The Walking Dead Review – Episode 814: Still Gotta Mean Something

TV Description: A Heaps prisoner makes a discovery; Carol searches for someone in the nearby forest; Rick and Morgan find themselves in the company of strangers.

[Warning: Spoilers Ahead and Some Swears]

PREVIOUSLY ON THE WALKING DEAD

The Saviors, led by Simon and Dwight, attack the Hilltop with their infected weapons. Maggie’s tactics win the day and destroy much of the Savior forces, but their victory is short lived as the infected weapons do their job and sicken the hit soldiers. Walkers soon rise up from the dying rebels and the Hilltop becomes swarmed with undead. Henry questions the captive Saviors, only for the commotion from the house to distract him and allow Jared and most of the prisoners to escape.

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With so much time between the release date and the episodes, along with the season finale coming this Sunday, it’s time to buckle down and get these all done. I mean, I want this season over with as much as most of the fandom and it’s been almost tiresome to stop playing Overwatch and write these reviews, but I’m too into the franchise to let the rest of this season end unreviewed. Right now I just want the season to not end on a bad note so we can have people return to the show when Angela Kang takes over as showrunner. Other than that… maybe see Daryl die, he’s lost a lot of the cold sweetheart role that has made many women on the show go heart-eyes for him and the series.

As for this episode, there wasn’t as many bad parts as other episodes this season, but the bad parts that just felt like a knife stab in the gut. Without them, this episode would have been fantastic! But sadly since it seems Scott Gimple thinks it’s a better use of time to roll around in money than actually read and understand the source material, we’ve got some problems. But saying all this there was great character development in this episode, especially for the first two characters we’ll be discussing in this review.

Mysteries of the Junkyard

This was definitely the strangest part of this episode, perhaps of this whole second half of the season. The first thing we see in this episode is how Jadis survives the slaughter fest done by the Saviors. It’s actually pretty clever how she hides a dead body and lies still to look like she’s dead. But then comes the totally weird part in the next scene where we see Jadis’s room, a very bare, but clean abode just like those mini houses made for homeless people. It’s so out of place with the rest of the junkyard and we never know where it’s located in it that many, including myself, are just scratching our heads in puzzlement. In there we see her pace, examine Lucille, write in a journal, and prep herself for her next confrontation with Negan. Watching I just don’t know what to think about it, only that I want to know how this all connects with her and it’s a pretty good buildup for Jadis and her next scene.

Eventually we see Jadis prepare Negan for an execution in order to avenge her murdered friends. Not too much happens while this is going on, but when it’s time to end Negan is when things going crazy. First thing that caught my (and everybody else’s) eye was the walker strapped to a handcart, with me personally reacting with a mixture of, “what the hell,” “that is insane,” and pure laughter. But then we see it’s not time to kill Negan yet because somehow, while tied down, he managed to grab a pistol, a lit flare, and some photos of Jadis and her dead friends. Jadis was planning on burning Lucille with it, but Negan having it puts her in a standoff with him. That’s a huge plothole as to how he managed to grab all those items, but to me it wasn’t too much of a problem, especially with what came next.

First, we get something I didn’t expect to see in this season of the show: The origin of Lucille. Negan used to have a wife by that name and he used to go behind her back and be with other women. He tells Jadis this and of the guilt he’s felt ever since world started to crumble because his wife got him through a lot, saying he should have been there for her. He felt it wasn’t much, but he named his bat after her because it too helped him get through a lot. This opening up of Negan was incredible to witness, it finally brought out some of the humanity the show haphazardly tried (and failed) to do when he was with Gabriel. Part of me wishes this was left until later, but maybe having it now might be better in the long run because it was just what was needed to make Negan an interesting character once more.

