Warning! Spoilers below.
The big surprises in The Walking Dead have long been the death of main characters; it's far more rare for a character to return. But that's what "The Damned", the second episode of Season 8 gave us, with the sudden appearance of a character last seen back in Season 1. Beyond that, the episode doubled down on the action-orientated premiere "Mercy." From the cold opening to the final frame, there was barely a moment that wasn't scored by the sound of machine gun fire, as Rick and his people continued their fight against the Saviors.
When Rick confidently suggested last week that they would defeat Negan in the space of a single day, it seemed like a wildly optimistic prediction, and the episode ended with the Saviors nowhere near surrender. But "The Damned" quickly made it clear that this single day of warfare could potentially span several episodes.
While the episode didn't return to the moment that closed the premiere--Negan and Father Gabriel trapped in a cabin, surrounded by walkers--the show's writers have at least learned the lessons of the last series and kept all of the main cast in the same episode. It picked up moments up after the close of "Mercy" and continually cut between several lines of attack.
As was the case last week, it was often left to viewers to figure out the intention of each mission, with mixed results. So Aaron and company engaging in a furious shooting match didn't have much in the way of tension. It did see Eric's (probable) demise, but for the most part, it was just a bunch of people shooting at other.
Equally, aside from Jerry getting to use his axe and a bit of Shiva action, Carol and Ezekiel's woodland chase to catch the Savior who threw a grenade at them last week seemed a bit aimless. It was hard to remember exactly why they needed to capture this guy, and Ezekiel's "inspiring" mock-Shakespearean pronouncements have more comically annoying than ever. At least Carol questioned his irritating optimism.
There were a few impressive character moments among the bullets. Rick's story saw the return of Morales, a character last seen leaving the Atlanta base with his family way back in Season 1. It's a well-played, genuinely surprising appearance (providing you can remember who he is). Morales is now a Savior, and he and Rick's shared history could make for some compelling discussions about the direction their lives have taken since they last saw each other.
And Morgan got some seriously badass moments, as he rampaged through the corridors, taking out Saviors left-and-right. He's still a damaged and conflicted man, and the episode frequently cut back to an earlier conversation with Rick, in which the latter tried to convince Morgan that there is no room for taking prisoners in this world. Their enemies must die. Lennie James remains one of the best actors in the show, anchoring these scenes with understated power and emotion.
Unfortunately, the drama that seems most designed to set up a future conflict was clunky and poorly handled. When Jesus and Tara found a man hiding in a closet, claiming to be a prisoner of the Saviors, Jesus refused to let Tara shoot him. It was a mistake--he's a bad guy, and nearly kills Jesus before he is captured. An upcoming moral showdown between Jesus and Tara is brewing. These debates have in the past provided some of the show's most thought-provoking scenes, and the question of where the moral line now exists is a continually fascinating one.
But it's badly handled here. Neither character has ever been well enough developed to be suddenly handed these positions, and it seems ludicrous that in the heat of battle, when he's presumably already killed several Saviors in cold blood in the last couple of hours, Jesus would suddenly develop a conscience. Perhaps it will lead somewhere interesting, but right now, it doesn't work.
"The Damned" had its moments, and the more action-orientated focus is appreciated--for now. But the show is a long way from its best, and that balance of zombie horror, compelling character drama, and action thrills that worked so well in the past is simply not there. The problem with Season 7 wasn't that it was heavier on the drama than the action, it was that everything happened at such a leaden, alienating pace. An entire half-season of confusing action, if that's what we're looking at, may not be much better. Let's hope that The Walking Dead gets that balance back.
BEST KILL
Up to this point, Jerry has been a slightly cartoonish character, Ezekiel's sweet, lumbering right-hand-man. But with Ezekiel himself lapsing into caricature, Jerry stepped up and got to split some walker skull with his axe, not once, but twice this week. Cracking.
