The current season of The Walking Dead is almost over. In fact, it is sad that we will have to wait for the finale since it will be delayed until the end of the year. So for now, this is the last episode for now until further notice. Here are my thoughts about “The Tower.” This review will be slightly different as I will review this episode by how everyone is split across the groups situation.
The Minefield Roadblock
I liked the verbal exchange between “The Princess”, Eugene, Ezekiel, and Yumiko. Most of the lines of this scene were straight from issue #171 word for word. I also got a laugh when Ezekiel introduced himself to Princess as he thought for a second to introduce himself as “King Ezekiel” as he did when he first appeared on the screen. But he held back as he knows that he is not the king anymore. Yumiko did not trust her for most of the trip and I could not blame her due to what they went through. The group also learns that The Princess’ name is Juanita Sanchez and she did not like her name at all, along with the fact that she does not like being called a queen. The scene where Juanita was counting while she was taking the group to the garage got me puzzled for a moment, but I understood why she counted since she had to trace where she walked. She sure walked them somewhere though as they seen the head of one of their horses on the ground. Right here at this moment is where Juanita tells them that the current area is a minefield. There were even walkers that triggered one of the mines along with the only water canister Juanita had too. Her personality and high positive and nervous mood really shines here, but my problem with this scene is, how did they all not hear the mine explosion from the horse when this all happened the same day in an empty city? You would have thought that since the entire city has no people for over a year, and is quiet, that you can hear a big explosion from miles away.
Yumiko was still not trusting Juanita at this point, and Juanita explained why she was stalling. Eugene also could relate to Juanita for what she did as he did the same thing too. I think I would like to see more of these two in scenes in the future as it is a very odd pairing, but I really want to see Princess and Negan meet. When Juanita showed them the bikes in that garage, that is when Yumiko invited her to travel with them and they hugged like they were best friends. Although the minefield was a filler sub plot, it is far better than how she stalled the group in the comics and she had a good reason to stall Eugene, Yumiko, and Eugene. I liked all of this and rest in peace to another horse!
Emotional Rollercoaster
The second that these two were paired together this episode, I knew that it was going to be emotional. Cassady McKlency did a great job bringing out the tramua of Lydia on how she will move forward since her mom is now gone. And Negan was there for her to take her frustrations out on him as she does not think that Negan was a hero for killing Alpha despite that Lydia did not like her. What made Lydia mad even more, is that Negan told Lydia that he liked her mom and I was glued to the screen the whole time when these two were going back and forth. Also, bonuc points for the appearence of Dog, and Judith and Lydia having a scene together.
Carol and Kelly also talked, and it was good for these two to talk about what happened after they got out the cave since Connie is still missing. Kelly still has hope that Connie is alive, and I hope so too because she has not been seen at all in this second half. Kelly mentioned that she heard all the stories about Carol since she has been there, but assures her that she has a superpower and that she should not give up on herself whenever bad things happen. That is encouragement right there. Kelly also said that her superpower is sign language and everyone learned it because of her. This all happened while they were in a car getting wires and I will have to say this. Kelly is an underrated character and she proves how resourceful she is whenever she is on the screen.
Now on to Judith and Daryl as their scenes together were the best of the entire episode. It went from Daryl finding Lydia in the woods killing walkers by herself, to Daryl giving her hunting tips. After a cool walker kill sequence after Daryl shot one of those Whisperers with an arrow, they hunt down that Whisperer and found her in a ditch. Daryl asked that Whisperer questions of where they are heading to, and if they know that they are there. Daryl then killed that Whisperer with shooting another arrow to her head, and Judith seen this all happened. Judith, was very upset about this as her and Daryl talked about this later in the episode in an emotional conversation. Judith told Daryl what if that was him lost and nobody could find him as that Whisperer was (Also, that Whisperer was with Beta walking the horde, but more of that in a moment). When I heard Judith say that line, I compared it to the time in season 8 where Daryl killed that one Savior after he pleaded with his life after he gave Rick and Daryl the location of the weapons. Rick gave him that death stare because Daryl killed a Savior that was not trying to fight back. I could not blame Daryl at the time because he was a prisoner there, but thinking of that moment, made me see Judith’s point. My heart poured out for Judith because all she wanted, was for the family to be back together and she is afraid that Daryl will be the next to go. Daryl could not promise to stay because, he does not know what will happen. But he does know that there is a whole bunch of people at the communities that will watch over her and when she gets older, they will need her. Daryl took a realistic approach on this since they do not know if they will live another day as long as the world is what it is currently on The Walking Dead. Judith will just have to adjust to the idea for now. Also, I am happy that they brought up Michonne as well as he kept tryng to reach out to her.
Hide and Speak
I hate to say it, but this was the least interesting part of the episode. Aaron and Elden were practically playing hide and seak the entire episode as Beta and Whisperers walked the walker horde first into Alexandria, and then on their way to Oceanside. Aaron and Alden were first using sign language to tell eachother when to move. While Beta was leading the charge, he hears voices in his head. I thought it was slightly cool, but it did not add anything with the plot. He was even about to kill that Whisperer that Daryl killed later in the episode before his subconcious of his voice was heard. What I thought was also ridiculous, is that Beta finally figured out that everyone is stationed at the abandoned hospital (Negan called it the tower) by following a cat that was walking there. And before that even happened, Alden and Aaron noticed that their radio connection was jammed, and then they were surrounded by Whisperers and that is the last we see of them on this episode. The episode ends when Beta and The Whisperers with the very large walker horde are feet away from the hospital door.
Overall, I liked some parts of the episode, and I am split of the parts that did not move the plot forward. I am sad that this is the last episode for now due to COVID19. Easily, the Daryl and Judith conversation is the best storytelling aspect of the episode along with Negan and Lydia, and the gang with The Princess. In fact, that was comic relief and It did not feel forced at all as it blended well in between the scenes. Everything The Princess has done on this episode, really matches her character from the start to the finish. I really cannot wait to see more of her!
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com
