Dead or Alive Or

This is a decent development episode and people need to chill corse it's about to kick of next week

Pretty good episode. 8B is already pounds better than 8A so that's a plus. The Gabriel stuff was kind of silly but still entertaining to watch. Most of the episode felt like the plot was progressing which was good, although I found most progression at the very end. I'm happy that they did not use any of those godawful zoom in shots from the last episode because they really do not look good. My only complaints were the swamp sequenced did feel a little bit standstill until they finally got to Hilltop and the Dwight/Tara stuff happened. Speaking of Tara, she is the worst. I get that Dwight did some screwed up stuff to the people of Alexandria, but he would be much better alive. Negan again stole all of his scenes, but at this point I'm not surprised. I think that dipping Lucille in guts is just the start, and they're gonna be doing a lot more. Overall, 8.7/10

The walking dead was in times such a good show, that would make you ansious to see the next episode, now everything is so slow and boring and i don't see the point in so many things.

i just feel like if most of them die, we wouldn't miss them. Still, like Tara, she should be one of the first to go but instead they kill Carl that although wasn't doing THAT much, was still just a good character with so MUCH potential. I mean he died for a really good thing that i also tought would make things better, especially because of their next threat, but they kill him because i bet that they wanted to "spiced" things up.

now, can they just kill tara; because i really dont like her, she doesnt bring nothing to the show.

maybe is just me but if Maggie died, i wouldnt miss a inch of her just like i didnt miss glenn, and did i miss her accent in the previous seasons or is stronger out of nowhere?

There was a time that i would care but now i can see most of them die and just laugh of it.

Or maybe i just been watching too much GoT.

This felt like a throwback episode of The Walking Dead. A few different storylines, a few roadtrips, and being low on food and resources always on characters minds. It very much seemed like an episode straight out of season 4 or 5. And to be honest, I liked seeing some of the characters on their toes and not sitting pretty in Alexandria. My favorite moments of this show's history may be in season 4 & 5 when the team was scavenging on a day to day basis for food and water.

Tonight's show made the decision to deal a lot with faith and Father Gabriel's renewed belief in god. The arc his character has gone on throughout the show's run is sporadically interesting. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes frustrating, and other times contradicting. But Seth Gilliam had one of his best weeks in awhile, along with his on screen counterpart, R. Keith Harris' Dr. Carson. Conveniently enough, Carson's death now seems pointless as it's revealed Siddiq has experience working in the medical field.

The other big side arc came from the Alexandrians' hike to Hilltop through the swamp. It was serviceable screen time, but there was no need for the hugely frustrating material with Tara and Dwight. We get it, nobody likes Dwight and he's done terrible things to people the Alexandrians love. But stop going against everything Carl was standing for and stand down. I just feel like it's so unnecessary and a complete waste of time to have Tara go on a rampage to kill Dwight.

In fact, this whole inner mental game she was going through was the clear standout for painful writing this week. Maggie's scenes with the Savior's prisoners and Gabriel's faithful trek both seemed fitting. That wasn't the case for Tara. I sure hope next week solves the Tara situation, as it will clearly focus on the aftermath of everyone at Hilltop learning of Carl's death as the team finally comes together as one.

7.8/10

Most of the first half of Season 8 was very poor, with two exceptions, and also wasn't crazy about the season overall (too many problems and bad episodes). "The Lost and the Plunderers", the previous episode, was a big surprise and was a very well done episode, one of the few above average ones of the season. Showing that the show's quality hadn't completely gone and that it could be good when they tried.

"Dead or Alive Or" for me was a difficult episode to rate and review. There are things that it does well, but there are also some glaring and difficult to ignore problems. It is a long way from being one of the worst episodes of Season 8 (if anything for all its problems it's one of the least bad) or of 'The Walking Dead', but the show showed brilliance frequently and "Dead or Alive Or" was an episode that sometimes remembered what made the show so great at its best and at other points forgot. Odd.

Am going to start with the good. The production values does have atmosphere, especially the scenery and the way the episode is lit. The music is ominous. The script has some tight and thought provoking moments. The acting is very good all round.

Did appreciate the effort in giving more development to the more minor characters of 'The Walking Dead', although the success varied. Actually thought that "Dead or Alive Or" was at its best in the reaction to Carl's death at the Hilltop and surprisingly the Dwight and Tara subplot, those two characters are not my favourites but did appreciate Tara's development here and it was done well and not in a soap-operatic way. The Saviors scenes had some tension.

There are other parts of the story where "Dead or Alive Or" doesn't fare so well. The Carol, Morgan and Henry subplot is too soapy and also has some unrealistic decision making. Faring worse is everything with Father Gabriel, a subplot that goes on and on with not much eventful and full of too wordy and heavy-handed dialogue. Eugene's presence was pointless and he is still annoying.

Pacing isn't perfect either, with a tendency to be too slow, especially with Father Gabriel, and it generally lacks suspense other than with the Saviors. The dialogue really could have done with a tightening up, while the editing is sloppy and like it was trying to show off with no regard for pace.

In conclusion, a bit mixed here. 6/10.