This episode continues the good momentum of the previous episode. Both the symbolism and the contradictory depiction are handled well, and the performance of Michelle, Rick and others is even more worrying...
Everyone has evil thoughts and ideals in their hearts - because this episode is the penultimate episode before Rick's curtain call, this swing psychology can be shown in a more impactful form... Some "persistence" is worthwhile Cherish and admire.
devil in heart
Michelle's role in this episode is relatively large, and to a large extent echoes and complements Rick's part.
The life of Alexander's acting female leader is very "full": during the day, she does her best to manage the community, take care of her daughter, and draft the charter. At night, she sneaks out to hunt and kill walking dead. In the last episode, the "suspect case" of Michele wiping the blood on her arm has been solved.
Michelle's "double life" cannot be easily explained by saying "Though the world is safe, if you forget the battle, you will be in danger" or "the more you sweat in peacetime, the less blood you bleed in war" - she goes to see blood every night, It's more because she can't forget, or even enjoy the enrichment brought by killing.
It wasn't until she was in a daze that the walking corpse suddenly dropped the knife and knocked the walking corpse's head with the bat beside her... Michelle didn't realize what she was longing for and what she was afraid of.
The terrified Michelle lost her bat and retreated to her high wall - her confusion will be solved by Negan, who understands human nature.
After Negan was imprisoned, he should have never gone on a hunger strike. At this time, he suddenly came here and proposed that "you only eat when you talk to me", which is obviously not for nothing.
Because Michelle has never delivered food to herself, let alone seen herself, with her status in Alexandria, this is obviously intentional, which shows that Michelle is extremely disgusted or afraid (or both) of herself ——In that case, Negan wanted to meet her even more.
Negan's judgment is correct, Michelle is indeed afraid of herself on a certain level , which can be seen from her tone of voice when she emphasizes that everyone is "rebuilding human civilization".
So Negan came up with a trick of "heart-to-heart" : I miss my wife very much... She is not suitable for the end of the world... When she died, I was actually relieved, because I knew that her existence would make me weak. And you and I are very similar, you also had a son, and it is equally difficult for him to survive in the last days.
"Compared to the original civilized society, people like us are more suitable for today's apocalypse... This feeling is addicting. Are you sure you want to return to the shackles of the cage?"
Negan's words can be said to be heart-wrenching, and unknowingly, they spoke to Michelle's heart ... But in the end, the "materials" were too harsh, and she bluntly stated the meaning of her son Andre's death, which made the angry Michelle throw away the food. Slam the door and leave.
But Negan's words still touched Michelle's already hesitant heart. After returning to the house, she had no intention of formulating a charter, but involuntarily recalled the knife behind her.
The "symbol substitution" in this episode is quite clever - Michelle was called the "Knife Girl" for no reason. The knife is not only her weapon, but also her long-term belief. She instinctively wants to reject Negan , but had to admit that Negan was right (combined with her previous experience in the Woodbury community, in fact, Michelle never really "settled" down).
After the entanglement, Michelle made a sandwich and went to Negan, trying to convince the other party (himself) : walking dead, killing, apocalypse... They gave me strength, but I am different from you who enjoy it, I am to live for the living.
Negan originally judged that Michelle was the same as herself, but it turned out that the two just had a lot in common... But she has the potential to become another "Negan", and what she really fears is her own loss and sinking.
Seeing that the "fire" arrived, Negan began to quietly ask Michele to bring Lucille to him, only then did Michele discover the other party's true target, and the answer was of course no (she also found the one who abused Negan). Method).
Negan's "heart-to-heart" approach to Michelle is obviously a double-edged sword. If he succeeds, he can further touch the other party, but if he fails, he must also suffer real damage - uncomfortable and mad, and he can't help but bang his head against the wall. , Negan finally had the meaning of "going to jail".
However, Michelle is not "unscathed". When she tells Judith's story, she still gets scared when she sees the bat...
