Strangers (The Walking Dead)
| "Strangers" | |
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| The Walking Dead episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | David Boyd |
| Written by | Robert Kirkman |
| Original air date | October 19, 2014 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Strangers" is the second episode of the fifth season and 53rd episode overall of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 19, 2014. The episode was written by series creator Robert Kirkman and directed by David Boyd. In the episode, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)'s group encounters a priest, Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam), who provides them solace in his church, while Rick contemplates Abraham Ford's (Michael Cudlitz) proposition to escort Dr. Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) to Washington, D.C. to cure the walker virus.
"Strangers" features the debut of Father Gabriel Stokes, a major protagonist of the graphic novels of the same name. Commentators gave the overall episode positive reviews, but most gave an alarmed response to the episode's ending scene, with some calling it one of the show's most shocking moments.
Upon airing, the episode was watched by 15.14 million viewers and received an 18-49 rating of 7.7, down a whole ratings point from the previous episode, which attained an 18-49 rating of 8.7.
The group is traveling through the woods following their escape from Terminus. At night, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) guard the camp, and Daryl senses that someone is watching them. The next day, the group hears a man (Seth Gilliam) screaming for help. They save him from a group of walkers that had surrounded him and forced him to climb a rock to survive. The man reveals he is a pastor named Gabriel who has lived in solitude, and he leads them to his church. Gabriel explains that he has survived through luck, eating canned food collected for a food drive and scavenging for other materials. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) expresses distrust of Gabriel and tells his son Carl (Chandler Riggs) that he should never let his guard down.
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