There Are Spoilers In Our The Walking Dead: Dead Or Alive Or Review
So the 11th episode of The Walking Dead season 8 just went to air and this one sees us focus in on the variety of characters on Rick’s side of the war and how they are currently trying to survive as well as what’s going on with Negan’s response effort at this current time.
The episode’s main plot focuses in on Daryl leading his group through the woods and across a dangerous swamp as they make their way to the Hilltop. Although it would seem that this would be a Daryl based episode, his character in this one is there more to keep the plot moving forward. Apart from getting pretty mad when Dwight escapes, it was other characters who did much more.
Dwight as a character in the show is becoming one of the more interesting characters to watch. While it was sort of clear that his character was likely to betray Negan last year due to all the things that Negan did to him, his place at this moment and where he currently sits as a character is maybe not how he thought things would end up. While it would seem to many that his actions in the last few episodes where he betrayed Negan’s group, in order to help Rick’s group, would be enough to allow him to join Rick’s group with little issue, it just isn’t so.
Tara in this episode displays a strong dislike for Dwight and is seen to push a Walker towards him, putting his life in danger. When the two characters end up alone together, Tara moves to kill Dwight and chases him around the woods (even though she has a gun in her hand). The two end up almost caught out by Negan’s men and hide in a bush together, Dwight himself isn’t sure it’s safe for him to go out because he doesn’t know the extent or the knowledge of his betrayal yet. In the end though he goes out and greets Negan’s people and they have no idea what he did. Interestingly, Dwight covers for Tara and her group and leads the men away. Although Daryl is quite angry about all this, Tara ends up defending Dwight. Does she now respect him or has he earned her trust or even that of Rosita’s? It’s hard to say really until the characters meet up again but it was an interesting development.
While the story was quite interesting to see in the Daryl side of things, I felt that the episode was a little bogged down in the Gabriel plot line. We hadn’t seen much from Gabriel at all since the mid-season finale, but the character had escaped with the doctor from Negan’s camp with the help of Eugene. Gabriel is now almost blind and is being treated by the doctor, the two struggle to survive and have no clue where they are going or even what they’re doing and end up drawing attention to themselves and getting caught by Negan’s people. Although there were some allusions to God in this episode and I don’t mind the theme and the idea of this plot. But for some reason it was just a little boring to watch. I’m not sure what to make of Gabriel’s character at the moment, but the eye effects were a little discomforting to see. Where he will go from here I am not sure. The doctor ends up dying which seems bad for Maggie, but Sadiq is also a doctor so he’ll probably do just fine.
Negan in this episode continues to be quite intimidating and makes Eugune quite nervous, especially since he asks him about how Gabriel escaped with the doctor. Eugene is then made to go to the bullet making factory and start making bullets as Negan’s supplies are low due to having to use up a lot of it escaping the walkers outside his compound in the mid-season premiere. This is a very bad sign for someone who is at war. Rick doesn’t seem to have the same issue at least for now with his own ammunition supplies. Towards the end we hear of Eugene talking about using catapults and Negan makes a speech about blood and turning the people in the Hilltop into the walking dead. Could you maybe spray the characters with blood to turn them now? I can sort of imagine what might happen next week, but not sure where this is going to go. Someone must surely die from this at the Hilltop though, I wonder who it will be?
Maggie is currently leading the group at the Hilltop and we see her talking to the various prisoners in this episode. There’s a no mercy approach towards them from her and the fact that they keep bringing these prisoners up in the season so far every now and again and Maggie doing nothing at all with them tells me that it’s possible there’s something to come from these characters soon. Whether or not the prisoners will bring something of consequence to Maggie and the Hilltop or if they’ll do some good for Maggie there is hard to say at this time.
Overall this was a decent episode with some great moments. There was a lot of developments with the various characters and many of them now have a clear path going forward. With the exception of Gabriel who I think is a little lost now, Dwight, Daryl, Maggie, Tara and Rosita all have interesting things going for them going forward. I’m keen to see Rick return to the hilltop and where the show will lead next and also what Negan might be planning next week with his attack.
The Walking Dead airs express from the US on Mondays from at 1.30pm and 7:30pm on Showcase on Foxtel
