'The Walking Dead' Recap: 'Worth'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I must admit, that the opening sequence to this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, completely and utterly caught me off guard. I honestly thought that Carl’s letter to his father was going to be a private affair, never to be shared with the world, but the show took the time to do it and it was beautiful to hear him remind his father about the importance of a second chance for the Grimes family, and for humanity as a whole. Yet, hearing Carl’s words to his father, wasn’t the only surprise when it came to the beginning of this tale.
 
Really, what downright stunned me when it came to this story, is the sheer fact that the episode opened up on such a positive note. After all, there is a war on, and an enemy lurking in the shadows and it was just so out of place for ‘Worth’ to kick off in such a lovely and beautiful fashion. But as is often the case, there is a rhyme and a reason for everything that happens on this series and really, as this episode rolled on, it became clear that this penultimate episode to season eight was going to be about tying up as many loose ends as possible before the finale so we can focus on the final showdown between Rick and Negan.
 
However, that meant doing things in reverse for a change, and rather than take us on a tough journey that pays off with a happy ending, that surprise opening was designed to get the good out of the way, because varying levels of darkness awaited us as the story progressed, and the first dark domino to fall came about by way of Aaron’s storyline in this tale. Because in this episode we learned that he’s been outside of Oceanside all this time without food and minimal water in the hopes of inspiring this community to fight, and while his storyline wasn’t the darkest the evening had to offer, it was tough to watch him suffer as he tried to reach this group and there’s a small chance that he finally did. 
 
But that’s where any semblance of hope ended in this episode, especially when one considers how Eugene’s storyline played out, since this was finally his opportunity to shine and show Daryl and Rosita that he still supported Rick and the group after they kidnapped him to bring him back to Hilltop. But rather than walk a road of redemption, Eugene let his cowardly ways take control once he realized the freedom he was enjoying with the Saviors would be taken away, and in stunning fashion, he executed the most creative escape I’ve ever seen and returned back to the bullet factory to finish the job and complete his disgusting transformation and who knows at this point if there will ever be any kind of redemption or forgiveness for Eugene.

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​However, the centerpiece of the night came by way of the Sanctuary, since this story featured Negan’s return home and well, I think we all knew this meant bad news for Simon. Yet, while bloodshed seemed to be in the cards for Simon, Negan surprisingly took the gentle route with his right hand man, providing him with forgiveness simply because there was a bigger plan in Negan’s mind as to how to deal with the Hilltop and this sense of absolution only seemed to embolden Simon further and he continued to make plans, with Dwight, to take down the big man once and for all.
 
But since we know where Dwight’s loyalties lie, that meant bad news for Simon since good ol’ D revealed the plan to Negan, allowing for a final showdown between Negan and Simon to take place and honestly, this was another unexpected surprise. Because I think we were all expecting a swift and ugly end for Simon by way of Lucille. But instead, Negan decided to settle this matter with a bare knuckled brawl to the death, in front of the Saviors no less to hammer home the point of who is the man around these parts and it ended with Negan victorious, and regretful, because Simon’s actions to this point meant that the Saviors were going to have to wipe out Hilltop in order for Negan to properly maintain order and well, the series still wasn’t quite done in delivering some dark moments our way. 
 
Because one of the last loose ends that needed to be tied up, was who exactly Negan picked up on the side of the road at the end of last week’s episode, and it turned out to be Laura, the Savior who saw Dwight betray the group at Alexandria and she told Negan everything he needed to know. Which meant this entire storyline was one long con from Negan, one where he utilized Dwight’s skills to the fullest, even going so far as to leak a fake plan to Rick and the Allies at Hilltop and now…Dwight is exposed, the group is in trouble and to make matters worse, it would seem all of these events have pushed Negan over a proverbial cliff, since he promised fury and bloodshed despite hearing the gentle words that Carl wrote to him…
 
So, yeah, this one ended on a supremely bleak note, and I have to tip my cap to the writers of this episode; David Leslie Johnson and Corey Reed for packing in so many plot-lines in this particular tale and making them as compelling and fascinating as possible and it was nice to see the series work to tie up all of these dangling threads. And in doing so, all that really matters now is the final battle we have all been waiting for and considering how unpredictable the back half of season eight has turned out to be, I get the feeling that next week, anything can happen and that may make the grand finale to All Out War, about as devastating as they come. Until next time. 

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