Title: The Walking Dead “Go Getters”
Air Date: November 20th, 2016
Network: AMC
Genre: Serial Drama, Horror
The Walking Dead just aired its all new episode titled “Go Getters,” which I feel, is the second best episode of season seven so far. We did have only one action sequence but even that was considerably more than we’ve seen in recent weeks. The last two episodes “Service” and “The Cell” received quite a bit of flack for being too slow. This is where The Walking Dead takes an interesting turn with its fan base. I found that many who have read the comics very much enjoyed the slower episodes. Season seven is said to closely mirror the comics and for me at least, I’ve really enjoyed those “Ah Ha” moments, when we see a scene tie into the comics. It was funny… on last week’s Aim for the Head podcast Julie talked about Carl not sneaking onto one of the Savior trucks leaving Alexandria like in the comic. Well…turns out we didn’t have to wait long to see that.
This episode of The Walking Dead really showed the badassness of both Sasha and Maggie. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the progression of the female cast since the premiere of the first season. In the episode “Tell it to the Frogs,” all the women were down washing clothes and were fairly helpless when Carol was hit by her husband. Now, any female is worth just as much as one of the men. For instance, Carol herself single handily took down Terminus when the group was captured. We also hear a comment from Jesus that alludes to a potential future leader of the Hilltop…
Lauren Cohen really shone in her portrayal of Maggie this week. Slugging Gregory and grabbing the tractor to crush the car were those grit your teeth “Yeah” kind of moments. I certainly liked her assessment of the current leader of the Hilltop, Gregory. Sasha said he was an idiot but Maggie points out that he’s a coward… something much more dangerous. That was a part of what brought a good bit of tension to this Walking Dead episode… seeing how much of a scared fool Gregory is. Xander Berkley equally does a great job of conveying that Gregory would give up his own mother to the Saviors if it came to it.
Gregory fumbles about throughout this entire episode and I had to question how he has retained his position for as long as he did. When the walkers are within the walls he backs away from the window in fear while Maggie shouts orders from the top of a trailer. He has practically no idea who anyone is, initially thinking that Sasha is a member of the Hilltop. He also appeared to have every intention of giving up Sasha and Maggie to the Saviors. The lowest thing, however, was when Maggie saw that he had Glenn’s watch. Not only did Gregory take the watch from the gravesite, he wears it. Having Steven Ogg as Simon begin to play a more crucial role than we’ve seen so far is fun. Fun fact for those of you that don’t know, that’s the actor who voices “Trevor” in GTA V.
We also got to see more of Tom Payne’s, Jesus. We haven’t seen him at all so far in this season of The Walking Dead. What stands out about Jesus, is that he really wants what’s best for the residents of the Hilltop. He’s aware that his skills as a helper far exceed his skills as a leader and he’s a very caring person. The gesture of him putting the flowers on the graves of Abraham and Glenn meant a lot to both Maggie and Sasha. I would love to get more background on Jesus because clearly, he is a skilled fighter. One might easily believe that he has some sort of military background considering his combat and sneaking abilities.
Enid and Carl also have a little chunk of screen time in this Walking Dead episode. The most memorable scene between these two was when Carl found the roller skates. In the midst of everything that had happened, all the horror, the world ending and losing loved ones, they got a chance to be kids again. In last week’s episode “Service,” a number of people familiar with the comics were expecting Carl to sneak into one of the Savior vehicles. However, we just had a week to wait and see that. The interesting part is Jesus will now be accompanying Carl to the Savior compound. Jesus pouring out the Saviors’ liquor was a nice subtle “screw you.”
Did you see this week’s episode of The Walking Dead? If so, what did you think? If you read the comics, do you like seeing this season mirror the comics the way it has? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. On behalf of myself and the rest of The Nerd Stash family, we’d like to wish you a very safe and happy holiday.
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