The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 5 Review: The Big Scary U

| November 20, 2017 |

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This Walking Dead review contains spoilers.

The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 5

Holy moley, what a gigantic waste of fourth dimension to open the episode with Gregory'southward meeting with Negan and the Saviors earlier the assault on the Sanctuary. I simply don't go why any of this is necessary. We know Gregory is a coward, we know he turns on a dime depending on what will secure his continued survival, and nosotros know he's a terrible liar. Negan, who at to the lowest degree the show tells u.s.a. is supposed to be intelligent, tin can odour Gregory'south charade from a mile away, simply nonetheless chooses to do naught. But perhaps there'due south more to this redundant scene than what's on the surface.

I suspect the opening is trying to practise something else: show the difference between the ii leaders. Gregory offers to expel anyone at the Hilltop who doesn't side with the Saviors, while Negan rages when Simon suggests that they exterminate everyone at the settlement in order to become things back on track. Negan is not so quick to lay downward the hammer here. Would it be easier for him to just kill everyone who opposes his rule and fill those settlements with his own people? Probably. Then why doesn't he go for Simon'due south nuclear option?

If you lot've been reading my TWD reviews for a while, and then you won't be surprised to know that I recall Negan is i of the worst villains this bear witness has ever had. No, I don't mean "worst" as in "he's the nigh evil." I mean that every time Negan shows upwardly in an episode, I desire to turn off the telly.

Listen you, I don't recall the fault actually lies with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, an actor I've really enjoyed in the by and who's a HELL of a lot of fun to interview. I actually think he'southward the correct guy for the task – charismatic, foul-mouthed, and intimidating (at least in his first appearances as the villain). Merely i thing the graphic symbol has not been since he was introduced at the very end of season six is hostage. Because showrunner Scott Gimple and the writers have followed Robert Kirkman's comics and so closely since Negan'due south introduction, Morgan has never actually had a chance to make the grapheme his own. He doesn't own Negan on television in the aforementioned way the absolutely WONDERFUL David Morrissey owned the Governor, a comic book villain who felt unique to the television version.

The Governor existed in a very different era of this show, one ushered in by a unlike showrunner (Glen Mazzara) who wasn't afraid to stray from the source fabric (not ever for the best, mind you). The ever-faithful Gimple is not that kind of showrunner though, and so his era brings with it all of Negan's almost cartoonish antics and dialogue that take worked on the page but absolutely DO NOT work on the minor screen. Morgan, who I think is capable of bringing some nuance to the character, has been stuck with that portrayal since walking out of that trailer at the finish of season six.

But "The Big Scary U" shows what Morgan can do with the grapheme if given some space to work across the comics. He's not so much painting past the numbers here every bit introducing hints of humanity to Negan, what little might be left within his rotten body. No, I wouldn't say Negan earned whatsoever kind of sympathy tonight, but at least we finally get a await under the hood.

There'southward been a lot wrong with flavour eight thus far, including the boring action sequences and how painfully slow Rick and Daryl'due south program is unfolding (we'll get to this in a minute). That said, 1 affair that's been alright in my volume is the total lack of Negan. Gone are the days of the extended Negan episodes of season seven.

I've e'er felt that the prove should be sparse with a character as harsh as the leader of the Saviors. While even the Governor held some twisted sense of morality – which was rooted in his attemps to cure his zombified girl – Negan is pure, unadulterated evil in his early appearances. This approach could take worked if season seven had used the villain sparingly, having him popular up every few episodes to practice some evil shit before allowing him to retreat back into his totalitarian fortress full of slaves and cult members. Perhaps this might accept even fabricated him a chip more scary. Instead, all marvel about the grapheme was lost (at to the lowest degree on my part) afterward his 3rd or fourth dick joke.

"The Big Scary U" tries its damn hardest to bring some nuance to Negan, to make him feel like an actual person and non just a cut out from the comics, and it kind of works. No, this episode yet actually stumbles in a few places – again, that Gregory sequence gives united states of america information we don't need, peculiarly since Negan'southward talk with Begetter Gabriel retreads the same thematic material.

What we find about Negan during his talk with Gabriel doesn't brand him any less of a piece of shit. Negan doesn't believe in saving people or bringing out the best in them out of expert intentions. No, he just needs people to produce for him. When the Sanctuary finds itself in a dire situation – without power, a shortage of water, and a general lack of supplies – it becomes clear that it's because the settlement can no longer depend on Alexandria, the Hilltop, or the Kingdom to provide for them. The main Savior import isn't food or h2o or weapons, it'south people. Which is why he won't but go and exterminate the Hilltop or whatever of the other settlements. Yes, he has the manpower to practice information technology, just information technology's cheaper to simply kill the the King, the Widow, and Rick in very public mode and get anybody else back in line. This will ultimately salvage the lives Negan needs for the continued prosperity of the Sanctuary.

The nearly interesting affair about Negan's methods is that many of the people he has saved during his rising to the pinnacle actually feel similar they're all the better for it. He gives them shelter behind the thick walls of the Sanctuary, feeds them, and turns them into hateful survivors who volition do anything to stay alive. If the bad dude you lot've been following has kept you live, wouldn't you want to keep on following?

