This is a rather weak episode, almost feels like a filler. We get to see more characters instead of fleshing out what has already shown. For one, I've been wondering how the crew would cope from the destruction of Canterburry, especially Holden who lost his lover. Ade had an unfinished final sentence, and in this moment of calm before the storm I was expecting we get to see how Holden reflects on that or trying to cope with his loss. But seems like coffee suffices for him.
The best part of this episode is its beginning and its ending. Rick, reading Carl's letter, finally have a change of heart after being touched by his son's vision of society. Meanwhile, Negan, already fell too deep--not to mention just finding out betrayal from his two top right-hand men--remains unmoved by Carl's plea for peace. Someone said that Carl plays more important role exactly after his death, and I agree: he acts as the bridge between the two spectrum (Rick and Negan).
Rick, who believes in the capacity of people to build things together; and Negan, who believes he has to tie those knots all by himself, being the one bigger than anyone else. As @andrewbloom said in his review, Walking Dead has attempted to show that Rick, too, can be cruel and unforgiving; while Negan is not a cartoon evil, he too has good intention. But this episode shows the contrast between the two through Carl.
That is the best part of this episode. The other sequences... are done rather very clunkily, especially the part with Aaron and Eugene. @AndrewBloom laid out this better than I could do, so I suggest you read his review here: https://trakt.tv/comments/178084
A rather tacky season finale. The finale should've been episode 7. The episode started with showing one of the secondary antagonist's flashback, which is unusual and a very humane approach in superhero shows in depicting their villains. It progresses to Haller and team dealing with the evil Amahl Farouk/Shadow King and its ultimate result.
As I've said, this episode is rather tacky. First, is the villain's flashback. Initially this gave me the impression that there is always a shade of gray in every villain's action - a rather human depiction of superheroes' villain - but turns out the humane depiction seems to be a move toward giving Clark, the said villain (the interrogator in episode 1), to switch to the side of the heroes (Haller and co). Which brings me to the problematic question: after the looming problem about this "war" being fought between humans and mutants, how could the government agents turn side so easily? Granted, it was after seeing the evilness of Amahl Farouk, but it's too short and unconvincing.
In regards to the flashback, the inclusion of homosexual couple (and with black adopted son, nonetheless) feels rather out of place. I'm all with representation, but it seems to come out of nowhere. Especially this makes me pose the question I've stopped pondering: when do the events in the show take place, 1980s? 2000s? Considering they seem to plan this to fit into the X-Men movie's timeline, things could turn up weird if this is actually set in 1980s...
Anyway, back to Amahl Farouk, the end with him possessing Oliver's body raises up more questions that haven't been answered in previous episodes. Especially, why does he (Oliver) easily agree to be a host for Farouk? What is his intention exactly? This episode also has a mid-credits scene which to me seems to come out of nowhere and can completely change the direction Season 2 progress - it's really odd, that scene shouldn't be in mid-credits, it should be as the part of the episode. I feel like as Legion has stopped using the non-linear narrative (unlike in the previous episodes), it started to show its weak points. But I'm hoping it's just in this episode.
All in all, as I've said before, the finale should've been episode 7. Episode 7 would've made the perfect cliffhanger, focusing only two main plots. With this episode we got so many subplots that we're not sure the direction it's heading. It's still a decent one though, so it's okay-ish. Still a worthy watch, this show is.
Decent episode. The part with Carl and Enid seems like it's just slips in there, especially with the weird cut between them and Maggie-Sasha. The rollerblades and Carl's love story feel a bit distracting from the overall tense of the episode (and the rollerblades seem to be too conveniently placed).
The night zombie-fest in Hilltop feels a bit forced to give reasons for Maggie to stay. But the interaction between Gregory and Simon, also the whole conversation with Sasha-Maggie-Jesus-Gregory is excellent: serves the right build up to portray Maggie as a strong-willed, decisive character, while showing Gregory as just another pragmatic, opportunistic guy who just happen to be in position of authority, ultimately shown in the part when she says, "I have a name... Maggie. Maggie Rhee."
