I liked this episode but chose to grade it good rather than excellent because there was too much Negan.
Overall, people are still talking to each other like human beings, especially Daryl, and it’s interesting to see characters who are “good” and care about each other have such fundamental differences of opinion and approach to survival. I just wish that the writers could come up with something more than still another Big Bad as in the Whisperers.
The Whisperers are creepy and the whole graveyard/fog thing was well done but for me the whole concept is kind of laughable. I can’t really believe people would do that or take them seriously. However they are the new enemy and I liked that story: the graveyard, the bridge, lying Lydia, the jail cell. I liked how Daryl shot the bridge walkers in the leg, thereby outing any Whisperers and at the same time distracting any real walkers. Presumably the Whisperers followed our heroes back to Hilltop.
The Negan scenes bored me a trifle though I did enjoy seeing him humbled and abased. I agree that it made no sense that he could wander around Alexandria unseen until daylight. It seems that that the redemption of Negan has begun, with him voluntarily returning to his cell. So why then did Negan sneak into the Grimes residence with a shovel? If he had found even a couple of living Saviors at the Sanctuary who would follow him, would he have returned to Alexandria? I think not. I think Negan returned to Alexandria because he realized that he couldn’t survive out there without people to protect and provide for him. If he was ever anything more than a parasite, he has lost his survival skills.
I like Judith but am getting a disquieting Kick-ass superhero vibe from her. That gun was almost as big as she is and she let Negan get within reach of it and her. How did she know that Negan was coming back on a motorcycle?
I still believe that Michonne , and now Aaron, are wrong and that the best survival strategy is to have mutual trade, support and defense agreements with neighboring communities. Aaron is reacting to Jesus’ death and Michonne to that big unknown. MIchonne has always been unstable so her behavior is actually not out of character. Aaron’s is.