Second, remember the helicopter Rick saw back in the first half of the season? Well it’s not an illusion, it’s real and it comes back to the junkyard. That flare was to be used to signal the chopper and while Jadis fights for her photos it goes out just before the chopper arrives. While she goes for another one Negan kills the cart walker and just as Jadis returns with a new flare the helicopter leaves. Now I do find it odd the pilot didn’t notice the clearly open area with a man strapped down or the smoke from before, but whatever, I still really liked this scene. Another interesting addition to the mysteries of Jadis. Though I wonder, this is a fan theory guys, if that helicopter came from the group Georgie is with.

And then with the realization that Negan got in the way of a rescue, Jadis is about to burn Lucille in cold vengeance. That is until Negan begs, and I mean begs, her not to do it, that he’ll kill Simon for her if he lets her go. This doesn’t work at first, but Negan, in another genuinely humane moments, tells her that killing him won’t bring back her people or make her feel better. And with that Jadis lets him go and he gives his word he’ll avenge her people by killing Simon. And there might be something more for Negan when he picks up a mysterious person on his way back to the sanctuary.

A Lesson Learned

Now before we get to the main focus of this section, I’d like to point that Tara went from a badly flawed character back to a pretty good one in this episode. She talks with Daryl on how Dwight shot her with a clean arrow, showing that Dwight is still on their side. But of course Daryl is still a fucking whiney brat and I don’t have to go on about Daryl anymore, doing so would be beating a dead horse. Anyways, Tara finds some acceptance in Dwight and that’s very appealing because it shows she’s able to, while not forgive him for his past actions, put her own hatred aside for the great good of the war and for Dwight. I have to mention this scene with them because shows great character development in this scene, though Daryl once more makes me want to decapitate him and use his head for a soccer game.

With that done with, the main focus of this section of this review is Carol. Upon the request of King Ezekiel she goes out to find Henry. Morgan joins him soon after, but is more there to hunt down Jared and the escaped prisoners. If you look at previous seasons of the show we see Carol gets a lot of interactions with children, from her daughter, Sophia, to Mika and Lizzie to Sam, all of them now dead. She’s basically learned to give up on children once they are lost (both physically and mentally). At first she is reluctant to go after Henry because of this past, with Ezekiel calling her a coward for not facing her troubles causing her to agree. I didn’t really notice this at first, finding Ezekiel dumb to not recognize Carol’s desire to stay in order to protect the Hilltop and Maggie. Looking back at it I still find that Ezekiel should have also thought of the Hilltop, especially after the walker attack the previous night. However I can understand where he’s coming from, especially since Henry is sort of a son to him.

In the end Carol to follow Morgan in the search for Henry, though Morgan is more interested in hunting down the Saviors than finding Henry. These clashing motives lead to a very emotional moment from Melissa McBride’s character, with Carol tearful for Morgan becoming so obsessed with revenge and ignoring Henry when he had saved her before. It’s a strange scene, with Morgan still struggling with who he is and what he must do. There are signs that Henry is gone for good and both characters have lost people dear to them. Morgan eventually abandons the search for Henry to find the Saviors, leaving only Carol to find the kid. While not needed, these interactions were very touching and I feel brought a lot of humanity to both characters because even though Morgan decides to do his own thing he still thinks over what Carol told him before heading out.

Carol eventually does find Henry, oddly in a similar hiding place that Sophia was in when Rick left her. Carol is able to save him and he apologizes for his actions in the last episode. This might be a good learning lesson for Henry, something to teach him to stick with the plan and don’t follow your desires when they can cost the lives of your friends. Not just that, but the being a kid this is a big moment for his life and something to hopefully remember and learn from. It allows me to forgive him some for his mistake with the Saviors at the Hilltop. Though those guys won’t be a bother anymore due to our next topic.

Finishing the Job

Rick and Morgan had the biggest parts in this episode, with both deciding to go after and kill the Saviors that had escaped before. Alden gives his best response to where his former friends went, to which both eventually meet up while on the hunt. When they catch up to the escapees they get caught and wake up bound in an unknown bar. Who are their captors? The people they were chasing of course. Why are they just tied up though? Jared wants to bring them to Negan, but with some of their members bit or wounded the Saviors are in a bit of a pickle. Seeing them in trouble Rick offers them safety if they join him and his people in fighting Negan. As a further encouragement to help them, Rick tells them of a herd of walkers close by that’s heading their way and how having him and Morgan will help them survive it.

