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
