S08.E01: Mercy

[nodorothyparker]

Rick and his group, along with the Kingdom and Hilltop, have banded together to bring the fight to Negan and the Saviors.

[AimingforYoko]

I gotta hand it to Rick and co., it was a solid plan. I have no complaints. Maggie or Jesus must've come up with it.

Father Gabriel is OK, at least for the short term, no way Negan deprives himself of a listener for his bullshit.

[Straycat80]

I thought this was a good episode up until the group went to Negan's compound, everyone had a clear shot at Negan and didn't do it. And when Father PP stopped to save Gregory, gah! 

[Armchair Critic]

I hope you've got your shitting pants on

Negan, eloquent as ever. (eyeroll)

Aw I love older Judith.

[minamurray78]

"IN MEMORY OF GEORGE ROMERO"

Most emotional part of the episode.

[WritinMan]

Another annoying and frustrating episode. Characters on this show come up with the dumbest plans and then do dumb things while trying to carry out those plans.

[jcin617]

4 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I gotta hand it to Rick and co., it was a solid plan. I have no complaints. Maggie or Jesus must've come up with it.

Father Gabriel is OK, at least for the short term, no way Negan deprives himself of a listener for his bullshit.

What plan?  They had Negan dead to rights and did not shoot him.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Moral of this episode -- never trust Gregory ever, because he will fuck you over to save his own ass.

[SimoneS]

This was a good episode until Negan showed up and they didn't even try to kill him. They just refuse to kill that fucker. 

Edited October 23, 2017 by SimoneS

[TigerLynx]

Damn.  Not only is Negan not dead, but his fondness for yakking has infected just about every other character.

I did like the plan, and that everyone was working together, but then they had the perfect opportunity to shoot Negan and didn't.

Is this season going to be one or two days of the war, or will the war go on longer than that?

Shiva thinking as she is lying in the truck bed, "I hope they have plenty of food stocked up for me because it's going to take me some time to find another group of people to feed and take care of me if these guys all end up dead."

Edited October 23, 2017 by TigerLynx

[StatMom]

1 minute ago, jcin617 said:

What plan?  They had Negan dead to rights and did not shoot him.

It's happened several times now! You can't set them up as having a dead Negan their only goal in life, then they don't take every chance to do it.

And would it kill them to have ONE episode without any rewind/fast forward moments? Just tell it in order. At this point, THAT would be the novel approach.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Overall underwhelming, like the S6 premiere.

[TigerLynx]

Damn.  Not only is Negan not dead, but his fondness for yakking has infected just about every other character.

I did like the plan, and that everyone was working together, but then they had the perfect opportunity to shoot Negan and didn't.

Is this season going to be one or two days of the war, or will the war go on longer than that?

Shiva thinking as she is lying in the truck bed, "I hope they have plenty of food stocked up for me because it's going to take me some time to find another group of people to feed and take care of me if these guys all end up dead."

[AimingforYoko]

7 minutes ago, jcin617 said:

What plan?  They had Negan dead to rights and did not shoot him.

You think Simon and co. are just going to bend over if Negan's dead? This is a war.

[raven]

6 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Moral of this episode -- never trust Gregory ever, because he will fuck you over to save his own ass.

He is a sniveler but to be fair, most people not named Fr Gabriel would do so as well.

[WritinMan]

Just now, AimingforYoko said:

You think Simon and co. are just going to bend over if Negan's dead?

Yes. These are not brave people.

[xaxat]

Gregory getting pushed down the stairs was the best laugh I had all day.

[DearEvette]

Until the show decides to remove Negan's plot armor, we are stuck with the guy.  With that in mind and understanding that this is what made the episode somewhat illogical and frustrating (cuz let's face it, Rick had a clear shot),it was still an entertaining episode  I did enjoy watching them unfurl the pieces of their plan.  Especially liked Dwight and Daryl's arrow-grams and the plucking out of Negan's scouts one by one.

I have to giggle when I see that Judith has only aged, like 2, years whereas Carl has clearly aged like 8 years in the same time period.

[jcin617]

3 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

You think Simon and co. are just going to bend over if Negan's dead? This is a war.

They could have shot him too!   Their whole leadership was just lined up there doing nothing!   So infuriating!

