‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8, Episode 15: Cleaning House

Where is the recap of last night's episode? Variety already has it - although replete with typos. It also has the recap of FTWD.

We come at last to the last draft in our sequence on Rotten Eggs. I once thought I could tiptoe away with it in my little duffel. However, I can see the sea has changed, so I must speak my speech in my professor speak or let it go, which I won't do. For a long time I thought that AMC could handle the Rotten Egg problem. I let myself believe it was a unique, a stand alone problem about getting to D.C. (which I wrote about somewhat hastily yesterday). That bad smell you may detect has something to do with Rick's need for multiple showers AND a course in bullet making 101, which Eugene wrote out—presumably by hand—and gave to Rick to hold inside his shirt during the entire first meeting with Negan. It is “The Last Day on Earth,” the finale of Season 6 Episode 16. It ended in the hideous, sadistic impossible to UN-see murders of Abraham and Glenn. This is the Rotten Egg example that needs some air. If you have additional examples of Rotten Eggs, particularly ones that expand our understanding of the Easter Egg concept, they will be gratefully acknowledged. I really don't think there are very many, and it would be useful to provide as complete a catalog as we can. With eyes wide open, Eugene sacrificed himself to save Rosita from sacrificing herself AND Tara after Rosita fired his bullet directly at Negan's face and hit Lucille instead. This Rotten Egg will be a part of the characterization of Eugene for as long as the show is remembered and however it ends for Eugene.

An Easter Egg is a piece of information tucked away in a scene to reenforce a theme, hint at a plot twist, help us understand character, add backstory in all sorts of ways except directly. So, what is a rotten egg? It's an Easter Egg that doesn't hatch, but starts to fester. The "information" leads you off in a wrong or confusing direction. The best thing to hope for with a rotten egg is that it's small and passes through without drawing attention to itself. If you're lucky it may be forgotten entirely. If you're NOT lucky, you're with the whole newly reconstituted gang that's just joined with Carol, discovered that Judith is alive after all; Morgan is catching up as fast as he can. They gather in Gabriel's church, and Abraham pitches the suggestion that Rick's gang join with his and they all go to D.C. together. Why D.C.? a reasonable person might ask. Eugene is called on to explain to the assemblage the advantages to be obtained by such a venture: Infrastructure will be extensive and hopefully under some sort of organized control. It ain't A NEW WORLD ORDER, but an OLD ORDER may be better than what they've been coping with. And after some more mucking about, finishing off the cannibals, discovering Beth is still alive after all, the Big-BUZZ is Abraham at the wheel taking the RV into turn that gives them a clean beautiful shot of the capitol building ... hope?. And that's the end of that rotten egg story. No Historic Alexandria; no D.C. Negan is not CIA/FBI. Smell that?

Okay, I confess, I think TWD has a rotten egg problem, but the disappearance of Heath is NOT an example. The disappearance of Heath is a fully decked out Easter Egg, loaded with information, ready to crack: Heath was last seen on the bridge when Tara went over the side. After her adventures at Oceanside, returned to the bridge and we cataloged a number of bits of evidence: 1) no Heath, not as a living person, a dead person, or a walking-dead person. 2) thick, black-rimmed glasses (his signature identity marker) lay broken on the bridge; wherever he went, he did so half blind. 3) a new, fresh, clean zombie—a woman in a brown dress—has joined the bridge crew; 4) the camper Tara and Heath arrived in is gone (Heath, you recall, would be a half-blind driver if he is behind the wheel. 5) question as likely scenario: she had a companion; in their effort to help Heath and/or steal the camper, the woman was bitten and abandoned/killed, so not really abandoned (speaks to issue of companion's character … 6) then there was the odd bit about the key card beside where the caamper was parked. If, every time you see Tara wearing her yellow beach glasses, you wonder, “What happened to Heath?” you don't have to sniff for the smell of an egg that's started to fester. If Tara suddenly remembers an urgent errand when Aaron asks her what happened to Heath, and Daryl says to Aaron, “I don't think she knows,” your egg's just fine—a bright bauble nestled in the summer green grass, waiting.

For a while I was holding out hope for Eugene, but no more. I hope he dies a painful and messy death next week.

This is a series that actually needs to jump the shark.

The dump is a metals depot. People are a resource. Negan cheated Scavengers. Dumpsters are not a collective. Correction 1: "were not." He promised Tamiel 12; Jadis settled for 10. Read faces. I believe without confirmable (verbalizable) evidence that Farron (growled at and brutalized Michonne) is the daughter of Tamiel The moral obscenity of using the sorrow and longing in the voice of Chandler Riggs as the voice of Carl reading, nurturing his father. The image, flicker of an apparition of a story about Neanderthals told in images, not understood by Pro Magnon. The puzzle story, the new world order, species as relevant character not a collective. The Dumpsters are not a collective. Correction 1: "were not." From National Review by Lynne Tillman >If MEN AND APPARITIONS is an image, it’s a Polaroid—maybe a haunted one—that someone hands you as it’s still developing. Tillman insists that there are formal and social conventions yet to be upended and rethought. Even if she doesn’t achieve it herself, the magic is that you can see them materializing in your hand. Hers is a studied amateurishness, a considered immediacy. These layers are part of her brilliance in conveying the self-in-progress.> Card, "... it is quality that lasts...."(Except, of course, in the eyes of the elitists for whom it is an article of faith that any entertainment that is beloved by millions must be not just inferior but downright pernicious, the enemy of 'real art'....") Correction 2: LOST 2006. >

"Like all of the great Shakespearean tragedies, “Romeo and Juliet” ends with a stage full of corpses" Spoiler alert, please!

