The Walking Dead: Squeeze (10x09)

I couldn't see anything in the damn cave... I get that they're in the dark, but my god, get some better lighting in there!

Cons:

If Connie and Magna are actually dead, I'm about to be really, really annoyed. For obvious reasons - this show needs to learn its damn lesson about killing off queer characters, for one. Also, setting Magna's sexuality aside, do you really thing The Walking Dead has enough women of color hanging out to be offing them like this? But maybe they're not dead - in that case, I guess I retract my criticism.

As I mentioned, the lighting was crap. I couldn't see what was going on for a good chunk of the episode, and that was really frustrating.

Negan and Alpha... ew? I didn't need to see that? I had no desire to witness that? What even is Negan's character right now? What is his end-goal? And why would he turn on Gamma like that? Just for the drama, or what? I'm not sure I care enough to be gripped by the potential complexities here.

Pros:

I continue to be frustrated with Carol for putting everyone in danger, for potentially getting Connie and Magna killed. But I do need to give props to Melissa McBride's performance, because she seriously knocked it out of the park. You could just sense her bottled up guilt, hiding underneath her rage and her desire to hurt Alpha at any cost. Then at the end, as Daryl scrabbles uselessly at rocks trying to get to Connie, she completely breaks down, demanding that Daryl yell at her, punish her, for her own wrong-doing. Hopefully this is the lowest of low points for Carol. She finally admits that Daryl has been right about everything. She's finally having to answer for her behavior, for the fact that people love her and won't let her go off on her own for crazy suicide missions.

Despite the poor lighting and the general irritation I felt about the scenario, there were plenty of good character moments while they were all trapped in the cave. This was a Walking Dead equivalent of a dungeon crawl, with the whole gang undergoing challenge after challenge while trying to stay alive and protect one another. It was touching, the way they refused to leave anyone behind, the way they managed to set aside their understandable anger at Carol, in order to push through and get out together.

Obviously I loved Daryl and Carol's moments, the way Daryl admits to understanding Carol's rage, but also says that if he were in her shoes, and she asked him to stop, he would. They need to live for their future, for one another, instead of fighting for revenge. Carol agrees with this in the moment, but the ultimate price of their current predicament is such that she may be broken for good, pushed beyond the limits of endurance. We'll have to see if Carol and Daryl's relationship can survive this.

This is an insanely short review, but honestly that's the level of energy I'm willing to put into this show at this point. We're still limping along; at this point I'm crossing my fingers that the show manages to stick the landing - maybe season eleven will be the blessed end?

6.5/10