Conquer

Daryl and Aaron continue on their recruiting run. While tracking a man in a red poncho, they stumble upon a compound that has walkers in trucks, which they accidentally release. The two seek refuge in a car, and while planning their escape they are assisted by Rick's acquaintance Morgan Jones.

Nicholas, instead of heeding Glenn's warning that he is never to venture outside the gate again, sneaks out and dig up a gun that he had previously hidden. He then lures Glenn into the forest, where he attempts to shoot him. After a lengthy fight, Glenn finally gets the upper hand. He soon realizes, however, that he doesn't have it in him to kill Nicholas. Instead, he leads his battered opponent back to the community.

After Pete and Rick's brawl, Alexandria debates whether or not to exile Rick. His friends plan to vouch for him and hope for the best. As the meeting goes on, Rick encounters a Walker that got past the gate. He brings it to the meeting as evidence of how Alexandria's overly-relaxed way of doing things can get them killed. He offers to teach the population how to defend itself. A drunken Pete shows up with Michonne's Katana. Deanna's husband tries to intervene, but gets his throat slashed and bleeds out. With Abraham holding Pete down, Deanna gives Rick the okay to kill Pete. He immediately does so. Rick then looks up and finds Morgan staring at him in shock.

"Conquer" is a thrilling and action-packed season finale that not only sets the stage for the group's confrontation with the Wolves but also explores the theme of community. As Rick rallies the residents of Alexandria to defend their home, he is forced to confront his own doubts and insecurities about his leadership.

The episode's exploration of community and sacrifice adds emotional depth to the characters' experiences and underscores their determination to protect everything they have built. Additionally, the episode's ending, where Morgan returns and Rick must confront his own actions and decisions, highlights the complexities of their new lives and the challenges they face in maintaining their humanity in a world that seems intent on destroying it.

'The Walking Dead' was absolutely brilliant at its best and was one of the most addictive shows in its prime, for me that was Seasons 1-5. Probably not a popular opinion. Unfortunately it suffered one of the biggest declines in television (nearly 'House of Cards' bad) with Seasons 7 and 8 to the point of being unrecognisable and with it being so good at its bets that is just frustrating. As has been said frequently by me, perhaps annoyingly so but worth reiterating.

Season 5 was not as consistent as the previous four seasons and had its slow spots, nonetheless it was generally one of 'The Walking Dead's' better seasons thanks to its high points being so brilliant. Contrary to what some fans say, the weakest episodes while patchy were in my respectful opinion still overall decent with a lot done right. In terms of critical response, the season finale "Conquer" was critically acclaimed and it deserves it. To me, it is one of the best 'The Walking Dead' season finales and feels like one, as well as one of Season 5's best. It has a lot going on, is taut, is uncompromisingly tense, emotional and has some of the best scenes of the whole season. Found nothing slow here and any frustrations weren't there, did not mind Father Gabriel here though the other characters are much more interesting.

As to be expected, "Conquer" looks great and to me one of the best-looking episodes of the fifth season and even of the show up to this point. t has gritty and audacious production design, visuals that are well crafted and have soul rather than being overused and abused and photography of almost cinematic quality. The music is haunting and affecting, without being intrusive. The direction is some of the best of the whole of 'The Walking Dead' up to this point, both visually and providing the right amount and kind of drama. The walkers are terrifying here and the best used they've been in a long time, the make-up alone is freaky.

Writing is the tautest it was all season and doesn't ramble. The story is never less than riveting, with the tension increasing to fever pitch and some of it actually being quite frightening. Loose ends are tied up/resolved, remarkable with such a lot to tie up and resolve. A few great scenes here, the scene with Aaron and Daryl, Sasha in the graveyard and especially that breathlessly powerful climax.

Like the best episodes for anything, it excels at providing significant progression for both the characters and storytelling. The characters are all well written and interesting, with a standout being an increasingly scary Carol, and loved the character dynamics which saw a good deal of intensity.

Have nothing to fault the acting for (in a rare case of everybody in some way shining), with Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun (in his best performance all season) and Melissa McBride at the top of their game. A re-introduced Lennie James likewise kills it.

Summing up, fantastic episode as a season finale and as an overall 'The Walking Dead' episode. 10/10

What an unforgetable finale episode and perhaps the best season finale so far!! Everything payed off great and builds towards season 6, excellently with a new danger emerging and conflict in Alexandria!

The beginning imidiatly had me hyped as Lennie James makes his return as MORGAN! If I know this guy makes an appearance, i am already on board!

We finally get the reveal of what the "W" stands for, prommissing a new threat in the shape of humans!

Daryl and Aaron also get a memorable scene! Daryl taking out walkers with a chain was so great! Overall these two guys makes for great chemistry!

The stuff at Alexandria was great too! Everything builds up towards the final part of the episode! Rick now has to descide what to do and if he wants to subbtle about it! It really feels like everything just exploded around the end as Rick got one of the best scenes!

Now everything changes in Alexandria!

For me this might be the best episode The Walking Dead has done.

This episode contained some of the darkest scenes in The Walking Dead yet, as well as some very powerful acting, most notably from Andrew Lincoln and Steven Yeun.

Whilst watching this episode, I couldn't help but notice that it felt very much like an episode of Breaking Bad, with it's intense, powerfully acted scenes backed up by a great choice of background music.

Full of twists and turns, this episode was an absolute masterpiece. Not to mention a great cliffhanger.

Next season can't come soon enough.

"Conquer" delivers what every The Walking Dead episode finale offers and excels at it. Easily it is one of those episodes that makes your heart race and pushes you to the edge of your seat.

The episode does not have a large scale war between humans or anything, it's the tense sequences, brilliant acting and well made shots that get the episode going. One of the things that I liked about this episode is how they properly used the zombies, they didn't just throw in some zombies for no reason, it added tension and made me feel scared for our protagonists. Of course it wasn't just zombies, but the human antagonists were also very threatening. I also liked the way the episode showed how the characters changed from what they were in entering the safe zone. Particularly Father Gabriel's character whom we all felt sympathy for at the start of the season and eventually hate him at the end on how he despises Rick's group. The episode added depth to the characters and developed them well in this season the most. I also liked the way how the episode usually speaks visually brought by brilliant shots and cinematography. This episode was like the previous season finale in the previous season. It was intense and thrilling and of course teases us to another set of villains set for the next season. The visuals and gore was also taken up a notch for this episode and the dialogue was excellent as well. Season 5 is a step up for The Walking Dead still with some flaws that still can be fixed with future seasons. The show is diving in to more and more great story lines from the comics waiting to be shown on screen. Let's just hope they don't lose quality as they progress to bigger heights

+An intense episode, +Brilliant acting, +Brilliant cinematography, +Great use of the zombies, +Development for Characters, +Gore, +An intense climax

Verdict: 9.5/10