The Walking Dead – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does.

Season 8, Episode 6

Air date: Sunday, November 26, 2017 at 9PM E/P on AMC

Rating: ★★★★★

“We got a lot more work to do…all of us.” – Daryl

Is it just me or is this season going off the rails a bit? I’m not even sure whether I like this episode. I borrowed a famous quote from Forrest Gump because it’s the only quote that explains the stupidity happening within “The King, the Widow, and Rick.” Season 8 of The Walking Dead is not panning out the way I thought it would. Hell, I don’t even remember what I was thinking anymore. The tagline says “All Out War,” and while we saw some of that in “Mercy,” all I see now is a bunch of flashbacks (seriously, enough already) and whining among the groups. “The King, the Widow, and Rick” leads you to believe there are only three major storylines but this episode is chock full of everything and everybody.

<i>The Walking Dead</i> – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. 2

Ezekiel needs to pick himself up and be the leader his people believe him to be – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) remains absent after the tremendous losses suffered at the end of “Monsters” and “Some Guy.” He lost many of his people and his beloved tiger Shiva. Jerry (Cooper Andrews) guards the door to the theater, not allowing anyone passage but Carol (Melissa McBride) will not take no for an answer. She gives a great speech but her tearful plea doesn’t make Ezekiel bounce back. “You just made me feel real.” His confession to Carol about why he kept visiting her when she first arrived at the Kingdom sounds sweet, poetic even, but Ezekiel is done playing the part of king. If he’s not going to be their ruler, he needs to sack up and go tell them. Stop cowering in your theater, holding Shiva’s chain. Mourn your loss and move on. This is not a regular world where you get to sit and wallow for days on end. This is a world where zombies are real and assholes are trying to kill you.

<i>The Walking Dead</i> – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. 3

Whose bright idea was it to go back to the Scavengers for help? – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Rick (Andrew Lincoln) decides to go see Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) to strike up another “deal.” Is he just dehydrated from all the walking or has he finally lost his shit? Why is this even happening? What purpose does it serve to side with these crazy scavengers? They’ve already proven they will turn on you at the drop of a dime. And why the hell is Jadis sculpting in the nude? I don’t know if being in a junkyard has damaged her mentally but I’m so over their abbreviated gibberish way of speaking. She asks Rick, “Why back after?” What the hell? Everyone else is living in the same apocalypse, yet they all seem to remember how to speak correctly. Now Rick’s being held prisoner in a container unit, stripped down to his briefs; was this part of his master plan? Get captured – check; sweat balls off in a junk yard – check; what’s next?

<i>The Walking Dead</i> – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. 4

I’m not sure why Jesus is so hell bent (pun intended) on saving the Saviors. – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Maggie (Lauren Cohan) has a hot mess on her hands with Jesus (Tom Payne) bringing all those Saviors back to the Hilltop as prisoners. They need to get rid of Jared (Joshua Mikel) immediately. He doesn’t want to play nice and when he gets a chance, you know he will kill people for shits and giggles. Mikel does a great job of making me loathe his character. I’m ready to shoot Jared in the head myself; he’s such an unlikable asshole. He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

And speaking of assholes, Gregory (Xander Berkeley) is finally iput in his place. If he thinks for a minute Maggie will keep him around, running loose to spread his lies, he’s dumber than he looks. Gregory is one of those guys you know are bad news but feel empathy for their pathetic existence anyway. While I enjoy seeing Gregory squirm, putting him in with the Savior prisoners may not be a great idea.

Observations

<i>The Walking Dead</i> – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. 5

This scene makes no sense. And why do you “just need to” go see the Sanctuary? – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Tara (Alanna Masterson) seem to arrive in the nick of time to save Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Rosita (Christian Serratos). First, I’m happy to see some different faces. As much as I enjoyed seeing Michonne back in action, neither she nor Rosita are in shape to battle anyone given what happened at the end of season seven. The bigger question is how the hell do Daryl and Tara know where to find these two? Were they following them? Do Daryl and Tara know the building is a Savior “cache?” I don’t remember seeing it on the list of places the groups were checking off in “Mercy.”

<i>The Walking Dead</i> – “The King, the Widow, and Rick” Review. Stupid Is As Stupid Does. 6

It was nice to see the real antagonists – the zombies – for a change – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Carl (Chandler Riggs) finds the kid who begged for food in “Mercy.” Siddiq (Avi Nash) may seem like an ordinary guy trying to survive, but after eight seasons of meeting strangers, I think Carl is being too generous. Taking Siddiq back to Alexandria is a huge mistake. Has Carl learned nothing from the previous experiences he and other Alexandrians have encountered when meeting new people? When Carl joins Siddiq in killing walkers to “free their souls,” my jaw dropped. I think one of my eyes is still in the back of my head! Are you f**king kidding me?

Overall

“The King, the Widow, and Rick” confuses me even more than I already was. Apparently the groups – Alexandria/Kingdom/Hilltop – devised a system of leaving notes to one another to provide an update on their respective progress. Maybe that will be outlined in another flashback. I tried watching the previous episodes again to see if I missed something but I still cannot figure out where the hell the writers are going with the plot points this season. I will say I’m curious to know how it will all end but only out of sheer frustration.

What did you think of “The King, the Widow, and Rick?” Comment below and tag me on Twitter @judybopp to chat.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.