First of all I wanna say I can tell people are gonna hate on this episode like they did with season 6 episode 8, mainly because of the cliffhanger at the end, the short death of Pope and Negan's screen time. Personally I do not care about any of these things since thinking it over after watching I believe I have an idea of why they made the choice to do these things and why I think it is a good thing and a great setup to the next episode, even if it is a long wait. Pope did not need to have a long flashy fight scene before his death because the main purpose of it was to portray Leah and her stepping up and doing what she believes she has to do for her family, and the conflict between it and Daryl. The cliffhanger and little amount of screen time for Negan bugged me a little at first, but after thinking it over I feel like the writers are going for a 'No Way Out' type episode as an opener for the next section of the season. I think the reason Negan did not get much screen time is because we will be shown lots of his and Maggie's perspective in the following episode which will build up their arc even more, because I highly doubt the writers would be stupid enough to kill the two characters who have created one of the biggest arcs so far this season. I saw someone say that the reapers were seen as "weak" in this episode but I think the following episode will show some great combat scenes as Maggie, Negan and Gabriel are trying to escape with the supplies and we can see more of the remaining reapers skill sets like what we have already seen earlier on in the season. I really feel as if they are going for a 'Start to finish' feel for this episode to build up for the next episode as much as they can. The show runners have done this before in season 6 episode 8, which was seen as a "weak mid season finale" by some fans and ratings, also containing a cliffhanger as Rick and the others walk out into the herd, but then they gave us one of the best next episodes in the show, "No Way Out",which the previous episode had set up perfectly for. People need to just wait and think things through before they critique stuff, and know that there doesn't have to be a certain structure in every season with an insane midseason finale to end the first half of the season. Overall I really enjoyed this episode and I really do hope they are going for a "No Way Out" feel for the next episode with another amazing soundtrack to top it all off. This season has been so so good so far, for me it feels like the old Walking Dead is back despite Rick not being in it, the writing is once again so good and strong, there are so many varying strong character and plot arcs already brewing in the storyline which I'm sure will only get better and better as the season progresses, the tension, horror, and the brutality of human choices have been introduced again, and example of this being when the group left Gage to die in episode 2, which is the reason why I loved the show so much in the first place and the way they explored the whole topic of what makes us humane as people, and finally the references made to plots and characters in the previous seasons has been an extra touch which I am really glad they added. Didn't think I was gonna write this much but this season has been great so far. Also as much as I loved the cinematography and the grain used in the early seasons the visuals and setting this season are incredible. 10/10. In my opinion if they have gone for a "No Way Out" feel for the next episode then The Walking Dead is back for me.
Review of For Blood
Feel like their going for a 'Start to finish' feel on this episode...
3 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers