The Walking Dead: The Other Side (7x14)

Okay, this was a good one. Not a great one, but good. It certainly had a lot of individual moments I enjoyed.

Cons:

We split our time between Hilltop, and Sasha and Rosita. Both halves of the episode had more good than bad, but there was still a fair amount of bad. For example:

Gregory, Hilltop's leader, is nonsensically annoying and rude. Why would any of his men follow him? Why hasn't anybody just killed this guy already? It's frustrating that whenever Simon, Negan's henchman, stops by Hilltop to collect materials, I can't focus as much on evil Simon because Gregory is there to be a wet towel.

Sasha and Rosita had a number of great moments, and Rosita started to thaw out a little bit. That's all well and good, but it's ruined by the fact that I still think both of these women could do soooo much better than Abraham, even with the slim pickings available during a zombie apocalypse. When Sasha is saying that she was happy with Abraham, all I can think is that they weren't really together for very long. Did we even see them kiss?

Also frustrating is the way this episode ends, with Sasha running in to Negan's camp and telling Rosita to run and save herself. What a powerful moment of self sacrifice! Except, no. This only works if their reasoning makes sense. Why is Sasha suddenly running in on a suicide mission? Earlier, she was going to take a shot with the sniper, but she couldn't get a clear angle on Negan. Okay... so, you wait. You wait for Negan to come outside again, which he'll need to eventually, and then you shoot him. What's with all this nonsense?

Pros:

Maggie and Daryl had a moment that honestly would have saved this episode, even if there was nothing else redeeming about it whatsoever. Maggie asks Daryl why he won't look at her or talk to her since he came back to Hilltop. Daryl apologizes for Glenn's death, and Maggie tells him it's not his fault. The two share a hug. How is Daryl just... like... the best person ever at hugs? This seriously made my heart melt.

Other great stuff in the Hilltop scenes: Simon and crew take Hilltop's doctor away, to replace his brother who got thrown in the incinerator at Negan's compound. This adds a lot of good intrigue and worry, as we really don't want pregnant Maggie to be without a doctor right now.

Enid is shaping up into a character I'm really interested in. I like how she helps to distract the Saviors in order to keep Daryl and Maggie well hidden. I also like that she's letting herself get close to people like Maggie and Sasha.

As I mentioned, Rosita finally thawed out and became less one-note and annoying, which I quite appreciated. She starts off being cold to Sasha, saying she only wants to talk about the mission. But Sasha, bless her heart, keeps chipping away at that icy exterior until Rosita finally starts confiding in her. We learn that she had lots of boyfriends before Abraham, all of whom wanted to take care of her. She ended up learning the stuff they taught her, like how to diffuse bombs, how to work on cars, how to fight, etc. She didn't want to be dependent on anybody. Abraham was different, because he saw how capable she was and saw her more as an equal.

Still not buying that Abraham was such a good guy, but whatever. I liked hearing this part of Rosita's story, and I liked that she and Sasha had a moment of connection over it. Rosita regrets the way she and Abraham left things, because she never got the chance to tell him that she was happy he was happy.

Another moment I really liked is that when they get to the Savior's compound and see Eugene, they sneak down to try and rescue him. He doesn't rat out his friends, but he tells them to leave, and that he doesn't want to be rescued. Eugene truly is a man ruled by fear. I like seeing a bit more confirmation that he's not just secretly infiltrating the base or anything. He's actually sticking with Negan as the party more capable of offering him protection.

I think that's all I'll say about this one. This episode was better than a lot of the stuff we've had this season, but it still didn't strike me as a particularly outstanding episode of The Walking Dead. This Savior plot is just not going the way the makers of the show wanted it to. It's a bummer, but what can you do? Hope for something more exciting next season, I guess!

8.5/10