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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
The Walking Dead
Season 8, Episode 11
By Garrett Yoshitomi
It’s been about three months since
we last saw Father Gabriel during the midseason finale. And, while it’s hard to
jump back into his current situation after such a long layoff, Gabriel’s storyline
in “Dead or Alive Or” is relatively self-contained, and still enjoyable, even
if you don’t remember exactly what it is he’s doing, why he looks like he’s
dying, or who the random guy he’s travelling with is. To answer these
questions: Gabriel has just escaped from the Sanctuary, and is en route to the
Hilltop. He looks like he’s dying because…well, he is. If you’ll remember, back
in the fifth episode of the season, Gabriel and Negan covered themselves in
walker guts, in order to sneak past the herd surrounding the Sanctuary. The
next time we see Gabriel, he appears deathly ill, and we’re meant to believe
that it’s because of the intimate contact he made with the contaminated walker
insides.
And that random guy he’s travelling
with? Why, that’s no ordinary random guy! No, it’s a Walking Dead minor character, random guy- with a first name, a last
name, and even a few lines of a generic backstory! This man is none other than
Harlon Carson, kidnapped doctor for the Saviors, and Walking Dead plot device. His only real purpose on this show, along
with his brother, who was also a doctor, (No, seriously. There are two Carson
brothers on this show, and they’re both doctors.) is to play the role of resident
physician, there to nurse people back to health, whenever the plot calls for
it. However, in his swan song episode, Dr. Carson gets to provide a new
function- the catalyst for Father
Gabriel’s upcoming crisis of faith.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Arguably the character, other than
Carol, who’s evolved the most since their introduction, Gabriel stands out
amongst a cast of jaded, pragmatic survivors because of his continued devotion
t0 God. And, even though Gabriel spent a good portion of seasons five and six
as a sniveling, self-righteous detractor of the group’s necessary, though
grisly, survival methods; he’s since turned into a willing and capable fighter,
and a trusted member of the group. Gabriel’s faith is played up quite a bit in this
episode- more than it has been in a while. It’s charming at first but gets old
once everything that can break his way, does. But, Gabriel and Dr. Carson’s
good fortune is eventually spoiled by the Saviors, and it will be interesting
to see how Gabriel responds. It’s clear that his faith is shaken, as his insistence
on following certain “signs” is ultimately what leads to Dr. Carson’s death. At
the very least, he’s in a prime spot for redemption, though, as he’s currently smack
dab in the middle of the Savior’s bullet manufacturing operation. The potential
Gabriel-Eugene character pairing is intriguing, as well, as they are both two
formerly useless characters, who can be quite influential, given the right
circumstances.
It’s easy to hate on Tara because of
how extreme, and unreasonable, her mistrust of Dwight is. If she were to
actually kill Dwight that would be one thing, but to constantly talk about it,
and then do nothing, comes across as whiny and hollow, which doesn’t help her character
in the likeability department- something that she’s sorely lacking. Besides,
Dwight seems earnest in his allegiance to the group, or at the very least, in
his hatred for Negan. He seems like a good bet to stay safe for now, no matter
how much Tara waves her gun in his face. So, what’s the point of having Tara
raise a huge fuss about Dwight, if the writers aren’t going to ultimately allow
her to act on these feelings?
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Simply put, Tara’s role, in this
episode, is to serve as a foil to Daryl and Rosita. She provides resistance and
a sense of dramatic tension, when it comes to their decision to keep Dwight in
the fold. We’ve seen this kind of storytelling mechanic in The Walking Dead before, mainly whenever a character abruptly speaks
out against killing, after never having had an issue with it before. However,
even if it’s a common practice, it’s never fun watching a character act
somewhat irrationally and argue with other characters, who they could just as
easily agree with, just for the sake of having them argue with someone.
With all that said, I really didn’t
mind Tara that much, this week. Yes, I do think her attitude towards Dwight is over
the top, but at least she’s getting some kind of story arc thrown her way this
season. Believe it or not, with so much recent character turnover, Tara is now
one of the longest recurring characters in The
Walking Dead. Only Rick, Carol, Daryl, Maggie, and Michonne were introduced
before her. (Technically, Morgan should be included on that list, but he was
only around for an episode each in season one and three, before disappearing
until three sporadic appearances in season five.) However, despite this
longevity, it really doesn’t feel like Tara’s…done much in the four years since
she’s been on the show. Clearly giving her more exposure, in the form of her
solo episode, “Swear,” back in season seven, did her character development no
good. But, maybe this new arc, in which she transforms from staunchly
anti-Dwight, to someone willing to work with the former Savior lieutenant, will
give Tara’s character the kind of complexity that will allow her to play a
bigger role in the storylines to come.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
If there’s one major thing that I
took away from this episode, it’s that I really miss the days when our
protagonists were all together in one, solid group. I’m talking about back in
season five, when the Rick Grimes crew was on the run from Terminus, and had to
travel constantly, with only their wits and some meager supplies. I’m not going
to be entirely revisionist by saying that season five was any better than the
current season. There were some major problems with season five, including the
god-awful Beth-hospital arc. But, I think what season five did really well was
build a genuine sense of friendship within the group- a feeling that these
characters would truly do anything for each other.
And, while there hasn’t been
anything recently to really negate that feeling- it’s still pretty obvious that
these characters care about each other- we only really see it in pairs or small
groups. When we finally get a reunion with a significant portion of the cast,
like we do this week at the Hilltop, the interactions between these longtime
travel companions doesn’t feel like the surrogate family it used to, and that’s
unfortunate because as their world has expanded, and the stakes have been raised,
we should always be able to contextualize these dangers within the very real
relationships and feelings shared between these characters.
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