings up a variety of emotions and feelings to people around the world. To some it’s a place of worship and love. To others, it’s believed to be a place of judgment and hypocrisy. Sadly, some churches have lived up to that bad reputation, casting a dark shadow on churches across the nation