The climax on the tower ends too abruptly. Well, it is in the manga, but in the anime it really left no impact--no wondering, no confusion, nothing. Only a short, "what happened?" from the characters and then that's it. I guess because of the rushed pacing. Silat and the Kushan also went very fast. A considerable amount of time is instead dedicated to Nina, which might have gained significant development, but not enough for us to care in the anime. Last, the soundtrack doesn't fit the scene. The music director did a bad job here--again.
We're going to have next season in Spring. I hope the studio learned a lot from their first experiment here.
Terrible music directing. It cuts and plays in odd timing. The battle is too difficult to follow and too short at that - a shame since it's supposed to have one of the best in this arc. The hand-castle and the brand reveal isn't too obvious, making it lacking impact. Things are decent on other stuff.
Dumb kid freaked out because he did something indecent and trusted the words of some rando on the internet. Moral of the story: learn some digital security, he (and the other freaked out adults) wouldn't be there if he didn't give away his number very early in the beginning.
But seriously, this episode doesn't do it for me. I don't get people's fascination toward the episode. So the kid was supposed to look at CP, but how do we exactly know this? The webcam doesn't record the screen. Who knows if the hacker implanted the photos and made false claims? There was also no proof that "Mindy" was underage. All we know the guy got catfished into hiring hookers.
Acting is fine, but the thriller is quite bland throughout the episode. People on the screen are anxious but there's no tense. They are threatened by something but I don't really feel the real risk. Perhaps because there's no way to guarantee that the hackers will keep their promise, and turns out they really don't, so there's no stake for me. Just block them and face the risk rather than having to go through all that.
The trick in the first half is fine, but the way Edamura noticed that everyone was up to no good just by spotting the same watch is stretching it. Makes little sense. Let's see how anime-ish (if you catch my drift) this one is.
A rather slow episode with frequent still shots like Eps. 1, pace picks up in the last 15 minutes though. The portrayal of Chrisjen as politician seems to too in-the-face, wish they could've done it subtler.
I'm not too sure with this Season 4 pilot. It feels more like Season 3's "pilot" post-midseason finale (by that I mean Season 3 Episode 7) rather than Season 3's Episode 1 (or Season 2's Episode 1). The show spent quite a time to make sure every characters get their share of screen time: Avasarala, Holden and the crew, Bobbie, Camina, Ashford, even Melba (which is actually good because I wondered what happened to her after her wrong-doings). We also have a setup for this season's new characters apparently. It makes the episode feels a bit not focused, though there is a clear plot direction on what to expect in this season.
Others said there is no noticeable change of quality after the switch to Amazon Prime--aside from good ones, like more details on Rocinante--but I say there is. It's the still shots. This episode spends more time having still shots of everything: Holden in silent as the campfire sparks, Naomi in awe with what she sees onward, even Rocinante crews trekking on the new land have their share of scenery porn. I'm not saying it's bad, but does divert the attention from previous seasons which focus on moving the story forward or have the characters relate to each other.
After a slightly noticeable drop on the writing department in previous season's second-half, this kind of makes me wary. The episode also ends with a rather... uninteresting McGuffin (mysterious weather/weapon on a mysterious planet... what do you expect? Why the surprised face, Holden?). It does have some interesting plot points, like a riff between Belters. I hope it gets better onward.
Everything nicely wraps up. The problem is, it's too nicely wrapped.
I liked how the finale evoke Kovacs' word about Envoys: make friends with the locales, then leave them after a while. Kovacs leaving the city and leaving Ryker's sleeve is the most physical manifestation of this word: season ends, body ends, his story in the city ends.
However the episode seems to hangs too tightly on a typical blockbuster ending: the good triumphs evil after all. Mysteries are resolved, the "bad guys are caught", and our heroes won again. It's even complete with sacrifices, which a typical Hollywood ending usually requires, but not one that ultimately causes bittersweet moment that makes us reflect what the season has been all about.
The conflict with Reileen is too easily resolved. It alsmost seems like they attempt to make Reileen's motivation complex, something beyond a sisterly love or obsession, some sort of fable, that long age does not necessarily give one wisdom but a twisted view of the world (as they seem to take this theme with Bancroft). But it ended up as something weird, as it wasn't properly outlined. Perhaps it's due to factor that Reileen appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the season.
Not to mention that Kovacs' last moment with her was counterfeited thanks to his body double, which leads to the "heroes ganging up the baddies" moment explained above. Speaking of which, the theme that plays when Ava kicks ass simultaneously feels a little bit satisfying and completely out of place. We get to see how she rises up, but it is knitted in a very loose thread that makes the hard-boiled cyberpunk world Altered Carbon has built the whole season to a typical action movie.
The finale is disappointing, however I still hope for season 2 to come. Hopefully with something more engaging.
I feel like the all bad episodes and dumb characters' decision are made only for this last episode. This episode highlights the quality of Carl's leadership and the supposedly possible scenario of Carl as Rick's substitute. Or, as Negan said himself, "one of [the] top guys."
However all that seems to fall flat with the impending doom of Carl, as a walker somehow has bitten him on the stomach. Which is a major let down. We've seen him this played out with a lot of characters before: Dale, Hershel, Glen. The most interesting part from Walking Dead is the dynamics between Rick and the other characters who serve as his more rational mind. All those characters are dead though, and every time one of them get to bite the dust, we get to see Rick turning either to a desperate version or "Ricktator" version of himself. With the preview for the upcoming episode, it seems like TWD intends to play the "Ricktator" persona again. Which is getting boring after a while.
Aside from Carl, there are only two other characters worthy to mention. One is Maggie, where we see her trying to maintain a leadership position. This has been an interesting take, especially seeing her relation with Jesus. There is a lot of Rick we've been seeing from Maggie in the last two seasons, and her hatred towards Savior is rightfully understandable seeing what happened to Glenn. Jesus never experienced this sort of horror, and so he always tries to play it humane and safe. Seeing the two play along is a nice one.
The other is Eugene. Previous episode seems to attempt to establish Eugene as an opportunist, craving for attention "loser" type. Despite the worst from episode 7, it got a very good portrayal of Eugene. However this episode flips that good development around and give back Eugene a sense of "good heart". It is questionable direction especially after a very good take on Eugene before, though I'd guess it is a plot point to somehow give a way for Gabriel to return to his friends. TWD did this a lot to their characters only to make way for plot, just like what happened to Daryl too often.
As for the other characters, there are really no interesting thing to mention. This episode feels like just another "buildup episode" TWD has been going on lately. Too often. A lot of things happen at once, characters barely take meaningful action, only waiting and kiting in an attempt to build something for the next episode(s).
I think that's one of the thing been plaguing TWD lately: too many setups. It results in weak characters, dumb decisions, and overarching senseless plot. As a mid-season finale, I have to say this one is disappointing
They used a distraction but we never get to see how a bunch of few people manage to distract a 300 person manhunt. There was an interesting hunt for Balsa by the elite force but it was cut short by deus ex machina. And after journeying far into the North, why the heck Balsa returned to the capital?
The episode is still not focused with so many events happening all at once. The shootout is still as bad as before (seriously, TWD should stop making shootout too often).
Too many stupid inconsistencies for people who are supposed to be experienced in combat and survival after all these years (Rick and co, and the Saviors.), e.g. leaving your badly shot friend alone in the middle of nowhere (where both walkers and humans could be a threat), planning absolutely nothing for the POW aside from "hey let's go to Maggie she knows this better", shooting in an open field with no cover at all, and the damned walkers tumbling down from hill--what the hell is this? You've survived from walkers for god knows how long and then suddenly you forgot how to handle this kind of thing?
On a more positive note, I'm looking forward to how they would handle Morgan. I can see the potential, though it should be better executed. Morgan went from a traumatic madman to a peace-loving hippie and then back to madman--some might say this is an inconsistency, I'd say TWD could build on this to show that Morgan never returned sane all along. I like the slight throwback to the events portrayed in Season 3, with Morgan saying, "everybody turns!" However at this moment TWD needs to portray this "never returned to sanity" Morgan more evidently, showing that his peace-loving might be a facade. As it is now it feels like he's an inconsistent character.
