 |
| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
The Walking Dead
Season 8, Episode 14
By Garrett Yoshitomi
After last week’s more action-driven
episode, The Walking Dead slows down
a bit, as it examines the fallout from the battle at The Hilltop, as well as
ties up some loose ends that have been left dangling over the course of the
last couple of episodes. “Still Gotta Mean Something” follows several characters
as they all walk down different paths of vengeance. Revenge is a commonly
explored theme for The Walking Dead, and
this episode does it well, with a nice mix of characters, who end up settling
in at different points along the spectrum of vengeance.
Right off the bat, “Still Gotta Mean Something”
jumps backwards along the season eight timeline, showing us how Jadis was able
to survive the Scavengers massacre in episode ten. It’s a fairly clever scene,
and makes Jadis kind of root-able, despite being something of an antagonist for
most of her time on the show. After this quick detour into the past, the rest
of the episode proceeds with events in real-time, and while I’m usually not a
fan of The Walking Dead’s attempts at
nonlinear storytelling, I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a flashback-centric
Jadis episode that shows major events from seasons seven and eight, from her
perspective. Despite how the Scavengers have existed as little more than a MacGuffin
for Rick and Negan to fight over, Jadis is still a pretty interesting character,
if only because we still don’t know a ton about her.
 |
| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
That changes this week, though, as we slowly start
to peel back the layers of Jadis’s garbage dwelling façade. Before he ordered
his men to mow down the Scavengers with reckless abandon, Simon alluded to the
fact that there’s more to Jadis and her leather-clad companions, than meets the
eye. Keen-eyed viewers caught glimpses of the Scavengers’ helipad and solar
panels, scattered throughout The Heaps, in background shots of season seven,
episode ten, and this week seems to finally confirm that Jadis is more than
just the oddball leader of a bunch of grown up Pig Pens gone horribly wrong. Jadis
is organized, and has resources far beyond what anybody could have imagined.
And, while her desire for vengeance is strong, she is sharp enough to know when
to holster that more immediate, emotional response, in favor for something more
practical.
Unfortunately, the whole Jadis-Negan subplot comes
off feeling a bit contrived because Jadis’s whole plan of capturing Negan, and
then taking him all the way to The Heaps to kill him, (rather than just killing
him to begin with), serves more as a way for Jadis to receive more screen time
and character development, rather than a believable sequence of events that
could reasonably play out. The whole “hold a character captive just long enough
for them to escape/talk their way out of it” trope has existed for quite a
while, and it’s always frustrating to see, especially in The Walking Dead, which is an especially egregious perpetrator.
 |
| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
To be fair, we still don’t know a lot about Jadis,
or what her motivations are, and based on what we’ve seen, it’s not entirely
out of character for her to forego killing Negan, if it means securing a more
favorable outcome in the long run. Since Negan’s plot armor is about as thick
as Rick’s season five beard, any actual confrontation between Negan and Jadis
could only end in the latter’s undoing. So, I’m okay if Negan is
unrealistically spared a quick death, if it means we get to spend more time
exploring Jadis. Plus, it’s possible that Jadis’s decision to forego vengeance and
spare Negan, could eventually be legitimatized through further character
development.
Of course, not all tales of vengeance end in reconciliation.
Rick and Morgan are both out for blood in this episode, and are far less amenable
to the pleas of a Savior than Jadis. Rick is still reeling from the death of Carl,
and aims to take his rage out on the Savior prisoners who escaped from The Hilltop,
while Morgan, who’s been driven back into his crazed, violent state from season
three, is seeking revenge for the presumed death of Henry, who went missing at
the end of the last episode. Despite appearing in the pilot together, Rick and
Morgan really haven’t spent all that much time together, since Morgan’s return to
the show at the end of season five. Regardless, there’s still a tangible feeling
of nostalgia when these two long lost companions team up in their mutual quest,
and I even let out an audible cheer when Rick gruffly urges to Morgan that the
two of them can “end this right now,” the trademark catchphrase for any Walking Dead character who’s about to do
something equal parts dangerous and exciting.
 |
| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
From a moral standpoint, it’s hard to back Rick on
this one, as he goes back on his word of bringing the Savior prisoners back to
The Hilltop, after they free him and Morgan. Narratively, the show is slowly
building up to the idea that Carl’s vision for a peaceful future is possible,
and his request that his dad find another way to deal with the Saviors, rather
than killing them all, will be a real part of that. However, as nice as that
all sounds, it’s definitely way less exciting than the idea of Rick and co.
indiscriminately kicking Savior ass and taking Savior names, from here on out. Unfortunately,
I highly doubt that’s the version of Rick we’ll continue to see; however, I don’t
think the group is ready to entirely abandon their plans to take down the
Saviors, just yet.
Despite The Hilltop’s recent victories against the
Saviors, all-out war continues, and next week, Daryl and Rosita will look to score
a little revenge of their own, when they strike against Eugene and his bullet
manufacturing plant. Rosita clearly hasn’t forgiven Eugene for defecting to the
Saviors, while Daryl is still skeptical of Dwight’s true allegiances; and this
character pairing should be a good one, as Daryl and Rosita are both quick
tempered, “shoot first, ask questions later” types who could potentially
balance out the show’s eventual lean towards pacifism, at least in the short term.
 |
| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
No comments:
Post a Comment