Edited October 23, 2017 by jcin617

[AngelaHunter]

Why am I so confused? Am I too dull to get the artistic vision here? Why do we keep seeing Rick looking exactly like Viggo Mortensen?

Why did Rick say to Daryl, "Negan was on the ground and I tried to kill him?" when he had Negan with no weapon and bigger than life standing right in his sites for what seemed an hour and when they all open fire, they use up hundreds of rounds of ammo shooting out windows? Why?

Why does Maggie sound more and more like EllyMae Clampett? Where is her belly? How preggo is she?

Why did Morgan do a complete about face on his stand that all life is precious and previously be willing to kill Carol to protect a Wolf?

In all these months why could no one find a wig for the King that looks even vaguely like something one might find on a human head?

But awww - Daryl and Dwight passing notes with arrows.

Why did Father Pee have to actually leave his car to chat with Pervey Gregory? What was the point?

I don't know what the hell is going on and maybe it's just as well.

Edited October 23, 2017 by AngelaHunter

[raven]

I liked the episode but it is ridiculous to put Negan and his lieutenants front and center and not have anyone shoot them.  At least have them behind something, anything.

Still, it was fun.

[Ohwell]

6 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Why does Maggie sound more and more like EllyMae Clampett? Where is her belly? How preggo is she?

 

6 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

In all these months why could no one find a wig for the King that looks even vaguely like something one might find on a human head?

Yes, whyyyyyyy???? to all this, in particular!

[Tesla]

Thankful for the lack of Trash Pandas in this episode.  

[nodorothyparker]

Probably the most solid season premier since maybe season 5 and the destruction of Terminus.  Is it great TV, probably not, but it actually held my attention.

Rick's plan was initially hard to follow, probably at least in part because my husband would not stop making cracks comparing the random bits of metal welded to all the vehicles to the A-Team, but it seemed less convoluted or based on hand waving than his plans usually are.  Or maybe I was distracted by nearly everyone actually having something to do for once, I don't know.  I do enjoy a good team effort.  But it's still not a good plan, Rick, if you have Negan and all his top henchmen lined up in front of you and you don't take your shot.  And then you hang around after he's found decent cover and fire round after round?  

I kind of enjoy that Gregory remains a completely selfish asshole looking out for number one, regardless of whose side he's on.

[TigerLynx]

4 minutes ago, raven said:

I liked the episode but it is ridiculous to put Negan and his lieutenants front and center and not have anyone shoot them.  At least have them behind something, anything.

Still, it was fun.

When Negan and his band of psychos were all lined up like ducks in a row, I would have loved for someone to start shooting them, go right down the line and kill them all.  Then say, "Who thought it would be so easy.  Those guys were way to arrogant for their own good, and we are fucking stupid for letting this drag out so long."

[leela46]

Didn't FPP have a gun? The moment Negan made his shitting pants comment, just shoot him. God would understand.

[ShadowHunter]

To me Maggie as a leader doesn't work.

I liked the look the King gave Carol.

I still don't trust Dwight could be I just don't like him.

Thrilled Morgan is back as well as Carol.  We have a reason to Thank Negan lol.

[Tesla]

If only they had weapons in their hands capable of ending the entire leadership of the Saviors as they stood there IN THE OPEN.  ?

[AngelaHunter]

10 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Gregory getting pushed down the stairs was the best laugh I had all day.

It was the best part of the episode. Just seeing him shoved out the frame and not actually falling down the stairs made it even funnier. All they needed was the Wilhelm Scream.

[MostlyContent]

I enjoyed the episode!

I think the reason why they didn't immediately shoot Negan and his posse was a timing issue.  They were waiting for the herd to advance.

[raven]

1 minute ago, leela46 said:

God would understand.

God would pull the trigger.

[mmecorday]

So our fearless heroes have explosives. Why didn't they use them to, oh, I don't know -- BLOW UP NEGAN'S COMPOUND? No, just waste several thousand rounds of ammo that could be useful later. In their down time, it might be useful for them to find some books about how actual wars were waged and won.

And Negan, Gabriel doesn't wear pooping pants. He wears pee-pee pants. Get with the program, dickhole.

