SPOILER ALERT! This is possible one of the most exciting episodes in the series, so caution before you read ahead.
In the most exhilarating episodes of AMC’s The Walking Dead, the group having agreed to rid The Hillside village of The Saviors, embarks on a mission that will take them beyond a threshold they can never return from. We have seen the group go through phases, from victims, to farmers, to survivors, and now they become mercenaries.
With many surprising twists, this episode will plunge viewers into every conceivable emotion, especially shock, but before we reveal the most shocking moments there were a few ‘what were they thinking moments,”
- When casing the Saviors camp, the group parks in the road with three cars, which makes them easy to spot for any detachments who may be patrolling the area. They really make no effort to try to be subtle about their presence near the enemy compound. Taking hours to prepare, so close to their target.
- You would think that Rick and the other long time group members would do more research or recon before jumping head first into a war as advised by Morgan during the church meeting scene. They know first hand after dealing with the Governor, Terminus and the Wolves how hasty decisions can turn messy in this word.
- Carol is right to question why Maggie is on this suicide mission to murder the Saviors. Maggie may be the only pregnant woman left on the planet and she is in on this mission, not a smart move, a decision that comes back to bite the group in the end.
- Morgan who refuses to kill any people, is shown welding some type of contraption. He is also the only one in Alexandria who actually voiced his opinion against the stealthy mission, in favor of direct delegation with Negan and his mercenaries. Why didn’t the group take his advice more seriously?
- Rick, who changes more and more with each episode, punches a decapitated head in the face repeatedly, as noted by their Hillside cohort, “The Saviors are scary… but they don’t have nothing on you.”
The series has dipped into action with this episode and there are several moments that will affect the future both physically and mentally for our groups. Here are the most surprising moments of the raucous installment. The body count is high in what seems to be just a start to the bloodshed that awaits them.
- Abraham breaks up with Rosita in crude fashion. “When I met you I thought you were the last woman on Earth, but you’re not,” Abraham said. Packing his few belongings a fierce shouting match ensues between the two. We have seen some flirting from Sasha but nothing intimate or convincing enough for him to leave the fiery Rosita.
- The group acts with sheer disregard for the human lives they are taking, crossing a threshold of just merely surviving but now acting as mercenaries for the needs the community of Alexandria needs. They are no longer victims in a world of tradgey, they are now inflict pain in a pre-emptive attack. Perhaps it was their previous experience waiting defensively against previous foes that drove them to take the fight to the Saviors, perhaps it was sheer need.
- In a moral dilemma Heath and Glenn talk about never having to kill a living person since the zombie apocalypse. During the raid on the compound Glenn faces a moment of doubt before plunging his knife into the sleeping head of the Survivors. Heath, who looks utterly nervous the whole episode, balks at his moment to kill and is gifted the pain by Glenn who does the deed for him.
- Father Gabriel continues his descent into the murderous world around him. He has clearly become more of a warrior priest in the last few episodes but after catching a escaping Savior, in almost Pulp Fiction fashion he recites bible verses to the cursing Savior who tells him, “Blood is coming.” Gabriel executes the man with biblical parting words, “My father’s house has many mansions, I go there to prepare a place for you.” A clear change from his previous disposition.
- Maggie and Carol face off over the involvement. Carol defies Maggie’s reasoning for her involvement and refuses to let her run to the aid of the group when they hear the alarm sounding. Just as Rick and Daryl are subduing an escaping Savior, a female voice speaks over the radio telling Rick and his group to lay down their weapons revealing they have captured Maggie and Carol.
