Most of the first half of Season 8 was very poor, with two exceptions, and also wasn't crazy about the season overall (too many problems and bad episodes). "The Lost and the Plunderers", the previous episode, was a big surprise and was a very well done episode, one of the few above average ones of the season. Showing that the show's quality hadn't completely gone and that it could be good when they tried.
"Dead or Alive Or" for me was a difficult episode to rate and review. There are things that it does well, but there are also some glaring and difficult to ignore problems. It is a long way from being one of the worst episodes of Season 8 (if anything for all its problems it's one of the least bad) or of 'The Walking Dead', but the show showed brilliance frequently and "Dead or Alive Or" was an episode that sometimes remembered what made the show so great at its best and at other points forgot. Odd.
Am going to start with the good. The production values does have atmosphere, especially the scenery and the way the episode is lit. The music is ominous. The script has some tight and thought provoking moments. The acting is very good all round.
Did appreciate the effort in giving more development to the more minor characters of 'The Walking Dead', although the success varied. Actually thought that "Dead or Alive Or" was at its best in the reaction to Carl's death at the Hilltop and surprisingly the Dwight and Tara subplot, those two characters are not my favourites but did appreciate Tara's development here and it was done well and not in a soap-operatic way. The Saviors scenes had some tension.
There are other parts of the story where "Dead or Alive Or" doesn't fare so well. The Carol, Morgan and Henry subplot is too soapy and also has some unrealistic decision making. Faring worse is everything with Father Gabriel, a subplot that goes on and on with not much eventful and full of too wordy and heavy-handed dialogue. Eugene's presence was pointless and he is still annoying.
Pacing isn't perfect either, with a tendency to be too slow, especially with Father Gabriel, and it generally lacks suspense other than with the Saviors. The dialogue really could have done with a tightening up, while the editing is sloppy and like it was trying to show off with no regard for pace.
In conclusion, a bit mixed here. 6/10.
"Dead or Alive Or" for me was a difficult episode to rate and review. There are things that it does well, but there are also some glaring and difficult to ignore problems. It is a long way from being one of the worst episodes of Season 8 (if anything for all its problems it's one of the least bad) or of 'The Walking Dead', but the show showed brilliance frequently and "Dead or Alive Or" was an episode that sometimes remembered what made the show so great at its best and at other points forgot. Odd.
Am going to start with the good. The production values does have atmosphere, especially the scenery and the way the episode is lit. The music is ominous. The script has some tight and thought provoking moments. The acting is very good all round.
Did appreciate the effort in giving more development to the more minor characters of 'The Walking Dead', although the success varied. Actually thought that "Dead or Alive Or" was at its best in the reaction to Carl's death at the Hilltop and surprisingly the Dwight and Tara subplot, those two characters are not my favourites but did appreciate Tara's development here and it was done well and not in a soap-operatic way. The Saviors scenes had some tension.
There are other parts of the story where "Dead or Alive Or" doesn't fare so well. The Carol, Morgan and Henry subplot is too soapy and also has some unrealistic decision making. Faring worse is everything with Father Gabriel, a subplot that goes on and on with not much eventful and full of too wordy and heavy-handed dialogue. Eugene's presence was pointless and he is still annoying.
Pacing isn't perfect either, with a tendency to be too slow, especially with Father Gabriel, and it generally lacks suspense other than with the Saviors. The dialogue really could have done with a tightening up, while the editing is sloppy and like it was trying to show off with no regard for pace.
In conclusion, a bit mixed here. 6/10.