The Walking Dead Review – Episode 811: Dead or Alive Or

TV Description: Daryl finds himself in bad company as his group heads to the Hilltop; Maggie makes difficult decisions at the Hilltop; Gabriel's faith becomes tested.

[Warning: Spoilers Ahead and Some Swears]

PREVIOUSLY ON THE WALKING DEAD

After their appearance at the sanctuary, Negan has his lieutenant, Simon, check on the Scavengers at the junkyard. During his confrontation there he murders all of them except Jadus after she refuses to give (in his opinion) a full honest apology. Rick and Michonne soon discover this and escape the junkyard while leaving Jadus, where she watched all her former people be ground into mincemeat. Meanwhile Aaron and Enid are set free by Oceanside, but are told never to return. Aaron stays behind though to try and convince them to fight with them.

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For the first two episodes of this second half of this season we had potentially great episodes that were hurt by the reminders of the terrible first half of the season. But maybe things are starting to look up because I enjoyed this episode and didn’t have too much to complain about in the end. There were parts that at first pissed me off, but most of them were fixed due to smarter writing and impacting consequences. This is the type of episode the fans have been wanting and needing to reassure us the show will continue to last. Hopefully we’ll get a few more good ones like these before the season ends.

At The Swamp / Damn it, Tara!

Thanks to Carl, the people of Alexandria were able to escape the Saviors. With them free, Daryl, Rosita, Tara, Siddiq, and Dwight lead them to hilltop. However it seems Tara is not too happy that Dwight is alive. That’s understandable, he killed her girlfriend. But girl, he just killed his own people and you need all the soldiers you can get to fight Negan. Maybe you should start getting over this instead of throwing a walker directly at him and watching him squirm in its attack. Even for someone like him that’s just a dick move.

Anyways, their paths eventually take them to a swamp that Dwight says is the fastest way to Hilltop. Only problem is that it’s full of walkers, making it dangerous enough for even Negan to avoid it. Because of that the Alexandrians are losing trust in Dwight. Again, understandable, he was a Savior and did some nasty stuff to some of them. But again, he killed his own people and has been a spy for them for a while. With that, they leave him with Tara and the others while Daryl, Rosita, and Siddiq clear a path through the swamp. I was so praying throughout every swamp scene that Siddiq wasn’t going to get bit and thankfully he wasn’t. In fact he was pretty useful in clearing out the walkers, which looked incredible with all that swamp goo over them. Greg Nicotero once more has created some incredible walker designs, his work never ceases to amaze me.

Now while they’re wading through the walker-infested bog, Tara takes Dwight to kill off some walkers heading towards the group. I say take because she literally just tosses him a knife and says he’s been volunteered to help her. This is where things start getting intense, as we see Dwight confess that he is sorry, but says that killing him won’t fix anything. Now at this point in the episode I was expecting the show to go all tense moment and then forgiveness and everything happy again. But nope, I was dead wrong. Tara shoots and chases after him with a determined vengeance. When she does catch up with him we see Dwight once more plead his case, but once more we see Tara about to put him down.

But then come the Saviors. The two hide just in time, with Tara still pointing her pistol at his head. They are about to be found (and the moment is quite intense) when Dwight steps out to the Saviors. This is where things get interesting because last time he was with the Saviors one of them found out about his betrayal and got away. However, it seems that Savior is either dead or missing, meaning Dwight is still under cover. Now some might consider this to be bad storytelling and I can understand that, but I kind of like it because it’s an interesting way of letting Dwight stay with the Saviors. After his reveal he lures them away from the Alexandria group, much to Tara’s surprise (though not much surprise from the audience).

Now of course Daryl is still pissed at this, but Tara seems to be starting her forgiveness path for Dwight with this viewing. Beyond this, all of them cross the swamp and head towards Hilltop. Though it might not be the best place to head towards.

