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Kevin: So, was it just me or did not a whole lot go on during the extended season finale of The Walking Dead? I have plenty of questions after it, but I didn’t feel like much happened.

Jeremy: The main story was incredibly tense but not too much happened with that until the end. Most of the story was based on the slow descent for the group.

Kevin: Okay, glad we got that established. I had mentioned several times about the size of Negan’s group. They showed that quite well this episode along with their level of evil, which I had been looking for too.

Jeremy: Yeah every time you mentioned that I had been holding back a bit. This was a significant part of the Saviors story. As Rick got more and more confident you knew it was going to go horribly wrong.

Kevin: I suppose I didn’t expect it to go that wrong. It also leads me back to another question I’ve had the whole season too, if the Saviors are this big and bad, why did they wait this long to subjugate Alexandria to their will? They would have been an easier target pre-Rick and company. They also had more stuff then too.

Jeremy: Unless they didn’t know about them at the beginning and eventually found them? Would explain the random motorcycle guys. It could also be the Hilltop Colony sold them out?

Kevin: That’s what I mean by questions. That one ran through my head, as did, if Hilltop went through a similar initiation that Rick & company did, wouldn’t they have known the The Group would be vastly undermanned? If so, why talk them into going after Negan and giving up even more supplies? Hilltop said The Group took even more than Negan did. Why give up that much to someone you know is going to lose?

Jeremy: I suppose this will get answered next season? There are so many of these types of questions that need answered. Hilltop was only shown for two episodes so we don;t even know how trustworthy they can be. I wouldn’t put it past them, based on that line about taking more than Negan, that Gregory wouldn’t have sold em out and willingly kept information form them.

Kevin: With little happening, I was concentrating on the questions. I suppose another one that could be asked which did have to do with the episode, what good are Carol & Morgan even if they do come back to the Group?

Jeremy: I think Morgan showed how he believes the group should be handling things. he killed the guy only because he had to in order to protect Carol. Instead of Ricks idea of proactively killing people. They could bring that balance back. Of course i know how stupid that sounds considering the circumstances with the group.

Kevin: It’s a bit too late now to go back to that. I don’t remember Hilltop saying how often Negan came back for his protection money. I’m also not sure how much good going back to Alexandria will help Carol either. Being shot in the arm and slashed in the stomach is not a good formula to staying alive without a doctor.

Jeremy: Don’t forget she was shot in the leg as well. The two gentlemen that showed up to help seemed pretty confident they could help.

Kevin: Ha, I forgot about them because that story really didn’t get much air time. It was a breather to get out of the dread the travelers to Hilltop. Whoever that is certainly doesn’t seem to be with Negan and The Saviors by the way they are dressed.

Jeremy: The baseball and hockey pad armor cracked me up. They needed something to break up the RVs journey. I couldn’t imagine the entire episode just being one long descent. I have nothing but good things about this episode really. Well, except for one glaring terrible flaw.

Kevin: For as non-eventful as the episode was, it was laid out well. So what was the fatal flaw?

Jeremy: You don’t build up the entire season to Negan, then not show who gets killed. It is ridiculous. It is a huge moment in the comics and people were anticipating it all season. So they end it on a cliffhanger. Something they haven;t done that often. It was cheap and ruined the moment.

Kevin: I figured that was where things were headed since the whole one article I read about it had the same complaint. It’s hard to argue with too. Because it also comes back around to another consistent complaint that no one important got killed. Granted, there are any number of people who could still get killed that I would consider unimportant.

Jeremy: The episode was written to get over that Eugene was going to be killed somehow. The hug he shared with Abraham was pitch perfect and believable. Seeing him at the end as one of the possible sacrifices wasn’t necessary. This entire back season was really intended to give you a  reason to be sad when someone dies. Then they robbed the audience of that with the cheap cliffhanger.

Kevin: Is he your choice for who is getting whacked? I do feel like even him handing off the munitions directions to Rick was another sign he was the one going down. Really, Eugene even had a solid idea to try and get around the Saviors that failed but it was a good attempt.

Jeremy: There was an effort made to show Eugene’s worth and the loss they would suffer without him. I know who it is in the comics but that really doesn’t matter for the show. With that out of the way, they have deviated so far from the comics they can use anyone. I don;t think Eugene, speaking of a general audience, packs a punch at all.

Kevin: Yep, he’s listed under my not all that  important category which really is all the more reason to show his death.

Jeremy: See the cliffhanger pretty much ruined the emotional impact. So it could be anyone now. If it had been shown and it was Eugene, Aaron, Sasha or even Abraham fine and dandy. By having the audience wait and speculate it has to be one of the big cast members.

Kevin: Most speculation even early this season was for Daryl since he’s working on another show with AMC if I recall correctly. It would still resonate better if he died now rather than later.

Jeremy: His show is six episodes so I am thinking he is just fine. He may be one of the untouchables of the show along with Rick. Yes you can hold that against me when one of them gets their head bashed in. Any of the deaths would have resonated much better with 6 months of waiting for the aftermath.

Kevin: I will have to say that Negan is giving The Group quite a deal in this whole situation. Only one of them has to die. They have killed at least two dozen of his people.

Jeremy: I have heard about how Negan is the ultimate villain and will make the audience uncomfortable due to his charisma. I can safely say form his entrance they may be right. He called Carl as being a future serial killer man. He nailed it.

Kevin: If you can have a serial in that type of world, it would be accurate. Negan had quite a scene for himself doing his own build up to using Lucille.

Jeremy: They cut it up fairly well until the end. As soon as they went to the angle showing him only with Lucille I knew the gig was up. I even said out loud, “These fuckers aren’t going to show us.”

Kevin: Hahaha. Well, at least Negan lived up to the billing. Or at least the actor did since I’m not familiar with Jeffery Dean Morgan’s credits.

Jeremy: He was the Comedian in Watchmen and he was in the movie The Losers as well. Hes a good choice for the role so they nailed that. Another problem with the end is Scott Gimple, the show runner, said on Talking Dead that who died didn’t matter. It was the end of the story. Um, he is either lying to cover for a terrible decision or he’s a clueless idiot. Each character fits a different role in the group/community as well as a different voice. Who dies means a completely different journey for the group going forward. the person who dies is the end of the story not just someone dying.

Kevin: I’m not sure why you’d say anything like that. Obviously the impact on any of the couples would be different. We could see the entire Greene clan wiped out, though I doubt it. The budding romance of Abraham & Sasha could be cut really short. Rick could be one child short. I believe that he’s one person who 100% isn’t dying.

Jeremy: Negan said as much as well so Carl is safe as well as Rick. I think Gimple said that as damage control. I am sure the audience wasn’t pleased and that is a live broadcast.

Kevin: I could only imagine David Chase going in front of a live audience after the ending to the Sopranos.