For the opening volleys of AMC’s adaptation of the comic’s ‘All-Out War’ arc in “The Walking Dead,” things are a lot faster paced than the previous meandering season.
1. Narrative’s Bizarre Occurrences
Some of the goings-on in this episode seem out of place. Sometimes it’s just from the perspective of the show, but other times it’s from that of the idea of a post-apocalyptic narrative in general.
First, we have Morgan Jones killing one of the Saviors. Unlike last season, where his act of murder led to him having a near psychotic break, here it is barely even glossed over, and he treats the act like it’s any old thing. Yes, he is not the only one to kill, but the blasé way in which he dispatches the Savior makes little sense in context.
Then, there’s something that’s more of a nitpick: Tara Chamblers’s licorice stick. She has it throughout the attempt to move the Walkers into position for the ambush of the Sanctuary, seemingly always chewing on it, and it never gets any smaller. Are their resources so good that they still have access to enough processed food that she can be allowed them for an apparent oral fixation? Probably nothing will come of it, but in a show that’s allegedly about scarce resources (hence the entire reason for the Saviors’ conflict beyond their penchant for murder), having those available seems pretty bizarre.
2. How Good is Rick?
The episode showcases the nastier tendencies of Rick Grimes. Aside from his speech about how they are going to “create a world and expand it” (which could be taken as either inspiring or an attempt at world domination if it were said, word for word, by anyone else), Rick seems to ignore the fact that despite him admonishing and hating Negan for being “one man” who is so horrible, he himself was one man who brought others together, showing a pretty hefty dose of cognitive dissonance for the person who once instituted his “Ricktatorship” back in Season 3.
That on its own might not be such a bad thing, since it does show some differences, but one scene in particular shows a decidedly large amount of callousness. When he cut open the Savior at the last scouting point, Rick did not need to cut the rope holding back the lone Walker. His hatred of any who would talk down to his son seems to eclipse his humanity.
3. Gregory the Coward
Surprise! Gregory is still a worthless leader. He’s even more worthless than in the source material, actually. There, at least a few people in the attacking crew betrayed their fellows in favor of their families by leaving the fight. Here, nobody even thought about it.
Even worse than that, he seems to be, even more than just a coward and a worthless leader (both of which could probably actually be justified by the fact that he’s seemingly surrounded and has limited reason to want conflict on his own), also an even more horrible human being. When Father Gabriel Stokes (against his better judgment) decided to come back to help him, rather than wait for a good time to escape the assaulting Walkers, he instead makes a break for Gabriel’s truck, driving it away and leaving him to the undead and, eventually, the tender mercies of Negan himself.
4. The Individual versus the Group
The needs of the many are repeatedly brought up throughout the episode, mostly by Rick and Gabriel.
Rick also seems to discount the needs of others. The nameless survivor to whom Carl eventually has to apologize wasn’t really doing anything wrong, and Rick’s decision to scare him off with gunfire was more hurting his cause than helping to inspire anyone. Even Carl agrees with this sentiment, noting that at the current rate, there wouldn’t be enough hope left in the world.
On the other hand, we had Negan, who, though possibly just taunting, seems reluctant to engage in a fight unless he has no choice (despite this being Negan, the same guy who kills people, including his own, for little reason). Given how gung-ho Rick is about combat, how he seems to want war even more, it’s hard to tell how bad Negan really is to some of his soldiers from his actions in this episode alone.
5. Signs of Things to Come
Interspersed throughout the episode are scenes of a happy Rick years after the conflict. The scenes are shown with a bit of a Gaussian blur, but fans of the comics might know exactly what this means. How long it will take until these scenes reach their full relevance is uncertain, but most likely they will not be understood until the end of the season, or perhaps the half-season.
