'The Walking Dead' Recap: 'The Damned'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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Getting lost in the moment when it comes to our feelings is quite the common thing. But if there is one particular feeling where it is easier to lose one’s self within over all others…it has to be revenge. Because when someone has wronged us and hurt us, we want nothing more than to make everything right in our minds and we often will stop at nothing to get precisely what we want, regardless of the cost and once we’ve reached that point, revenge can most certainly become dangerous.
 
Because when one doesn’t care about the consequences of fulfilling it, anything and everything can and will happen, and sometimes good people are emotionally or physically hurt in the process and at its absolute worst…it can completely and utterly consume you, and it is that darker side to revenge that served as the focus for last night’s episode of The Walking Dead. Because ‘The Damned’ not only demonstrated just how far people are willing to go to obtain it, but the consequences that can come with it and what was really amazing…is that it accomplished this by letting revenge consume the audience as well.
 
Think about it for a moment. So many of us were upset and devastated by that season seven premiere last year. Abraham and Glenn’s death were powerful in their own right, to the point where people flat out stopped watching the show, including a fellow writer for this site, Shae. We were simply stunned that the show went there and as the weeks progressed and the emotional torture continued, we wanted only one thing for the good people of Alexandria and the Hilltop; revenge for what Negan had done to them and their loved ones.
 
Which is why the season seven finale and the season eight premiere were so incredibly satisfying, because at long last, the Saviors were getting what they deserved, and the pleasure and joy we received from watching Rick and his allies fight back only continued to grow last night as we watched outpost after outpost come under siege in genius and swift fashion thanks to the intel Dwight provided Rick with. But while I’m certain all of us were hooting and hollering with every bullet that claimed a Savior or sent them running, something special happened…the story shifted from action and adventure, to something thoughtful and powerful. 

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​Which brings us to the dark side of revenge that I made mention of, because everything negative about it came to fruition. First and foremost, good people were hurt by it. Plenty of fine and kind people from Alexandria, whose only mission was to contain the Saviors at one particular outpost to allow for Rick and Daryl to handle them with larger firepower, or allow for the dead to their thing, found themselves injured in the midst of the combat, including Aaron’s partner Eric, who took a round to the gut and whose fate now remains up in the air because of this violent quest to make things right.
 
Meanwhile others, came to realize that perhaps the wholesale slaughter of the Saviors may not be the best course of action for the long-term struggle of humanity as a whole since Jesus went against Rick’s edict at his assigned outpost and took every last Savior into custody after demanding their surrender, and despite the protests from Tara and Morgan, in many ways this is where the story shifted for the audience. Because Jesus isn’t wrong. It’s the end of the world, mankind’s numbers have dwindled to dangerously low levels and murdering one another with impunity…only helps the dead win, so to spare lives now and show them there is a better way speaks volumes to how far revenge has consumed the group and that they too have to be better in the days to come to forge a brighter future. 
 
But truly, the centerpiece of this theme came about by way of Rick Grimes and his encounters at the end of the episode. Because Rick forgot that the people that he is fighting against are still people, and that they have families, and lives of their own and that made the moment when all of this hit him, by finding a sleeping little girl that instantly reminded everyone of Judith, all the more sobering. As did the surprise of seeing Morales from season one aligned with the Saviors, because he too is a father, and a husband and while we didn’t get much detail as to where his family is now, the fact that Rick’s quest for payback has now in essence ruined families in a way makes him no less of a monster than Negan, and judging from the look of remorse on his face at the end the episode, he’s fully aware of the fact that he’s made a critical mistake in believing that all of the Saviors are a faceless monster.
 
Yet perhaps the most impressive part of this story, is the sheer fact that it served as a reminder that the dead have taken over this world because of mankind’s foolishness. The divides and ego that permeate this war, and the fact that some people, Negan specifically, believe that life has to be ugly and hard now…only contributes to the living dead’s rule of this land. Because if by chance, these two men are able to put aside their differences and work together, they can achieve wonders, but who knows if they can ever find common ground. Either way, thus far this story arc is turning out to be far more cerebral than its comic counterpart, and I love the depth that’s present in this iteration of ‘All Out War’ and I cannot wait to see what other fascinating and thoughtful stories await us in this arc. Until next time. 

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