The Walking Dead: How It's Gotta Be (8x08)

How long are we actually dragging out the Negan stuff? I'm getting good and sick of it.

Cons:

So many. I'm in the mood to complain a bunch, so look out. First of all, this whole season has been building up all of these different stories, and then this episode tried to bring all of them to a head, but kind of failed with most of them. We've got all these groups of people confronting all of these other groups of people, and the garbage folk run off pretty much immediately, making them a waste of time, and Eugene's moral dilemma is solved by letting Gabriel and the doctor go, even though it's like... too little too late, and then meanwhile Enid and Aaron are off trying to find the all woman community to ask for their help, and I'm thinking: are you kidding me with this? How many SEASONS of this show are going to be about Negan? I'm bored!!!

Carl has been bitten by a Walker, on the chest, so it looks a little bit like his fate his sealed. Let's just unpack this for a moment, shall we? Had this episode, hell, this season been better written and paced, this reveal could have been absolutely jaw-dropping and heartbreaking and all of those other things. But instead, they managed to mess it up. I'm not pissed off at the thought of killing Carl. I mean, I am, but in a good way - in a way that makes me feel invested in the show. It seems like an odd narrative decision, but hell, I'm on board. Explain to me how this moves the story forward. I'm listening. But here's the problem: they managed to make it really obvious that this was coming.

Here's how to kill a character in The Walking Dead. Step One: de-emphasize the character in the narrative so that the blow isn't as hard when it arrives. Get the audience used to that character not being around quite as much. Check. Step Two: Right before the death, give this character a lot more screen time than they normally get. Give them some sort of speech about morality, or have them give another character a piece of advice or admonition that will help them in their future endeavors. Check. Then, kill them in a way that's either really convenient or really stupid, and position it in such a way as to provide shock value to an audience who has been wayyyyy over-prepped for this reveal, so as we're all supposed to be shocked and sad, instead we're all sitting here saying: yeah, no kidding. How stupid do you think we are? Check. I mean, come ON. They even had a moment where Carl is writing out a note to his dad asking him to do whatever it takes to survive. We're supposed to be surprised when we find out he's been bitten? Yeesh.

Pros:

That being said, Michonne and Rick's reactions to Carl's reveal were just as devastating as one might imagine. The whole thing brought home for me the fact that this show is not well written, but it is well performed. Ouch. We see so much evidence that Michonne really has become a mother figure for Carl and Judith, and knowing what we do about her backstory, the thought of her losing another child is just so devastating. And then of course Rick... Carl is the last piece of the world before the apocalypse that he has left. Losing Carl is... I mean, it's unthinkable. If only the episode could have framed this moment better; it might have been one of the best, most intense things this show has ever done.

Carl stole the show this week in more ways than one. He takes charge of Alexandria when Negan approaches with his men. He gets everybody out the back entrance while he distracts Negan, and it's honestly maybe the best moment in this whole season. I had never found Negan more interesting than in the scenes last season where he brought Carl in to the Sanctuary. This scene is almost a continuation of those, in that we're examining the strange relationship between these two in an interesting way. Negan later says to Rick that he plans on taking Carl in and training him up. He really does have an affinity for this kid. The best moment is when Negan realizes that the people of Alexandria are escaping, and he says: "Son of a bitch Carl! Was that just a play? I thought we were having a moment, you little asshole!" This is the type of dialogue from Negan that I approve of.

I feel as if there might be a few too many characters on this show nowadays, but nevertheless I appreciate how full the world seems because of them. By this I mean that we can bounce between Maggie at the Hilltop and Carl at Alexandria, Eugene at the Sanctuary, Aaron and Enid on a drive, and feel as if all of these people and places really exist. It explains the complexity of the situation, that there are this many different people all with different motivations and desires. We have characters like Dwight who end up risking quite a lot to help Rick's people, and then there's Eugene who does the bare minimum to ease his conscience. You've got Daryl freaking out that Negan got out because of his actions, and you've got Maggie shooting one of the Saviors as punishment for their own murder earlier in the episode.

The last paragraph covers a lot of different plot points that I feel were incorrectly rushed, but I liked the plot points themselves. That seems to be the deal with a lot of this season. I just wish the packaging were better. I wish the writing were better. I wish the Negan story wasn't taking so damn long. All that said, I'll be tuning in next year just like everybody else to see the final fate of Carl Grimes...

7/10