Episode 11.08 titled "For Blood" is a direct follow-up to episode 11.07, the Reapers storyline and the Alexandria storyline is continued in a major way. Episode eight has The Reapers defend Meridian from an incoming herd; Pope suspects Maggie is behind the attack, while Daryl treads carefully; Alexandrians scramble to protect themselves when a violent storm leaves them vulnerable to walkers. I think the editing and pacing was perfect in this episode, probably among the best of the season as both perspective kept things tense and there were also some nice transitions. So was the writing, Erik Mountain whom penned the script of 11.08 did a great job. He writes the strategy, action and the characters so well. Overseen by Angela Kang, the writing for this episode is some of the season's best, I didn't expect it to be this good. The episode uses the big budget wisely, making it brilliant both technically and visually.
Sharat Raju returns to direct 11.08 after having directed the previous episode, his direction and vision was honestly brilliant and such a huge step up from the previous episode. Raju shows once again how to make an immersive viewing experience. The cinematography is truly breathtaking and incredible, the way it was shot with the sets, just wow. Art and production design is brilliant. Sharat Raju shows how talented he are and I hope he gets to direct more episodes of this final season as he has this grand vision and executes it perfectly. The close ups in dialogue is something I personally like. The musical score is once again brilliant, balancing it out nicely and contributing so much to the immersion and such. Superb sound design. It's one of many things on the technical side of things that the show is doing a phenomenal job at.
With it being an action heavy episode, I would still say there were a couple of great performances. But there were mostly bad ass moments where the characters shined with their abilities and skills. Still, I found performances like: Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Ritchie Coster as Pope and Lynn Collins as Leah Shaw to be the best. Collins probably even gave her best performance as Leah. Honorable mentions are Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa in how she shows once again what a bad ass she is, it's just nice to see the writers acknowledging her past and skills, Abraham even said multiple times how she was one of the best in killing walkers and seeing Rosita Espinosa back as her old self is a blessing.
"For Blood" has lots of things that fans of The Walking Dead will like. Following the Reapers storyline and Alexandria storyline, the former coming full circle as Maggie leads the attack on Meridian. Meanwhile in Alexandria, we get to see almost everyone or even every single person in the settlement. I like it when all the characters share screen time together but there's a downside to it, the minimal screen time, but it's worth it. Though episode 9 will be directly following the storylines that happened in this episode, I can just say that I loved this episode and how unpredictable it was. Angela Kang and her writers went in the right direction with the Reapers storyline, something I didn't think they would. For the people who like action and lots of zombie gore, bad ass character moments and just a visually stunning episode. It's impossible to stop watching and after all the build up, we get a phenomenal episode that I can say is worth the 10/10 rating.
