Rick makes a decision about the fate of one member of the group.
I mostly enjoyed this episode for the performances, character development, and general themes, but I slightly struggled with some elements of the story.
The portrayal of Merle, Daryl, and Michonne is the best aspect of it and the scenes involving these characters are great. Especially Merle, who is the main focus of the episode. I cannot say much without spoiling, but Michael Rooker gives another excellent performance and everything the character does is very memorable. His scenes with Danai Gurira and Norman Reedus are the highlights of the episode.
Where I slightly struggle are the scenes involving Rick's decisions. The initial decision Rick makes feels like a plot contrivance to stretch out the drama and bring about his reflection and subsequent speech to the group. They are not badly made. In fact I think Andrew Lincoln is brilliant as always and some of the themes it touches on such as leadership by dictatorship and democracy are also very thought provoking. Rick's actions just lack a bit of plausibility for me. I find it difficult to believe the character would consider handling the situation that way based on what we have seen so far.
As ever the visuals are top drawer, with great cinematography, editing, makeup and gore effects.
For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.
I mostly enjoyed this episode for the performances, character development, and general themes, but I slightly struggled with some elements of the story.
The portrayal of Merle, Daryl, and Michonne is the best aspect of it and the scenes involving these characters are great. Especially Merle, who is the main focus of the episode. I cannot say much without spoiling, but Michael Rooker gives another excellent performance and everything the character does is very memorable. His scenes with Danai Gurira and Norman Reedus are the highlights of the episode.
Where I slightly struggle are the scenes involving Rick's decisions. The initial decision Rick makes feels like a plot contrivance to stretch out the drama and bring about his reflection and subsequent speech to the group. They are not badly made. In fact I think Andrew Lincoln is brilliant as always and some of the themes it touches on such as leadership by dictatorship and democracy are also very thought provoking. Rick's actions just lack a bit of plausibility for me. I find it difficult to believe the character would consider handling the situation that way based on what we have seen so far.
As ever the visuals are top drawer, with great cinematography, editing, makeup and gore effects.
For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.