But why? What was the point? The only good to come out of any of this bilge was Eugene receiving a much-needed alibi when it comes to the subject of Gabriel and Carson’s escape. I get that Dr Carson’s death was supposed to make Gabriel question the faith that had been so handsomely rewarded up to that point. But when this quite literally blind faith leads him to a house, and then the exact pills he needs to survive, then some car keys, and then a map, and then to Han Solo-esque shooting skills while blind, then sorry, nerp, you’ve lost me. Hell, if zombies actually do break out, you’d better believe I’ll be genuflecting inside every remotely religious building I come across. On its own, his commitment to his faith is fine. Gabriel remains at death’s door, presumably infected by the zombie eviscera he smothered over himself earlier in the season. Gabriel and Dr Carson’s road trip, however, started stupid, and then plumbed such brave new depths of stupid it went right through the Earth’s stupid core and came out at the Australia of stupid. For filler-ep fodder, it wasn’t half bad. Dwight’s return to being a spy in the Savior camp is welcome. The scene in which Dwight revealed himself to his old Savior mates was tense enough. The leering swambies were icky and creepy, if dealt with a mite too easily. Nevertheless, the revelation that Dwight appears to have gotten away with his treachery with The Saviors meant the episode left things more interesting than it found them. Once again, the show had characters doing stupid, illogical things to crowbar in some artificial tension. But surely even Tara – a character I can still muster no feelings towards whatsoever, not even boredom – would recognise the pragmatic benefits of keeping him alive until at least such a time they didn’t have to wade through a swamp full of zombies (swambies?). Dwight clearly suspected it might happen, and his acquiescence to his inevitable death at the hands of either Tara or Daryl is an interesting detail of his character’s path to forgiveness. It has to be said, I wanted to reach into the screen and slap Tara across the face with a crisp leather glove when she, in her lunk-headed lunacy, tried to murder Dwight. Poor lad: Austin Amelio as Dwight Photograph: Gene Page/AMC The to-ing and fro-ing of Daryl and Tara’s trust in Dwight added some much needed substance to what could have been another saggy hour in which people walk through some trees having boring, stilted chats. Daryl and Tara’s desire to inflict nasty boo-boos upon Dwight is understandable, but I genuinely want him to have changed his spots. One of the better things to come out of season seven was Dwight’s backstory – how Negan added Dwight’s wife, Sherry, to his harem how Dwight was disfigured by Negan how everything Dwight did was more out of fear for Sherry than for himself. Suggestions that Negan isn’t quite the sadistic beard-bastard we were led to believe haven’t rung entirely true, mainly because the show spent the whole of last season assuring us Negan was a complete, total and irredeemably sadistic beard-bastard. They’re just people who happen to be on the other side. They’re not monsters, no matter how convenient it would be to paint them as such. One recurring theme of this season has been The Saviors’ humanity. Despite Daryl, Tara and Rosita all having their share of screentime, the main thrust of the episode belonged to Dwight.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |