Dead Stuff ‘n’ Thangs: “The Damned” #TWD S8, Ep 2

My obsession with The Walking Dead gave me an idea for a weekly post I’m guaranteed to stick with… Dead Stuff ‘n’ Thangs, in which I write about my thoughts on the latest episode of The Walking Dead. (I only wish I’d thought of it last week when the new season kicked off. I’ll get to that one later, though.) I love the show so there won’t be any “the show isn’t as great as it used to be’ nonsense here, but I also adore nitpicking the things that don’t make sense to me so I will be doing that when something stupid (in my opinion) happens. Let’s get started! (I may or may not discuss events in order… I’m just going with the flow of my thoughts here.)

Season 8, Episode 2:  “The Damned”
Airdate: October 29th, 2017

“The Damned” has our survivors split into four groups, three of which are tasked with taking out remote outposts of the Saviors. This is to prevent them from going to the compound, where Negan and the remaining Saviors (and Father Gabriel!) are surrounded by a horde of walkers. Rick and Daryl are at another location, searching for a weapons cache Dwight told them was located there.

Aaron’s Group

Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) Photo by Gene Page/AMC

Aaron’s crew had a hell of a battle at their designated outpost, and a simple plan: pick off a few Saviors and wait for them to turn, and let the walker-Saviors take out the rest. (Let’s not discuss how long it took me to figure out what they were doing, though, okay?) Eric had some great moments of bravery and badassery, so I knew he was about to die. (OK, he’s not dead yet, but the poor guy was gut shot. No way is he surviving that.) I feel bad for Aaron, because you know he’s going to blame himself for it. I am curious to see whether it takes the fight out of him, or makes him more determined than ever to defeat Negan and the Saviors. (I’m betting on the latter.)

Carol and Ezekiel

Alvaro (Carlos Navarro), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) Photo by Gene Page/AMC

One of the best parts of this portion of the story? Ezekiel dropping his kingly facade and telling Carol “fake it til’ you make it, baby.” I love scenes where he’s just himself with Carol. They’re always so much fun. And of course, it was awesome seeing Shiva again!

Tara, Morgan, and Jesus

Morgan Jones (Lennie James) and Paul “Jesus” Monroe (Tom Payne) Photo by Gene Page/AMC

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… what were you thinking? Showing mercy to a Savior who pretended to be an innocent, only to have him put a gun to your head? Taking an entire group of Saviors prisoner, rather than killing them? I’m thinking that’s not going to end well. If the situation were reversed, Jesus and the others would have been killed. Period. I understand where he’s coming from, but, um…. you’re at war with these people, dude. And they don’t understand mercy.

And Morgan seems like he’s thisclose to going full-on, batshit crazy again. I was surprised when he didn’t kill the long haired jackass who killed Benjamin last season, though… for now, at least. Maybe he’ll kill him in episode three… who knows?

Rick and Baby Gracie

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)

Right after Rick strangles and impales a Savior to the wall, he walks into a room and finds Gracie—presumably the daughter of the man he’d just killed. First… the burning question that must be asked: Why is a BABY there?! I mean, I know it’s the walker apocalypse and all, but dude… get a babysitter! I’m sure there’s a worker somewhere amongst Negan’s group who would have been happy to watch a baby instead of, I don’t know… working the fence or whatever.

Sarcasm aside and despite the oddity of a baby’s nursery being in a place where Negan stores his big guns (supposedly… you’d think Rick or Daryl would have found at least one during their exhaustive search of the place), I thought it was a great scene. Can you imagine the horror Rick must have felt when he realized he’d just killed a man who was likely trying to protect his daughter from him? Knowing that he would (and has) done the same for the sake of Carl and Judith? I’m sure this moment will haunt him for quite some time.

And I’m wondering what’s going to happen with the baby! Someone will take her and care for her… but who?

The Return of Morales

Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) Photo by Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Of everything that happened in the show, THIS was the biggest shocker for me.

Ever since Morales and his family decided to head off on their own rather than accompany the group to the CDC, I’ve wondered what might have happened to them. Were they able to make it to Birmingham? Did they find any of their family members there? More importantly… did they survive? Would we ever see them again? Even though Morales and his family were only on the show for a brief time, it was long enough for me to care about what happened to them.

The fate of his wife and children remains unknown, but Morales is most definitely alive… and he’s with the Saviors. Dude, what the hell?! You used to be such a nice guy… now you’re a freakin’ Savior? Ugh. This totally made me regret all the times I wished Morales would find Rick and the others again…

I’m wondering what happened to bring Morales to this point. Did he lose his family to walkers and decide to take his grief and anger out on the rest of the (living) world? Was he part of a group that got introduced to Negan (and Lucille), and decided it was in his best interests to join him ( à la Eugene)? Or was he, like Rick, driven to do whatever it takes to survive, for the sake of his family… which ultimately led him to become a Savior?

So many questions! All I know is this: Morales has called in the cavalry, and he’s ready to shoot Rick. And while a gun in his face will give him pause, Rick has been in far worse situations and lived to tell the tale. Not to mention, Daryl is around there somewhere. Considering all that, Morales’ return may end up being even shorter than his initial stay with the group at the Atlanta camp!

That’s all for now. Be sure to come back next week when I share my thoughts on episode three. Until then, here’s a sneak peek at next week’s episode, “Monsters”… enjoy!