I struggled to make it through this episode without dozing off. Season 8 has been slow (despite the "action"), and this episode comes in as one of the slowest. Although it's not as stupid as some episodes have been, it's the most boring by far, spending most of its time with characters we don't care about and themes that have recycled more times than I can count.
Gabriel has a crisis of faith. You know, the usual story, when things go wrong do you continue to believe it's all part of God's plan or does it destroy your faith? He has his faith tested by multiple events. This theme has been explored with Gabriel in the past so why do the writers feel the need to return to it again? It is a character arc that has already been in previous seasons, yet it's repeated here probably because the writers don't have any new ideas.
The same applies to everything else. Maggie faces up to the moral issue of what to do with prisoners while Tara, Rosita and Daryl squabble over what to do with Dwight. Again, none of this is new territory. The issue has been explored several times this season, and really throughout this show's history ever since Season 2's "Judge, Jury, Executioner". The writers keep coming back to it because they have no other ideas.
What makes it worse is that there are now so many characters that you just don't care about any of it. The guy who was with Gabriel, whose name I can't even remember- why should I care about him? Why should I care about the dozens of characters who are with Tara, Rosita and Daryl? Why should I care what happens to Maggie's prisoners? Whenever any of these characters are put at risk, there's no tension because they're so clearly just side characters, with little to no personality, to be dispensed with whenever the story wishes. When the main characters like Tara, Daryl and Maggie are under threat there's no tension either because you just know they're going to make it.
Even the main actors playing Tara, Daryl and Maggie seem to have given up, giving lifeless performances that do the precise opposite of bringing their characters to life. It's like they know full well how lame this show is and don't want to be there. I can relate.
There's one good thing about this episode, Negan's new plan to cover weapons in Walker guts. If Scott Gimple doesn't screw this up, it could actually lead to genuinely exciting and suspenseful results.
Gabriel has a crisis of faith. You know, the usual story, when things go wrong do you continue to believe it's all part of God's plan or does it destroy your faith? He has his faith tested by multiple events. This theme has been explored with Gabriel in the past so why do the writers feel the need to return to it again? It is a character arc that has already been in previous seasons, yet it's repeated here probably because the writers don't have any new ideas.
The same applies to everything else. Maggie faces up to the moral issue of what to do with prisoners while Tara, Rosita and Daryl squabble over what to do with Dwight. Again, none of this is new territory. The issue has been explored several times this season, and really throughout this show's history ever since Season 2's "Judge, Jury, Executioner". The writers keep coming back to it because they have no other ideas.
What makes it worse is that there are now so many characters that you just don't care about any of it. The guy who was with Gabriel, whose name I can't even remember- why should I care about him? Why should I care about the dozens of characters who are with Tara, Rosita and Daryl? Why should I care what happens to Maggie's prisoners? Whenever any of these characters are put at risk, there's no tension because they're so clearly just side characters, with little to no personality, to be dispensed with whenever the story wishes. When the main characters like Tara, Daryl and Maggie are under threat there's no tension either because you just know they're going to make it.
Even the main actors playing Tara, Daryl and Maggie seem to have given up, giving lifeless performances that do the precise opposite of bringing their characters to life. It's like they know full well how lame this show is and don't want to be there. I can relate.
There's one good thing about this episode, Negan's new plan to cover weapons in Walker guts. If Scott Gimple doesn't screw this up, it could actually lead to genuinely exciting and suspenseful results.