The Walking Dead is not in the best form in this season though it has been better than the last one. The war with the Saviors is dragging on with some really frustrating moments for the audience. The rather strange plot lines, odd cinematography choices and new angles in story telling format did not make things interesting either. It is still the best viewed show in AMC and the faithful viewers have stuck to the show and it seems that finally we are going somewhere as the characters and audience are searching for something fresh and different to come up. Episode 12  bring on a new angle to the storyline which though not dramatic or exciting, at least paves a way for the story to move forward, rather than the tiring focus on the two groups fighting and stepping on each other’s toes episode after episode.

This was not a good episode as such but it was not bad either considering what the series has delivered in this season .The Walking Dead focuses multiple threads in this episode and mixes them up, starting with some gory shots of zombie innards getting distributed all around like a mid-day meal. The most interesting moments were between Simon and Dwight with both Steven Ogg and Austin Amelio performing just the way it was needed. There was a showdown that was really quite predictable and a new aspect to the story was introduced which can help propel the show into the future. Lastly there was a plot twist which will probably impact the story line someway in the coming episode.

If you have not watched the episode then please stop reading now as the next sections will have spoilers. 

The episode begins with the Saviors starting up for Hilltop to deliver a message with their weapons dripped zombie gut juice to spread the infection. Rick watches them and immediately decides to go alone after Negan, who was in the last car of the Saviour’s convoy. After a car chase scene, the two fights it out in a zombie filled building. During a verbal exchange, Rick speaks about how the Saviors have decimated the Scavengers and Negan comes to know about Simon’s handiwork. Predictably none of them wins in the fight but Rick does set Negan’s favourite Lucille on fire. Eventually, Negan does reclaim Lucille in the course of the fight and vanishes through a broken window.

On the otherside, the Hilltop people Maggie, Michonne, Rosita and Enid discover a signal which beckons them to a meeting point. There y meet a new group lead by an old lady named Georgie and two other women. Georgie wants to trade a “key to a future” in return of vinyl records and food. Quite understandably, the Hilltop residents are suspicious of their motives. When they find their van filled with food items they capture the three newcomers and bring them to Hilltop. After a debate about whether to rob them or go on with the trade, Maggie decides to trade. Georgie accepts one crate of records and shares a portion of the food she was carrying with the Hilltop. She receives a book of knowledge from Georgie which contains detailed knowledge about building windmills, silos, aqueducts and other stuff which can help develop a self sustained community.

Simon and Dwight have plenty of time to talk. Firstly when Simon asks Dwight to ride with him and secondly when the two of them goes in search of Negan whose car was seperated from the convoy by Rick. Simon constantly needles Dwight about his feelings about Negan and his plans for the Saviors . He even asks whether Dwight has ever thought of killing Negan himself. Dwight, with the situation he is in thinks hard and ultimately follows Simon’s ideas. The two give up their half hearted search of Negan and returns back to the rest of the Savior team who were left waiting. There, Simon assumes leadership and decides to “expunge” the Hilltop people. In the end, we see Negan waking up in a car where he has been taken hostage by Jadis.

A few observations on the episode:

• Once he gets a view of the Saviors and Negan , Rick rather recklessly moves ahead to confront him without even bothering to inform the Hilltop about the upcoming attack. He is perhaps too far gone at this stage, as Andrew Lincolns eyes often suggest, to put any thought about the idea being closely suicidal or about a more practical course of action.
• The action was mixed up in this episode starting with a car chase to some zombie bashing. The hand to hand combats shown in The Walking Dead have been decent but the same cannot be said about the car chases and gun fights, which demands an upgrade. In a world where bullets are rare commodities, anyone with an automatic weapon seems to fire away at will with no concern for the short supply. The zombies have stopped being any real threat in the show as both our heroes and villains are able to kill multiple of them single handed. It was also predictable that the final showdown between Rick and Negan is being saved for the last episodes of this season, so this confrontation in the dark interiors of the building, lacked any real sense of excitement.
• The debate between whether to live as decent human beings or to survive at any cost in the show’s violent world has been brought up so many times that it has lost its significance. It was the same thing here with Enid wanting to rob the new group of their food and Michonne reminding her of Carl’s action of saving Siddiq. Maggie was placed in a moral dilemma and in the end she decides to trust Georgie. If the show continues to put across these dilemmas the characters are going through, they should really find a fresh way to do it.
• The internal conflict among the Saviors was evident from the beginning with Simon continuing his dislike towards Negan’s way of not killing the Hilltop people but delivering a message at this stage. Now that Negan knows about the incident with the Scavengers, he will surely be taking some measures once he rejoins the Saviors; assuming that he will not be kept on hold by Jadis for long. On the other hand Dwight has his own ideas and though he played along with Simon, he definitely does not want him to fill up the gap left by Negan. So at this stage the future prospects do not look good at all for Simon. The Saviors have always been given inspirational doses of theatrical monologue by Negan, and Simon fills up his place quite well. But I felt his dialogues were better written than some of those we have heard being delivered by Negan.
• The book of knowledge can be the source of the glimpses of a future world that we were shown in earlier episodes. The war with the Saviors is going to end this season and the next one might start a few years down the line with the communities developing what is needed for a sustainable lifestyle.
• We were not given any hint of how Jadis was able to capture Negan by being at the right place in the right time. Probably the show creators have thrown so many such gaps in the plot at the audience that they thought another one will not make any difference.

 

By teleratz team

 

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