[Ms Lark]

23 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Moral of this episode -- never trust Gregory ever, because he will fuck you over to save his own ass.

Quote

Shiva thinking as she is lying in the truck bed, "I hope they have plenty of food stocked up for me because it's going to take me some time to find another group of people to feed and take care of me if these guys all end up dead."

Maybe Shiva will have Gregory for dinner sometime soon!

Edited October 23, 2017 by Ms Lark

[TigerLynx]

Oh please let Shiva eat Gregory and Negan.  She would actually get the job done.

The one good thing about this episode is Negan is looking weaker and dumber.  Unfortunately, so are all the idiots who could have shot Negan and didn't.

[tennisgurl]

Dear Lord, stuck between Negan and a zombie horde. Talk about a fate worse than death! *Negan speechifying for 20 minuets about piss and dicks* “hello zombies!” *throws self into horde*

[Red Fields]

I called it being Nicatero’s head!

[SimoneS]

8 minutes ago, leela46 said:

Didn't FPP have a gun? The moment Negan made his shitting pants comment, just shoot him. God would understand.

I was yelling, "just shoot the nattering fucker!" But of course, it was too easy.

[TigerLynx]

3 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Dear Lord, stuck between Negan and a zombie horde. Talk about a fate worse than death! *Negan speechifying for 20 minuets about piss and dicks* “hello zombies!” *throws self into horde*

FPP shoots self in the head, then Zombie FPP throws himself into Zombie horde screaming please make it stop, this idiot just will not shut up.

Edited October 23, 2017 by TigerLynx

[RedheadZombie]

Clearly Rick's been planning again.  I do not understand the logic here.  Numerous Saviors were ambushed and killed with no warning, no opportunity to negotiate.  Rick even happily arranged for one to be eaten alive.  Yet when Negan is standing there - right there! - Rick lets Negan speechify, and Rick proceeds to get cocky and speechify back.  Then - they shoot out the windows.  Yes, they shoot out the windows.  They used an overwhelming amount of ammunition with the sum total of one bullet made post-apocalypse, and that one needed a pre-existing casing.

Then there's Daryl, whose weapon of choice is a crossbow, and he's suddenly the sharp shooter who hits targets unbelievably far away, while riding a motorcycle, and looking backwards.

After massively fucking up by letting Negan escape, Rick falls into a rage of shooting, and shoves Gabriel away for trying to call him off.  Boy I could have used Michonne and her mighty fist against Rick's head.

Gee, there's a handy instamatic.  How convenient for Rick.

Why oh why would Gabriel try to save Gregory.  Gabe just cold-bloodedly killed a Savior this very episode, but will risk it all for the cowardly, traitorous Gregory?

I'm so glad Carl has regained his humanity.  He's a sweet kid.

Ezekiel is sweet on Carol.

They wasted a hundred bullets on a dude, and didn't even kill him.

So after wasting a shit load of valuable ammunition, they then walk away hoping the walkers will get into that building and kill everyone?  That's why they blew out windows up in the sky?  Windows no walker could get into.  

Gabriel will now be camping out in a closet eating dog food.  Negan and his lieutenants are alive.  Some of our people are injured or dead from the grenade.  And Rick's having his break-down hallucination.  Followed by another inspirational speech.  Too late.

All that said, I still love the show and Rick.  But enough with the cycle of beaten down Rick, galvanizing event, Rick's cocky again, all hell breaks loose, Rick's breaks down and blames himself, ad infinitum.

[shanndee]

Wow. This is my third attempt to log on. Clearly this show is back and everyone is talking!

I'm glad to see it back, and I was prepared to be underwhelmed (I haven't been overly impressed with premiere episodes for a while now).

Overall, it felt like more of the same...but I have missed the show, so I'll forgive it for this week.

[AngelaHunter]

2 minutes ago, TigerLynx said:

The one good thing about this episode is Negan is looking weaker and dumber.  Unfortunately, so are all the idiots who could have shot Negan and didn't.

He doesn't need to be smart or strong or even armed in any way. He can stand out in the open and not worry. There's Rick and his whole gang, all bristling with weapons of every description, after promising Negan twice he was going to kill him, and then doesn't. He needed to change that to, "I'm going to fire over your head, Negan. Take that! Don't worry, I"ll give you plenty of time and opportunity to get out of the way of a stray bullet."

