SEASON 8; EPISODE 15
There was real tension in this week’s episode; I would even say it is up there with the strongest in this season. Most of the tense scenes involved Negan, particularly when he shared the screen with Simon and Dwight. It was both satisfying and squirm-inducing to watch. It was even revealed that Simon coordinated the murder of all the men and boys at Oceanside – reminding us that Negan is “moderate” by comparison. I will miss Simon – he deserved to die, but he was great to watch. He may not have been as tough as Negan in hand-to-hand combat, but he was certainly a superior villain.
Negan loves to showboat and he appeared to take real pleasure in toying with Dwight, right until the closing scenes. In his final scene it is revealed that Negan picked up that female Saviour who realised that Dwight had switched sides (I don’t know her name, and since she’s annoyed me from her very first scene she appeared in, I refuse to look it up).
Dwight has become one of my favourite characters and to my mind, he is one of the best things about this show overall. This is largely down to the fact he is integral to most of the storylines in the last two seasons. He is complicated, relatable and he struggles with his choices as much as any other character in this series does – he just manages himself differently. The duplicity in his character makes him very interesting to watch; he is a refreshing contrast to characters like Rick and Morgan. I really hope he doesn’t die, but I just cannot see how he will make it out of next week’s episode. Thanks to the false intelligence that Negan supplied, it is likely Rick will be looking to take him out too. Poor, doomed Dwight. Also, as an aside, how long was that letter from Carl to Rick? He must have tiny writing as it went on forever!
The bungled attempt to kidnap Eugene was infuriating to watch. From the moment Rosita exploded and revealed he would be kept underground and used for his knowledge, I knew he was going to escape their clutches. Yes, he’s intolerably annoying these days (his speech to Gabriel and the other Saviours proved how much he relishes his role within the Saviours, he is even almost cocky in these scenes) but he is still the intelligent and resourceful character he has always been, far more so than either Daryl or Rosita. At this stage, I am thoroughly disenchanted with his character. Even his will to survive is not a good enough excuse for his fickle loyalty, unless you fully embrace the fact Eugene does not care about anyone but himself. When you consider the fact very little time has passed since Negan captured him (again I am using Maggie and her pregnancy as a point of reference here), Eugene has been laughably quick to forget his relationships with everyone at Alexandria. The thing is, he has to be careful with how he treats Gabriel (who seems to have regressed back a few series in terms of character by the way) as he could easily grass him up and let it be known that it was Eugene who facilitated his escape a few days ago. However I think Eugene's usefulness to Negan at this moment out time would probably outweigh his desire for vengeful justice.
Michonne did her best to connect to Negan, channelling the voice of the only character Negan took any real interest in (besides himself). Unfortunately (and understandably) this was too little, far too late. Negan reminded her that Rick started this, and it would not end until Negan had exterminated all of them…he’s finally channelling Simon.
