The Walking Dead (season 5)

Cast

Main cast

Starring

• Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, the series' protagonist, who has recently overcome a struggle to balance his brutality with humanity. Lincoln also voices the role of a radio broadcaster, using his natural accent in the episode "What Happened and What's Going On."
• Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, the group's primary hunter, who has overcome his past issues with abuse.
• Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee, a former pizza delivery boy has undergone a maturation and is now Maggie's husband. He acts as one of the group's primary supply runners.
• Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene, Glenn's strong-willed and determined wife, who has recently lost her father.
• Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Rick's teenage son, whose recklessness clashes with his morality.
• Danai Gurira as Michonne, a fierce, katana-wielding survivor, who has overcome the trauma of the death of her son and boyfriend, forming a close relationship with the Grimes family.
• Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, a resourceful and empowered former victim of domestic abuse, who is attempting to rebound from several tragedies.
• Michael Cudlitz as Sgt. Abraham Ford, a former military sergeant and boyfriend of Rosita. He pursues a mission to take Eugene to Washington, D.C., to find a cure for the walker virus.
• Emily Kinney as Beth Greene, Maggie's kidnapped younger sister, who has formed a close bond with Daryl since the assault on the prison.
• Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese Williams, Sasha's older brother, who is tough, compassionate, optimistic and places an emphasis on moral reasoning. He struggles to cope with the immoral nature of some of the group's survival tactics and finds it difficult to kill in defense of the group.

  Also starring

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha Williams, Tyreese's fiery younger sister and a former firefighter, who has since developed a relationship with Bob.
• Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Bob Stookey, a former army medic and recovering alcoholic, who has formed a close relationship with Sasha, and has developed a renewed sense of optimism.
• Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, a scientist rescued by Abraham, who insists on traveling to Washington, D.C., to locate a cure to the walker virus.
• Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa, Abraham's girlfriend, who helps escort Eugene to Washington, D.C. and is protective of Tara and Eugene.
• Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, a former police academy student and ally of The Governor's, the only surviving member of her family, who often tries to boost the group's morale.
• Andrew J. West as Gareth, the pragmatic leader of Terminus a group of cannibals, who captures and coerces Rick's group into submission, and the primary antagonist of the first half of the season.
• Seth Gilliam as Gabriel Stokes, a cowardly priest, who lives alone in his church, whose encounter with Rick's group leads him to challenge his beliefs.

  Supporting cast

Terminus

• Denise Crosby as Mary, one of Terminus residents; Gareth and Alex's mother.
• Tate Ellington as Alex, a Terminus resident; Mary's son, and Gareth's brother, killed by friendly fire aimed at Rick, in season 4; he appears alive in a flashback and as a corpse in the present.

  The Hunters

• Chris Coy as Martin, a Terminus man, one of the Hunters; he has a score to settle with Tyreese. Later appears in Tyreese's hallucinations.
• Benjamin Papac as Albert, one of the Hunters, who tries to retaliate against Rick's group.
• Chris Burns as Mike, one of the Hunters, following leader Gareth to take revenge on Rick's group for the destruction of their home.
• April Billingsley as Theresa, a Terminus woman, one of the Hunters.
• Travis Young as Greg, a Terminus man, one of the Hunters.

  Grady Memorial Hospital

• Tyler James Williams as Noah, a survivor Beth encounters, who originates from a walled community in Richmond, Virginia but was abducted and forced to stay in Grady. He is shown to be very resourceful but has minimal experience in the outside world. He initially feels distant from the group despite their having accepted him as part of the family, but he eventually becomes more settled in with them.
• Ricky Wayne as O'Donnell, a violent and cynical police officer fed up with Dawn's leadership style, despite their having been friends since they were rookies, and who seeks to eliminate her. O'Donnell and Dawn also disagree about how they should conserve their resources, which O'Donnell mainly schemes to use for his selfish uses.
• Christine Woods as Dawn Lerner, is a corrupt, manipulator, sadistic and violent police leader of Grady Memorial Hospital and the secondary antagonist of the first half of the season.
• Erik Jensen as Dr. Steven Edwards, a scheming doctor secretly working for Lt. Lerner, who takes a liking to Beth. Ironically, he preserves his importance, as the only doctor at Grady, by killing captives.
• Teri Wyble as Amanda Shepherd, a police officer and subordinate of Dawn's, who greatly distrusts her and is aware of the paranoid monster Dawn has become. Amanda is far more reasonable than Dawn and will do whatever it takes to avoid bloodshed.
• Maximiliano Hernández as Bob Lamson, a police officer, subordinate, and old friend of Dawn's, who respects Rick and is one of the more compassionate cops at Grady, though he isn't unwilling to use brutality to ensure his own survival. Despite his resentment of Dawn's leadership, Bob is distrusting of strangers.
• Christopher Matthew Cook as Licari, a police officer and subordinate of Dawn's, who like Shepherd is aware of what she really is and knows how to work around her.
• Keisha Castle-Hughes as Joan, a survivor Beth encounters who'd been raped by the other cops at Grady and attempted to escape, only to have her arm bitten and forcibly amputated, despite her preference to die.
• Cullen Moss as Gorman, an abusive and manipulative police officer, who "rescued" Beth in the previous season; he rapes the women at Grady and quickly comes to antagonize Beth.