Quote

I think the reason why they didn't immediately shoot Negan and his posse was a timing issue.  They were waiting for the herd to advance.

What would be the advantage of that? I thought they went there specifically to kill Negan, who obligingly made himself and his henchmen targets even I could hit and I've never held a gun. Were they waiting for him to taunt them a second time or fart in their general direction?

[RedheadZombie]

23 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Until the show decides to remove Negan's plot armor, we are stuck with the guy.  With that in mind and understanding that this is what made the episode somewhat illogical and frustrating (cuz let's face it, Rick had a clear shot),it was still an entertaining episode  I did enjoy watching them unfurl the pieces of their plan.  Especially liked Dwight and Daryl's arrow-grams and the plucking out of Negan's scouts one by one.

I have to giggle when I see that Judith has only aged, like 2, years whereas Carl has clearly aged like 8 years in the same time period.

And Rick's an old gray Methuselah, hobbling along with a cane.  Michonne doesn't even have a gray hair.  Why couldn't his fantasy include a little toddler Richonne?

[tennisgurl]

Really, this was a pretty solid premiere, with cute Michone/Rick stuff and Gregory being everyone’s least favorite butt monkey of useless spinelessness, but oh my god will someone just SHOOT NEGAN?!? He was right freaking there y’all! 

Edited October 23, 2017 by tennisgurl

[SimoneS]

23 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

And Rick's an old gray Methuselah, hobbling along with a cane.  Michonne doesn't even have a gray hair.  Why couldn't his fantasy include a little toddler Richonne?

I was wondering about that. I would expect a toddler or 5 year old Richonne offspring.

Edited October 24, 2017 by SimoneS

[AngelaHunter]

5 minutes ago, RedheadZombie said:

And Rick's an old gray Methuselah, hobbling along with a cane.

Yeah, that was weird. Rick's aged about 25 years, but Judith only about five. Maybe he got that rapid aging disease, a la "Star Trek."

[mmecorday]

Quote

All that said, I still love the show and Rick.  But enough with the cycle of beaten down Rick, galvanizing event, Rick's cocky again, all hell breaks loose, Rick's breaks down and blames himself, ad infinitum.

My thoughts exactly. Sheriff Stuff n' Thangs needs to get his act together. Either be the leader the group needs, or abdicate to someone who has an actual plan of action that will work. I love Andrew Lincoln. He's a fascinating performer to watch. But Rick makes me stabby sometimes.

Also, during a commercial break, I looked up and saw a man shaving and thought, "Yay! Rick is getting all cleaned up again!" But it was that rotten Lincoln commercial in which Matthew McConaughe looks like he's part lizard.

[MichaelaRae]

Well, as Rick repeatedly said to everyone, it wasn't about him. He wanted Neegan dead. But he also wanted to give the Saviors a chance to surrender - everyone except Neegan, who he personally wanted to kill. They gave them the chance to surrender. The Saviors didn't take it. So they stuck to the plan. Because it's not about what Rick wants. 

Edited October 23, 2017 by MichaelaRae

[RedheadZombie]

39 minutes ago, TigerLynx said:

Damn.  Not only is Negan not dead, but his fondness for yakking has infected just about every other character.

I did like the plan, and that everyone was working together, but then they had the perfect opportunity to shoot Negan and didn't.

Is this season going to be one or two days of the war, or will the war go on longer than that?

Shiva thinking as she is lying in the truck bed, "I hope they have plenty of food stocked up for me because it's going to take me some time to find another group of people to feed and take care of me if these guys all end up dead."

And who's taking care of her while Zeke and Jerry are otherwise occupied?  She's lounging in a flat bed truck, with a simple chain on.   I realize she has the magical ability to determine friend or foe (she proved that last season), but most of these people saw her go to town on some humans a few days ago.  For pete's sake, they keep her in a cage during down time in her own home.  A girl gets hungry and there's plenty of living food running around.

[leela46]

A friend of mine thinks this whole fight was Rick' s dream. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I was a little confused by two scenes -- they showed one person taking out the Savior at the Science building outpost early on, but then later they showed an entire group unable to do that same thing.  Why would they need to clear the same outpost twice ?