The Walking Dead Review: “Crossed”

We’re counting down on the season….

Title: “Crossed”

Cast and Crew

Directed by Bill Glierhart
Written by seth Hoffman

Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
Danai Gurira as Michonne
Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese
Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon
Emily Kinney as Beth Greene
Laura Cohan as Maggie Greene
Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes
Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes
Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier
Michael Cudlitz as Sergeant Abraham Ford
Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa
Josh McDermitt as Eugene Porter
Christine Woods as Officer Dawn Lerner
Tyler James Williams as Noah
Erik Jensen as Dr. Steven Edwards
Maximiliano Hernández as Sgt. Bob Lamso

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

A skeleton crew remains with a fortified church while Rick leads a rescue mission; Glenn and company go fishing while Porter and Ford try to recover.

High Points

Darryl takes out someone with a seriously badass move, even for him. Sasha illustrates an uncomfortable observation of Carl von Clausewitz: War is such a dangerous business that errors that come from compassion are the very worst.

Low Point

1. Even by the show’s standards, the police cars are in remarkably good condition.
2. In the past, zombies have been attracted to human activity. Last week, we saw a substantial herd of zombies shambling around down the road. Why have none of them ambled to the fire engine?

The Scores

Originality: 2/6

Effects: 6/6 We have some newer-style zombies, burnt, dismembered, and disguarded, and the effects are perfectly grotesque.

Story: 5/6 I enjoyed the individual stories, but it’s nice to get the big picture again, and this episode does a decent job of integrating the plotlines. The Atlanta Rescue Mission, however, proves far more interesting than anything else.

Acting: 5/6

Emotional Response: 5/6.

Production: 5/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Crossed” receives 33/42

Lingering Question

Has any character on this show been as consistently useless as Gabriel Stokes? Eugene Porter at least inspired people (and we see an example of his knowledge being put to practical use in this episode).