  Alexandria Safe-Zone

• Ross Marquand as Aaron, a former NGO worker and now recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone, who takes in Rick's group and forms a friendship with Daryl based on their both feeling like outsiders in their respective ways; Aaron's is attributable to his homosexuality.
• Tovah Feldshuh as Deanna Monroe, a fierce yet understanding former Congresswoman, who is now the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Though she is confident Rick's group can help them survive, she is somewhat leery about their increasingly prominent roles in the community.
• Alexandra Breckenridge as Jessie Anderson, a former hairstylist, who lives in Alexandria with her sons, Ron and Sam, and husband, Pete. She helps Rick adjust to the community, and Rick quickly becomes attracted to Jessie, which seems mutual, and they share moments of flirtation. It's later revealed that Pete is abusing her, leading to a brutal conflict between him and Rick.
• Corey Brill as Pete Anderson, Alexandria's resident surgeon and Jessie's abusive husband; his actions culminate in a conflict between himself and Rick. Because Pete has saved lives, Deanna turns a blind eye to his abusive tendencies towards Jessie, just as Jessie remains unwilling to report or leave Pete; both women hope he'll get better. He is the primary antagonist of the second half of the season.
• Jason Douglas as Tobin, the foreman of Alexandria's construction crew, who is willing to let some members of his crew die to preserve the lives of the others.
• Steve Coulter as Reg Monroe, Deanna's husband and an architect; he built Alexandria's walls and, unlike Deanna, understands Rick's brutality and desires to keep everyone together believing it's the only way to rebuild civilization.
• Michael Traynor as Nicholas, a supply runner for Alexandria, whose cowardly nature has led to other people's getting killed; he forms a bitter grudge against Glenn.
• Jordan Woods-Robinson as Eric Raleigh, a survivor, who lives in Alexandria, Aaron's boyfriend and former recruiting partner. He, like Aaron, is viewed as an outsider for his homosexuality. After Eric's leg injury Daryl replaces him as Aaron's recruiting partner.
• Major Dodson as Sam Anderson, Jessie and Pete's younger son, who forms an attachment with Carol. He is fully aware of his father's abusive tendencies towards his mother and desires a gun to protect her, much to Jessie's heartbreak.
• Austin Nichols as Spencer Monroe, Deanna and Reg's younger son and Aiden's brother; he takes a liking to Sasha. Despite having an ego, he is more level headed than Aiden.
• Austin Abrams as Ron Anderson, Jessie's older son, and a friend of Mikey and Carl's. He is in a relationship with Enid.
• Daniel Bonjour as Aiden Monroe, Alexandria's chief supply runner, and Deanna and Reg's egotistical elder son; he quickly comes to odds with Glenn over the nature of how to handle supply runs.
• Katelyn Nacon as Enid, an introverted teenager recruited to Alexandria eight months prior to the arrival of Rick's group; Carl has a crush on her, but she is dating Ron.
• Elijah Marcano as Mikey, Nicholas' teenage son and a friend of Ron, Carl, and Enid's.
• Ann Mahoney as Olivia, an Alexandria resident, who is in charge of the community's food and armory.
• Ted Huckabee as Bruce, a member of the construction crew, who looks up to Abraham.
• Dahlia Legault as Francine, a tough member of the construction crew, whom Tobin is willing to sacrifice, and thus she has a grudge against him.
• Mandi Christine Kerr as Barbara, resident of Alexandria.
• Tiffany Morgan as Erin, resident of Alexandria, who befriends Carol.
• Susie Spear Purcell as Shelly Neudermeyer, resident of Alexandria, that has an obsessive eagerness for the machines to make pastas.

  Miscellaneous

• Lennie James as Morgan Jones, the first survivor Rick encountered, who had previously suffered mental problems following the loss of his son.
• David Morrissey as The Governor, the unstable and maniacal deceased former leader of Woodbury, whose actions destroyed the prison in season 4, appears as a hallucination.
• Benedict Samuel as Wolves Leader, the cold, greedy, uncaring leader of the Wolves, who kill people and take their supplies. They carve "W"s on people's foreheads and let them turn into walkers. Showrunner Scott M. Gimple revealed that "Owen" is one of possible names for the character.
• Brighton Sharbino and Kyla Kenedy as Lizzie and Mika Samuels, two deceased young sisters previously under the care of Tyreese and Carol. They appear in hallucinations.
• Robin Lord Taylor as Sam, an inexperienced yet positive minded survivor, whom Rick had previously encountered on a supply run but disappeared after his girlfriend Ana was killed by walkers.

  Production

Writing

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Accolades

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