Ladies and Gentlemen, “Out of the Ashes” is the best episode of the first half of the final season. The Walking Dead proves time and time again why it is the show to watch on Sunday nights and this episode is one of them.
Whenever Ross Marquand’s character Aaron is the central character on an episode, he knocks it out the park. From the nightmare sequence that brought back past villains such as The Wolves, The Saviors, and The Whisperers, to him waking up back to reality, Aaron is dealing with the pressure of being the man in charge of Alexandria missions. One of them, is for them to make sure the walls are up. And another sets them off to a trip to The Hilltop.
The reason for this trip is to see what tools are left over there to use due to the attack of The Whisperers. Aaron and the rest that are with him such as Lydia, Carol, and Jerry, realize that the last remaining members of The Whisperers are hoarding walkers around. It is here that Aaron goes to a zone we have not seen him in before.
Desperate for answers, Aaron interrogates the one Whisperer and I got a quick laugh out of it when he asked for his name while also reiterating to him “No Alpha or Beta ****.” The interrogation did go too far as Carol pointed out and they did stop until he revealed the location of where Connie is. I found these scenes very engaging and well acted!
Speaking of Acting, Cailey Fleming made me feel for her as Judith misses Michonne very much. The bullying of her by those kids in the episode and the nearly destruction of her last memory of Carl Grimes made me even more sad for her. However, Judith stood her ground and showed those kids why she should not be messed with. In addition, it’s great to see her train the next generation!
Over at The Commonwealth, Yumiko finally meets her brother for the first time in over a decade, Princess and Ezekiel tried to help Eugene as he wanted to use the radio to contact Alexandria. He did, but he paid a price for it by getting arrested at The Commonwealth. Even though Lance let them free, they will have to pay for it. And do you think it is crazy that The Commonwealth uses money as currency?
I also wonder when the real Stephanie is going to introduce herself to Eugene. We saw her at the ice cream truck for a quick second as he was still with the decoy Stephanie. The reveal must happen soon! Maggie and Negan did not escape my mind. As for their ongoing feud, I think it’s safe to say that it has me siding with Negan on Maggie’s current status. It is important to understand that I am referring to Maggie’s reckless decisions at the moment, not to what Negan did to Glenn. Maggie was right about one thing, though. It is to wait until other people arrive. And Gabriel and Elijah did come later that day.
This episode of The Walking Dead saw the plot advance for the first time since the first episode of this season. The Walking Dead’s final season has a great bright spot in “Out of the Ashes,” after an awful episode last week. Every episode of this franchise should feature great acting, fast-paced action, and an engaging story. And all of that is cramed into this week’s episode! Also, that 90’s themed introduction to The Commonwealth reminded me of Wandavision for a moment! I cannot wait for next week’s episode!
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