New Best Friends

I've never written a review and English isn't my mother tongue but i have to bust some steam off. When I watched this episode I suddenly realized something. On German television we have a channel called Tele5 which often shows really cheap looking post-apocalyptic-action movies. And in this episode of TWD when Rick was standing on that little hill made of trash in front of an unbelievable shitty looking green-screen-wannabe wrecking yard with that stupid wrecking yard tribe cast around him I thought for a moment: this is just like Tele5 goddammit. The bad dialogues, the poorly directed action scenes, the story which is going nowhere over the last seasons...it's all fkn Tele5...and it made me sad.

So any episode now Negan (or Daryl)(or Rick) is going to be on a motorcycle and be forced to jump through flames to get to the other side of a pool filled with zombies. That was what I was expecting for the supplies on the houseboat lake scene but I was left sorely disappointed. While the show has definitely "jumped the shark" there are still some great story lines coming out of the franchise.

In addition, was I the ONLY PERSON in the world to recognize the trailer in the background of the Richard/Daryl scene where they fight about setting Carol up to take the heat as the original "Smokey and the Bandit" trailer? Great nod to the past while a sad testament to how Hollywood props are wasting away. I hope they knew that was what they were doing and it was not just a handy trailer in the back lots.

This episode and this group of survivors are just so goofy. It's actually kinda fun. They speak like Kevin from The Office when he tries to save time by using less words. They dont explain why either. It's just funny and i kinda love it in a fun-bad b-movie way.

The stuff in The Kingdom is alright. A lot of talking about what to do, rather than doing anything at all. Not really interesting but not a trainwreck either. Pretty on par with the season.

All in all the episode is goofy and a bit dull, like a lot of this season, but it's okay. Not the worst but nothing to get excited about. Not gravy, but not mashed potatoes either.

Now, we are back to The Walking Dead that everyone knows and loves. Several different moving parts all coming together for one cohesive story. Plus, this half of the season certainly seems to be giving us plenty of fan service. To me, that's the best thing that could happen.

We picked up as The Saviors were getting their usual supply run from The Kingdom. Of course, things never go exactly as planned and Richard acted up against one of the other Negan wannabe. Richard, who seems to fit in much better with Alexandrians, took Daryl out to his secret area where he has a Savior trap set up. If it weren't for the fact that the trap was set up to eventually sacrifice Carol, then I think Daryl and Richard could have made a solid team. But everyone knows how much Daryl cares about Carol. He was never going to let something like that happen.

This gave us another fan-service reunion that was very much deserved. There's so much pain and sadness in their relationship, so it's no wonder Daryl chose not to tell Carol about the deaths of Glenn and Abraham. But I tend to hate the "secrets" storyline in TV shows. We all know she's going to find out sooner or later and it won't end well. I just hope we get a little more Carol in the back half of this season. The show is better with her alongside Daryl & crew.

Onto the Mad Max-like new group we were introduced to, known as the junkyard group or The Scavengers (for now). I understand the thought that this season has brought in a few too many groups and moving parts, but Pollyanna McIntosh as Jadis felt like a much different leader than we have seen. Presenting a relaxed but nonetheless exacting agreement with Rick, she may be my favorite leader out of the three communities besides Alexandria. I'll be very interested to see if she keeps her end of the bargain.

So the return of Father Gabriel (still don't like that guy), Carol & Daryl reuniting, a new community, and a whole lot of Rick smiling made for this episode to be another win for TWD. We get a little bit more Negan and a little less Rick next week. The march to war continues.

+Jadis

+That reunion

+Gladiator walker

8.5/10

phew!! finally a decent episode, am starting to regain my faith in this show, BTW this is my first review in here, i just finished watching "New Best Friends" and let me you this is by far the best episode I've seen in seasons, after the boring seventh season i could sleep in peace knowing that there is still hope for this show, this is just my type of an episode, an episode where a lot of things happened and at the same time nothing happened!mixed with new hope, Reunion, and some action.

i can't wait for the upcoming episodes, good stuff!!!