He is by no means indifferent. Knives, bats, and Negan's words, they are both tools to alert oneself, and they are all devils to tempt oneself.
cowardly evil spirit
Annie is ready to "sacrifice" Gabriel, just like the usual "A goods" .
This scene seems familiar, and when Jandis was preparing to deal with Rick and Negan, it was the same way : controlling (binding) the living, attacking with the also controlled walking dead (preparing) - is it necessary to test The mutation of a human who has just been bitten by a walking corpse? It doesn't feel so simple, so I won't guess here.
Seeing that his death was approaching, Gabriel had to use the only remaining weapon "mouth cannon" to carry out the final self-rescue.
Fortunately, Annie's conscience is still intact, she can't be indifferent to Gabriel's sincerity, and she relents again (it was partly because of this that Negan was replayed last time).
When Gabriel woke up, Annie had left, leaving only a few words: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. I choose to go fast.
Annie might have gone in a helicopter, or she might have left alone—she wasn't quite a friend of the Alliance, but she was by no means an enemy.
After working on it for a long time, the hole of the "mysterious forces from the outside world" is still unfilled, and it's getting bigger and bigger... I hope it can be solved when Annie returns.
swinging heart
Maggie finished taking the children as usual, and was relieved to see the thriving mountaintop village. Unlike usual, today she was going to bring a crowbar to Alexandria, who hadn't set foot in a long time, to settle accounts with Negan, who should have settled accounts long ago.
Taking the opportunity of sending Georgie's letter, Jesus tactfully raised his concerns to Maggie.
Maggie ignored Jesus' "there is something in the words", and instead retorted that she hoped that the other party could continue to manage the mountain village on her behalf (it means "to the orphan").
Although Jesus is obedient, he is not stupid. He is not worried about Negan, but is afraid that Maggie will make the same mistake as Rick in an "irrational" situation.
But at this time, Maggie's mind has been made up, and she will not change her mind just because of a few simple words from her deputy.
On the other side, the Salvation Army has returned to the Salvation Hall, and the main force for the bridge repair is gone, and Carol is also preparing to bring people back to the Peak Fortress. As for the Salvation Army, the little-known Alden will manage it.
Rick is very worried that the Salvation Army group of "tiger wolves" will probably get out of control without the leadership of people like Daryl and Carol - but Carol feels that although the Salvation Army is not in the same heart as the alliance now , but most people don't miss Negan anymore, and that's enough.
"I understand your painstaking efforts, but when manpower is always exhausted, it is up to them to be themselves. It is up to them to decide who they want to be."
Carol's thoughts were pretty solid and objective --but she wouldn't think so if she knew the people at the Seaside Inn had killed the Salvation Army.
The old and new hatred, coupled with the ever-present sense of unease, finally allowed the Salvation Army to break the appearance of peace . Jed and others subdued Alden, and gathered the crowd back to the construction site to snatch the guns.
There are secret executions within the Alliance, and the Salvation Army has no problem seeing this as a declaration of war . Carol couldn't just sit back and watch the situation go further out of control... The gunfire finally rang out. Whether the battle between the two sides will escalate from a frontal friction to a full-scale war depends on what the leaders will do next.
What is interesting is that Maggie saw a few dead walking corpses on the road. This scene should not be idle, and there must be a deep meaning behind it .
If they were killed by "Night Owl" Michelle or the Salvation Army who took a detour to the construction site, then their role has been completed - but if not, it means that there are indeed other people in the heart of the Alliance working in secret.
Without external troubles, there must be internal worries. If there is someone else doing the trick, this might be a good opportunity for the alliance to temporarily put aside the infighting and share the hatred with the enemy.
unbreakable faith
In the first few episodes, some viewers questioned: Why did Rick insist on building a bridge that might not actually work that much? This question is further answered in this episode.
Due to the rupture of the embankment in the upper reaches of the river, the initially formed bridge was "stressed" and it would collapse if it could not hold up for too long. Rick was so anxious that he could only continue to ask Eugene, the designer.
