If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: The group scavenge for supplies. Someone in Alexandria must make a morally changing decision. (IMDB)
Writer: Matthew Negrete
Director: Greg Nicotero
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 44mins
The last time we saw Rick and the gang, he had made a deal with Jadis and the Scavengers to get them a lot of guns in exchange for their assistance. We saw the beginning of this in this episode with Rick and Michonne going on an adventure in the hopes of finding guns and other supplies. Their adventure took them across the countryside where they didn’t necessarily find that many guns but for the most part, they had fun. It kind of felt like a honeymoon in some twisted way. They were having so much fun in fact, they just kept going and going despite Michonne wanting to go back.
They had some deep conversations along the way with Michonne wondering about their future but Rick couldn’t see beyond their impending fight with Negan and the Saviors. This episode highlighted the chemistry between Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira. They were great to watch together here.
Things got more interesting once they stumbled upon an abandoned carnival which looked to have served as a makeshift military base near the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. It was exactly what they were looking for as it was outfitted with food and supplies while also swarming with soldier Walkers still outfitted with various guns and ammunition that they obviously didn’t need anymore.
Continuing with the tone of the episode, disposing of the Walkers ended up being a game to them as they split them amongst themselves. They were fun to watch together but being The Walking Dead, it did not all necessarily go according to plan, however, with a sequence involving a car with no brakes being the standout. They were thinking of filling a gap within a fence with a car and they overshot it, prompting the swarm to come to them. Of course they got out of it and continued playfully disposing of them.
This did feature a scare where it seemed that Rick may have finally succumb to the Walkers but it’s not like he was really going to die which ultimately didn’t happen because it would have made sense if he did. This led to an emotional moment with Michonne, thinking that she had finally lost him. She was then relieved when that appeared to no longer be the case.
The experience prompted Rick and Michonne to go back to their earlier conversation about the future where Rick started to open up about the value of life and feeling remorse for not being able to save Glenn like he had saved him very early on. He hadn’t been sleeping because he was so caught up on all he had lost and their current predicament. He was dead set on fighting the Saviors and he was open to the possibility of them losing important people and each other. Michonne didn’t want to lose Rick but he tried to reassure her that she could lead them in his place.
They brought the guns back to the Scavengers and it wasn’t enough for them since they were looking for at least twice as much. Despite this setback, Michonne was still hopeful that they would find more guns. This left Tara feeling uneasy because throughout the episode, she kept wanting to talk about Oceanside and all their guns but she just couldn’t do it, at least not until the end where she appeared on Rick’s porch about to tell him about it (because what else can it be?) and we see them go inside.
The episode could have gone without this but also could have gone without another subplot featuring Rosita who was angry and impatient with Rick’s plan to take on Negan. She was personally invested, as we all know, and she wanted to go now. Before that, she had an attitude with Tara and vented to Father Gabriel, blaming him for convincing her not to act before and causing a whole bunch of people to die. He was willing to live with that. When the Scavengers allowed Rick to keep some of the guns for their search to find more guns, she took a sniper rifle and went to Sasha at the Hilltop and asking her to come along. She agreed as long as she got to take the shot on Negan. Sasha questioned Rosita’s readiness and she seemed to be ready.
Overall, this was a good episode with the highlight being Rick and Michonne’s adventure. They were fun to watch and the episode would have been better had it focused on just them. It could have gone without the other subplots as they bogged down the episode. Their should have been more buildup to the Oceanside reveal and Rosita’s turn could be handled better.
Score: 8/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
