This week was a trò chơi of three halves which combined to lớn produce one of the most satisfying instalments so far this series
Because I never fully grasped fractions, I’m going lớn describe vì Not Send Us Astray as an episode of three distinct halves. The first was very shooty, full of kích hoạt and noise & exciting machine-gun kaboomery. The middle was very talky – slow, but essential in balancing the pace. And the third was very zombie-ey, with lots of, erm, well, zombies in it. Each chunk certainly suffered from its own respective creaks và niggles – this is The Walking Dead, so expecting perfection seems, frankly, stoopid – but all three halves coalesced to khung what was, for me, one of the most satisfying instalments so far this series. So strap yourself in dear reader, because a positive reviews might just be about to happen.
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The Siege of Hilltop was exactly the action-heavy kick up the bum the episode needed lớn grab our attention và hold on to it through the quieter scenes to come. Yes, when you demonstrably have radios, choosing to lớn use car horns for communication displays the kind of thinking you’d normally expect from someone whose mittens are connected by a string. & personally, I’d have planted a few million tonnes of TNT right by the stinger that popped the Savior convoy’s tyres, but hey-ho. Maybe the Hilltoppers haven’t repelled as many sieges as I have. Nevertheless, none of this diminished the goofy enjoyment of watching the extent khổng lồ which Savior tactics are reduced to “CHAAARGE!” under the unhinged stewardship of Simon.
The lights going out was clearly a trap – one which Negan would never have fallen for in a million years. Nor would Ol’ Neegs have given the imprisoned Saviors cause to lớn turn against him by throwing them khổng lồ the, sadly metaphorical, dogs. It’s interesting to see how much the comparatively cool-headed Negan was actually holding the Saviors together as leader & tactician. Simon’s comeuppance is surely imminent, either at the hands of Negan or Dwight, but if his (presumably brief) tenure results in crash-bang-wallops such as this, Simon’s Saviors will do just fine for a while.
Austin Amelio as Dwight and Steven Ogg as Simon. Photograph: gen Page/AMCDespite major characters, Simon included, being smothered in their usual overcoats of irritating plot armour, this particular gunfight at least felt like it had consequence. Lots of people died. It wasn’t one of the aimless A-Team bullet-showers of Walking Deads past, and was all the better for that. I’d also argue lớn my dying breath that any episode in which Daryl mounts a machine gun lớn his motorbike’s handlebars and sprays bullets lượt thích a beautiful bewheeled Spitfire is literally impossible to lớn hate. Likewise, Rick steaming into the malaise guns blazing was a much-needed reminder that Grimes Snr can be, on his day, a death-dealing Daddy Cool. Most of the main players got a chance to lớn shine, & it was fairly great. It harked back to the brainless, idiotically enjoyable action of the first few episodes of the season, only with more at stake. It was very watchable indeed.
I’m also enjoying how Dwight’s intentions are becoming increasingly ambiguous, as he passed up the opportunity lớn kill Simon when the two of them were making a beeline for Tara. Tara và Daryl’s sudden re-appraisals of Dwight seemed a tad forced, but Dwight remains an interesting shade of grey in the blacks và whites of the Saviors & the Rick Rollers. Is Dwight merely biding his time? Or does he see Simon as a key to his revenge on Negan? My guess is the former, but I’m an idiot who’s wrong about most things, so don’t
me if I’m wrong about this.
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Once the shooting stopped và the Saviors were ostensibly running for their lives, things eased down khổng lồ a simmer, và I worried that this was it for the rest of the episode: half an hour of the sorts of portentous, ham-laden slabs of dialogue that have killed storylines stone-dead in the past. Rick và Siddiq, Rick & Michonne, Carol and that bloke she used khổng lồ go out with, whose name, Google informs me, is Tobin. We knew that the Saviors had poisoned their weaponry with zombie-goo, but the fact the ensuing infection wasn’t dragged out for three lumpen episodes of people doing “BIG EMOTIONS” at each other came as a pleasant surprise.
