The Walking Dead, S8 Ep10 – The Lost and the Plunderers

The Walking Dead dealt with the aftermath of last week’s major death while experimenting with multiple points of view and a tragic end to the trash colony. Two fascinating aspects of this episode were the fall of Jadis, and Negan’s sincere reaction to the news of Carl’s death. But more on these later.

This episode introduced a new structure where the names of each POV character were flashed on the screen before proceeding with their scenes. Using such an innovative approach worked well for the show, since it helped the audience understand and appreciate not just the differing perspectives of the characters, but also more or less how the events played out over a certain period of time.

We witnessed Michonne and Rick dealing with Carl’s death, first by going on a walker-slaughter rampage and then leaving Alexandria in sorrowful silence. They proceeded to the dump to try and discuss things with the annoying trash people, who got their comeuppance in this episode.

The dullest part of the episode was watching Enid and Aaron get captured by the Oceanside women but eventually a negotiation was made. We don’t know much about the Oceanside community but with the trash people out of the mix and with the Kingdom’s forces severely depleted, they might prove to be the reinforcements Rick and co. need to face the Saviors.

We also got glimpses of the Saviors’ camp both from Negan and Simon’s point of view, with both characters butting heads on the approach to take with the trash people. Simon was of a more genocidal inclination, while Negan proved that he was more pragmatic and he actually wanted to avoid bloodshed in favor of better cooperation between the groups. But Simon won the day, though he will surely get into conflict with Negan later on after defying the latter’s orders.

And it’s rare that anyone is on the side of the Saviors but I think many of us agree that the trash people were among the most irritating groups of survivors on The Walking Dead. Seeing them dispatched was almost a delight, given how they betrayed Rick for their own gain, and mainly for the super-annoying monosyllabic way they spoke. What was that even for? But because of Jadis’ stubbornness and determination to keep using her ridiculous, made-up language, she finally pissed Simon off and he proceeded with massacring all her people before her very eyes.

Rick and Michonne later stumble upon the now undead-filled dump and even get to talk normally with Jadis. She finally talks in full sentences and describes how she wanted the dump to be the canvas on which she made her art. But no amount of backstory would get Rick to forgive her betrayal, and he practically set the other walkers on her and Michonne didn’t even protest. In one of the more creative uses of gore on The Walking Dead, Jadis leads all her walker followers into a thresher where they effectively become churned into walker sludge. She survives all this and one wonders if she still has a role to play on the show.

The other powerful part of this episode was Rick and Negan’s conversation after Rick discovers that Carl actually wrote a letter to the latter, asking him to stop. Another rarity occurred: seeing genuine sadness on Negan’s face when he heard the news of Carl’s death. He had developed a real fondness for the kid, and mourned knowing that Carl fell victim to the cruelty of The Walking Dead world and not just to one of the Saviors. Negan blamed Rick’s negligence and failure as a parent for this tragedy and this last heated exchange is definitely setting them up for a truly momentous showdown, but one not solely about their power play but also as a response to a real tragedy.