If there’s one thing I hate in shows and movies, it’s a coward. Sniveling and useless, they can only ensure their own survival, and usually at the expense of the heroes of the story. Gregory is one such asshole, and his attitude towards the Saviors and Maggie and Sasha will prove to be problematic later. Not in a dramatic, climactic way but in the eye rolling unnecessary death/danger sort of way.
Maggie and Sasha have only begun to grieve Glenn and Abraham, but it’s already time to go according to Gregory. Their deal to take out the Saviors went south, people died, they’re a liability, etcetera. We can assign some of the blame on Rick and the others for not doing their homework on Negan, but really the hasty raid on the Savior outpost can be blamed on Gregory. Still, the coward is blameless and unable to see anything beyond what may befall him. In this case, it’s what the Saviors will do to him once they find he’s harboring two people Negan is very interested in.
They send a message to Hilltop by way of an armored Gremlin, a few bonfires, and open gates. I’m not sure exactly how they snuck in, built raging pyres, opened the gates and wheeled in a shitty car with an awful stereo system in complete silence but hey, whatever. Sasha and Jesus spring into action, as well as a few others, to kill the walkers and close the gates. Maggie does her part by crushing the car with a tractor, even though the doctor JUST got done telling her any more stress will separate the fucking placenta from her baby. For someone who just lost her husband, she is sure doing her damndest to lose her child too. It’s uncomfortable to watch, regardless of how dutiful and full of fight Maggie’s character is supposed to be. Still, it’s nice to see some good, clean, non-depressing zombie killing action.
The Saviors come in force the following day, and I’m not sure if Negan trains all his dudes in the art of being a smug, shit talking jokester bad guy or if the power trip just makes them all act that way, but I’m kinda done with it. Sure, Gregory deserves to get slapped around a bit but the sense of danger is sucked out. Even in what was supposed to be the biggest Oh Shit scene in the episode, where Gregory gives up Maggie and Sasha, Simon’s antics suck all the drama out of it.
No matter, because Jesus pulled the ol’ switcheroo on Gregory and they only end up losing a box of top shelf booze. He begrudgingly allows them to stay but the heat is on to try to figure out a way to fight the Saviors, and Sasha tasks hipster ninja Jesus to find Sanctuary. Tactically, this should have been the first god damn thing they did when deciding to raid the Saviors in the first place. As he hitches a ride in the back of one of the trucks, he finds Carl chilling back there too.
Carl isn’t the best shot anymore, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to deepen his sociopathic and homicidal tendencies. After watching Enid sneak off to go see Maggie, he decides to catch up with her and join her on the way to Hilltop. Not because the roads are potentially crawling with Saviors, one of whom already implied sexual harm to her, but because he figures he might run into Negan or at least be led to him. The road there is a nice scene of blossoming love between two mentally unstable teenagers, complete with hand holding, roller skating and a kiss. It’s nice to see things are not all bad though. From hearing Maggie’s baby’s heartbeat to seeing Carl and Enid kiss, we know that there is still some hope for the future. That’s why it’s frustrating to see these characters insist on getting into harm’s way. Harm is the name of the game on this show but that doesn’t mean the characters have to make decisions equivalent to drunkenly staggering along the train tracks when the horn can be heard in the distance.
Also I hope the Jesus/Carl recon mission, along with Eugene’s bullet casting, is the start of organizing a counter attack. The show has lost a lot of steam since the premiere, and we’ve spent more than enough time watching Negan and the Saviors shit on Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom. Minus the premiere and Daryl’s fun time at Camp Sanctuary, the bulk of this season has been devoted to painting a picture of the Saviors’ asshole complex, but the problem is there is only one color being used. I don’t have high hopes for next week either, as we check in with Tara and Heath, who will become bigger characters but if they waste an entire episode on their hijinks, I’m gonna need another few beers to slog through that.
And what does Carl hope to hit with that terrible fuckin’ aim of his? To be fair, I’m not that great at darts either.