Conflict at Hilltop

Ever since Maggie declared further rebellion against Negan at the end of the season finale, Hilltop hasn’t seen much screentime. That is until this episode, where we get some good conflict. Firstly, Maggie learns of the amount of resources they have and learns that they can last a week at the very most. That is if they exclude the wellbeing of the prisoners. With Negan soon to arrive, Maggie tells her captives that they will have no rations for a few days at least. With this declaration, Aiden, the Savior who has spoken up to be the captive’s leader/ spokesman, says they can help out, maybe one or two at a time go out and help the community, under armed guard, in exchange for rations. Maggie says no, which I can get, but they need soldiers and they got possible candidates to take up those roles.

I like this conflict of Maggie, with her needing workers and soldiers, but also lacking resources and trust towards the captives. The fact that she decides to remain against them is fitting. Now at the end of the episode she does change her mind and lets two Saviors out at a time under guard, showing she does see the usefulness in them. Saying that though, she still isn’t really trusting of them as she does have them under guard and still keeps them as captive as possible. That means I can still tell she’s got a serious thinking process towards everything in this war. I kind of wish her growth to leader from Diana’s teachings in Alexandria was better illustrated for scenes like this, but still I can’t help thinking she’s awesome throughout this episode.

The trouble at Hilltop doesn’t end there though. Another big of trouble at Hilltop comes from the kid Henry demanding the Saviors to tell him who killed his brother, Ben. When he first ask that I was scared for him. He was making his first step towards the dark side, the “Clear” Morgan side. Interestingly Morgan first says he wants to tell Henry about his brother’s killer, since he kind of does have a right to know and Morgan does want revenge for Ben’s death and who better to do that than Ben’s own brother. Carol is not so willing to give up that information to Henry. I’m on her side on this one, Henry is just a kid and he’s not like Carl, he’s just a lone kid and we don’t want him obsessed with vengeance. In the end, surprisingly, Morgan decides to semi-lie to Henry, saying Gavin, the leader Henry killed at the Kingdom, was the one who killed Ben. Gavin in a ways did, but it was Jared who fired the shot that killed Ben. In the end it’s an interesting move and maybe a form of recovery for him, something he really damn needs. However, it's probably going to set up some trouble later on with Henry.

This part of the show ends with the Alexandrians arriving at Hilltop and Hilltop learning of Carl’s death. We see that Siddiq tell Maggie about his medical skills and the wonders she brought about with the unity of the communities, which I liked hearing from him. Sadly though the final part of this section of the episode is Rick reaching Hilltop. Cue the bad next episode.

Gabiel’s Test of Fate

These parts of the episode started off as Gabriel just being very damn lucky. Though I shouldn’t fully say that because this episode has helped the fandom realize the dangers of using walker guts as camouflage against the undead. Apparently Gabriel became short cited, almost blind, from the sickness by the walker guts. It’s rather peculiar, but I like this addition. Nothing is perfect, there is a downside to everything. But beyond that, most of the episode Gabriel was just striking gold wherever he went, with his actor, Seth Gilliam, putting on a great performance.

After the discovery of his blindness he somehow notices an abandoned cabin that he and Doctor Carson (from Hilltop) take refuge in. Originally a radio station, they find the owner had sent messages of hope and comfort to people, something that Gabriel tries to cling to in order to feel he still has a purpose in life. Carson is not so sure though, not fully believing in god and definitely not believing that fate is leading the way. This doesn’t improve when they later find the owner as a walker with a plastic bag over his head.

A sad discovery like this though is sooner overwritten when Gabriel finds a valuable stash of medicine, including some to fight his infection. To make matters even more unbelievable, Gabriel finds car keys in a piggy bank in the cabin. That’s just incredible, almost too good to be true, yet it’s enough to make Carson more open to Gabriel’s ideas. Now I will say that the hiding place for that key is genius, but at the time I first watched this episode I was starting to think that the writers were being very dumb in giving our heroes so much good fortune. This didn’t improve when they find the location of the car and Gabriel saves Carson from walkers with barely any clear vision.