But Eugene is only a "half bucket of water" engineer, and the conditions are not ideal... Objectively, it is not safe to continue the construction . The only good news now is that "the two nearby corpses have not yet converged", everyone withdraws The respective communities will not be much at risk yet.
Eugene blamed himself for not being able to do more as a "chief engineer" - in fact, he had already played 200% of his personal value , and Rick was grateful for that.
In addition, the rest of the community is ready to go home... Subjectively, people are impetuous, and everyone is not optimistic about the completion of the bridge, and the bridge project really can't go on.
The house leak happened to be raining overnight. At this time, Rick learned that Maggie had gone to Alexandria. It was self-evident what she wanted to do. Rick was in a hurry and tried to get the alliance to set up cards on the road to slow down her journey... Unfortunately, the relay station It's from the seaside hotel.
Darryl pretended to take Rick back as soon as possible, but actually tore his face halfway, and the two accidentally fell into the hole.
In this confrontation, the two brothers spit out their innermost thoughts: Should we avenge Glenn? Is it right or wrong for Renigan to die? For the Salvation Army, is it benevolence or prestige?
Darryl didn't want to hide Rick anymore. He told everything about "Maggie couldn't take it" and "The Beach Hotel Killing". Now Rick was so anxious that he almost cried.
"Now that Negan is dead, the battle is lost, and so is Carl ."
Darryl's next words are the closest maxim to "reality" : You always want us to have confidence in other people, and the truth is you don't have confidence in us. I'll die for you, and I'll die for Carl...but you have to listen to what you're saying, you've got a demon, you're suffocating, and you keep chasing the ethereal and unrealizable...you've got to let go of Carl, let it go. "
Is Rick willing to be so generous to Negan and the Salvation Army? Actually don't want to. Is it difficult for everyone to let go of their prejudices and unite? Difficult to get to the sky. But Rick still forced himself to do this unwilling and extremely difficult thing, because he didn't want to let Carl's last wish come to nothing.
- I never asked everyone to follow me...
- I know, but you should ask.
Speaking of this, the brothers' hearts were settled, but unfortunately the gunshots rang out, they didn't have time to talk in detail, so they could only quickly escape from the pit.
No matter how much Daryl questioned and disobeyed himself, Rick always stood by his brother's side. This is the love they cultivated from Atlanta along the way: there can be differences, but they will never betray them.
Due to the accidental gunshots on the construction site, the group of corpses that would not have caused a threat began to reroute. Rick asked Darryl to return to the camp first to pacify the chaos, and he went to divert the group of corpses-Darryl was not at first. Agreed, his idea was to lead the corpse to the bridge. The bridge would definitely not be able to bear it. Jieshi could use the turbulence to wash away the corpse, and the crisis would be self-solving.
However, Rick firmly disagreed, and he would rather risk his life than destroy the bridge.
This bridge is not just a passageway connecting various communities. For Rick, it is a symbol that connects the heartstrings of all people in the alliance after the war. It is a political achievement project swearing to rebuild human civilization once again. Everyone will be more confident in the future of unity and progress, on the contrary, everyone will be more frustrated with the current situation of the alliance... The bridge is hope, and it is also the epitome of Rick's fulfillment of the promise to Carl.
Originally, Rick's "corpse-inducing plan" was not very risky, but unexpectedly, another group of walking corpses was also attracted by the "construction site change". The belly was penetrated by steel bars.
The most worrying thing happened: the two corpses converged in one place.
More heart-wrenching things are coming: Rick Grimes' deadline is approaching . Rick is not afraid of death. Death may be a relief for him now. As long as he devotes himself to his ideals and beliefs, he will die without regrets.
The question is, what will the other companions and the audience think?
[Jin Yongxian passed away, I have a complicated mood tonight, but I still finished writing the article... Hey, it's hard to live in and out of the play...]
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