“Something They Need” Plot Summary:
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has Sasha (Sonequa Green-Martin) captive — what will he do with her? Tara (Alanna Masterson) leads the crew to Oceanside to get guns…lots of them.
“Something They Need” as a singular episode is really good. It’s got tense scenes, some great dialogues, a clever twist, an excellent shoot-out sequence, and a solid pay-off from last week’s cliffhanger.
Here’s what I really dug…
- Negan’s “Morality:” It’s a scene right from the comics. Negan kills Dave because he attempts to sexually assault Sasha. He does this because it’s “against the rules.” It was a refreshing moment for the Negan character to show a shred of humanity.
- The Pill:Â In typical Eugene fashion, he totally and accidentally messes up a good plan.
- The Shoot-Out: I’ll never get tired of saying this — when this show makes walkers scary, it’s at its best.
- Gregory’s Truth: Dude’s never killed a walker. The scene where attempts to kill Maggie, only to wimp out and need her help is awesome.
It’s not without it’s flaws though. Some of the dialogue clunks terribly. Tara is inexplicably made to look like a complete idiot for comic relief. Oh, and there’s some real faulty logic in the Oceanside that makes you really scratch you. (Seriously, why would they be so okay with Rick & Co. taking ALL their guns?)
However, the one thing that’s super frustrating about this episode is that it really piques your interest. In fact it may be one of the most interesting episode of the half-season. Unfortunately, (and most likely deliberately) it comes one episode before the finale.
The Chicago Tribune made an excellent point about this season, and next week’s finale. The point is this — we’re probably not going to see the beginning of the war between The Saviors and Alexandria/Hilltop/The Kingdom/The Scavenger…and probably Oceanside. There’s so much that has to happen in order for this war to star. Scavengers need the guns. You know those scenes take forever because of the odd pacing, and weird dialogue. The Kingdom actually has to join the battle, which will take numerous scenes of exposition between Carol, Ezekiel, and Morgan. Then there has to be a plan put in place. Oh, yeah and Dwight’s got to do a bunch of talking. Also, let’s not forget Gregory (Xander Berekley) has to go to Negan’s camp and rat everyone out.
To put a cherry on top of this post apocalyptic sundae — Sasha has to do the bidding of Negan and possibly stop Rick’s crew from their plot.
That is a lot that has to happen. That’s literally episodes worth of events that need to take place. The series cannot rush these plot points at all. I’ve been critical of the show for taking its time developing the plot, and I’ve often begged the show to speed things up. However, you can’t rush any of these events. If everything comes together in no time flat, it’d be absurd…unless they did it in some sort of amazingly choreographed montage. I highly doubt they will.
“Something They Need” is solid Walking Dead, but it’s typical of this season — too little, too late.
Rating: 8 out of 10
