Gregory has long since outlived his usefulness, to “The Walking Dead” and to all of its characters. Introduced as the shady leader of the Hilltop, usurped by Maggie and ejected when he attempted to sell his comrades out to the Saviors, both his former allies and Negan’s forces regard him as persona non grata.
That hasn’t stopped him from buzzing around the periphery of the action, as irritating and parasitic as a mosquito, waiting for the right moment to make his latest lunge at power.This week’s episode lands its most cathartic moment when it gives Gregory what’s been coming to him since last season. Maggie has contrived a humane, if shaky, solution for the prisoners of war by penning them in a makeshift prison area, but Gregory is out to undermine her authority yet again. Preying on the other Hilltoppers’ insecurities, he warns them that their new captives cannot be trusted — foxes, he fears, have entered the henhouse. Maggie agrees with him, adding that Gregory is the craftiest fox of all as she has him dragged into the enclosure for some quality time with the Saviors he betrayed. These just deserts feel rewarding to the viewer, the culmination of a multiyear long game. Unfortunately, as an organically deployed and emotionally resonant story beat, this bit qualifies as an anomaly in an otherwise scattershot hour.
Perhaps the ensemble of “The Walking Dead” has simply grown too large for its own good. This week’s episode spreads itself awfully thin, checking in with an assortment of supporting characters without nudging them through anything particularly compelling.
In its attempt to cover a lot of narrative ground in a relatively brief time, much is said, but little communicated.While Maggie and Gregory jockey for supremacy, Rick has hit the road to recruit new allies in the continuing war with Negan. After grabbing a communiqué from his comrades in a busted microwave, Rick has cause for a bit of confidence. Negan’s losing ground and short on soldiers, all but trapped behind a moving barricade of zombies. Rick tells his old foe Jadis this…
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