*Spoilers Ahead*
Last week, the focus went to two well established characters dealing with the new issues that arose in them when faced with preemptively killing people. This week, the focus goes to two lesser characters attempting to show others that they have what it takes to survive.
Denise and Eugene are those aforementioned characters and their stories play out differently but the thematic point is still there. These are both people who have been placed into a certain role and wish to prove to themselves and others that they are much more than that. Eugene does this in his typical insensitive way by saying he no longer needs Abraham to protect him leading our favorite mustachioed badass to leave and let him get back to the community on his own.
Denise, meanwhile, has a little less of a overt reason to prove herself but insists on going with Daryl and Rosita to gather a list of medical supplies from a place she remembers seeing before. The duo are skeptical about letting a novice tag along but eventually agree. While Eugene adapting and wanting to prove himself has been shown in brief snippets throughout the season it feels like Denise suddenly came to this decision at random. Later, we learn that Denise mostly wanted to do this to prove to herself that she could do more than be the doctor. It’s a foolish way to go about it, especially when she puts herself in peril against a zombie all in an attempt to get what turns out to be soda but the foolishness seems to be on purpose.
Denise eventually launches into a speech explaining her reasons, more or less, for doing all this as well as lamenting her inability to tell Tara she loves her. Sadly, she won’t get a chance to right that particular wrong as her speech is cut off by an arrow going through her eye.
Denise’s death is shocking but it feels even more ruthless when it’s revealed that she was killed by Dwight, the man who stole Daryl’s stuff back in the earlier half of the season, especially when he mentions that he wasn’t aiming to hit her. To make matters worse, Dwight and his crew have captured Eugene and want Daryl and Rosita to take them to their community. Thankfully, Eugene proves to be more effective than he seems as he directs Dwight’s crew to Abraham, who is hiding nearby, and proceeds to bite Dwight’s dick. It’s comical but also smart even if I have to admit a bit of frustration at how ineffectual the Saviors have been thus far.
It seems as if the writer’s are setting us up to think of the Saviors as weak just to throw the curveball of Negan at us. Our heroes have killed scores of the Saviors and so far the only casualty was someone who hadn’t been outside of the walls of Alexandria in ages. Retribution is sure to come but for now our heroes have the edge in this ongoing battle.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- Eugene finds a facility where he plans to start making ammunition, once again this man is miles ahead of the group in terms of forward thinking.
- Carol leaves the group at the end of the episode and it’s super clunky, I imagine this is leading to the end of the season but please god do not kill Carol!
- Dwight’s sporting some scars on half of his face, I imagine we’ll get the story on that sometime soon.
- All of the Daryl x Crossbow shippers will be glad to know they have been reunited.
- “You know how to bite a dick, and I mean that with the utmost respect.”
Jesse Swanson is a would-be writer, podcaster and funny guy who covers TV shows of all shapes and sizes. You can find him on Twitter @JesseSwanson