The Walking Dead: The Key (8x12)

I'd classify this particular episode of The Walking Dead as... uneven. There were aspects that I quite enjoyed, but other things that just seemed too silly.

Cons:

Rick is just an idiot. One of the centerpieces of this episode is a fight between Negan and Rick, one on one. This should have been an incredibly intense, powerful showpiece for the episode and for the show in general, but instead I couldn't stop thinking about how stupid Rick was being. He literally drops a loaded gun on the ground at one point and then wastes a bunch of his bullets from way too far away, and then can't even manage to kill Negan properly when he's completely unarmed. It's just silly. I wanted there to be some real threat and tension in these scenes, but I never for one second believed that either of them was going to die, so it all fell more than a little flat.

There were some things I quite enjoyed about Maggie's story this week, but I do have my complaints. First of all, Enid is annoying. She's just a mouthpiece for whatever minority opinion we need to express at any given moment. This week, she has the somewhat nonsensical argument that since Carl saved someone and died, while Enid killed someone and lived, this must mean there's no point in trusting people. Like, just get over yourself, kid. And secondly, why is Maggie still not visibly pregnant? How much time is supposed to have passed since Negan was first introduced? Because if this is all supposed to have happened in a matter of weeks, then we've got a serious pacing problem on our hands.

Pros:

There was one great moment in the Negan and Rick scenes, though, and that's when Rick accuses Negan of killing Jadis' people, and you can just hear Negan putting the pieces together. I love seeing Negan thrown for a loop. It's always nice to break away from that shell of omnipotent evil.

At the Hilltop, I will admit I rather enjoyed the weird women who showed up demanding music in exchange for important information about the future. I've complained so much about some of the eccentric characters we've met over the years, because they just didn't feel human to me. Jadis and her group were the worst offenders, but the same sort of thing can be said about Ezekiel and Negan and various others. But these three women just cracked me up. I loved the idea of their routine. They go around exchanging information about the future - ways to create windmills, aqueducts, etc. - in exchange for basic supplies and entertainment. Somehow, they've managed to survive this long, which gives some hope for the future of humanity and people's ability to trust. The fact that these women actually gave up some of their food and supplies is just so wonderful. I hope we see them again. These characters are just the type of charming weirdos this show really needs nowadays.

We spend very little time with Rick, but I did enjoy the brief scene between him and Daryl. I'm starting to realize that I really miss Daryl. We haven't seen a ton of him recently, and I hope that changes. He's been around since almost the very beginning, and I'd like some more wholesome Daryl content, stat.

Last week, I found myself surprisingly compelled by Gabriel's plot thread, and this week I found myself oddly drawn in to Simon and Dwight's story. Essentially, Simon convinces Dwight to do what Dwight probably already wanted. When Negan gets into trouble with Rick, Simon and Dwight decide not to save him. They go back to the Saviors and basically say that Negan is probably dead, but that they're all Negan, so they must continue to fight for what he wanted. Simon sure is taking advantage of this situation, and this turn of events is not so good for the Hilltop. Now the question is - what is Dwight going to do? If he really believes Negan is dead, does that mean he's gotten what he wanted so he won't bother helping the others? Or is he going to try and warn Rick and Maggie about what the Saviors are planning? And what happens when Negan inevitably escapes Jadis and comes to find them? This is the stuff that interesting plot threads are built on, and I am all here for it.

So... there you have it. There were some things in this episode that had me rolling my eyes, but there were enough moments mixed in that made me actually pretty excited about where the season is going. I just hope the results don't disappoint!

7.5/10