[5.9/10] Usually I like TWD episodes with a clear goal. A group of survivors (including our two longest-running characters) are trapped in a cave with a heap of Walkers. They need to find a way out. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a comprehensible problem and a straightforward objective. That should be the makings of what is, at least, a solid episode.
Unfortunately this isn’t it, because the conflicts are contrived and arbitrary and the solutions are a touch ridiculous. Stranded in a pit full of Walkers? That’s no problem! Everyone can just do some cave parkour where you’ll be conveniently out of reach of the zombies. Isn’t that a crawl space where our heroes can escape? It is! But Carol’s got debilitating claustrophobia for some reason! (Apparently she mentions it off-hand in a season 1 episode, but it feels pretty convenient to add friction to this event.) Oh, and heavy-set Jerry gets stuck right when some walkers show up! But then they pull him out and he’s fine! Didn’t even bite through his shoe!
It’s all such video game plotting with contrived problems and all too easy solutions. I’m definitely apt to give the show some willing suspension of disbelief, but this episode tries my patience there. The walkers and Whisperers show up exactly when needed and are dispatched as conveniently as the show needs them to be without pause or real stakes.
That said, while I thought the actual dialogue was middling, I liked Daryl and Carol’s conversation. I like the idea that Carol’s out of sorts after what happened with Henry and wants vengeance against Alpha, and I like the idea that Daryl’s noticed she’s off the reservation and wants her to just talk to him about what’s bothering her. This is an episode full of, as usually, tons of wooden conversations about this and that, but this one is good.
Were that the same could be said for the weird-as-hell Negan/Alpha stuff. Again, it’s way too tidy, but I like the idea of Negan having learned from his mistakes as a Savior, understanding that those close to you can betray you, warning Alpha, and being rewarded for it. The lines are badly written, but that’s a good idea and a good counterpoint to the cave nonsense. But good lord, why do we suddenly need to have them sleeping together? It feels like such a ridiculous and unnecessary choice, like something a teenager would come up with to make things more interesting. Weird and dumb.
The same goes for the rest of the adventures in the cave. I’d be lying if I said I cared about Magna’s latest fit, and it seems totally arbitrary and plot-based that Connie goes after the others and ends up trapped. But Kelly (and Angel Theory) does some of her best work here reaction to all of this. Granted, Carol’s whole dynamite plot feels ridiculous even if she is at her wits’ end, and once more comes off like something designed to move the next set piece in place rather than borne out of the characters’ history and personality.
But whatever. Most of our heroes escape. Now some are separated again. Now we can keep jumping around on the map and have the characters split up again until they reunite for the finale as usual. Whatever.
Overall, if this was supposed to be the big grand adventure that draws us in and gets us hyped for the back half of the season, it sputtered miserably. Instead, this is a series of painfully contrived situations, with a bizarre Alpha/Negan development to boot. Not inspiring.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-02-25T01:12:51Z
[5.9/10] Usually I like TWD episodes with a clear goal. A group of survivors (including our two longest-running characters) are trapped in a cave with a heap of Walkers. They need to find a way out. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a comprehensible problem and a straightforward objective. That should be the makings of what is, at least, a solid episode.
Unfortunately this isn’t it, because the conflicts are contrived and arbitrary and the solutions are a touch ridiculous. Stranded in a pit full of Walkers? That’s no problem! Everyone can just do some cave parkour where you’ll be conveniently out of reach of the zombies. Isn’t that a crawl space where our heroes can escape? It is! But Carol’s got debilitating claustrophobia for some reason! (Apparently she mentions it off-hand in a season 1 episode, but it feels pretty convenient to add friction to this event.) Oh, and heavy-set Jerry gets stuck right when some walkers show up! But then they pull him out and he’s fine! Didn’t even bite through his shoe!
It’s all such video game plotting with contrived problems and all too easy solutions. I’m definitely apt to give the show some willing suspension of disbelief, but this episode tries my patience there. The walkers and Whisperers show up exactly when needed and are dispatched as conveniently as the show needs them to be without pause or real stakes.
That said, while I thought the actual dialogue was middling, I liked Daryl and Carol’s conversation. I like the idea that Carol’s out of sorts after what happened with Henry and wants vengeance against Alpha, and I like the idea that Daryl’s noticed she’s off the reservation and wants her to just talk to him about what’s bothering her. This is an episode full of, as usually, tons of wooden conversations about this and that, but this one is good.
Were that the same could be said for the weird-as-hell Negan/Alpha stuff. Again, it’s way too tidy, but I like the idea of Negan having learned from his mistakes as a Savior, understanding that those close to you can betray you, warning Alpha, and being rewarded for it. The lines are badly written, but that’s a good idea and a good counterpoint to the cave nonsense. But good lord, why do we suddenly need to have them sleeping together? It feels like such a ridiculous and unnecessary choice, like something a teenager would come up with to make things more interesting. Weird and dumb.
The same goes for the rest of the adventures in the cave. I’d be lying if I said I cared about Magna’s latest fit, and it seems totally arbitrary and plot-based that Connie goes after the others and ends up trapped. But Kelly (and Angel Theory) does some of her best work here reaction to all of this. Granted, Carol’s whole dynamite plot feels ridiculous even if she is at her wits’ end, and once more comes off like something designed to move the next set piece in place rather than borne out of the characters’ history and personality.
But whatever. Most of our heroes escape. Now some are separated again. Now we can keep jumping around on the map and have the characters split up again until they reunite for the finale as usual. Whatever.
Overall, if this was supposed to be the big grand adventure that draws us in and gets us hyped for the back half of the season, it sputtered miserably. Instead, this is a series of painfully contrived situations, with a bizarre Alpha/Negan development to boot. Not inspiring.