I feel a bit mixed about the return of the "familiar face" (Morales). The person yapped for a while only to be killed mercilessly. The conversation between him and Rick could lead to interesting possibilities - moral dilemmas and such - with Rick reminiscing the people they both used to know (Lori, Glenn, etc; especially Glenn as he was killed by Negan) and how the situation they faced made them the person they're not used to be. It falls flat, however, with the quick demise of Morales.
On the one hand it emphasizes the merciless trait Rick's group might have become. On the other hand, it's a waste of a character. It feels like Rick-Morales encounter wanted to be a Rick-Morgan encounter in Season 3, with both characters reminiscing the past, the common grounds they used to have, the vastly different situation they got themselves into, etc. It ends up only as a tease though, with Morales' death. Which is a shame. It's been long since TWD has a good protagonist-antagonist dynamics.
The events in the Scavenger's group is interesting. Particularly the armorized zombie, it's a nod to the zombie genre once again. Pollyanna McIntos's performance as Jadis (the Scavenger's leader) leave a strong impression for this new group: a distinctively group isolated from everything else that's been going on, with a peculiar, cautious approach to outsider.
Unfortunately Scavengers' introduction is as isolated as their aura in the film: it is a bit janky and deus ex machina-ish, with them being suddenly introduced with no prior foreshadowing that they existed. In a huge pile of rubble in the middle of the woods-laden zombiescape, even. The deal they made with Rick and co's is also unnervingly pragmatical. Why would they trust a group of strangers to bring loads of gun into their territory? More so with Rick's group. Why would Rick trust in giving such a large group with such a big loads of gun? What would not prevent them to scavenge Alexandria in return with that mass of power? Season 3 played this tense very well - distrust, cautiousness, distance. This season has been downplaying that human element in an attempt to sprint for the fateful showdown with Saviors, and it seems to show its worst part with this the Scavenger's plot.
Satisfying action and zombie-fest after a while with the tripwire scene. However the way Rick attempts to mobilize people to fight Savior kinda puts off the suspension of disbelief - it's not convincing. Especially so with the case of Hilltop residents, there is no previous portrayal that they were under stress in Savior's pressure. It shouldn't be too easy to put them to a fight when they already have a decent life.
That was a long episode. The scenes with Carl and Negan feels a bit janky, especially in the start when Carl jumped out from the truck. It feels like Carl is holding something. One time he's so mad and furious, another time he stays silent letting all that chance slip when he actually have the chance to kill Negan.
As others have said, Negan really let himself on zero security. While there might be reasons he's doing that (seems like his over-confidence), the fact that Carl attempted to do nothing about it makes the whole scenes with Carl and Negan feel janky. All in all we are only presented Negan's interaction with Carl's hateful glare in the background. For someone who is badass enough to slip into the enemy's lair in earlier minutes, all the silent shots Carl is having is really dampening his earlier murderous rage. On the other hand, I understand that the episode attempts to portray Negan in more humanistic side, but the jankiness on his interaction with Carl makes this kinda difficult to watch.
This episode gives spotlight to Dwight, but we were not given enough reasons to care about him. Only by partially showing his background and his interaction with Daryl in this episode that we were given reasons, but not enough prior to warrant our attention in one episode. Daryl's torture scene seems to be a little confusing at first but it starts to make sense as the episode progresses.
All in all not really a bad episode actually, but it can be spent much shorter.
Still a bit too fast-paced here and there, but generally an improvement from the previous episode. Some dialogues seem to be hurried without enough break, but the CGI is overall well done (except a few parts) and there are a number of hand-drawn scenes. There is no awkward music playing in inappropriate moment, and the sound effects isn't jarring like before. Not bad!
The beginning of the episode left me wishing we could've seen more of this side of Star Wars: regular stormtroopers doing their job, getting into action, and all the unseen dynamics rarely mentioned in the mainstream film trilogies. We did have something in that vein: Republic Commando explored the lives of elite Republic clone troopers; Jedi Academy had us follow the lives of youngling under tutelage of Luke's academy; the original Battlefront showed us the transitioning of a republic to an empire through the eyes of the soldiers.