But then just when they get in the car and are about to head for Hilltop they are caught by the Saviors. This is when everything, including my opinion on Gabriel’s luck, turned upside down. Carson, finally now believing Gabiel’s plans are the way to go, makes a bad move and gets killed. He gave the priest a look of, “Get ready, let’s do this,” and as he makes his move the doctor goes down with a bullet in the heart. I was pretty shocked and honestly happy that they showed that Gabriel’s path eventually lead to disaster. Not that I don’t like that character, I absolutely love Gabriel, but what had just happened was realistic with big consequences. It made the ending shot for that scene, with Gabriel completely breaking down, even more impactful. I was crying and trying my best to hug the couch cushion as I watched Gabriel fall to pieces as we watch him driven away.

With Carson dead, all his hopes and his beliefs in what he thinks his purpose is are destroyed. Looking back at all his scenes though, I find that this plotline was super damn easy to figure out and whatever the case, it was predictable. Impactful, but predictable, which hurts this part of the episode. With his capture Gabriel is taken back to the Saviors and his fate now… Well, better pray for his safety because he’s back in the lion’s den with two nasty people watching over him.

Joining the Club

Negan and Eugene had some very interesting conversations in this episode, ones that really make me worried for both characters, Eugene especially. The former is suspicious of the latter, thinking that he might have assisted the escape of Gabriel and Carson. This is especially strong when Eugene asks if Alexandria was badly harmed and Negan wants to know if he still has feelings for Rick’s group. Denying it, Eugene is told he will get his own place to run, a factory to make bullets, which I think should have been done long, long ago. Seriously, that’s why Negan took him in and yet now Eugene is tasked to make them?

Our look into the factory is short, but interesting. Eugene is in full control, something he never really had in the show, and we see him turning more into the bad type of Savior. I really don’t want to see him be a bad guy, but he’s very conflicted and this to him is the best way to get over his problems. Speaking of problems, he gets Gabriel as a worker since he’s near blind, but Eugene is still pissed that his risk in letting him go did not pay off. Very understandable to me on this, Gabriel screwed up big time. Though Gabriel doesn’t reveal Eugene’s assistance and that will further cause inner conflict with Eugene.

But that conflict is nothing compared to what’s to come soon. With Eugene only starting on bullet production, Negan is unhappy there aren’t many new bullets of his soldiers. As an alternate solution, Eugene proposes to make medieval catapults to launch walkers and walker body parts over the walls of Hilltop. That there is scary, enough to make my mouth drop in astonishment that Eugene could suggest that. But then we see a spark in Negan’s eyes, hinting at an even more gruesome idea. This leads to the final scene of the episode and my god it just turns the worry and tension to maximum levels: Negan hits a walker and coats Lucille in its guts, telling his people to do the same with all their weapons as well. No killing, just stabbing them so they turn. Wow, that is fucking gross and evil. As Dwight watches this happen in the front row of Saviors (not really the best place for him) you can see him try to hide the horror of what he’s watching. I read the comics, so I knew this was coming. But even so, I was freaking out how yet frightening, yet totally awesome this scene was. It was the perfect note to end this episode on, just plain perfect!

Overall Analysis

This was a great episode. I just loved it. My attention was kept on the screen, and the some failures that was expecting to ruin the episode were turned into fun, engaging moments. Not all, there were some parts that still showed some bad writing and storytelling, but it wasn't a completely bad episode. True some of the characters acted oddly and the action could have been better, but even with that it wasn’t that bad. Gabriel’s failure was just heartbreaking (though also very easy to see coming), Morgan’s choice was interesting (though it seems it's going to lead to obvious consequences) and exciting to see him start to recover, and of course that ending with Negan was incredible and dark and just what we needed to make us excited for what’s to come next. I give this episode of The Walking Dead an 7.5 out of 10. But will this be a one-time deal, or are we going to get crap next episode?