"The Walking Dead," AMC's much-hyped horror series, is set to return to TV screens on Sunday, when its Season 5 continues with Episode 9, titled "What Happened and What's Going On."

Fans have been waiting since Nov. 30 to find out how the storylines of Rick and Carl Grimes, Glenn Rhee and the remaining characters will develop. So who could blame them if they were itching for a bit of a preview? Thus AMC seems to have taken pity on fanatics of the post-apocalyptic show and released the first two minutes of the coming episode.

Spoiler Alert: The sneak peak comes with its share of spoilers (as does the rest of this article).

In "Coda," the last "The Walking Dead" episode to air before the winter break, viewers witnessed Rick and his comrades reunited, but in the process, Dawn Lerner shot and killed Beth Greene. "What Happened and What's Going On" opens as the group copes with that loss. The zombie apocalypse survivors will also look toward finding a new place to call home for their growing numbers.

"[They] find themselves on the road, surviving day-to-day and trying to hold on to their shredded humanity and dwindling hope," Comingsoon revealed. "Stripped of security and without a direction for the future, some of the group near their breaking point, some find themselves hardened and cold and some just try to grasp onto what little they have left."

While the first two minutes of "What Happened and What's Going On" seem bleak, Cinema Blend predicted that things are only bound to get worse once the episode gets going.

"We learned that Rick will attempt to 'honor Beth' when the show returns. Unfortunately, his plan doesn't just go badly, it will go catastrophically," the website reports. "So, if you think those sad opening minutes of 'The Walking Dead's' winter premiere are tough to get through, just wait until the action kicks in."

"The Walking Dead" Season 5 mid-season premiere is set to air at 9 p.m. Sunday on AMC.

Related