Callan McAuliffe as Alden và Lauren Cohan as Maggie. Photograph: gen Page/AMCA couple of ensuing deaths were the biggest misfires here, mainly because you can’t suddenly elevate a bit-part to lớn a main character, have us care about them, & then kill them off, all within five minutes. I’d completely forgotten Tobin & Dr Dina even existed, so neither death carried any weight whatsoever. As Tobin succumbed to lớn the fever and became Carol’s zombie boyfriend (zomboyfriend), at least these deaths served a larger, nastier purpose, leading events towards the creepiest zombie scene the show’s given us in quite some time.
If I were nitpicking, và I am because that’s basically what reviewing is, I’d argue that, right after a pitched battle – and amid a general, wider zombie apocalypse – a house full of people probably wouldn’t think it was okay lớn fall asleep with the front door open. No one in history has ever snoozed that deeply without the aid of fifteen pints of strong Belgian lager, either. The zombies, too, appear to have been to cat-burglar school* (*full disclosure: not a real school) because, all of a sudden, they basically became a silent troupe of undead sneak-ninjas. But sod it, these leaps of xúc tích và ngắn gọn allowed for a genuinely grizzly night-time assault – once which might be quite an accurate depiction of a lot of peoples’ actual worst nightmare. Once the screaming began it was chaotic, dark, claustrophobic, gory, gruelling và disturbing, with enough close-ups of zombie injuries (zombinjuries) to keep the company which supplies the giả blood financially buoyant for decades khổng lồ come. It felt like a proper horror movie. I loved it.
I enjoyed it so much that I’m going lớn overlook the spinny-bowtie overacted guff that was Morgan’s hallucinations. I’m also not going to dwell on how much I hate Henry, or question why TV shows in general và this one in particular constantly feel it’s necessary lớn have a precocious, mardy-arsed teenager messing things up for everyone. There was too much to like here for flies in the ointment such as these to lớn sink the ship. (And, as a side note, “I saved you this turnip” is my new favourite line of dialogue that’s ever been spoken by a human person.)
So I now find myself in an unfamiliar position. Not only am I looking forward to next week’s episode, but I really don’t mind who it chooses to focus its attention on. There’s interesting stuff happening everywhere: the Saviors will be licking their wounds after their Pyrrhic victory, Negan’s still road-tripping with Jadis, half the prisoners have escaped, Henry’s sodded off somewhere & will hopefully stay there, and things are looking awfully bad for Tara. Lovely stuff, all round.
That’s a lot to lớn get through in the three episodes remaining. Bring it on.
Episode 1: MercyEpisode 2: The DamnedEpisode 3: MonstersEpisode 4: Some GuyEpisode 5: The Big Scary UEpisode 6: The King, the Widow và RickEpisode 7: Time for AfterEpisode 8: How It's Gotta BeEpisode 9: HonorEpisode 10: The Lost và the PlunderersEpisode 11: Dead Alive OrEpisode 12: The KeyEpisode 13: bởi Not Send Us AstrayEpisode 14: Still Gotta Mean SomethingEpisode 15: WorthEpisode 16: WrathSeason seven
