When "The Walking Dead" returns for the second half of season 5 next year, there is a possibility that some of the characters will be in a dark place, as they will still be dealing with the death of Beth Greene, the character played by Emily Kinney.
But there will also be hope, and it is speculated that Rick and gang will finally reach Alexandria Safe-Zone sometime in the second half of the season. But showrunner Scott Gimple told The Daily Beast that Rick and Co. will have to go through weirder stuff until they face the possibility of some light.
"I will say that our characters are going to be in a very dark place when things start. And then things get a little darker. [Laughs] And then our group is going to face the possibility of some light. But they will have been through so much that, can they accept it?
"To tell you the truth, it's difficult to know what's a trap and what isn't anymore. Who's a friend, who's a foe? It's hard to know what the right approach is anymore, like what happened at Grady. What happened with that was perfect and traumatic and terrible, but who knows how badly things could have gone if they went with Rick's plan. Maybe more people would have died. There's just no way to know."
The second half of the season is going to be very different from the first, and there is a possibility that episodes 9 and 10 will lead up to the introduction of Aaron, a recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone in Alexandria. It is not immediately known where the gang will meet Aaron, but Noah said he wanted to go to Richmond to find his family, and Eugene wanted to continue towards Washington, D.C. even though the place does not hold any cure for the zombie apocalypse.
There is a possibility that the gang might combine these two missions and hit the road for D.C., where they meet the recruiter, before stopping in Richmond. This was hinted in the trailer released at the end of episode 8, where Michonne is heard saying: "We're 100 miles away. What if it's someplace that we can be safe. It's a chance. Instead of just being out there. Instead of just making it."
"The Walking Dead" season 5 episode 9 will air on Sunday, 8 February, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
