Whilst there was plenty of action in Crossed, and the bringing together of all the season's disparate plots and locations was deftly handled and made for a particularly zippy hour of television, The Walking Dead still hasn't shaken the sense that it's treading water. At this point the show has the problem faced by its source material. Being a serialised medium, comic books - especially superhero titles - make their trade on stasis, not evolution or revolution. Any big changes in a comic book will almost certainly be done, but those moments are rare. Comics, The Walking Dead and soap operas all have a lot in common, in that they're about maintaining audience's interest for extended periods of time without really messing with the status quo. Like a soap opera, or a superhero comic, each episode of The Walking Dead in season five has appeared to be action-packed, but nothing much of consequence ever happens until the cliffhanger ending, designed to make you come back next week with the promise that something will totally happen for sure then guys! Crossed was especially egregious in that the entire episode was an hour-long tease for the midseason finale. It started with Rick making plans to storm the hospital, and the start of that plan being put into action. The real climax will come next week, though. Talk about some televisual blue balls. What were your thoughts on Crossed? Excited for the midseason finale next week? Discuss all things Walking Dead in the comments below.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
