The Walking Dead S8E09: Honor

As The Walking Dead returns from its mid-season break, questions about the long term sustainability of the show remain. Noticeable dips in ratings and viewership have plagued the last 1-1/2 seasons, a period of the show in which its most notorious villain is unveiled and beloved characters are dying off left and right. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say the success of this half-season will go a long way in determining how long this show sticks around.

If the next seven episodes can be as solid as this one, the show is in good shape. In Honor, we get the final hours of Carl’s life. The episode takes specific efforts to focus on what Carl decided to do with his final day(s), which included spending time with his sister, planting trees, and writing goodbye letters to everyone. You’ll recall from the midseason finale, How It’s Gotta Be, a heavy dose of foreshadowing was being setup in Rick and Carl’s conversation about hope and moving forward after the war with the saviors. Much of that same conversation was hammered home in Honor, and Carl repeatedly stressed to his father that there must be a peaceful way forward that involves the cooperation between these people currently at war, and not the annihilation of one of them. The dialogue in these intimate moments between Carl, Rick and Michonne was mostly strong and didn’t linger too long on lofty ideals. Love or hate the character, Carl (Chandler Riggs) has been the future of these people for the entirety of this show, and it’s fitting he get a long send-off surrounding by the people he loves.

This episode began with Rick voicing the line which I argued was the underlying theme for this entire season; “My mercy prevails over my wrath”. He says this while appearing to be almost in a daze, then we get flashes of the utopian future that we saw glimpses of in the first half of this season. We, or at least I, have assumed all along that Rick was envisioning what was possible. In a very interesting twist, we discover that the flashes of an idealistic and peaceful future with an aging Rick and an older Judith, are actually those of Carl’s. In an even bigger twist, the end of one of these flashes shows Judith walking up to a man crouched down, picking flowers… it’s Negan. He stands up to greet her, and as he does we see a huge smile across his face relaying what appears to be genuine happiness at the sight of Judith. As though he cares about her. This, to put it mildly, is peculiar.

Many fans likely see this moment as troublesome at best, ludicrous at worst. I loved it. This show has been raked over the coals for its predictability, for being stagnant, and for its apparent aimlessness with certain characters. What viewer out there, who hadn’t read the comics, could have predicted that?!? Not only does this create enormous complexity in a seemingly standard villain (if, of course, this is a vision of a future that can actually exist), it adds real weight to this repeated line from Rick about mercy prevailing over wraith, it creates curiosity about when exactly he says this, and it adds more significance to Carl’s death. Rick promises to make this world a reality. Somewhere along the lines he’s going to remember that promise, and choose mercy over wrath. Christians, take note; if there were ever a time to highlight gospel-centric themes in a zombie apocalypse show, it is fast approaching with The Walking Dead.

Buttressed against scenes of Carl’s death were scenes of great contrast as Morgan worked through his bloodlust while he and Carol methodically dismantled the Saviors who invaded the Kingdom and took Ezekiel hostage. They must have killed 15-20 Saviors on their way to Ezekiel, but the most significant was Morgan’s choice in dealing with the final one, Gavin. Morgan tracked him down a-la Michael in Halloween, and finally had him cornered just as Ezekiel and Carol make it there to plead with him not to kill Gavin execution style. Carol spoke to Morgan as though she were dealing with the same man who tried to convince her not to kill not so long ago. It was clear that Morgan had changed, yet again. Before Morgan can take action, Gavin is killed from behind by a rod through the throat from Henry, a 12 year old boy. This breaks Morgan’s heart, and you can almost see the flip in him (again) immediately. I wouldn’t have thought Morgan would make such a drastic shift in character again. It’s a lot to ask of an actor (Lennie James) to make so many flips believable. Time will tell what happens with Morgan.

My Rating: A-

This episode was about the best send-off a character has been given since either Deanna (S7E1) or Bob (S5E3). Given what Carl means for the future of this world in the comics, it’s fitting that his death could have such a long-lasting impact in the series. I thought it was handled very well with minimal “cheesy” moments. The direction of the episode was also very solid, as has come to be expected from Greg Nicotero dealing with dramatic elements in an episode.

Since this episode focused so greatly on Carl’s death and securing the safety of Ezekiel, it’s easy to forget what else is going on in the overall plot of the war. So, don’t forget….

• Aaron and Enid made it to Oceanside where Enid appeared to kill Grandma. She may have ruined any hope they have of gaining that group’s trust.
• Dwight had been officially outed as a traitor. This is why he had to stay in the sewers with everyone instead of trying to convince the Saviors to leave so they could escape.
• Daryl is likely still dealing with the possibility that his actions led to the ability of the Saviors to escape when he rammed the truck into the Sanctuary to let the walkers in.
• In the last episode, Eugene helped Gabriel and the Sanctuary doctor escape as Eugene worked through the demons of his decisions. We don’t know yet whether Gabriel and the doctor make it to safety.