The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 10 Review: The Lost and the Plunderers
Steve Ford
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Well, so much for honoring Carl's dying wish.
On The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 10, Rick and Michonne took a little trip to visit Jadis, Enid and Aaron tried in vain to recruit the Oceanside members in the fight against the Saviors, and Simon ended up going off the deep end.
The format of this episode was unlike anything we've seen before on The Walking Dead, and while I wasn't a particular fan of jumping around in time, it served its purpose -- for better or worse -- in pushing the story forward.
Rick and Michonne were still mourning the loss of Carl. After burying his son, I'm glad Rick decided to take Carl's gun, instead of leaving it at his grave as he initially intended.
Weapons are scarce as is, so deciding to take the gun was obviously the better choice. But I think it had more to do with Rick taking a piece of Carl with him and keeping something that belonged to Carl close. What else does Rick have to remember Carl by really?
They have weapons, people. We can't just give that up.
Rick
I was completely thrown off by Rick's decision to once again try to convince Jadis to fight with him. When Rick first mentioned going to talk with Jadis, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
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We've been down this road far too many times, and it always ends the same way.
But I guess we had to get back to them at some point. After they bailed and left Rick high and dry on The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 8, it was only a matter of time before Rick returned to the junkyard.
While Rick's tenacity is admirable, he's doesn't have the best track record of thinking things through.
At least he didn't go in alone this time as he did on The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 6.
Thankfully, this would be the last time we'd have to visit this dump. But at the very least, we finally got answers to a few lingering questions surrounding Jadis and her oddball group.
At the Sanctuary, Simon was hell-bent on enacting some revenge on the Hilltop for their disobedience. Negan was less hostile because as nuts as Negan can be, he still understands the value in other people as a commodity.
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Naturally, Simon's suggestion of cutting their losses with Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom and moving on to find new communities to deal with didn't sit too well with the boss.
Oh I am doing my best to hold it together right now.
Negan
Negan believes in his heart that he's building toward a better world, and he wasn't about to just wash his hands of all of this.
There's an obvious rift between Negan and Simon. We first saw it forming on The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 5, but it's quickly snowballed into intense animosity between the two.
Simon was tasked with visiting the Scavengers for their betrayal by helping Rick, but when Negan made it clear to kill only one of Jadis' group to set an example, we knew it wasn't going to be as clean cut as that.
Things started out cordial enough, but when Simon had his men confiscated their guns, things only escalated from there.
When Simon wasn't getting the sincere apology that he was looking for, he had his men mow down Jadis' entire group.
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I'm glad that we finally saw some actual emotion from Jadis, who had been a one-note character up until this point. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of her people.
If you paid attention to any of the earlier clues and foreshadowing, the fall of the Scavengers came as no surprise.
Before Rick and Michonne even entered the dump, I already knew Jadis' people were the walkers that were shambling around. Ironically, the very structuring that attempted to hide this reveal ended up giving it away.
I give the writers an A for effort, but it just didn't work the way it was intended.
Somehow, Jadis miraculously survived and hid on top of the heap. I'm not sure if Simon intentionally left Jadis alive or if she just managed to escape the execution. When Rick and Michonne found her, I was quite surprised when Jadis began speaking to them normally.
Two of the lingering questions I've had regarding the Scavengers is why they talked so primitively, and why, of all places, do they live in the garbage dump?
Being that the dumpsite was so closed off from everything else, it was like Jadis' own little world that she could create and shape how she saw fit. It was something that could be entirely different, right down to their way of communication.
It might not be the best explanation, but it's an explanation nonetheless.
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As much as Jadis' reasoning tried to justify her people's behavior, I still don't have any sympathy for her being left all alone. Jadis being forced to kill the walkers was meant to draw out some compassion. And while seeing the walkers fall into the grinder was awesome, it didn't make me feel anything for Jadis.
She brought it all on herself, and the entire situation merely echoed what Enid earlier said to the Oceanside.
Why would you kill us? To punish us? Don't you get it? Killing is the punishment.
Enid
While on the topic of Oceanside, Aaron and Enid were able to convince interim leader Cyndie to release them, but she was far less willing to join them in their cause.
Aaron isn't giving up just yet though, as he intends to persuade them to reconsider. Now that the Scavengers are no more, they're going to need all the help they can get.
Carl's dead, he wrote letters. He wrote one to you, he asked you to stop, he asked me to stop. He asked us for peace. But it's too late for that. Even if we wanted a deal now it doesn't matter. I'm gonna kill you.
Rick
It was interesting that Carl wrote Negan a note, though I am extremely curious as to its contents. In short, we know Carl asked for Negan to stop fighting. Whatever the rest of the letter entailed is a mystery, but it was enough to prompt Rick to forgo his promise to Carl and go back to his intention of killing Negan.
Negan showed obvious remorse and sadness upon hearing of Carl's death. The character has come a long way since being presented merely as a monster in his debut on the series, and Negan is gradually being humanized as the season progresses.
Negan even appeared to extend an olive branch, but Rick wants nothing more than seeing Negan's head on a spike.
As it stands right now, Negan won't be picking any tomatoes in Alexandria anytime soon.
Now it's your turn TV Fanatics!
What did you think of "The Lost and the Plunderers"? Are you surprised that Rick doesn't intend to honor Carl's final wish? What will happen when Negan finds out about Simon's antics? What's next for Jadis now that her people are gone?
Sound off below and let me know!
The Walking Dead returns with a new episode next Sunday, March 11th on AMC at 9/8c.
You can always watch The Walking Dead online right here at TV Fanatic.
