The Walking Dead: The Lost and the Plunderers (8x10)

I'm just not feeling it, you guys.

Cons:

As annoyed as I am that Carl is dead, and as ham-fisted as last week's goodbye was, I was expecting a bit more grief from this episode. Michonne and Rick are just kind of... subdued about the whole thing. Shouldn't there be a bit more of a manic energy to them, especially Rick, in the face of such a loss? We spend a great deal of the episode on these little side quests with Enid and Aaron, with Simon, with Jadis... and it's like Carl never even existed.

Enid and Aaron's side adventure was annoying and pointless. Enid kills the matriarch of that secluded group of women, but then the granddaughter decides to let them go, but refuses to help in the fight against Negan. Aaron decides he'll stay and keep trying to convince them, while Enid needs to go back and tell Maggie what's going on. Snore. Killing the leader lady was completely pointless, Enid's reaction to it was entirely tepid, nothing is actually changing, and we're now staring down the barrel at yet more pointless scenes of people debating whether standing up to the Saviors is the right thing to do. I'm sick of it.

This episode contained the best Jadis scene that we've had to date, but the problem is... that's not exactly saying much. The annoying speech patterns have never once made sense to me or added anything to the character or the tone. Her insolence in the face of the Saviors doesn't come across as brave, just stupid, and the slaughtering of her group was interesting only in what it showed us about Simon's character, not Jadis'. Even Rick's decision to leave Jadis behind had me shrugging. I just don't care about her or anything that's going on here.

Pros:

Simon has gone off the rails, and it's more interesting than anything has been on this show in a while. Gunning down Jadis' group was... well... it was obviously cruel and terrible, but it's also so intriguing to me. He defied Negan's orders, and then lied to his face about it. Obviously he'll be killed if and when Negan learns the truth. But the fact that Simon would dare to do such a thing is indicative of his mental state. Or maybe it's indicative of Negan's failing hold on his people. Or maybe both. I was shocked at his audacity, and I'm actually interested to see how it plays out.

Jadis' survival strategy after Rick and Michonne leave her to deal with the reanimated corpses of her people was absolutely stomach-churning. She barricades herself behind a fortified position, then makes noise to lure the Walkers towards her, then turns on a trash compactor thing and the Walkers just walk into it, one by one, grinding themselves into paste. Which we then see. It's disgusting. Even though the Walkers are not a threat very often on this show anymore, I'm constantly amazed by the new creative ways they find to make them uniquely disgusting and unsettling.

Carl wrote notes to everybody before he died. There's one for Rick, which he says he's not ready to read, but there's also one for Negan. Rick does read this, and then uses one of the stolen walkie-talkies to talk to Negan. He breaks the news that Carl is dead, and then says that despite Carl's wish for peace, he will kill Negan, no matter the cost. This scene is a testament to Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I don't think I've made a secret of the fact that I'm getting really sick of Negan, but his reaction to Carl's death was a real punch in the gut. While Rick is outraged and railing against Negan, Negan is quiet, and seemingly devastated. He ignores Rick's threats and quietly asks how Carl died - was it the Saviors? Was he responsible for this tragedy? He's feeling the grief of this, and he uses that grief to make something of an impassioned plea to Rick. This is Rick's fault. Carl's dead because he wouldn't leave well enough alone. Rick should give up. He's already lost.

This show would be over a lot sooner if Rick really did throw in the towel, and I know it won't happen like Negan wants it to. But I'm also not sure it's going to happen like Rick wants it to. I don't think there's a satisfying ending to this show while Negan is still breathing, but I suppose it remains to be seen what happens with the rest of the season. After all, Negan is a complete monster, but Rick isn't exactly an honorable good soul either. Moments like this, where we see the hints of Negan's humanity, where we see his genuine grief over Carl's death... these are the moments that used to make this show great, back in the day.

So there you have it. I'm a bit miffed about the treatment of Carl's death, and I'm still uncertain on what this means for Rick's character moving forward. I'm also anxious to check in with the rest of the ensemble. However, for all the weak elements, I did enjoy diving a bit deeper into Simon's characterization, and the moment between Rick and Negan at the end was great.

7/10