This was posted by Rodney Ho on Sunday, November 18, 2016 on the AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Which was more cringe-worthy tonight: Gregory kneeling or Carl and Enid kissing?
This was easily the least compelling of the episodes this season by a wide margin. While it was nice to see Maggie and Sasha properly mourn both Glenn and Abraham, the Hilltop as an entity is a bore, led by King Bore himself Gregory.
I was kind of hoping Simon, Negan's right hand man, would just kill Gregory and put him out of his misery. Simon clearly knew that Hilltop had colluded in some way with Rick because how could Rick know where that depot was?
This episode left a lot of questions.
1- How is the Hilltop even still in existence?
The Hilltop has no sentries? Simon just opened the gate, left a Gremlin in place playing music, lit a few fires and then strolled away without anybody noticing.
And why did Maggie (using a big tractor to crush walkers and the Gremlin) and Sasha have to do most of the walker killing with only Jesus to help out among the Hilltop residents? Where was everybody else? Are they trained to just grow vegetables?
2 - Where was Simon when Maggie and Sasha were doing all that killing?
Simon claims later to Gregory that he was going to come in and clear the walkers but they did it themselves. Gregory says, half convincingly, that they learned a few tricks from the Saviors so in a sense, they did save them. Was he disappointed when they did end up killing all the walkers without any deaths? Probably.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
3 - Why is Gregory even the leader?
Sasha quickly sees Gregory as an idiot. Maggie, a born leader, sees him as a coward, which she says is worse. Gregory does not want either of them around because he's scared of the Saviors. He wants them gone that night although the doctor recommended Maggie stay at least for a few days to recuperate. Sasha thinks they should stay long term until she has her baby. Jesus approves. Eventually, he just says they're staying, vetoing Gregory's call. And better yet, Gregory got punched in the kisser by Maggie for taking Glenn's watch.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
4 - Why isn't Jesus the leader of the Hilltop?
Jesus clearly has leadership skills. His reasons for not being the leader seem weak at best. And now he wants to groom Maggie and/or Sasha to take over for Gregory.
5- How did Maggie and Sasha survive in Gregory's bedroom closet?
Although Gregory tried to "out" them, thinking they were in the hallway closet, Jesus had stowed them in Gregory's bedroom closet. Yet dozens of Negan's men had scoured the house for stuff to take. Why didn't they open Gregory's bedroom closet? How did they miss Maggie and Sasha? That makes no sense!
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
6- Does Simon wish he was Negan?
Simon, unfortunately, is a far less entertaining version of Negan. He is a Negan wannabe with a squirrely mustache but not much else in terms of personality. But he is assigned to watch over the Hilltop. As punishment, he takes half their wares, including Gregory's favorite painting. And he forces Gregory to kneel before him, as if he were Negan. Gregory does so.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
7 - Can teen angst be made any more painful?
In the meantime, Carl decides to find Negan to kill him. Scowling, sad Enid, in the meantime, just wants to see Maggie. She leaves Alexandria alone. Then Carl joins her. For a time, they talk teen talk in the most annoying way possible. There's an absurd moment when he finds roller skates and they hold hands roller skating down the street as if this was a John Hughes movie. Then they kiss. The less we talk about this, the better. This is not where "The Walking Dead" thrives.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
8 - What exactly is Carl's plan to kill Negan?
Sasha asks Jesus for a favor: find the Savior's location. So Jesus jumps on one of the supply trucks, where shocker! Carl is there, too. Carl thinks he can go up and just kill Negan. What is his plan? I don't see one.
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