It seems that The Walking Dead’s major problem has been uncovered: it’s just not surprising anymore.
Having had their plans to Do Something Incredibly Stupid a while back, Sasha and Rosita proceed to do exactly that.
We know their actions won’t result in Negan’s demise, and we know nothing ‘major’ will happen in this episode. In all honesty it never really used to, but the show used to be second to none at making us think that something big was going to happen. Now, it just feels like it’s running out of tricks.
Still, you have to admire the show – albeit grudgingly at times – for its determination to retain exactly the kind of introspective moments that it has made its hallmark in recent seasons. It may not be what people who have tuned in to watch a zombie thriller necessarily want, but at least it doesn’t involve any shit CGI bambi.
Instead, the focus seems to be on interrogating the assorted elephants clogging up the tiny, tiny rooms. For the first time, Daryl and Maggie address the former’s guilt at indirectly ‘causing’ Glenn’s death, and Sasha and Rosita have a proper conversation about Abraham.
There’s nothing especially revelatory, but it doesn’t just feel like talking for the sake of it – there seems to be a real attempt to draw a line in the sand beyond what has happened in the past. The show’s history has a tendency to linger, sometimes to the detriment of current storylines. Hopefully now these particular ghosts have been put to rest the show can move on.
Judging by the ending, the final two episodes are going to have everything going on. It’s the kind of episode closer that would have once upon a time been a season finale – luckily this time we only have to wait a week (or maybe two) to find out what it is that Rosita saw.