ProsCons
Plenty of action
A surprise return of a character from Season 1
Morgan kicks ass (and Lennie James's superb performance)
Difficult to know what all the characters were meant to be dong
Awkward moral debates
No sense that the show knows where it is going
The big surprises in The Walking Dead have long been the death of main characters; it's far more rare for a character to return. But that's what "The Damned", the second episode of Season 8 gave us, with the sudden appearance of a character last seen back in Season 1. Beyond that, the episode doubled down on the action-orientated premiere "Mercy." From the cold opening to the final frame, there was barely a moment that wasn't scored by the sound of machine gun fire, as Rick and his people continued their fight against the Saviors.
When Rick confidently suggested last week that they would defeat Negan in the space of a single day, it seemed like a wildly optimistic prediction, and the episode ended with the Saviors nowhere near surrender. But "The Damned" quickly made it clear that this single day of warfare could potentially span several episodes.
While the episode didn't return to the moment that closed the premiere--Negan and Father Gabriel trapped in a cabin, surrounded by walkers--the show's writers have at least learned the lessons of the last series and kept all of the main cast in the same episode. It picked up moments up after the close of "Mercy" and continually cut between several lines of attack.
As was the case last week, it was often left to viewers to figure out the intention of each mission, with mixed results. So Aaron and company engaging in a furious shooting match didn't have much in the way of tension. It did see Eric's (probable) demise, but for the most part, it was just a bunch of people shooting at other.
Equally, aside from Jerry getting to use his axe and a bit of Shiva action, Carol and Ezekiel's woodland chase to catch the Savior who threw a grenade at them last week seemed a bit aimless. It was hard to remember exactly why they needed to capture this guy, and Ezekiel's "inspiring" mock-Shakespearean pronouncements have more comically annoying than ever. At least Carol questioned his irritating optimism.
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There were a few impressive character moments among the bullets. Rick's story saw the return of Morales, a character last seen leaving the Atlanta base with his family way back in Season 1. It's a well-played, genuinely surprising appearance (providing you can remember who he is). Morales is now a Savior, and he and Rick's shared history could make for some compelling discussions about the direction their lives have taken since they last saw each other.
And Morgan got some seriously badass moments, as he rampaged through the corridors, taking out Saviors left-and-right. He's still a damaged and conflicted man, and the episode frequently cut back to an earlier conversation with Rick, in which the latter tried to convince Morgan that there is no room for taking prisoners in this world. Their enemies must die. Lennie James remains one of the best actors in the show, anchoring these scenes with understated power and emotion.
Unfortunately, the drama that seems most designed to set up a future conflict was clunky and poorly handled. When Jesus and Tara found a man hiding in a closet, claiming to be a prisoner of the Saviors, Jesus refused to let Tara shoot him. It was a mistake--he's a bad guy, and nearly kills Jesus before he is captured. An upcoming moral showdown between Jesus and Tara is brewing. These debates have in the past provided some of the show's most thought-provoking scenes, and the question of where the moral line now exists is a continually fascinating one.
But it's badly handled here. Neither character has ever been well enough developed to be suddenly handed these positions, and it seems ludicrous that in the heat of battle, when he's presumably already killed several Saviors in cold blood in the last couple of hours, Jesus would suddenly develop a conscience. Perhaps it will lead somewhere interesting, but right now, it doesn't work.
"The Damned" had its moments, and the more action-orientated focus is appreciated--for now. But the show is a long way from its best, and that balance of zombie horror, compelling character drama, and action thrills that worked so well in the past is simply not there. The problem with Season 7 wasn't that it was heavier on the drama than the action, it was that everything happened at such a leaden, alienating pace. An entire half-season of confusing action, if that's what we're looking at, may not be much better. Let's hope that The Walking Dead gets that balance back.
BEST KILL
Up to this point, Jerry has been a slightly cartoonish character, Ezekiel's sweet, lumbering right-hand-man. But with Ezekiel himself lapsing into caricature, Jerry stepped up and got to split some walker skull with his axe, not once, but twice this week. Cracking.
ProsCons
Plenty of action
A surprise return of a character from Season 1
Morgan kicks ass (and Lennie James's superb performance)
Difficult to know what all the characters were meant to be dong
Awkward moral debates
No sense that the show knows where it is going
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