It's the lives of the mundane, the less than extraordinary, yet still gripping and intriguing. They let us dive deeper to the world of Star Wars beyond the flashy buzzing of lightsabers and spectacles of the magical force.
The Mandalorian wished it could be one of those. Unfortunately, it failed terribly.
In episode 5, @ShrimpBoatSteve has said that the series has became too predictable, and I agree - the finale shows how predictable the whole season is. https://trakt.tv/comments/264475
After the long flashback which most parts we've already seen in previous episodes - seemingly making the scenes feels almost like a filler - The Mandalorian episode 8 seems reluctant to set their foot to the ground with its notable world-building as previously seen in Eps 7 and Eps 1 to 3. As I have previously said, after everyone gangs on The Mando (Eps 7), Baby Yoda/Little One's background (who Baby Yoda is, why is he wanted, what the Imperial remnants wanted to do with him, etc) remains unresolved. As the episode shows us Moff Gideon rising with a darksaber in hand, yet another reference moment: every substance the show can possibly offer will be dealt only in Season 2 (or, worse, more).
Stormtroopers in Star Wars have been infamous for their terribly inaccurate shots, but in this episode it feels like their incompetency is amplified to the point of parody and, of course, plot armors. Scout troopers - which is supposed to be snipers - can't shoot droid right in front of their eyes. Instead of coming in squads, troopers only come individually (incinerators burning the building, a few troopers slaughtered by the blacksmith, a few others guarding the tunnel, and the most stupid of all, Moff Gideon waiting for nightfall just for no reason) which makes for a convenient plot armors for our heroes to trek on their way.
Of course, there are casualties - what is a story without something seemingly at a stake? - but it is nothing more than devices to delay the heroes from their trek. Taking cues from Eowyn's "I am no man" of Lord of the Rings fame, in less than moment-defining fashion IG-11, which himself came as a sort of droid ex machina, said that it is no "living being" while resurrecting The Mando from fatal injuries, remedied every possible threat with its healing devices.
Antagonists can be dumb, but there is a limit to dumbness that can suspend audience's disbelief. This episode has antagonist almost feels like they are intentionally dumb and there is nothing really at a stake when everything can be easily remedied.
This episode is not the worst, certainly, as the action sequence is flashy and satisfying. The one near ending where The Mando utilizes a neat jet jump is clever and actually can show the extent Star Wars can be when the director wanted to think creatively beyond the force. Knights of the Old Republic and the aptly named Star Wars Bounty Hunter played with clever tricks similar to this once a while, and the trick doesn't feel cheap as they stand on a very good storytelling.
The Mandalorian's flashy action, regardless, seems to serve only as explicit fanservice - a style over substance.
There are plenty of action, which, by itself, is quite well-done. The consistently hardly imposing threats, unfortunately, dull down the possible thrill those scenes can offer - in a typical corny action heroes such as Gerard Butler's character in Has Fallen trilogy. The scene, for example, with The Blacksmith let us peek into the martial arts capability a Mandalorian can exhibit. But the rather plot armor of incompetent stormtroopers leave no stake at hand; the martial arts dexterity looks more like a cheap imitation of main trilogies of Jedi's acrobatic feats.
Redemption ultimately ends with nothing to be redeemed about, as the people in this show seems to be forever clumsy. From start to finish, everyone made questionable decisions. Nobody blasted the Mando's group with that large amount of stormtroopers. Nobody checked whether Moff Gideon is dead when the fighter was down (Gideon also miraculously survive the crash), with Carga, a supposedly veteran bounty hunter, lightheartedly saying they are already free of the Empire's grasp.
Everything people said in this episode, just like many episodes prior, are not crafted as if the actors were having human conversation. They were rushed by time - they seemingly appear to be set in motion by the plot's demands, to say X so Y happens; to say A when B moment happened.
This episode almost feels like a filler to conclude the dragging episodes this season has been. Screenwriting-wise, this whole season is nothing but bait-and-switch to justify next season(s).
