‘The Walking Dead’ season 5, episode 9: Andrew Lincoln’s beard is out of control

Come February 8, “The Walking Dead” season 5 will return to the air, and it will be doing so with an episode that really proves one thing: Life will only get harder for Rick Grimes and company.

Take a look at the attached photo. Does this look like a face of a happy man? It looks a little more like the face of someone who passed out behind a gas station and has no recollection of where he is anymore. Hats off to Andrew Lincoln for that, given that this has to be a strange thing to transition into every day on set. (Sort-of-spoiler alert: Given how Lincoln attended events this fall clean-shaven, we wonder if Rick gets a hold of a razor at some point over the weeks ahead.)

While we have our suspicions as to where the series could be going, and where could be the new suspected sanctuary for some of these characters, we feel like it it still far too early to know for sure. This is a show that has deviated a good bit from the source material already, so there is not a surefire reason to think that it is suddenly going to hold firm to it all of a sudden.

All we can really hope for is that they find a way to keep those emotional stories going despite the idea of having so many people on the screen at the same time. Also, that they accomplish something more. There really wasn’t all that much that happened in the first eight episodes.

If you missed some of the latest casting news (and it’s important for show fans), be sure to head over here right now! Also, be sure to sign up right away for some further scoop on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: AMC.)