The workers at the Sanctuary don't feel quite the same near Negan'south lieutenants, and the Savior leader knows this. He's admittedly right when he tells Gabriel that a lot of people are going to die in the Sanctuary because he's non there to stop information technology. Gabriel witnesses first hand when Negan makes his yard render (theatrical as Ever) to his base of operations of operations and effortlessly defuses a standoff. Instead of killing each other, everyone kneels – including Gabriel.

It isn't blind faith or fear that keeps Negan'southward people in line. It's that he provides for them and makes those who wish to follow him stronger. Equally one of the indentured servants at the Sanctuary says to Negan's quango of bad dudes during the collision, the deal is that "we work for you and you protect and provide for us." Information technology's articulate from how quickly his lieutenants muck things up and well-nigh commit mass murder that Negan's the simply person who can actually practise that. After all, he'due south the guy who solidified this massive "customs" of survivors in the showtime identify.

Ultimately, Negan is withal a disgusting alibi for a homo being, but at least now we know what makes him an effective leader in the postapocalypse. His confession to Gabriel, one of the highlights of the episode – although this is one time I kind of would've liked a flashback scene – shows the moment of weakness that pushes Negan to be stronger. The Lucille reveal is a bit anti-climactic but it does achieve its goal: to evidence a sort of inevitability to Negan's character, that he was always headed downwards this path, that he was born to be a leader.

To say that Negan and Gabriel come out of that trailer as friends isn't quite right. They practice leave with a better understanding of each other, though. Perhaps fifty-fifty a hint of respect. I'thou a little disappointed that their scenes together had a lot less to say nearly Gabriel than they did about Negan. Gabriel plays the cold opening as if he's unraveling from beingness stuck in a trailer with Negan while likewise surrounded by walkers. At that place'due south a sort of crazy smile on Gabriel's face up as he tells Negan that his purpose is to hear the villain'south confession before they dice. But that'due south thankfully not the example.

Their chat feels more like a game of chess (if y'all can condone Negan'due south terrible masturbation joke at the start of the episode), and it's really interesting to encounter Negan care for the priest almost like an equal. Even the way Negan punches Gabriel in the face after confessing feels kind of satisfying considering there's a sense of earned esprit there. Yous expect Negan to be vengeful and clobber Gabriel with Lucille, but his reaction is just kind of bro-ish. It's like, "Bro, nosotros're probably fucked, so I'g going to take i final jab at you lot for being a dick and making me confess my darkest secret before we die."

Anyway, there's a lot of frustrating shit going on during their escape scene. For one thing, WHY does it have Negan then long to use the former "comprehend yourself with walker guts and but walk out the front door" play a joke on? WHY can't the walkers easily sideslip into the trailer later on breaking through the walls? And HOW practise Gabriel and Negan not get eaten as soon as their encompass is blown? They're surrounded past walkers on ALL SIDES. The episode cheats by never showing exactly how the hell Negan and Gabriel got back inside, which feels really cheap when the odds are so stacked confronting the characters. This testify is so bad at stakes it'due south unbelievable.

Would it have been a satisfying end for Gabriel to die at the hands of the horde after hearing Negan's confession? No, it would have been roughshod. But that's the name of the game on The Walking Dead . The end of the episode feels unsatisfying in comparison. The last scene makes information technology seem like Gabriel is succumbing to a walker seize with teeth, although that's not directly addressed. This feels similar a false out to me. A really bad one. Surely Negan would take noticed that Gabriel was bitten? If he does know, Negan doesn't give any indication of it when he tells his men to gently escort Gabriel to a prison cell. It's a really confusing ending that does more damage than good to 1 of season viii's better hours.

I'g guessing we'll find out what's going on with Gabriel similar three episodes from now?

Speaking of bad pacing, why are Rick and Daryl still trying to recover those weapons three episodes later? It'southward maddening that TWD hasn't learned its lesson subsequently then many seasons. WE DON'T WANT TO WATCH Bits AND PIECES OF A STORY THAT'Southward UNNECESSARILY STRETCHED OUT FOR SEVERAL EPISODES. There is really no reason for this week'due south "Checking in with the Supermen" segment. Their terribly bullshit fight – one that'south totally not earned, because this show is incredibly shallow in nigh cases – is so bad that I wish they'd both just been blown upwardly past that truck. If this intolerable Rick and Daryl storyline is stretched out any further, we'll be watching Daryl doing motorcycle maintenance shortly. Yeesh.

"The Large Scary U" is an intriguing episode that nonetheless showcases some of the show's almost glaring bug. It doesn't quite save Negan for me, and never goes as far as information technology should with Gabriel, specially when it comes to the very unnecessary tease that he MIGHT have been bitten before the screen fades to black. Rick and Daryl'due south journey is boring as hell, and the Sanctuary board meeting scenes don't do much but show how incompetent the Savior leadership is without Negan. But hell, can I say that this episode doesn't TRY to do some interesting things? No way. While this week's deconstruction of Negan is nowhere nearly as effective equally last calendar week'south Ezekiel-centric episode, there's definitely something to take from "The Big Scary U." That's more than I tin can say near most of season viii.