Carol Was the Hero of the Season 5 Premiere

There was a lot of drama surrounding Carol on the last season of The Walking Dead . While she was a well-liked motherly figure throughout the previous seasons, Season 4 showed a different side of her when she killed the living, including Karen and Lizzie. It is hard to say if these actions really made Carol an unfavorable character, but Carol saved the day in the Season 5 premiere. Any of us who were questioning her character before are definitely back on Team Carol.

Conveniently, Carol and Tyreese (along with Little Ass Kicker) stumbled upon one of the people from Terminus and managed to overhear some vital information about their friends being held inside. With enough information, Carol bravely marched herself right up to Terminus alone, disguising her scent using a freshly-killed walker. It had been awhile since someone had used the cover-yourself-in-zombie-guts technique for sneaking around through the walkers, so of course the technique needed to be revisited this season. Her amazing ability to create a distraction by shooting a bottle rocket at a propane tank while remaining unseen is a little baffling, although we know from last season that "Albert" isn't the best at perimeter watch at Terminus.

Inside of Terminus, Carol had the pleasure of meeting Terminus' "welcome wagon," Mary, and learned that at Terminus, "You're either the butcher or the cattle." Carol, once again, took out one of the living by shooting Mary and leaving her for the walkers. Who could blame her?

The biggest falling outs Carol had last season were with Rick and Tyreese. She made amends with Tyreese, but rebuilding a relationship with Rick may be more difficult. However, Rick's original group is dwindling and they really could use all the help they can get. Killing the living, especially "friends," may have been frowned upon last season, but the more questionable people the gang meets, the more this is going to have to become a reality that all of the characters are going to have to face.

Image: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC