Tuesday, March 6, 2018

The Walking Dead S8E10 "The Lost and the Plunderers" 3/4/18

I'm back!  Mr. Mouse hasn't cancelled our cable yet so here's another TWD recap.  And the show structured things a little differently this time, sort of focusing on one character at a time and separating things into chapters, making it much easier to summarize.  Of course, no Carol or Daryl, so boo.

Michonne.  Michonne and Rick finish burying Carl and pack their things to leave Alexandria.  Random zombies wander through the village, coming in through the broken wall.  She looks a little stunned but still manages to take a bunch of them out as necessary.  On their way out of Alexandria, they see that a gazebo is on fire: apparently Carl used to sit on the gazebo's roof (?) so they are compelled to jump out and try to douse the flames.  They can't quite put it all out before the walkers move in and they are forced to get back in their van and drive off.  As they drive, Rick decides that they need to swing by the dump and try once again to enlist Jadis and her garbage people (or Scavengers, or whatever) to the cause.  He and Michonne enter the Scavengers' dump and manage to trip a trap that brings a bunch of junk down in front of the ingress/egress, effectively trapping them in the junkyard.  [For a chapter titled "Michonne," this segment was nearly as much about Rick as it was about her.  At least she had a decent role in Black Panther.]

Negan.  Back at the Sanctuary, Negan is experiencing some pushback from an antsy Simon.  Simon wants to full-on attack Rick and company and Negan has to remind him that people are resources.  He tells Simon that he is to go to the Scavengers and remind them of their deal with the Saviors.  "Deliver the standard message, take one out and the rest will fall in line.  Just one, Simon."  Simon presses his point, saying that the local communities are not falling in line as they should.  Negan snarls at him, "What we do, saving people, is hard.  But it damn well works."  Simon: "Not lately."  Negan says once they put Rick down, everything will be aces again.

Enid.  After killing the beach people's leader (Natanya), Enid and Aaron are brought into the village and shackled to a radiator.  It's up to Cindy, as Natanya's granddaughter, to decide what to do with them.  After a little while, Cindy et als come back, Enid's all, you shouldn't kill us because ultimately we're on your side even though we killed your leader and took all your guns.  Cindy decides to let them go, so they are walked out to a clearing a ways away and released, with a warning to never come back.  Aaron sends Enid back to Hilltop to tell Maggie what happened and where he is; he is going to stay and keep trying to convince the beach people to join up.  Because that seems likely.  Enid gives him a hug and walks off, back to their truck.  Aaron crouches down by a tree.  Whatever.  This was completely pointless.

Simon.  Simon grabs his crew and heads off to the landfill.  There's a bit of a standoff between Simon and Jadis, with their respective people gathering behind each of them, guns at the ready.  Simon - who seems rather crazier than Negan these days - demands an apology and all of the Scavengers' guns.  Jadis stands up to him as best she can but eventually, over the protests of her seconds-in-command, she capitulates, handing over all their guns.  When Simon reiterates his need for her apology, she punches him in the face.  He gets up and shoots two of her people, splattering her with their blood.  Then he signals his people and they mow down all of her now-defenseless people, taking care with body shots only, no head shots.  Jadis can only watch, shaken and upset.  When the Saviors return to the Sanctuary, Simon lies to Negan, saying that they did as instructed, collecting the weapons and leaving the Scavengers alive.  Liar!

Jadis.  Rick and Michonne are quickly surrounded by the now-zombified Scavengers.  They climb atop the piles of junk and find Jadis there.  She is barefoot, wearing only a white slip (did Simon take all her clothes?) and now speaking in full sentences, not the affected speech pattern we've heard until now.  She explains that the Saviors killed all her people, took away this new community she created after the zombie apocalypse.  Rick and Michonne don't have any time for her self pity, however.  They put together makeshift shields and make a run for it, slaughtering as many zombies as they can on their way out the way they came.  Jadis asks to come with them but Rick's all, [you're] no help to us anyway and they leave her behind.  After Rick and Michonne are gone, Jadis figures out how to save herself:  she positions herself on the far side of a trash shredder/compactor and as the former friends/now zombies approach, they fall into it and are chewed into bloody sludge.  It's a truly disgusting visual so kudos to the show for coming up with something new.  After the zombies are disposed off, she slurps down a can of applesauce (?) and ponders her options.

Rick.  En route to Hilltop, Michonne is looking through the letters Carl wrote.  She tells Rick that not only is there one for him, there's one for Negan.  Rick pulls over and grabs the letters, staggering out into a field.  He starts to open his letter, then instead reads the one to Negan.  He gets on a walkie-talkie (scavenged from a dead Savior before they left Alexandria) and demands to speak with Negan.  When Negan answers, Rick tells him that Carl is dead.  Negan seems genuinely sorry to hear this.  Rick then tells him that Carl wanted the two of them to stop fighting and work together but Rick ain't having none of that.  He's going to kill Negan.  And as Rick starts sounding crazier and more ragged, Negan can't help himself but preaching his own sermon: he's going to kill Rick and subsume all the outlying communities, taking them into the Saviors, etc., etc.  "You failed as a leader, Rick, and you failed as a father.  Just give up."  So much for Carl's hope for peace - I don't see it ever happening with these two dumbasses still in charge.

Previously on The Walking Dead / next time on The Walking Dead

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