War is (finally!)
here
The cast and crew are hoping the 100th episode is howThe Walking Deadgets its groove back.
This is exactly what fans want to hear after the slow, slow slog that was season 7.
Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
But it’s also something we’ve heard before with previous seasons that never paid off that hype.
It’s difficult, however, to discern when some of the moments glimpsed before the credits take place.
We can figure that Rick’s rousing speech to the troops is happening in real time.
Then there’s the one that fans have been hoping to decipher: Old Man Rick.
Whatever the case, it’s of Rick limping around his home in Alexandria.
They turned off Rick’s alarm so he could sleep in.
Michonne remarks that the people are “taking this festival very seriously.”
It’s reminiscent of a moment from issue #127 of theWalking Deadcomic series.
(Spoiler warning for anyone who wants to skip the remainder of this paragraph.)
Carl finds, instead, a young Middle Eastern man hoping for at least some food.
His father, however, is more suspicious, more feral, and merciless.
But with this attitude, Carl doesn’t see enough hope to go around.
(Carl’s one line here, by the way, marks a long-running pet peeve of mine.
“There’s not gonna be enough, Dad.”
“Enough what?”
The action picks up further as the group continues preparations for the ensuing battle.
Morgan, for one, is no longer held back by his monk philosophy.
He brutally plunges his staff straight through the chest of a Savior.
(Imagine how much force must’ve been needed to do that.)
They are at least, they are “good enough.”
Everything seems in place as Rick kisses Judith and Michonne goodbye.
She was shot in the season 7 finale, and we see a bandage on her chest.
The need for a surprise assault gives credence to more brutal forms of attack.
Rick takes out another Sanctuary lookout by driving a blade into his gut.
Not saying this will happen.
It certainly doesn’t this episode.
But it’s something to consider.
Meanwhile, Team Daryl is helping to lead the herd to the Sanctuary.
Soon it explodes, directing the walkers in their direction.
The cars, adorned with sheets of metal to block bullets, ride into the Sanctuary.
Rick and the troops rush out and fire into the air to get the boss man’s attention.
But Rick serves it right back.
The generals can walk away and be guaranteed safety, but not Negan.
No, Negan is going to die by Rick’s hand if he has anything to say about it.
Negan, however, warns Rick may not have the numbers for this fight.
That’s when Gregory emerges because of course he went to the Sanctuary.
Now it’s time for the next phase.
He rushes out to help, but Gregory is a coward.
Too much time has passed, however, and they have to leave him behind.
We don’t have to wait till next episode to learn their next move, though.
Morgan and Tara are planning to assault another Savior outpost, as Daryl and Rick invade another.
Ezekiel’s squad reaches an abandoned medical facility where a Savior takes cover behind a car.
Though the walkers are banging on the door to get inside, he finds he’s not alone.
Negan emerges from the shadows and warns the good father is about to s his pants.
The last is of Rick hopping down from the back of a truck during the same rallying-the-troops speech.
“I don’t want to wait for it anymore.
You don’t either,” he says as if directly to the fans.
Unlike last season, we don’t have to wonder when the war with Negan will finally come.
It’s here, and at least that much brings us hope as we head into the uncertain future.
