(Note: Sorry this is going up later than usual. We had some server issues in GAMbIT HQ, but everything has been fixed, so we’re back to providing the mediocre content you crave. – Trevor)
Margaux and I discuss last night’s boring episode of The Walking Dead.
Trevor: I thought last week’s episode was pretty damn solid, so it was something of a disappointment to see The Walking Dead backslide into its comfort zone. I don’t think “The Other Side” was a disaster, but it was pretty much what we’ve come to expect: a lot of talking, a lot of planning, a little mystery, some good scenes, some bad ones, all wrapped up in a middle-of-the-road episode that we usually give around 3 or 3.5 stars (uh, spoiler alert, readers). How did you feel about it?
Margaux: Although I’m sure it was unintentional on The Walking Dead’s part, this episode was kind of meta. It was a filler episode, filled to the brim with filler. Stilted conversation, save for the last 10 minutes when they suddenly remembered to move the plot along. “The Other Side” really was the best of The Walking Dead’s worst instincts. There was so much water treading, I nearly dozed off, and this episode also unintentionally underlining how little stakes there are in this universe now.
Trevor: Filler is a good word to describe this episode. I’m on record as liking the Rosita/Sasha team-up, but goddamn did it take forever for them to get going. “How can we prolong their arrival to Sanctuary? Let’s have it become impossible to find a car for the first time in Walking Dead history! Oh, there’s Negan, Sasha could shoot him – oh, never mind, let’s put a person in front of him!” That being said, I did really appreciate the open, honest conversation between the two of them. Christian Serratos finally got to play an emotion beyond “condescending” and “mad at everyone,” and did a good job. But we might be getting ahead of ourselves.
Margaux: I would like the Rosita/Sasha team up more if every conversation they had didn’t routinely fail the fucking Bechdel Test.
Trevor: Let’s talk about the Saviors’ arrival at Hilltop, which, like the rest of “The Other Side,” was pretty inconsequential, because it was just more of Negan flexing his muscle. But I like Steven Ogg as Simon – he’s a good #2 (eat shit, Jerry!) – and I’ve come around on Gregory. I kinda like that he’s a full-blown weasel now.
Margaux: Simon, for me at least, was one of the few bright spots of this episode. Suck a dick, Jerry. If something happened to Simon, I would legit be very disappointed. He’s the only Negan underling who seems to really “get it”; (“we have Cardamom gelato”). In the delivery of that one line you get the full-scale absurdity of being a Savior. I wish Simon was goddamn Negan.
I also agree that Gregory going full-on rat is fun turn, and his relationship with Simon works the best out of all the community/enforcer relationships we’ve seen under Negan’s rule. It’s the most natural, they don’t have to do much work to convince you these guys were exactly the same – in one way or another – before the world went to shit. The touch of Gregory confirming he is one hundred percent only looking out for number one by any means necessary, by drinking fancy tequila made me genuinely chuckle. Unlike the knot tying pseudo-feminist scenes between Rosita and Sasha that had me cringing and laughing at them and not with them.
Trevor: Oh, then you must have loved that Savior who took the time to mansplain to Enid that she should say “vegetables” instead of “veggies.”
Margaux: It was textbook “THIS GUY’S AN ASSHOLE TO LITTLE GIRLS! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!” It did what this show is wont to, go super obvious and eliminate any sense of subtext.
Trevor: One thing about the Hilltop scenes I didn’t get, and this might be my fault for forgetting – why did Maggie have to hide? I understand why Daryl hid, that’s obvious, but Maggie did too. Is she not allowed to be there? Did I forget something? Enid was able to just walk around, no problem. There’s a good chance this is just something I forgot. Or maybe they just didn’t want to rock the boat and have the Saviors asking Gregory what Maggie was doing there. I dunno, it stuck out to me.
Margaux: Rick told the Saviors that Maggie died after Negan bludgeoned Glen and Abe. And I don’t think the Saviors, before this episode anyway, had any clue as to who Enid is and that she was/is part of Alexandria.
Trevor: Thank you! Totally forgot about that little fib. I guess that’s what happens when you have so many damn storylines going on. Okay, my fault. But mostly the show’s.
Margaux: It is most definitely this shows’ fault and not yours. Just like it’s this shows fault that after FOUR FUCKING SEASONS we FINALLY learn about Rosita in a capacity that is in no way related to Abraham. When she has her heart-to-heart with Sasha, while they wait for their moment to not snipe Negan, Rosita says something to the effect of “I’ve never told anyone this stuff about myself,” I couldn’t help but shout, “YEAH BECAUSE THEY ONLY GAVE YOU A STORYLINE THIS SEASON.” It’s embarrassing what they’ve done to Rosita’s character, and this violent course correction only seems to doom her further. Because if you’ll remember, last week we suddenly and very quickly learn all about Richard. BAM, BOOM, CHOKED DEAD.
Trevor: I absolutely agree, there was a lot of potential in Rosita and it’s been squandered with almost surgical precision. And she’s just starting to get more interesting too (which isn’t the fault of Christian Serratos).
Margaux: Even though Sasha, after all her pontificating about how it’s not healthy to have a death wish or some such shit, designates herself as the sacrificial lamb to murder Negan. I mean, not only will not that work – nor do I believe that The Walking Dead is sophisticated enough to let a character like Sasha die offscreen, so we’ll be revisiting that – but wasn’t the whole reason they teamed up for this suicide mission is because it takes two to pull it off? The gaps in logic at times are so vast, I’m surprised more character don’t get swallowed up by it.
Trevor: Oh, and I don’t know where else to say it, but I’m glad they saw Eugene when they were spying, and even gladder that they heard him, because he got in a very funny line, referring to himself as “Dr. Eugene Porter, also known as Negan, who is me.” Eugene can bug me, but sometimes Josh McDermitt’s delivery is spot-on.
Margaux: Other than from a writer/dialogue perspective, his walkie was such an expository info dump planted at just the right moment, I couldn’t quite enjoy it because all I could hear was the sound of my eyeballs rolling to the back of my head. What I did like, and think Josh McDermitt sold best was his confrontation with Rosita at the fence. It’s not an act, he was and forever will be a coward, and Rosita basically did him a favor. When all this hits her, she looks enraged, saddened, and shell shocked. It was a great, brief scene, as she watches Eugene limp back to the safety of The Sanctuary. Best part of the whole episode.
Margaux: That’s true, there was some great facial acting going on there. And who do you think Rosita saw at the end? I’m going with Dwight – it looked like Daryl’s crossbow slung across his back, which Dwight still has. And it could lead to Dwight betraying Negan, which we’ve discussed for a while now.
Margaux: All signs seem to point to Dwight for the reasons you listed above. Again, I’m not super interested in a story where some melted faced douchebag helps Rosita kill his mean boss who banged his wife. It’s so soapy when you hear it said back to you. And it’s fairly clear she doesn’t need the help anyway. I hope he tries to shoot her, misses, and she murders him. There, take note, Walking Dead writers, I just fixed it for you.
Trevor: We seem to be doing that a lot. You were wise to get off the Fear the Walking Dead beat, because that’s 90% of what my reviews are. You wanna talk stars?
Margaux: This episode was a fucking slog until the last 10-15 minutes, and I don’t think we’re saying anything hyperbolic. Kind of insulting they haven’t moved things along more, “The Other Side” being the third to last episode of the season. 3 stars.
3/5
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