‘The Walking Dead’ Season 5 Comic-to-TV Comparison: “Four Walls and a Roof”

‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 shambled out its 3rd entry with Sunday’s latest "Four Walls and a Roof” but how did it hold up to the comic book continuity? Rick tangles with Gareth and the Terminus survivors as Bob reveals a deadly secret and Abraham plans an evacuation to D.C., so what’s next for ‘The Walking Dead’ as the fifth season kicks into gear?

As AMC’s incarnation weaves in and out of storylines from the books and adds its own original characters and developments, we’ve compiled an in-depth guide for fans of the comics as well as AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ to enjoy! Check all the comparisons we found, and let us know your thoughts on ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 episode 3, “Four Walls and a Roof,” in the comments below!

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Tainted Meat

AMC: After espousing a bit of cannibal shop talk with Bob, laying out that women seem to taste better given the extra layer of fat, and that bears will eat their own young to survive, Gareth is shocked to see Bob’s manic sobbing turn to gleeful laughing. Revealing his bite mark from earlier that day, Bob taunts the hunters with the revelation they’d eaten tainted meat, leading all at once to spit out their catch. Whether or not the “tainted meat” affects them in any physical manner however, isn’t ultimately answered.

THE COMICS: Transplanted almost verbatim from the books in which Dale similarly taunted Chris and the other hunters over his earlier bite. So too had Chris been talking up the virtues of cannibalism, just before Dale turned the mood to his advantage with a deranged laugh, though the quote about bear cubs was delivered to Rick in a later encounter

Gabriel Confesses His Sins

AMC: Sasha confronts Gabriel over the suspicious timing of his arrival with the disappearances of Bob, Daryl and Carol, and while Gabriel denies having anything to do with it, Rick soon threatens the truth out of the man, pointing out the “you’ll burn for this” etching on the church exterior. Gabriel admits to deserving punishment, though from God for denying sanctuary to his congregation and ultimately damning them, rather than opening the doors.

THE COMICS: It was Andrea who confronted Gabriel in the books over the disappearance of Dale, as Carol had been long dead, and Daryl shares no comic counterpart. There, Gabriel similarly admitted his culpability in the death of his congregation, though with less specific circumstances as AMC’s talk of keeping the doors locked at night, or the families fleeing Atlanta’s bombing.

Returning the Leftovers

AMC: Glenn observes Bob’s body being left outside the church, after which the group hastily brings him inside, and a single gunshot nearby puts Rick on guard, firing wildly into the darkness.

THE COMICS: Dale noisily alerted the group to his return with howls of pain outside the church, after which the group similarly raced to bring him inside. That said, Rick fired first upon realizing they were being watched, and the lone shot fired by the hunters purposefully hit Glenn in the leg, something Abraham quickly deduced was design to toy with them. Eugene treated the wound with household materials, cementing his intelligence in the process.

Abraham and Rick Clash

AMC: The imminent threat posed by the cannibals convinces Abraham to extract Eugene from the situation altogether, planning to take the church bus in the dead of night, rather than wait for Daryl or Carol’s return. The decision brings Abraham into an aggravated conflict with Rick, one that ends with Abraham accepting a compromise to wait twelve hours, if only to have Glenn and Maggie join his group for good. Even after dealing with the hunters, the two groups still go their separate ways, and Abraham leaves behind a note apologizing to Rick, hoping the two can join up again in the future.

THE COMICS: The Abraham of the books was similarly seen to make Eugene’s safety a top priority, though despite his disinterest in searching for Dale, the comic character never proposed splitting up to keep Eugene out of harm’s way. At the very least, Abraham did express some regret for clashing with Rick over Dale’s survival, noting to Abraham how much he’d come to respect the man’s leadership. Later, the group would depart the church together, rather than splitting up as on AMC

Hunting the Hunters

AMC: Calling on Gabriel’s knowledge of the area to find Gareth’s elementary school hideaway, Rick leads the group’s strongest survivors on a midnight mission to take down the group, rather than play into their fear games. Once Rick's group departs however, Gareth’s men use the opportunity to break into the church, and attempt to pick off the weakest members of the group.

THE COMICS: Rick similarly utilized Gabriel’s knowledge of the surrounding area to find the hunters’ home base (a residential neighborhood, rather than a school), taking Abraham, Michonne, Abraham and the priest himself to confront the group directly. The Hunters' lone scout did observe Rick's group leaving, but presumed it to be in search of food, leaving the hunters caught off guard by Rick’s subsequent arrival at their camp

The Cannibals Get Butchered

AMC: Gareth and his group discover they’d been led into a trap, as Rick’s group quickly returns to turn the tables on the hunters, who themselves had been about to uncover Carl and the others. Gareth takes a shot to the hand in the commotion, ultimately pleading for his life before Rick makes good on his promise to kill the man with a red-handled machete, as Abraham, Michonne and Sasha take out the others.

THE COMICS: Once Rick and the group confronted Chris and the hunters at their residential hideout, it wasn’t long before Andrea’s sniper skills made clear who was in charge of the situation. Chris similarly lost a finger and pleaded for his life (far more pitifully), though Rick and the others assured him the pleas would fall on deaf ears, given the cannibal’s earlier threats. That night, Rick and the others took their time butchering the hunters as revenge, something that haunted Gabriel to witness for some time to come, and took a toll on Rick as well.

Bob Says His Goodbyes

AMC: In his final hours, Bob requests a few moments of Rick’s time in order to thank the leader for taking him into the prison all those months ago. That said, Bob also reminds Rick to consider his earlier words that nightmares eventually end, and the ongoing horror of the zombie apocalypse shouldn’t necessarily end the good streak within Rick that brought them together. Bob later slips away in conversation with Sasha, but Tyreese spares her the trauma by offering to plunge the knife into Bob’s skull to prevent reanimation.

THE COMICS: Dale similarly requested a few deathbed moments with Rick, not only to thank him for allowing Dale the chance to live as long as he had, but also to sternly remind him of the perils of leadership. Dale would also somewhat identically slip away with Andrea by his side, the final gunshot of which would wake Rick in the middle of the night, before Rick realized the sound’s significance.

Well, what did you think of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5’s latest, “Four Walls and a Roof”? Will Abraham and the others make it to DC? What happened to Daryl and Carol on the search for Beth, and who did Daryl come back with?? Did we miss anything else from the comics you might have caught?

Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check back next week for our in-depth comic-to-TV comparison of ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5, episode 4, "Slabtown" on AMC!