The Walking Dead aired the fourteenth episode of its eighth season on Sunday night, continuing with the back half of Season Eight’s upward trend in quality with its back half.
Episode 8×14 is titled, “Still Gotta Mean Something.” The official synopsis for Still Gotta Mean Something reads, “A Heaps prisoner makes a discovery. Carol searches for someone in the nearby forest. Rick and Morgan find themselves in the company of strangers.”
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The episode balanced several characters and featured several in-depth developments for several of them, as classic pairings carried it and Negan’s big discovery continued an intriguing mystery.
Let’s take a look at the good and the bad of Episode 8×14, in this week’s review…
The Dialogue
The writing quality on The Walking Dead has certainly seen an upward tick in quality in the back half of Season Eight. Characters are actually speaking about issues rather than shunning them with the exception of Jadis withholding information regarding the helicopter but that’s for the next point.
The first tremendous exchange of the episode was between Rick and Michonne. Rick is showing signs of Jack Shephard in his constant desire to fix their situation, even after losing his son, prompting Michonne to dig as deep as an Andrea call out to try and calm Rick down.
Then comes Morgan and Carol’s conversation. “You save people,” Morgan told her. “I watch them die.” It was the most emotional characters have been in years without huddling over a corpse or impending death. A deep conversation between two survivors who have lost everything only to find one another and finally acknowledge such facts was brilliant.
Finally, Rick and Morgan coming together to discuss Rick’s very first day awake in the apocalypse lead to Morgan hitting him with the cold hard fact of only having saved him because his son was there. The original characters using their history for dialogue is always the perfect brush stroke.
Result: Good.
Negan’s Gun
The dialogue became quite colorful over at the trash heap. Negan’s repeated use of, “What the s—?” as a means to try to figure out what’s going on in Jadis’ trash heap was questionable, admittedly. The character is known for his language but sometimes its attempts to push censorship allowances and still be brash yet creative misses.
Much more of a miss, though, was the fact that Negan stumbled upon a handgun, a flare, and photographs which Jadis considers very important. First of all, how did he get the gun? Why would she leave him anywhere near a gun?
Next, why would she leave these photographs laying around villain if she was not 100% certain he could not get to them if they are so important?
Furthermore, if the flare was really her only chance at getting on that helicopter, why waste time messing around with a villain and walker when her ride out of apocalypse-town is ready for lift off? Did she have to deliver Negan to someone? If not, this was a horrible and insensible choice which cost her in the end, yet she still let him live.
Result: Bad.
The Helicopter
The helicopter itself, though, is a great thing for The Walking Dead. Any sign of building on this apocalyptic universe is a welcome and exciting notion.
With Georgie possibly flying in and out of town or another community calling the bird their own is an exciting mystery for the AMC show. Of course, for now the best explanation of the helicopter offered was a pout from Jadis. A vague response is expected when writers aren’t ready to reveal their secrets but this was taking it to new heights. Negan isn’t the type of guy to ignore a detail so massive but for the sake of preserving the mystery and not his character, he did.
In any case, the idea of a larger mysterious world with new friends and enemies will offer The Walking Dead an opportunity to be more refreshing than its most recent wartime years.
Result: Good.
Easter Eggs
Much like the dialogue, Episode 8×14 offered Easter eggs and moments which referenced previous seasons and episodes in touching ways.
In Season Two, Sophia ran into the woods in an effort to escape a walker herd on a highway in Atlanta. Rick told her to hide in the trunk of tree which was beside some water. When he returned, she was gone and would never been seen again, alive. Episodes later, Sophia stumbled out of Hershel’s barn as a walker, having been bitten.
Little Henry was found in Episode 8×14 in a near-identical setting to where Sophia was hidden in Season Two. Furthermore, Henry is played by Macsen Lintz. Lintz is the little brother of Sophia actress Madison Lintz, who is now 18-years-old.
Then came the outright call backs to previous episodes.
Morgan and Rick discussed Rick’s very first day in the apocalypse. Michonne discussed the impact Andrea had on her after losing her son. Henry apologized to Morgan and Morgan insisted her never say sorry, just as he instructed Carl in Season Three.
Using the show’s history is a strong ability The Walking Dead has over other shows given its more than 100-episode run. When it capitalizes on such a strength, the result is often strong and beautiful.
Result: Good.
