The Good And The Bad Of ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8 (Review)

The Walking Dead‘s eight season has concluded and, with it, the first chapter of the entire series seems to have been written to a close.

Of course, The Walking Dead will be returning for Season Nine with most of its cast members who began Season Eight, but the narrative threads were quite nicely tied up in Sunday’s Episode 8×16. The season was a roller coaster with moments and episodes ranging from all-out action hours to thorough steps toward character development.

Not each episode was a home run but the AMC series made a strong effort to recover from a critically lackluster Season Seven. Still, the AMC show is the king of cable, and proved the dedicated fans will be rewarded for their devotion.

Let’s take a look at the good at the bad of The Walking Dead Season Eight…

Episode 100

Season Eight kicked off with The Walking Dead‘s 100th episode. 

The episode was loaded with tributes to earlier moments, like Rick’s first days and being trapped in a walker-surrounded tank in Atlanta or Negan’s dialogue reflecting that of Shane Walsh. It was the episode which kicked off the All Out War saga as Rick knocked on Negan’s door with bullets and gave fans the action they seemed to be begging for in Season Seven.

However, the Season Eight premiere felt a touch underwhelming given its nature as both a milestone episode and season premiere episode. Rick’s group marched on Negan’s but nothing really came of it. The show had a much larger and longer lasting plan for the war which the team refused to wrap up in just one, two, or fifteen episodes. Fans never really got a feeling of Rick or Negan being in real danger which took a bit of the thrill away as hundreds of bullets from Rick’s army simply missed each of Negan’s key soldiers.

The episode itself certainly wasn’t bad, though. It set the stage for Season Eight and changed the tone of the show, somewhat, which were its true goals. After all, Rick Grimes had finally returned to form. 

Result: Good. 

Conclusions

With Season Eight spending so much time to build toward its finale, it’s only fair it properly concluded each of the narrative threads.

Episode 8×16 felt, in many ways, like a series finale. If the show were to end there, fans would have been left satisfied as Rick Grimes went on to build the new world, honoring his son Carl, and Negan became a prisoner. Of course, the civil war story being teased would have been a nagging mystery everyone had to wonder about as the years passed, but each characters’ story was given an ending.

With Carl influencing the outcomes of so many characters and the world being all set for a proper rebuilding, The Walking Dead Season Eight finale ended the first chapter of the AMC show which began with a man in the hospital looking for his wife and son. 

Topping it off, the journey through Season Eight also provided some serious character development through several episodes which were written by future showrunner Angela Kang. Episode 8×05 (The Big Scary U), for example, allowed Negan to finally open up. Episode 8×14 (Still Gotta Mean Something) called back on some of the show’s earliest moments to advance Rick and Morgan. Characters are what will keep The Walking Dead alive. 

Result: Good.

Subplots

Recent seasons of The Walking Dead could have done without some subplots, though.

As interesting as Morgan Jones can be at times, his ghosts, for example, were confusing and unnecessary. Furthermore, every time the show went to Oceanside, the pace was completely halted. Audiences were left wondering why anyone would try to bother these all but useless survivors who insisted only on not being bothered. Ultimately, it conveniently paid off in the Season Eight finale, but was more of a distraction in previous episodes than anything else. 

Other subplots like Dwight’s missing wife and Gabriel’s episode of going blind but being able to see had serious potential. Then the show goes and banishes Dwight while forgiving the other Saviors and renders Gabriel’s fun-to-watch journey useless, if not only to provide a means for Eugene to accidentally discover exploding bullets.

Result: Bad.

Expansion

The Walking Dead gets some of its best moments from expanding its world. This doesn’t mean spinoffs; it means mystery. 

Season Eight introduced a couple of brand new mysteries which may or may not be tied together. First, a helicopter came to town and made Rick think he might be crazy. Of course, he wasn’t, as that same chopper was somehow related to Jadis of the trash heap. 

Furthermore, a well-dressed and mannered woman by the name of Georgie would randomly appear and lend some knowledge to the Hilltop community’s leadership. She clearly came from a thriving community and had seen a huge portion of the world prior to communicating with Maggie.

Whether or not Georgie is connected to the helicopter, the tease of a larger world which audiences and characters know so little about presents the AMC show with a huge opportunity to spark interest through exploration as it did in its earliest seasons. 

Darkness

For some reason, The Walking Dead just can’t seem to get its night shoots down.

Sometimes, the AMC show brilliantly crafts unforgettable and haunting scenes which take place at night. For example, Negan’s introduction was brilliantly lit, using car lights as a means to illuminate the faces. Then comes the battle at the Hilltop in Episode 8×13 (Do Not Send Us Astray) and it’s hard to tell who is who and whether or not the bad guys are killing the good guys.

Some fans couldn’t even tell that Dwight had shot Tara with an arrow in a moment which should have been devastating as she was presumed to die.

There is no doubt the team behind The Walking Dead has strong artistic abilities. Their practical effects are unparalleled on television, yet the darkness still seems to kill them sometimes.

Result: Bad. 

Carl

The Walking Dead pulled off its most shocking death to date when Carl was suddenly bitten in the woods.

After years of surviving this apocalypse, the kid literally tripped, fell, and got bit. It’s an admittedly frustrating creative decision as he could have had a more epic sendoff but his death send worthy shockwaves through the show which shaped the entire back half of Season Eight.

While it’s hard to imagine a purpose for Rick Grimes without his son’s future driving him forward, Carl’s death shaped the outcome of the war and will hopefully have a long-lasting legacy for Rick as he attempts to rebuild the world. It’s still too soon to tell, though, whether or not Carl’s death will be where The Walking Dead decided it can make bold choices which lead to a better, brighter future or if this was the moment which lead to its own demise. 

Result: TBD

The Finale

The Walking Dead Season Eight finale delivered on all cylinders.

The journey to Episode 8×16 was a long one. It began in 2015, in a post-credits scene from Episode 6×08. Negan would be introduced months later. Glenn and Abraham were killed months after that. And for nearly two years the show’s leading character would go back and forth with nothing really happening aside from their supporting characters getting hurt.

Season Eight went as far as killing Carl to provide a climactic and divisive finale where Rick allowed Negan to live. The best part of it, though, might be that the AMC show finally proved it doesn’t have to kill anyone to deliver compelling content. The villain was humanized while the protagonist bordered darkness. Fans were conflicted as they couldn’t decide who should live which was a true testament to Robert Kirkman’s work in his comic book source material.

Loaded with twists, including Eugene’s unexpected saving of Team Family, the Season Eight finale was a popcorn thriller with splashes of emotion and important conclusions.

While there is certainly room for pacing improvement and character growth, The Walking Dead put in a bid to prove it is still the show you need to be watching on Sunday nights as its cast members pour out heartfelt performances, the world continues to grow, and the threats are everlasting. 

Result: Good.