‘The Walking Dead 8×10: The Lost & The Plunderers’ Review
Now that The Walking Dead has featured one of its biggest deaths to date, the fallout continues. The question is of course how the characters deal with their loss, and what does it show of them. In this episode we see sides of people that we may not like, and some surprising revelations.
Consolidating forces, both Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) move to pull the heap people into check. Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) also face the repercussions of their actions against the Oceanside people.
If last week’s episode dealt with the build up towards death, this episode is about how people deal with loss. This is why the episode is presented in blocks, each taken from a different point of view. We get to see how Michonne (Danai Gurira) deals with her loss, how Enid shows her humanity, and how the scrap heap people are more human than we give them credit for. This of course is the real strength of The Walking Dead, it is all about humanity.
When it comes to the scrap heap, this is where many revelations are made. One of them gives a clue to the helicopter that has been seen in past episodes. This is a tease that something bigger maybe hiding underneath the junk that is on show, even if Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) may not be aware of it.
Simon’s (Steven Ogg) actions against the Jadis’ people shows a lot about his character, and hints at cracks starting to appear in Negan’s command system. It will be interesting to see how Negan reacts when he finds out about what happened, but that is being saved for future episodes. This is more about how people deal with death.
What we get to see in this episode of The Walking Dead is a side of Jadis that we haven’t seen. This is good news for fans of McIntosh who get to see her remove that shield from her character’s emotions and be able to show vulnerability. While she has been a strange character up until now, we see McIntosh steal the scenes she is in as she has to cope with death, and the loss of everything she knows. We should be seeing this same side of Rick, but from experience we know how he deals with loss.
Rick is a character that is hypocritical in many ways. His battle against Negan puts him on a high moral ground, but in truth does he deserve that? We see in his actions against Jadis this week that if anything, he is just as bad as Negan. While Negan uses the blunt force of Lucille, Rick’s actions can be just as deadly. He may try to prove his actions, but in the end, he is ignoring what Carl asked of him, and showing a side just as deadly as Negan’s.
The end of this episode of The Walking Dead also brought what we were waiting for, and that was communication between Rick and Negan. The emotion that Negan shows in hearing about Carl’s fate shows his humanity, and reveals a lot about the character. This is why it is so easy to compare Rick and Negan, they both believe they are saving people, but where Negan uses blunt force to be the “saviour” of his people, Rick shows compassion which can also be replaced with a stab in the back when he feels necessary.
Negan’s words to Rick to end the episode also show something that some may find surprising. Negan is showing more humanity than Rick has. The thing that may hurt Rick worse though is the fact Negan’s words are the truth, and it seems that Carl’s wishes may never be fulfilled.
This was a good episode of The Walking Dead, especially the way it handled the fallout of last week’s events. It is the payoff from the cost of Negan and Rick’s war, and the repercussions of it. Will Jadis find a home with Rick’s group now? She may decide to go it alone for now, but when Rick is acting how he is, who wants to be on his side anyway?
***** 5/5
The Walking Dead airs in the UK on Fox TV, Mondays at 9pm.