The Walking Dead Trailer Shows These Characters Armed And Angry

AMC just dropped a new promotional video for the second half of Season 5 of The Walking Dead. One this is clear, these characters are not happy. But happiness doesn't matter. As Rick Grimes puts it, surviving is all that matters...

"Surviving. Surviving together is all that matters. It's all that matters."

On the surface, it's a pretty weird teaser. After all, The Walking Dead typically takes a more direct approach to teasing its upcoming episodes. This one offers a hazy look at the ensemble of characters, clustered together as they walk through the woods, some slow music playing in the background as they raise their guns and fire at an unseen enemy. All of them look fierce and determined to take on whatever it is they're shooting at.

It's the unseen-enemy aspect of this teaser that I find most intriguing. Are they shooting at people? Are they shooting at walkers? It's probably no accident that we aren't shown, because the series' recent seasons have proven that people are as dangerous as the flesh-eating walkers. Danger is danger, and as Rick Grimes put it, surviving is all that matters.

At this point, these characters have every reason to be unhappy and untrusting -- spoiler alert if you're not caught up! -- coming off of the gut-wrenching Season 5 mid-season finale, which saw Carol and Beth trapped in the hospital, under the reign of yet another unstable leader. Beth didn't make it out of the ordeal alive. It would come as no surprise if Rick and his group were still trying to deal with the grief of losing her as they attempt to move on, wherever they're headed.That grief, added to the mounting anger and distrust following encounters with the Governor and his people, the cannibals and other dangerous survivors, tension is most definitely and understandably building.

On the bright side, they're all together? (Update: Where's Carl? Holding Judith somewhere, perhaps.) Given that this group has been split up numerous times over the last year, it is oddly comforting to see Rick and his people reunited... even if they all look pretty unhappy...

Ok, really unhappy.

With the return of The Walking Dead for the second half of Season 5 less than a month away, we'll hopefully be seeing more previews for the AMC drama. Check out the recently released poster for Season 5.5 here.

The Walking Dead Season 5 resumes Sunday, February 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC. Check out the full Midseason 2015 premiere date schedule here.