In this review of Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #5, Monica makes a horrific discovery or two, and Sam’s game is coming to an end.
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #5
Writer: Patrick Horvath
Art and Main Cover: Patrick Horvath
Variant Covers: Tony Fleecs, Elizabeth Beals, Patrick Horvath
Page Count: 36 Pages
Release Date: January 14, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #5 kicks off with Chip opening the newsstand for the day, chatting with Lewis about the impending highway. There’s concern over this sign of progress leaving their sleepy little town in the dust.
Meanwhile, Sam and Monica are making their way toward the woods, but take a detour because there’s some surveying happening for the aforementioned highway.
Pauline’s late for work, having been dreaming of her deceased husband.
In the woods, Sam and Monica have a metal detector and come across one of the paint cans. And in that can are some of Daniel’s remains. Encouraged by this, Monica goes to check the map. She’s hoping to find some indication as to where the rest of her brother is buried…but then she notices some partly-obscured writing on the map. And realizes that Samantha was a bit more involved with the murders than she’d initially let on.
Sam, meanwhile, is trying to tell the surveyor not to report that she was there, which is when Monica drives off in the surveyor’s truck. Sam attacks the surveyor, who stumbles into Monica’s path and gets rammed by his own truck.
Sam gets back to her own truck and follows Monica into town, musing on how she feels a sort of connection to her. But she’s delayed in catching up to her when Pauline (who probably shouldn’t be driving at that point) t-bones her truck.
Sam spends the rest of that night wondering if Monica’s told the cops about her findings. She goes to work the next day like everything’s normal, though in the back of her mind, she’s waiting for that ever-classic other shoe.
And that other shoe shows up in the form of the sheriff’s arrival, as he, a few cops, and Monica show up to arrest her. But Samantha has no intention of going in without a fight. She gets a hold of a gun, shoots the sheriff, and then come the wall/ceiling-mounted shotguns. Those take out the rest of the cops and at least one unlucky passerby (in this case, Chip). Monica tries to attack Sam, but Sam knocks her out and carries her out of the hardware store before setting the place ablaze.
Well, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #5 definitely had quite the escalation. It’s so calm and normal at the beginning, with Chip opening the newsstand. And that seeming calm at the start shows just how great the writing for this title is. In that beginning scene, it’s mentioned that in the past, there were sacrifices made to ensure a bountiful harvest. Which becomes immensely interesting when applied to Sam’s murder-y activities.
In some way, it’s like she’s keeping the old, traditional ways alive. The comparison between Sam (as an anthropomorphic bear) and natural four-legged bears has already come up, but the angle of how people used to be sacrificed feels like a piece to the puzzle that is Samantha Strong. Also, as a serial killer, there would be some level of ritual to her activities. She has a specific way she likes to get her victims, a particular spot in the woods she likes to bury them, and of course, the paint cans.
Also, it seems clear that she’s been waiting for this day to happen. It still catches her a little bit off-guard, when she mentions that she thought they’d had it all settled. But at the same time, she’d taken the time and effort required to get those shotguns set up around her shop. She had set up a system to torch the place if need be (and it’s looking like the flames won’t stop with the shop; she’s definitely ready to let the whole town burn). Now, if pressed, she could possibly state that the shotgun system is just a very thorough security system. But Woodbrook isn’t the most crime-heavy town in the United States.
Even though Sam has had her Cornered Animal moment here, there’s still more story to tell.
I’m wondering how Monica would respond to Sam’s feeling of connection. It’s clear that this whole experience has made Monica do things she probably wouldn’t have otherwise sneaking into what used to be Nigel’s house under false pretenses, ramming that surveyor…Sam points out that she didn’t even hesitate after the impact, but that was almost certainly out of shock because Monica was dealing with a LOT at that point).
The artwork was beautifully-done, as is the norm for Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite Of Spring #5. And once again, I’m loving the variant covers. Of particular note is an homage to the poster for the movie “Maniac” from 1980. It’s such a great fit for the story. But I also love the second alternate cover. That one really pushes the adorable angle…while still displaying Sam’s chosen method of body disposal. Without any context, the blood could easily be explained as paint, but with the context, it adds to it.
Final Thoughts
An explosive penultimate chapter to what’s proven to be a gripping tale of murder. That wait for early March is bound to be a killer.
