The Walking Dead: The Bridge (9x02)

I found this episode to be an improvement over last week's premiere. Let's take a look!

Cons:

There's a subplot where Gabriel and Jadis (or whatever her real name is) begin a relationship. Am I supposed to give a crap about the two of them? Nice try. And speaking of couples I still don't really care about, Carol and Ezekiel had a couple of cute moments, I guess, but overall I'm still not invested in them as a couple.

This show is at its weakest when it starts moralizing. When one character monologues about the meaning of life and how we can all make things better... yadda yadda. This episode has Rick talking to a mysterious, unseen figure, discussing the progress of the various communities. It's meant to be a surprise who he's talking to, but frankly that's a little insulting to the audience's intelligence. It's Negan. Duh. The only other option would be Carl's grave or something, but that's clearly not what they were setting up. Rick talks on and on, and then Negan leans into the light at the end of the episode and basically says that this is all for nothing, that things are going to turn to crap again before long. The dialogue is too campy, and Rick's entire argument is difficult to sympathize with... because Negan's probably right. We're already seeing the cracks in the foundation, and every other time these people have found a measure of peace, something has come along to mess it up. Why should we believe this time will be different?

There are a couple of logistical nits that I could harp on. Not a huge deal, but it's a little odd that the big catastrophe this week all hinges on this one dude from the Saviors not doing his job properly. After all the mistrust and whatnot, are we supposed to believe that Rick would let one lone Savior be in charge of something so vitally important? Or even if Rick really is letting the whole "peace" idea go to his head too much, are we supposed to believe that Daryl would have let that fly? Come on.

Pros:

In all, however, this episode had good pacing, some interesting and thoughtful conversations, and some actual moments of tension.

This episode did something kind of unexpected, but very smart. Even after the time jump between last season's finale and this year's premiere, we get yet another time jump to start off episode two. In previous seasons, the story has felt bogged down by moving time forward at a glacial pace, by keeping the final confrontation with Negan in the chamber for way too long, among other problems of that sort. Here, we're moving forward at a nice clip, and it almost feels like a way of making up for lost time. Whether we're actually moving towards Rick's planned utopia, or yet another failure to launch, it makes sense that we would need to move forward quickly to see some sort of endgame as Rick's character exits the show.

We see that Maggie is not totally hard-hearted and unreasonable. The guy who tried to kill her has  been locked up, but Maggie lets his wife visit him, and actually speaks to the man about his alcoholism and what has led him to this point in his life. Remembering her father, Maggie lets the prisoner free and allows him to get to work on the plow that will help to feed Hilltop. She also caves on Michonne's request and sends some additional food stores to the Sanctuary. Obviously there are going to be tensions between Maggie and Rick's ideas of how the future is going to go. But this episode proved that she's not totally unreasonable. I like how it took multiple conversations and perspectives, but that she really was willing to listen and change her mind. Jesus helped to convince her, and Michonne did as well.

Michonne is starting to pitch this idea of a standardized set of laws. She and Maggie talk about how some people are redeemable, and how others, like Gregory, are given chance after chance, and never seem to change. Maggie doesn't regret her decision to execute Gregory, but she doesn't totally dismiss Michonne's perspective on it either - these kinds of decisions can't be just one person's to make. Maggie might be right, but there should be a system with oversight so that people like Negan don't crop up again and make all of the calls. Basically, they need laws. A government. This is the only endgame for The Walking Dead other than just total annihilation.

Over in the main plot, a bunch of people from different communities are coming together to repair a bridge that's needed to keep trade routes open. There is some tension between the Saviors and the other workers, and this all comes to a head when a botched herding operation sends a hoard of Walkers right into the work camp. Nobody dies, but Aaron is pinned under a log and he ends up losing his arm at the hands of a very nervous yet ultimately successful Enid, who is training to be a medic. Last week, we saw the death of a random guy from Hilltop, and the scene lacked all tension. This week, nobody dies, but I was a thousand times more invested in the moment. I like Aaron. Aaron matters to me. And this show has such a rotten track record with its queer characters that every time a queer character is put in peril, my heart leaps into my throat. Aaron will live, armless, and despite his terrible injury he still believes in the future Rick is building, and is grateful to be a part of it.

There are two things I want to talk about here. One is Daryl. Obviously the Carol/Daryl ship is one I hold very near and dear to my heart, but I would so be on board for Daryl/Aaron, you guys. Like, a lot. Daryl's fear and rage over Aaron's injury was frightening to behold. Even Carol could barely hold him back from beating the Savior who indirectly led to Aaron getting hurt. Obviously tensions are running high for a bunch of different reasons, but I like that Daryl remains intensely loyal to his people, and that this very much includes Aaron. 

The second thing is Rick. He's being very pie-in-the-sky lately, but it's not quite as straightforward as it might seem. For one thing, he does get in this Savior guy's face about what has happened. He is still willing to lay down the law when things go wrong, and he exiles this disobedient and dangerous man from the camp. There's also the fact that even after just losing an arm, Aaron is still hopeful about the future of their new civilization. Rick keeps talking about how everything is going great, and people are all coming together and getting better, and while Daryl and some of the others try to check his enthusiasm, he also has the devotees like Aaron telling him that he's doing the right thing and saving them all. It's bound to get to a guy, and Rick, while not seeking worshipers, might find himself a little more Negan-like than he wants to contemplate. Seasons ago, when the Saviors were first introduced, I was intrigued with the idea that our "good guys" were really no better than the supposed villains they were hunting down. That idea was done away with when we introduced Negan, but now maybe we're coming back around to it in a very unexpected way.

I still don't know how Rick is meant to exit this show. It's going to be a big deal, and I'm excited and nervous to see it play out. There are always one or two things with this darn show that will pull me back in, even when my interest overall is way down from what it used to be.

8/10