The Walking Dead – ‘The Damned’

Things are looking good so far guys. The Walking Dead continued on Monday night with ‘The Damned’, a strong follow-up to its eighth season premier. It’s been a while since we’ve had two genuinely good episodes of the show back-to-back, and I really hope this continues for the rest of the show’s run.

The episode pretty much picks up where last week ended, with Rick and the (rather large) gang continuing their assault on the Saviours. This time, the plot is clearly broken up into 4 parts, each focusing on different part of the assault. This makes my job all the easier, allowing me to break down this review into those same 4 parts. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

Morgan, Tara and Jesus are leading a stealth attack on the radio telescope observatory. The theme of the cost of war and the idea of blanket-murdering the enemy is heavily prevalent in this part of the episode, and is used to great effect. The contrast of watching Morgan go full Terminator, mowing down anyone in sight, with Jesus trying to save a man who he at first thinks is innocent, and is later revealed to be playing them, is incredibly effective. Jesus’ attempt to reduce the body-count mirrors Morgan’s own vow not to kill from Season Six, and is a smart way of showing how Morgan’s character has developed, as well as reminding us of Tara’s anger at the death of her girlfriend Denise.

I genuinely can’t express how happy I am the show seems to have found its stride again

The cost of war is also examined in attack on the Saviour’s warehouse, with the focus this time being on Aaron and his boyfriend Eric. Sure, the episode makes it pretty clear early on that Eric’s zombie-chow, or at least going to suffer an injury, but that doesn’t take away from the moment when it does happen. And once again, we see a smart plan from our group, waiting for the Saviours they do kill to re-animate and take down the rest of the enemy. As the show has strayed away from presenting the walkers as any real threat to our leads, it has sometimes turned them into foot-notes, but the writers are utilising them in a way that justifies their presence in the show and in this ‘All Out War’.

The ever-dramatic King Ezekiel is hunting down one single Saviour with Carol and fan-favourite Jerry. After blowing up a building, he’s escaped, and the group hunt him through the woods. While this section may be lighter on the action, it allows for Khary Paton to full Ezekiel in encouraging the troops. While they are able to take down the Saviour (still can’t quite believe we’ve got an actual fricking tiger on the show), he has alerted the rest of his group that Carol and co. are coming. But this doesn’t bother Ezekiel, whose, shall we say unlikely, relationship with Carol continues to grow, allowing both Paton and Melissa McBride to keep those acting chops working.

Negan was not missed this week, in an episode that raised the stakes

And finally, Rick and Daryl are doing a two-man job, looking for the Saviours’ stash of guns in a town hall. After splitting up, Rick finds a man protecting a door, behind which he assumes are the guns. After winning a particularly brutal fight, Rick discovers that the man was actually protecting his daughter. Once again, the shades of grey in a war that could easily be a good vs. evil situation are explored, with Rick potentially creating an orphan. Andrew Lincoln’s performance continues to be impeccable as you see his steadfast approach from the season premier begin to waver. And then the show brings in the ultimate throwback. That’s right guys, MORALES IS BACK! Morales was in the very first group that Rick encountered way back in Season 1, camping out with his family and the likes of Daryl, Glenn, Dale and Shane, as well as Lori and Carl. What his return means for the show exactly is currently unknown, but it’s safe to say that it will ramp up the emotional stakes for Rick (as if they weren’t high enough).

I genuinely can’t express how happy I am the show seems to have found its stride again. While I don’t expect all episodes to be as action-packed as this one was, I hope the writers continue their winning strike, and keep the pace going, even if there is a lot of talking.

No offence to Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but suffice to say Negan was not missed this week, in an episode that raised the stakes, both physical and emotional – 5/5 stars.