The Walking Dead: Mercy (8x01)

This was good. Great? Maybe not. But good? Yes.

Cons:

A little too much cheesiness, maybe. Lots of speechifying about hope and unity and if we stick together we can take back what's ours. I got a little bit bogged down in all of that. Also, I'm sick of Negan's evil monologues. They have long since lost any speck of threat or even humor. Like when he tells Gabriel that he's going to shit his pants... there's just nothing in there that's funny or scary to me.

This episode features flash-forwards, or... maybe... delusional daydreams of the future... that show us Rick's life. On the one hand, I like not knowing whether this is really what's coming, or if Rick is just thinking happy thoughts. But on the other hand, it's a little cheesy. We see Judith as a little kid, who has seemingly aged seven or eight years, but Rick looks like an old, old man with a white beard. How much time is supposed to have passed? This was confusing.

Pros:

Last season, the main problem was a lack of action. We spent the whole dang season in buildup, and were left with one cool fight sequence and then a whole lot more waiting. This is the season where the all out war with Negan's men is to take place. I appreciate the fact that there's no more stalling - in this premiere episode, we jump right in to the action. The entire plot is basically just Rick and the other leaders (Maggie and King Ezekiel) gathering their troops and beginning their planned attack on Negan. This involves clearing out lookout posts, setting up explosives, luring Saviors into various traps, and even bringing a small elite force in to try and take down Negan at the source. We're told that this is just the beginning of the plan, and the episode ends with various aspects of it still in play, as Rick and others storm a Savior compound, guns blazing.

I like seeing plans actually come to fruition. And this is a good plan, too. Rick and the other community leaders know they don't have the numbers, which means they have to strike first and preserve the element of surprise. The chaos of wartime makes it a bit hard to tell, but it seems like this first strike on Negan's men went very well. From what I can tell, the good guys suffered virtually no casualties. And even if this first attack didn't wipe out the Saviors, I think it made a dent in their numbers, and certainly threatened their vast resources. I'd love to see more plans come to fruition this way.

Everybody had their role to play - Michonne and Carl are in charge of keeping Alexandria safe, while Daryl is in charge of being a bad-ass and setting off explosives while riding his motorcycle. Tara is in charge of explosives, Maggie is in charge of making Gregory look like an absolute fool when he tries to rally the Hilltop community to Negan's side... all of it is glorious. The team effort thing is working out quite nicely. Last season took way too long to get us to this point, but now that we're at this point, I'm enjoying it.

While this episode didn't give the characters a ton of breathing room, we still had a number of cute little moments. Daryl and Carol share a hug, Michonne and Rick share a kiss, Michonne tells Carl that he's in charge of Alexandria's safety, we see Gabriel get some moments to shine (although of course he ends the episode in a real tough spot), we see Ezekiel and Carol share a smile... these little moments help to remind the audience of these characters after a hiatus. I think an action-packed series of episodes with just a few little character moments sprinkled in is just what the doctor ordered after last season's build-up slough.

That's where I'll stop for now! I'm not sure how much more life is left in The Walking Dead as a show and a concept, but there's still enough for me to care about, and I'm definitely along for the ride!

8/10