Jared of course calls bullshit on Rick, telling his companions of how Morgan strangled Richard in season 7, right in front of Ezekiel. That was a great reference to a previous episode and definitely a strong argument as to not trust Rick, even though Rick says he gives them his word they will not be harmed. With that said though Morgan admits he came out just to kill them, a decision I really don’t understand. Morgan soon yells it out and that is the final dinner bell needed for the oncoming horde. In this time of desperation we see Jared about to kill them both when one of the Saviors stops him and a few others save Rick and Morgan. At this point I was really happy, seeing Rick and Morgan, like Tara, putting their grudges aside to help these former enemies and kill the walkers entering the bar. I was excited to see Rick finally take his son’s advice think of the greater good.

Boy was I wrong! After a majority of the walkers are taken down Rick and Morgan massacre all the Saviors except Jared, who escapes after Rick and Morgan get free. Watching this happen on screen felt like I was hit in the face with a brick, it was that stunning and horrifying to watch. I will say it wasn’t a total disaster, as we see Morgan finish off Jared in a struggle and see Jared ripped apart from behind a grating that Morgan is holding in place. But even with the death of a despised character this was, even with rewatches, a massacre of good characters and the show, especially when the last living Savior tells Rick, “We could have lived after,” before being shot in the face.

This scenes has erased almost all my respect for Rick in the TV series. This was crossing the line between a hero and a monster. Even now I’m looking at Rick and despising his current character in the show, it’s a complete butchery of the original Rick Grimes. I know there should be changes in the TV show so it’s not too similar to the comics, but the fact he lied like that makes me wonder who we support now: The man who says he’ll protect you, yet can’t keep his word and will shoot anyone he doesn’t know, or the villain who will only kill you if you step out of line, yet who keeps his word and makes sure the people under him are safe? I think I’d more than likely go with option number two.

When Rick and Morgan return to the Hilltop, covered in blood, we see quite a number of people looking at both of them in disgust, include Alden (though that’s not surprising, those dead people were his friends). Michonne earlier had told Rick not to do this and seeing her appalled by his actions was a big blow to me. Morgan though had the best reaction as he greets Henry, telling him he killed his brother’s killer with a smile on his face like he got an A+ on a big school project. Henry, after the recent events he’s been through, says sorry to Morgan for him having to kill Jared. That turns Morgan’s beaming smile into a look of confusion and I’m very happy we see that reaction. It’s at this point that Morgan, thinking his fractured mind will be fixed by killing Jared, is given pity instead. He’s still struggling in what he’s supposed to do, whether to kill or save. I’m so excited for what is to come next for his character.

Rick though… the TV version can burn in hell for all I care. I know the writers are trying to show him struggle with the advice Carl gave him before dying, but he still hasn’t read Carl’s letter to him, continues to kill as many Saviors when he was supposed to just stop Negan, and has broken his character completely by lying when giving his word. Rick Grimes was a man who kept his word, even if that word was to make sure a certain person died (think back to the execution of the people of Terminus). But now his word means nothing and I honestly don’t want to follow him anymore.

Overall Analysis

Better than most of the episodes this season, but still with some problems, Still Gotta Mean Something was a pretty good episode. Rick once more was a big problem, but Pollyanna McIntosh as Jadis went above and beyond with her character, bringing us much to discuss about her and her connections with the junkyard and the helicopter. Her and Negan, and even Morgan and Tara, were fantastic in this episode while Daryl and Rick once more try their best to drag the show in the mud and destroy all we’ve love about the show. Thankfully the scenes with the more interesting characters kept me and others I’ve talk to on this episode attentive to the story, so besides Rick’s word I’m not too angry about this episode. Even so, the problems we’ve had with character changes and morality are still screwing with this season so I’m giving Still Gotta Mean Something a 7.5 out of 10. Please give me something better for the next episode, please!!!