Rick, Maggie, Jesus and King Ezekiel sure know how to hatch a plan. The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere was filled with suspense. Here’s the rundown, in case you missed the episode. As Negan would say, I hope you have your shitting pants on. This episode was intense.
The episode starts with a vision of Old Man Rick we first saw in The Walking Dead Season 8 teaser trailer at San Diego Comic-Con this year. We highly doubt it’s a flash-forward to Rick’s future self. It seems more like Rick fantasizing about what life would be like post-Negan. It feels like it was meant to throw you off, but we digress.
After the short “vision” sequence, the show cuts to Rick, Maggie, Jesus and King Ezekiel preparing to attack Negan. Rick gives a grandiose speech about how this war is bigger than all of them and how they all must fight to live. He tells everyone they shouldn’t be proud of the people they will kill in the process, but also to not be ashamed. Rick says the only way to win is if they continue to work together.
So what’s the plan? The communities of Alexandria, Hilltop and The Kingdom are small compared to Negan’s Sanctuary. Or so we think. We really don’t know how many fighters Negan has. But Rick and his allies know where Alexandria is. It’s Negan’s main camp and arguably his weak spot. Tara, Daryl, Carol and Morgan get to work on the first phase of the plan. The four of them had to lead a walker herd to Sanctuary through a series of traps, mostly explosives strategically placed on the roads. Daryl informs Dwight of the plan and he plays his part well. Negan doesn’t suspect Dwight is a traitor, at least not yet.
The second part of the plan is to roll up at Negan’s front door and ask him to surrender. Rick, Maggie, Jesus, King Ezekiel and their little army drive up to Sanctuary's front door armed with guns. Rick gives Negan’s right-hand men a chance to surrender. Negan taunts Rick and brings out what he believes to be his wildcard, Gregory, the original leader of the Hilltop. Gregory puffs out his chest and says, “The Hilltop stands with Negan.” Maggie and Jesus look at each other, acknowledging their alliance.
To Negan’s surprise, Jesus yells out “The Hilltop stands with Maggie.” Simon, who worked as Negan’s representative at the Hilltop, pushes Gregory off the balcony. Negan still believes he has the upper hand. He doesn’t think Rick would risk attacking him, or even has a plan to kill him. Negan’s arrogance gets the better of him this time, as Rick and his allies open fire. Rick’s crew didn’t plan to kill Negan that day, though if they did I don’t think anyone would’ve cared. The intention was to show Negan they’re prepared to fight and they can get creative with fewer people. They shoot at the windows of the Sanctuary entrance to make a lot of noise and create a path for walkers to invade the warehouse.
The plan works. The herd is drawn to the Sanctuary and quickly takes over the warehouse. We don’t know how many people are in there (or managed to escape), but Negan ran away. Rick spots Negan and begins to unload a clip on him, a big mistake considering he didn’t have a lot of time to escape. Father Gabriel stops Rick and reminds him he needs to leave for the next part of the plan, which we’ll probably see in the second episode. Good Guy Father Gabriel also stopped to help a scared Gregory.
Yeah, we know, it’s infuriating he stopped to help a traitor. Maybe Father Gabriel pities him; after all, he was cowardly when Rick first met him. Father Gabriel managed to survive by hiding in a locked church, refusing to let anyone in for sanctuary. Father Gabriel has seen what his fearfulness leads to and realized he needed to fight alongside the people who kept him safe. Maybe Father Gabriel sees good in Gregory.
But damn, we definitely would’ve let Gregory die in that walker herd. His actions are unforgivable. He would’ve sold out a pregnant Maggie to save himself and that’s not okay.
Anyway, Father Gabriel’s decision to save Gregory comes at a cost. Gregory steals Gabriel’s car, which leaves him stranded at the Sanctuary. Father Gabriel finds a place to hide away from the walkers. And Father Gabriel, again, chose poorly. Out comes Negan from the shadows. Father Gabriel is so screwed.
Catch the full The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere on AMC’s official site here. The Walking Dead Season 8 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.