The helicopter person must have access too a good supply of food, since the helicopter can be used to locate it. Where are all the animals? Eaten by hungry people? I was hoping the Jayne Atkinson character would turn out to be Jadis's mother but she can't be, since she would have been able find food via Jadis's helicopter friend.

I predict that Aaron, Tara and/or Rosita will die in the finale, as well as the blonde lady Kingdom soldier who got a lot of camera time in the previous two episodes. Who else dies is anyone's guess. I want Carol and Zeke (and Jerry!!) to live. Beyond that, I'm okay with anyone else. I've enjoyed Dwight's arc, and I was deeply sorry Simon was killed. He was a much more interesting villain than Negan.

Pretty good, workmanlike episode I thought, setting things up for the finale. Good reminders not to underestimate Negan or Eugene. Negan found and foiled both major plots against him, but not before using Dwight to set up the Hilltop for ambush. Eugene, the only one capable of making bullets anymore, managed to escape Daryl and Rosita quite expeditiously, and covered with crematory remains, got right back to work. I don't think Eugene can be considered a good guy anymore, but it's interesting to track his arc backward and try figuring out just when he became a bad guy. My bet is that neither Rick nor Negan will die in this finale. Obviously Morgan will suddenly take off to the west at extreme speed, to wind up on FTWD at 10 pm. And I'm betting that a couple of major characters will die, but I couldn't say for sure which ones; whoever does, I'm hoping that this brings an end to the Saviors/Our Gang conflict. Unfortunately I don't think there's time to catch up with Jadis and find out what her backstory is (my bet: spy). Overall too I'm looking forward to FTWD, and glad that this season seems to be ending better than it started, although with less viewers than ever. Might well be that next season will be the last, if enough people tune out. Big fan that I've been, I would prefer that closure rather than staggering on for years.

I think Rick will see through Negan's ruse with the maps. I can see Rick making it look like they've fallen for it, and then pulling a surprise assault on the Saviors. Unless, Negan knows Rick will be suspicious and he has an evil plan B waiting fir the group....

If Oceanside’s Rachel ever gets to meet Carol, she may be looking at some flowers. She is broken and maybe unfixable. I hope we are finally set up for the end of the Negan cycle—enough already!! Let’s get on with the helicopter and the lady with the pearl necklace and pantsuit! Take that you stupid walkie-talkie—stomp stomp. I hope Dwight survives but I don’t see how he can other than a with big deus ex machina—and they certainly aren’t above that.

Thanks for another great re-cap, Charles. Unfortunately, I needed it as our family have switched from WD to American Idol on Sunday nights.

The series has stunk for two seasons. I finally gave up three episodes ago, and from the summary here, I haven't missed anything. How can a show have 40 main characters and STILL nothing happens??? TWD has become the sequel to Lost, rambling and pointless, with one ridiculous twist after another. Terrible writing, terrible acting, and a planet full of zombies that are as terrifying as a hangnail.

While there were some twists, Eugene slipping through Rosita and Daryl's hands was a bit lame. I'd love to see Eugene bite the dust. And Dwight - I hope he makes it through and reunites with his wife. He's been a great character.

To me, this was the best episode of the season. Lot's of twists and turns without any of them seeming as far fetched as some of the more bizarre plot twists of the recent past. Sets up well for a climactic finale next week. It will be interesting to see what plans Negan has for Double Agent Triple Cross Dwight - he seems to want to use him as some kind of ruse or prop for the upcoming ambush he has planned. I may be the only viewer geographically obsessed with the location of where this is all happening. The maps Dwight used place next week's action somewhere west or southwest of Washington, DC in the general area of Manassas or Warrenton, VA. The battle lines are nicely drawn. Remaining wild cards are: 1. Dwight (can he get word out to Rick's group about the planned ambush?), 2. the Oceanside group (will they arrive w Aaron in the nick of time. Probably), 3. Eugene's newly manufacture bullets (are they real or are they sabotaged?), 4. Jadis (what role will she play - and what about that helicopter?), 5. The lady who wanted 33 rpm music (is she even coming back?) And, after all the propane fireballs prepare us for the inevitable climactic resolution (or maybe another 6-month cliffhanger) - what makes Morgan run off to the better show in Texas? Looking forward to the season finale and the return of Fear the Walking Dead. hope that franchise maintains last season's quality. I liked last night's episode and hope they wrap up the season equally well.

Agree that Aaron's been underused. But seems pretty clear he'll convince the Oceansiders to join the fray, and they'll help turn the tide in favor of the coalition...

Ha ha! Zombie Simon just like Alive Simon. Blah blah blah, yakety yak, in death as in live Negan's slave. Love it!

Interesting episode. Not sure if TWD knows what to do with Aaron. No other choice with Simon but he was great while on the show. Eugene, he's a survivor. I really like Dwight. For me he's a doomed romantic character.