Episode 1: The Day Will Come When You Won't BeEpisode 2: The WellEpisode 3: The CellEpisode 4: ServiceEpisode 5: Go GettersEpisode 6: SwearEpisode 7: Sing Me A SongEpisode 8: Hearts Still BeatingEpisode 9: Rock in the RoadEpisode 10: New Best FriendsEpisode 11: Hostiles và CalamitiesEpisode 12: Say YesEpisode 13: Bury Me HereEpisode 14: The Other SideEpisode 15: Something They NeedEpisode 16: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Season six
Episode 1: First Time AgainEpisode 2: JSSEpisode 3: Thank YouEpisode 4: Here's Not HereEpisode 5: NowEpisode 6: Always AccountableEpisode 7: Heads UpEpisode 8: Start lớn FinishEpisode 9: No Way OutEpisode 10: The Next WorldEpisode 11: Knots UntieEpisode 12: Not Tomorrow YetEpisode 13: The Same BoatEpisode 14: Twice As FarEpisode 15: EastEpisode 16: Last Day on Earth
Season five
Episode 1: No SanctuaryEpisode 2: StrangersEpisode 3: Four Walls và a RoofEpisode 4: SlabtownEpisode 5: Self HelpEpisode 6: ConsumedEpisode 7: CrossedEpisode 8: CodaEpisode 9: What Happened & What's Going OnEpisode 10: ThemEpisode 11: The DistanceEpisode 12: RememberEpisode 13: ForgetEpisode 14: SpendEpisode 15: TryEpisode 16: Conquer
Season three
Episode 1: SeedEpisode 2: SickEpisode 3: Walk With MeEpisode 4: Killer WithinEpisode 5: Say the WordEpisode 6: HoundedEpisode 7: When the Dead Come KnockingEpisode 8: Made khổng lồ SufferEpisode 9: The Suicide KingEpisode 10: HomeEpisode 11: I Ain't A JudasEpisode 12: ClearEpisode 13: Arrow on the DoorpostEpisode 14: PreyEpisode 15: The Sorrowful LifeEpisode 16: Welcome khổng lồ the Tombs
","credit":"","pillar":3}">Season eight
Episode 1: MercyEpisode 2: The DamnedEpisode 3: MonstersEpisode 4: Some GuyEpisode 5: The Big Scary UEpisode 6: The King, the Widow và RickEpisode 7: Time for AfterEpisode 8: How It"s Gotta BeEpisode 9: HonorEpisode 10: The Lost and the PlunderersEpisode 11: Dead Alive OrEpisode 12: The KeyEpisode 13: bởi Not Send Us AstrayEpisode 14: Still Gotta Mean SomethingEpisode 15: WorthEpisode 16: Wrath
Season seven
Episode 1: The Day Will Come When You Won"t BeEpisode 2: The WellEpisode 3: The CellEpisode 4: ServiceEpisode 5: Go GettersEpisode 6: SwearEpisode 7: Sing Me A SongEpisode 8: Hearts Still BeatingEpisode 9: Rock in the RoadEpisode 10: New Best FriendsEpisode 11: Hostiles and CalamitiesEpisode 12: Say YesEpisode 13: Bury Me HereEpisode 14: The Other SideEpisode 15: Something They NeedEpisode 16: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Season six
Episode 1: First Time AgainEpisode 2: JSSEpisode 3: Thank YouEpisode 4: Here"s Not HereEpisode 5: NowEpisode 6: Always AccountableEpisode 7: Heads UpEpisode 8: Start to FinishEpisode 9: No Way OutEpisode 10: The Next WorldEpisode 11: Knots UntieEpisode 12: Not Tomorrow YetEpisode 13: The Same BoatEpisode 14: Twice As FarEpisode 15: EastEpisode 16: Last Day on Earth
Season five
Episode 1: No SanctuaryEpisode 2: StrangersEpisode 3: Four Walls & a RoofEpisode 4: SlabtownEpisode 5: Self HelpEpisode 6: ConsumedEpisode 7: CrossedEpisode 8: CodaEpisode 9: What Happened and What"s Going OnEpisode 10: ThemEpisode 11: The DistanceEpisode 12: RememberEpisode 13: ForgetEpisode 14: SpendEpisode 15: TryEpisode 16: Conquer
Season three
Episode 1: SeedEpisode 2: SickEpisode 3: Walk With MeEpisode 4: Killer WithinEpisode 5: Say the WordEpisode 6: HoundedEpisode 7: When the Dead Come KnockingEpisode 8: Made lớn SufferEpisode 9: The Suicide KingEpisode 10: HomeEpisode 11: I Ain"t A JudasEpisode 12: ClearEpisode 13: Arrow on the DoorpostEpisode 14: PreyEpisode 15: The Sorrowful LifeEpisode 16: Welcome khổng lồ the Tombs
