The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 7 Review: Time for After
Steve Ford
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I could go for some of Eugene's giggle juice right about now.
On The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 7, the situation at the Sanctuary became even direr as tempers flared, threats were made, and panic spread amongst the Saviors.
After the scattered mess that was The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 6, "Time for After" put more focus toward a smaller variety of characters. It allowed more time for their stories to build and play out more naturally without feeling rushed.
As a result, the episode was all the better for it.
Initially, Eugene was not nearly as conflicted as I thought he would be given the recent revelation about Dwight. I was more surprised at how Eugene stood his ground.
All Eugene needed to do was let everything play out the way it had been and watch the Saviors fall. Although, that plan altered slightly thanks to Daryl and Tara going rogue, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Dwight's request to Eugene sounded simple enough; there's just one problem though: Eugene didn't want the Saviors to crumble.
Eugene is perfectly fine with remaining complacent. He's finally found something with the Saviors that he lacked with Rick's group: purpose and a sense of belonging. He feels important, and he will do anything to keep that going.
Eugene says he wants to save people, but it's more about trying to keep the status quo so that he can continue to hold onto that feeling of self-importance.
How unselfishly selfish of him.
If one positive has come out of Eugene being with the Saviors, it's that he's become more confident and has grown a backbone -- standing up to Dwight not once, but twice and with a gun pointed at his back, no less.
Now tell me that's something Eugene would have done had he still been with Rick's group.
Eugene's plan to lead the walkers away with the makeshift iDrone was a good idea in theory, but would that be enough to lure them away? Their moans and growls alone would have been enough to lull the music.
Eugene: It's an acronym I concocted: Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom. I considered going with KAH but it remains a hair too onomatopoeia.
While Rick may currently have the upper hand at the moment, the Saviors have an unknown advantage with Eugene's knowledge of Dwight's shenanigans.
There were numerous opportunities when Eugene could have easily tattled on Dwight but thought twice about it. He has no emotional attachment to Dwight, so why would he care what happens to him? If Eugene is so dead set on keeping the Saviors going, then why not take out one of the people responsible for their recent run of bad luck?
It's because as much as Eugene is concerned with putting his own needs before anyone else's, the guy actually does have a conscience. He's always teetered on that line on what's best for him and what the right thing is.
There's no doubt he's relishing in his role as one of Negan's top guys, but Eugene's interactions with Gabriel and Tanya seem to be taking a toll on him.
In the end, Eugene will do the right thing. The question is: will it be what's right, or what's right for him?
Daryl and Tara continued to enact their plan of finishing what was started, with Michonne and Rosita tagging along. While they were within striking distance at the Sanctuary, seeing the Savior base overrun caused Michonne and Rosita to have a change of heart.
After seeing that Rick's plan had worked up to that point, they decided that they need to trust it would continue to work.
It just wasn't worth jeopardizing what they've accomplished thus far.
That spongy organ between your eyes and your spectacular mullet is strong. And I just want to make sure you know, that I know that.
Negan
I was hoping that Michonne could have talked some sense into Daryl, but he's been seeing red ever since Glenn and Abraham got killed on The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 1.
The end result? Daryl and Tara succeeded in making things more difficult for the Saviors, but they also might have just made things more difficult for Rick.
Sure they created a way for the walkers to get into the Sanctuary, but they also made way for the Saviors to get out of the Sanctuary.
Didn't really think that one through, did you, Daryl?
Jadis let Rick out of his cage briefly so that she could take some very unflattering and awkward photos. At first, I thought perhaps she was taking photos to send to Negan to show him that they had Rick.
It turned out Rick was just a muse to inspire Jadis' next sculpture. It was unintentionally humorous how Rick kept trying to persuade Jadis that it wasn't too late to join him.
It's rather difficult to take a guy seriously standing there in his underwear.
Rick: It's not too late for you. My offer still stands: you can join us ... or you can die.
Luckily, Rick gained the upper hand when Jadis attempted to turn a walker loose on him. In other words, Rick had no backup plan on getting out of that situation.
Regardless of how cool it was to see Rick tear that walker's head off with the pole, knowing that he had nothing up his sleeve before walking into Jadis' lair was a bit disappointing.
Which seems silly considering all of the effort that went into enacting their plan against the Saviors. Rick couldn't take the extra time in figuring out a contingency plan for visiting the Scavengers should something go awry?
That spongy organ between your eyes and your spectacular mullet is strong. And I just want to make sure you know, that I know that.
Negan
After Jadis yielded to Rick, she finally agreed to fight alongside him after they ironed out a few stipulations, such as Rick NOT posing nude for Jadis' next sculpture.
It was interesting how Jadis came around after having her face inches away from that walker head's gnawing teeth. Perhaps she admires Rick's tenacity. However, I wouldn't put it past Jadis to turn on Rick yet again, but I think she'll follow Rick at least for the time being.
After Rick led Jadis' people to one of the outposts, he quickly received a huge gut punch when he realized the walkers that had surrounded the Sanctuary were gone. Of course, Rick doesn't know that the walkers are now inside the Sanctuary, but it does throw a monkey wrench into the entire plan.
As of right now, it appears that Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom are potentially going to have a big problem on their hands during the mid-season finale.
Other thoughts:
- I wonder how Negan's supposed right-hand man Simon would feel about Eugene being referred to as "the second most important person" within the Saviors.
- Thankfully Gabriel wasn't bitten and is not infected (at least not by the walker virus.) Although things aren't looking too good for him since they don't have adequate medicine to treat him.
- Eugene finding the coffin in the basement provided a nice little jump scare with the quick flashback to walker Sasha popping out on The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16.
- Seeing Morgan sitting in the window with his trusty sniper rifle was a great callback to The Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 1, where he failed to take out his walker wife.
- Eugene going in to kiss Negan's hand was hysterical...and incredibly awkward.
- Rick pulling the junkyard walker's head off while attached to the pole was awesome. The Walking Dead never fails to come up with new and fun ways to dismember walkers.
Now it's your turn TV Fanatics!
What did you think of "Time For After"? Do you think Eugene will come to his senses and help take down Negan or is the temptation of being in power too much to resist? Do you think Daryl going against Rick's plan will have drastic repercussions?
You can watch The Walking Dead online right here at TV Fanatic.
The Walking Dead Mid-Season Finale airs Sunday, December 10 at 9/8c.
