I wanted this episode to be great, but unfortunately it misses the mark once again. The warning sign is that they named the episode Honor, a self-important title that shows Scott Gimple really thinks this show is profound when it really isn't. A sizeable portion of this episode is inevitably dedicated to Carl. For the most part, this is handled okay, with good acting from everyone involved (though it is, like everything in TWD, too drawn out). Sadly, because of the poor character development over the last eight episodes, it was hard for me to feel much. When I compare it to moments like Lori's death it doesn't come close in emotional intensity. That's not because it's clumsily handled but because the poor quality of TWD's recent episodes has made it harder to care about its characters. Putting Carl's death at the end of a disastrous run of episodes is the worst possible thing to do.
I also found there is too much focus on the issue of whether or not to show "mercy" to your enemies. Stuff like that has been in the TWD for many seasons and there's nothing more that can be sucked from it, yet the writers keep returning to it because they can't think of any other issues to explore. This problem also ties in with Morgan. Argh, what an infuriating character. Someone who was once one of the best characters in the series is now some bipolar dude who keeps switching between killing everyone and not killing anyone at all. Right now, he's in "kill everyone" mode. No doubt in a few episodes he'll be the complete opposite. His character arc doesn't make sense, then again very little on this show makes sense anymore. The only positive that comes out of Morgan's unpredictability is some excellent gore, when he reaches into a Savior's open wound, pulling out a ribbon of guts.
And look at Ezekiel. He still hasn't got rid of his annoying Shakespearean language and keeps repeating the same words over and over again to one of Negan's goons. Again, he's talking about mercy, the moral issue this show just never lets go. Bizarrely, he seems to suggest that the real reason he never went to war with the Saviors until he met Rick was because he didn't want the scumbags to die. It apparently didn't have anything to do with the fact that he would have lost.
And then we come to the massive problem that everyone else seems to have missed. It's mentioned that the Saviors have failed in their assault. How is that possible? They had managed to magically assemble their forces in one night, somehow with enough ammo and-oh, they've run out of ammo again? And now, even though they've managed to torch much of Alexandria to the ground, they're losing again? Sorry, I'm lost.
So in summary, what could have been a revival for TWD just exhibits the same qualities the show has become known for: nonsensical characters, nonsensical story and no attention to detail.
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