Walking dead
Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and the rest of the survivors will be on the run from zombies when "The Walking Dead" returns to AMC on Feb. 8. AMC

Only a few weeks remain, “Walking Dead” fans! The hit AMC series has been on hiatus since late November, but it's gearing up for a Feb. 8 return. Viewers have been treated to teaser videos to tide them over, and now the synopsis for the Season 5 midseason premiere has finally been released.

The description for Season 5, episode 9 reveals the following: “After all the recent trials the group has faced, a slight detour might prove to be the solution they’ve been looking for.”

The “recent trials” refers to the death of Beth (Emily Kinney) in the midseason finale. Beth had separated from the group at the end of Season 4 following the fall of the prison. Initially with Daryl (Norman Reedus), the pair got pulled apart after a horde of walkers attacked the house they were seeking shelter in. “Walking Dead” fans learned in Season 5 that Beth had been taken captive by a group of police officers led by a woman named Dawn (Christine Woods). The group claimed that Beth owed them for “rescuing” her, but Beth felt differently. In the end, Daryl and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) took a group to Dawn’s headquarters at Grady Hospital in order to get Beth back. The exchange took a dark turn when an angry Beth stabbed Dawn with scissors -- leading Dawn to shoot her in the head.

The midseason finale ended with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in tears after seeing her sister’s body, and the survivors uncertain where to go next. Their shelter at Father Gabriel’s (Seth Gilliam) was compromised, and Eugene’s (Josh McDermitt) “mission” to get to Washington, D.C., turned out to be fake. No clear destination is on the table for Rick’s crew. However, viewers were left with a potentially big clue – the map that Morgan (Lennie James) found at the church.

Will Rick’s group continue to Washington, D.C.? Will they stumble across the Alexandria Safe-Zone, a location from the comics? "The Walking Dead" returns to AMC on Sunday, Feb. 8, at 9 p.m. EST. Tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop.

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