There is much to be said about this kind of terrible business model, where series is written with nothing exactly in mind but to find reasons to continue producing the franchise - the same business model Disney has been using on their MCU franchise and Star Wars films/spinoffs - but the crowds of gladly willing moms awing for Baby Yoda and nerd dads geeking over Star Wars reference doesn't leave enough rooms for those commentaries.
Everything just went so abrupt and rushed in this episode.
This episode shows up the determination of two most weak (combat abilities speaking) characters in Walking Dead, trying to prove themselves that they are able fighters like their comrades are. As the usual cliche, this went into disaster. I usually would "pardon" such attempt on cliche plot (weak people trying to prove themselves), but this episode is really difficult to find excuse for. Especially in the case with the person Daryl and Rosita is guarding: Denise. They know Denise is far from an able combatant--so why do they seem so reluctant to, in Rosita's words, "babysit" her? Not to mention how Denise is such an important asset to Alexandria for her actual skill: medic and surgery.
Another one, the very rushed and abrupt decision of Carol to leave Alexandria. We've seen her psychological dilemma of killing people in previous episode, questioning if her ruthlessness and pragmatism is right. We've seen the dilemma through her action, her emotion. It was one of a great episode. But in this episode? We see almost nothing of Carol and suddenly she left Alexandria! We only get to see her kissing Tobin for a few seconds, sitting on a bench lamenting of something, regretting something after Denise was killed, and then BAM! "Sorry guys I can't kill people anymore, I'm leaving Alexandria." This makes the usual calm, calculating Carol look like a teenager in emotional mood-swing. Even worse, we don't even get to see her mood-swing.
Credits where its due though: the part where Eugene bites the Survivor's dick is so unexpectedly hilarious. Eugene really got into the next level with that move. Still--that doesn't save this episode of its clumsiness.
After last week's great episode, this episode is really a disappointment.
Nothing makes sense in this episode.
Dialogues feel forced. Like the previous episode, everything is shoved just to make the plot moves. Especially terrible every time the rookie has a conversation.
This episode and the previous feel like series of unrelated events. Nothing literally happened in these two episodes. There are some cool throwbacks and references (cantina scene, dune sea, Amy Sedaris blurping Star Wars jargons, etc) but it's all fanservice. It appears the show is directed by people familiar with Star Wars universe but has zero sense of screen writing.
Not a good episode.
Shootout seems to be the main focus in this episode, but it is done rather terribly. Especially in Aaron's/Eric's/Tobin's team, where the conflicting parties hold each other in a very close gunpoint but nobody gets shot until the last moment (except for the Saviors of course, baddies always gets shot). The team also seems to have some trick up in their sleeves, but I guess the screenwriter thought the audience is stupid enough so one of the antagonist has to say it out loud. Morgan's/Jesus's/Tara's team is also bad, though not as bad as Aaron's/Eric's/Tobin's. There are these two scenes where people just rush without much caution exactly to the point where their teammates just got shot - you know how it ended up for them.
Well, Walking Dead isn't known to have the greatest action scenes anyway (though I still remember the Woodbury one was pretty good), but even in the drama department the tense kinda falls flat. One of the team has this scenes where they pose this "have we become what we hate"/"gaze into abyss" question - an interesting theme that seems to have been brought up by Walking Dead occasionally - but the scenes are mixed together between the loud firefights and the weird scenes involving King Ezekiel being smug of himself. That editing... really ruins the mood. They're making it hard to care with the seriousness of the theme raised.
Last - Rick encounters a familiar face. I'm getting a sense that the screenwriter is trying to evoke some sort of nuanced, conflicting values by returning this character like they did terrifically in Season 3 with Morgan (Episode 12 "Clear", still one of the best TWD episode). Except... it leaves no impression at all. I don't even remember who this guy is - something that the screenwriter seems to be aware of, that they made Rick spills the line, "Your name is..." (seriously!) It just came out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing and no build up at all. Even more so considering the character didn't get enough screen time back in Season 1.
So, yeah. The opening and closing of the episode also feel like a failed arthouse attempt to make dramatic moments - if not merely serving as filler. Unfortunately this season is still going bad so far.
