The Walking Dead Season 8 Premiere Review
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There was a lot of anticipation for the episode, which was titled "Mercy", and the show did not disappoint.
Throughout the episode, there was a very clear sense of what everyone was fighting for. They were fighting for their friends, family, and their future. Rick is fighting for the future as well as his personal vengeance against Negan.
The new introduction was great as always. Each character gets their unique title card and new additions always work extremely well. I’m glad they still show the shot of the walker strolling through the field from Season 2.
Near the beginning of the episode, there is a scene where Carl is scavenging for gas. This was a mirror scene of the first episode of the series where Rick is getting gas while heading to Atlanta.
This scene was a great throwback and a subtle way of celebrating the show’s 100th episode.
One of my favorite parts of that scene was when Carl looked under the car to find a living person rather than a walker like Rick found way back in episode 1. It shows how far the series has come. It also shows how walkers are much less of a threat than they were in the first two seasons.
As always The Walking Dead gives little hints of characters and their past. The producers and writers of the show are huge on symbolism and it really shows.
The special effects for The Walking Dead are usually top notch, but they were lacking in this episode. Yes, there were plenty of explosions and action, but there was also some laziness. For example, whenever someone was shot with a silenced gun, there would be no blood splatter. There was another scene where Rick was talking to a Savior he just injured, but the Savior wasn’t shown at all. Rick was just talking while the camera only focused on him. It became more obvious when Rick leads a walker to eat the man and absolutely nothing was shown.
While those aspects bothered me, there were also some great effects. The explosions all looked great and some of the walkers stood out.
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I feel like the show tries too hard to be something it isn’t. There are times they try to give emotional weight and it doesn’t work. For example, when the army was preparing for the first fight against Negan.
There are so many characters in this world that it is extremely overwhelming to care about them all and to recognize the depth of each character. This is the show’s weakest point and needs to be addressed so the audience can feel more of an impact moving forward.
The first episode of season 8, for the most part, was fast-paced. Usually, the first episode of every season is fast paced so I’m hesitant to believe the rest of the season will be like this.
According to tvline.com, The Walking Dead’s showrunner, Scott Gimple, said season 8 would be “more kinetic and fast-moving.”
Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne, says that season 8 is “deeply different.”
I’ve been watching The Walking Dead since season 2 and every season the cast and crew say the same thing. They tell fans that this season has the best episode of the series, that the season is different from others, etc. Often times they fail to deliver on the hype so I am skeptical to believe that this season will be any different.
The episode concluded and was dedicated to John Berner and George Romero, which was a nice touch.
John Berner was a stuntman who tragically died after falling more than 20 feet onto concrete at Raleigh Studios in Senoia, Ga. His death, along with other stunt deaths, is inspiring actions to be taken to provide better safety for professional stuntmen and women.
George Romero is a filmmaker, writer, and editor who is famous for kick-starting the zombie genre. He is responsible for films like Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, The Crazies, and more. He is a horror icon and the father of zombies. Romero passed away on July 16th of 2017 in Canada.
Overall, I would give the 100th episode a 7/10.
What did you think of the season 8 premiere? Did it live up to your expectations?
RIP Dale’s RV.
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