The return of “The Walking Dead” proved somber and reflective, with “What Happened and What’s Going On” hammering home the theme of hopelessness, and yet remained one of the more uplifting episodes of the soul crushing drama.

It’s hard to fault the characters for being efficient killing machines at this point. Anything that seems to kill someone appears to come from a weird margin of error that we haven’t come to expect. In terms of the apocalypse, efficiency is the key to survival. So I come to forgive the moments with expository dialogue (of which there are many) I come to forgive the lack of subtext, and I don’t mind by the numbers storytelling.

Yet, someone took notice of these things behind the scenes because tonight was unconventional. The narrative structure was frayed and disjointed, it was hard to tell whose funeral we were at, and where we were going next. For once, the show concerned itself with being overly cinematic. There was subtext to the visual imagery that allowed the story to be told without the dialogue. And, my god, the dialogue wasn’t so on the nose.

The theme of hopelessness wasn’t as prevalent as I anticipated. Rick has the group united in moving along the road to find some sort of safe haven, and his plan to make good on Beth’s promise to Noah was noble. No surprise that the settlement was ravaged. That was to be expected. The place looked decimated in a very unique combination of explosions and zombie. Who or what caused the attack we may never know, but moving through the chaos reminded us of the dire stakes of this world.

It should have been heartbreaking to see Noah crushed with defeat upon seeing his home. But this is something we’re now accustomed to. Every character on the show has gone through utter and crushing defeat, but none more than Tyreese.

Tyreese began as a strong character with a razor sharp sense of will. He was almost the second coming of Shane, but through various defeats he lost his will. The world dulled him into an obsolete type of man. His compassion was his weakness and despite all of the violence he remained resolute in his (idiotic) promise to himself.  But, somewhere within this week’s return we watched as he found solace in his character turn.

To watch this big lug die on the floor of Noah’s house was more than a little heartbreaking. The visual cues started to make more sense as we start to see more of his (almost) final resting place. But, the real shame of it call came from the calm and scary death hallucinations. Tyreese saw himself against the cannibal he spared, Bob, Beth, and the Governor. Each of them testing his will and his resolution to follow through on his character turn, and in the end, each of them convincing him to let go, proving that we’re alive and dead in this world because of each other.

I couldn’t help but feel touched in these moments. To see how calmly Tyreese welcomed his deceased friends, and to see how efficiently Rick and the group handled the situation. It became clear that community is what matters. A theme I’m sure we’ll see more of in the coming weeks.

I have no idea where “The Walking Dead” moves on from here, but it looks like we’re headed to Washington. If this week was any indication, it seems we’ll have a more cinematic and focused back half of the season. This was the character driven stuff I was longing for since the season began back in October and I can only hope for more. As Washington looms in the distance, so too does the idea of permanent settlement, but with that comes a drastic change in tone for the series, but with the reflective ideas put forth this week, I know it’s possible to make the change.

**I’ll be the first to dismiss comparisons between the show and the comic. They’re different versions of the same idea, but I couldn’t help but feel Tyreese was wasted on the show. The comic depicts him as such a strong and intimidating force, and he never really saw his full potential. I really thought/hoped that he was only going to lose his arm and we’d see a renewed and more angered version of the character we knew. Gone far before his time.

What did you think of “What Happened And What’s Going On?