Aside from the (expected?) surprise in the beginning, there is nothing much going on in this episode. Alexandrians still adapting to the new situation, zombies still wailing on the wall, Ron still hating on Carl, and Father Gabriel still showing up as additional filler. IMO there are too many characters depicted that it feels a bit disjointed and lacking further progress. Something happens in the end, but that's it--cliffhanger again. It's really unfortunate as I thought we've got past the filler episode last week.
I still wonder why the heck don't they stab the zombies on the gate one by one like they did in prison back then?
A bit too on the nose in their attempts to poke the issue on darkly designed terms of service and deepfake, especially in light of the Hollywood actor and screenwriter protest (perhaps even inspired by it). The episode leans heavily toward being a meta humor, but it doesn't really work well. Annie Murphy does her best, and I believe Salma Hayek too, but they were given a rather one-dimensional, uninspiring script. As the episode ended I realized Charlie Brooker is the writer. That kinda explains the weak episode.
Very weak season premiere. Felt like a season finale, only that the whole setup doesn't make sense at all. Rick planned to kill just one man, Negan, but why didn't he? Instead the group shoots brutally to the building, shattering only glasses. It's like they had unlimited number of ammo - what's the point of arms scavenging in previous season then? The group conveniently broke into the base with no resistance at all. Conveniently amassed a horde of walkers with no difficulties. Considering they had always been having trouble doing that two, it felt really odd. Why didnt Negan see any of that coming, considering they were pushed back in previous episode? Weird.
A character also made a terribly foolish decision that is worse than a zombie film cliché. Very bad premiere.
It's like watching three pseudo-intellectuals following a script written by a Redditor, which speaks for its low quality writing and dialogue. Epitome of tired internet humor.
The first half is your usual bonding between the main characters. It's fine but nothing to write home about. Just showing David developing his skills and relating to other characters - which is a very typical "calm before the storm" scene indicating someone will die in an episode or two. There's some sexual tension between David and Lucy. The editing between the scenes is kinda unique but feels like Instagram or MTV reels that don't let us connect to the characters - just like the game's strange V and Jackie bonding scene.
The second half is all over the place. First we have Pilar's demise, as expected given the build up in the first half. Then after all that chaos we get back straight to David and Lucy. Very strange pacing, as if nothing happened in the first second half, especially given the build up in the whole first half. The ending with David and Lucy feels like it just to keep the romance and plot going, which, again, feels like a cliched calm before the storm scene before some terrible things to happen in next episodes.
It's decent. I mean, I understand that they want to focus on character development and team building in this episode. But it seems pretty rushed at certain points. Like: 1) when Economos shows up with a chainsaw in an instant. It almost feels like deus ex machina; 2) when Adebayo discovers that Murn is a butterfly. How does Murn even know that Adebayo is wearing X-ray vision? The whole sequences just felt pretty rushed to me, even down to the Adebayo being thrown; 3) The resolution with Chief Locke and Detective Song. There was this tension building then the sequences switch back to Peacemaker and the gang.
It's obvious what they're trying to do, and I know they don't take themselves too seriously, but it feels like they kinda take a shortcut to do that. Even the action sequences are lacking and look a bit low budget (camera shakes and the poor explosion effect). They wasted more time on toilet jokes and quippy banters. The crude jokes worked in the first few episodes but it has ran out of its novelty by the 5th episode. It's watchable, still, but I guess only if you have that much time to kill.
Bad season finale. It attempts to be a Sasha episode, Maggie's leadership, an united front between all Savior's victim, and a decisive conflict all at once. Despite the longer duration, it gives you nothing emotionally touching.
It puts Sasha in the forefront, but not decisive enough to be the main plot point of the episode. Albeit appearing for most of the episode, it fails to give the final send off the writers seem to attempt to do. Maggie's speech in the end closes the episode with a reminiscence of Glenn, but we don't get to see Maggie's struggle to leadership previously in this episode. Not even in one or two prior episodes. So it came out as an awkward speech. And finally, as an united front and a decisive conflict, it plays out really weakly. Hilltop and Kingdom appearing out of nowhere. The shootout with Savior also came out unconvincing. Well, TWD is never great at all-out shootout, but this looks like a bunch of disorganized young people coming up for a riot.
