The Walking Dead: Evolution (9x08)

I'm experiencing an emotion, and that emotion is frustration. I'm annoyed. Yep. Just... annoyed.

Cons:

Talking Walkers would have been actually interesting! Something new, something unexpected! But nope! Of course not. It's just people wearing masks. I'm incredibly disappointed by that. What a letdown, after all that buildup.

We still don't know exactly what went down between Hilltop and Alexandria, and now we're headed into a mid-season hiatus. This is lazy storytelling, people! The characters all allude to something that happened, that we're piecing together bits here and there. Clearly Michonne's reception at Hilltop is chilly. Clearly there was a huge falling out between her and Maggie. But we still don't have answers, and it's insulting and boring. The fact that we still don't have all of the information just means that whatever it is, it's going to fail to live up to the inflated expectations.

Speaking of... you know, the only reason I didn't realize Jesus was going to die in this episode is that I had my dates wrong, and I thought there was going to be one more episode after this one before the hiatus. I was clocking it wrong, so the obvious fact that someone would die this week kind of missed me, which meant that I felt a mild sense of shock when I realized, half way through this episode, that I was watching a mid-season finale, that someone was going to die. And then I knew immediately it would be Jesus. Why? Well, they just decided to make him interesting last week, and that's what this show does. It takes characters who have just sort of been wandering around in the background, and gives them a bunch of material right before they die, to try and artificially inflate the audience's emotions. I liked Jesus. I've always liked him. I wanted him and Aaron to get together. So yeah, I'm bummed that he's dead, but once again: what a non-shocker! What a lame, predictable thing to happen! Actually, I was briefly shocked and delighted to see a Walker stab Jesus with a knife, because that's interesting and different. But nope. It's just a person wearing a mask.

We also get to see a thoroughly uninteresting set of scenes where Henry hangs out with some fellow teens at Hilltop. He's pining over Enid, randomly, and then runs off with a couple of jerks who play darts with a Walker for fun. He gets drunk, gets in trouble, and apologizes. And through it all, he is just as insufferable and boring as ever. I feel bad for the kid playing him, because I don't think it's the actor's fault. It's just that Henry is as bland as bland can be, and I can't make myself feel connected to him.

Negan and Gabriel have some fundamentally uninteresting conversations. It looks like Gabriel has been trying to help Negan to rehabilitate himself, with limited to no success. As the episode ends, Negan discovers that his cell has been left unlocked, and he leaves. I just could not care less about this. Am I supposed to think he's still threatening? I found the idea of Negan being locked up to be kind of intriguing, but now apparently he's out, and up to no good. What am I supposed to do with that piece of information? What an uninspired cliffhanger. I've been tired of Negan since practically the day we met him, and now we get even more? Please.

Pros:

I did like that we got another scene between Aaron and Jesus, and we could really sense their camaraderie coming through. Aaron's anguish at Jesus' death felt real to me. That guy is a good actor, and he plays grief very well. Aaron is someone I'd be seriously upset to lose.

I also like that Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron refused to leave Eugene behind. Despite Eugene's injury and his generally odd ways, he wasn't too much of a liability in their escape. He's really come in to his own. My wild card guess for a character death in this episode was Eugene, but all things considered I'm glad he's still around.

Carol and Michonne have a moment where they kind of awkwardly catch each other up on how their kids are doing, and it was a really great way of communicating how much relationships have fallen out of wack over the past six years. They are family, but things are strained, and Michonne seems to be a big part of the reason why. It's still annoying that we don't have all of the information, of course.

That's it. I'm sorry the "pros" section is so tiny. I hate that. I want to be more excited about what's going on, but the reveal that the talking Walkers are just more evil people really took the wind right out of my sails. I guess I'll be back to check in with all this nonsense in 2019... sigh.

5/10