The last episode of The Walking Dead was one of the silliest of the series that I have ever watched. This episode was much better in terms of plot development and it does make one wonder where the series is headed with just two episodes of this season remaining. The war between the two groups is currently on hold with Hilltop not having the resources to launch a new attack and Negan heading back to manage the Savior’s internal issues. It seems that the creators are trying to introduce new elements into the story-line and divert from the comics as they did in the earlier seasons. If that can give the series the much needed uplift then they are most welcome. Overall, this was an average episode and brought out some intriguing leads that will determine the future course of the series.

The following paragraphs will contain spoilers for the episode so if you have not watched it you may want to stop reading here.

The episode starts with Jadis and surprisingly she has a neat and tidy room with a clean bed to live in. She has Negan as her captive, whom she has tied up in a trolley. In Hilltop, Carol is not willing to go in search of Henry as the memories of searching for her daughter and then losing her are still strong in her mind. Michonne tries to make Rick read Carl’s letter but he still is not ready for it. Rick teams up with Morgan to go after the Saviors who have escaped from Hilltop.  Both of them gets captured and are tied up by the Saviors group. Rick gives them his word that if they cut him and Morgan loose and come back to Hilltop he will allow them a fresh start. A herd attacks and the Saviors finally cut both of them loose. Rick turns back on his word and he and Morgan kills every one of the Saviors, even the one who had helped him. When confronted with the dying Savior, Rick plainly says “I lied”. Rick Grimes is not even the shadow of the deputy Sheriff he once was and the show is sending its main protagonist into a dark zone. This is not the kind of a hero that the show needs or its viewers deserve.

Jadis plans to torment Negan and had some sort of a plan with a zombie fixed on a trolley. But somehow Negan gets his hands on a few pictures which have some value for Jadis and also on a firearm and a signal flare. As usual we do not get to know how exactly Negan found just the right items needed to bargain with Jadis lying around him. Either Jadis is still in shock and hence careless or Negan is just plain lucky. Just as she tried to wrench the flare from Negan’s hand, the helicopter shown earlier in the series shows up again. By the time Jadis brings a new flare and starts signalling, it flies away. Jadis then plans to burn Lucille but Negan is able to convince her otherwise and we get to see a humane side of Negan, more than we have seen from Rick in recent times. Jadis ultimately sets Negan free but she gives no explanation for the appearance of the helicopter. On his way back to a sanctuary Negan picks up a mysterious passenger whom we do not get to see. The mystery about Jadis still remains and hopefully this will connect to some plot development that the show is planning for in the coming season.

Carol, who finally moves out in search of Henry is able to find him just in time to save his life. She brings her back to the sanctuary and Morgan who was earlier hallucinating about a dead Henry, declares to him that he has “killed the man who killed your brother”. The shows fascination with Morgan’s mental disturbance and hallucinations is something that needs to be addressed. It is a pity that Morgan’s character and thereby an actor of Lennie James’s caliber is being restricted to this same pattern without any new developments. Rick finally sits down with Carl’s letter addressed to him and it seems that whatever is written in there will be good enough to make him a better man than he currently is. On another end, Daryl and Rosita keep watch on the Savior’s workshop where Eugene is manufacturing bullets. Rosita suggests that they should take out Eugene to stop the Saviors. Considering that Eugene’s character has had very little contribution to the plot development in this season, that would not be a bad idea if Eugene is the next character to fall on the show.

A few observations on the episode:

·         The helicopter does set things up for the presence of a larger or more powerful group which will come into focus in future. Whether that group is related to Georgie, whom we met earlier and how Jadis is connected to it, are some of the answers we have to wait for.

·         The zombie tied to the trolley which was rolled in by Jadis is another example of the superb make up effects that has always been specialty of the show. One only wishes that the other aspects of the show were of the same high standards.

·         The Walking Dead is perhaps trying to do some sort of a role reversal between its protagonist and antagonist, especially in this episode with Negan appearing to be more of an honorable man than Rick. So far we have not seen Negan break his word and killing mercilessly without any hesitation as Rick does in this episode. He is a psychopath who did smash the heads of two major characters in his first appearance but it was Rick who drew first blood in that case. As the lines between heroes and villains grow fade, how the show handle these two characters in the remaining two episodes of this season remains to be seen.

·         The mysterious passenger that Negan picks up from the road can very well be Laura, who is aware of Dwight’s betrayal. If that is the case, then he is now aware that both of his trusted lieutenants, Simon and Dwight have betrayed him. What Negan does next or rather whose head he smashes next is the question.

·         Tara has survived her wound and is now convinced that Dwight saved her life in some way. She tells Daryl that she will not have anything further to do with the idea of killing Dwight.

·         The Oceanside community has been left out of action and so has been Aaron. He will be able to convince those women to join the action in some way and how that turns out in the all out war scenario is another plot point that will be addressed in the coming episodes.

 

 

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