Overall things seemed to be going well for our heroes in their kick-off of the All Out War against the Saviors. With some losses here and there, the Alexandria/Hilltop/Kingdom trifecta was unstoppable for a while, but all good things must come to an end. Tonight on The Walking Dead the losses are far more severe, and morale is shattered for what's left of one of our groups. I'll say that my morale is also low after the season's fourth episode. Who is able to survive this sad hour? Here's what went down in "Some Guy."
Times Are Gone For Honest Men
The episode opens with King Ezekiel preparing his group to go on the mission we've been watching these past few weeks. We see the both the men and women warriors saying goodbye to their spouses and children, and we see a less flashy version of Ezekiel become "king" as he completes his hair and wardrobe for the day ahead. As he watches the folks in The Kingdom pack up the trucks and suit up, he does not resemble the "we will lose not one of our ranks" confident leader that has been making Carol smile. He looks uncertain as he begins to head out of his home.
With Shiva by his side, Ezekiel marches toward his army, stopping to tell Henry (Benjamin's little brother) to be brave in their absence. He then addresses the crowd: "We will fight. We will bleed. And yet I smile." The speech continues and the troops are definitely rallied to defeat the Saviors and find the glory their king has promised them. "You trust the King. We will win! I smile. I laugh. I rejoice this day. For on this day we are joined in purpose and vision. We are a singular heart and mind. On this day, we are ONE!" The crowd goes into a massive group hug with Ezekiel, and hell, even I'm inspired by this display of teamwork.
The Sun In My Disgrace
But now we catch up with the warriors of The Kingdom where we left them last week. After believing they had come through the battle at one of Negan's satellite sites unscathed, Saviors in upper levels of the building opened fire. The group hug has become a group pile of dead bodies, with Ezekiel surviving thanks to the number of followers who threw themselves in front of gunfire for him. He climbs out from under the casualties and realizes he's the only one alive. His smile is gone. My first thought is, "get the hell out of there before all of those people turn!" And then I wonder, where is Carol? And then we see all of those people turn and I forget about Carol. Ezekiel, cry later. Right now GTFO! The king is nearly devoured by his own ranks...all of which he lost...and he has to start shooting them all in the head, which has to be (figuratively) killing him. Finally he finds another survivor and it's well timed - Ezekiel has a hell of a leg injury and there's zero chance he can outrun the herd.
Just when Ezekiel and the last man standing in his army think they are out of danger, another mass of Walkers is coming their way. And then there's the Savior who sneaks up from behind and kills the last man standing. So much for that. Why this Savior resembles a 1990s pedophile/serial killer is beyond me, but this asshole says he is supposed to bring "the king" to The Sanctuary alive. See, Negan wants to kill Ezekiel, Maggie, and Rick and have them join the Walker army that is chained to his front fence, to serve as an example of what happens when people betray him. I guess he isn't aware of Michonne's leash method of transporting people.
As Ezekiel hobbles along as best he can, the Savior gives him a bunch of shit, saying he knows Ezekiel's background and how Ezekiel "played" the people in The Kingdom. He jokes that even in death they are still following his bullshit. Ezekiel is able to cut this asshole, but he throws the king to the ground and stands on his hurt leg. He starts talking about bringing Ezekiel's head back on a pike and leaving the rest of him for the Walkers, but much like Morales last week, he's also a dumbass and talks way too long...long enough for Jerry (yay! he's alive!), King Ezekiel's loyal teddy bear Samurai, to spring in and literally cut the guy in half. Bye 1990s pedophile/serial killer Savior. The reunion between king and subject is only momentarily a happy one as the herd of Walkers is still upon them. They are at a dead end and Jerry isn't able to break through the fence with his ax. Shit.
In Disguises No One Knows
Carol has made it inside the building at this point and avoided the massacre. She takes out some of the Saviors inside but others escape to the parking lot with artillery. Carol tries her hand at taking them out as well, fakes a surrender and then takes one of them at knife point. The rest of the Saviors don't give a shit and start shooting through the guy to get to Carol. She is able to hit the button to open the parking lot gate and ducks as a bunch of Walkers step inside to attack the remaining Saviors. Carol yells that they need to stop fighting each other because the Walker problem is getting worse and one of the remaining dudes tells her she can simply walk away. Carol doesn't want to leave without all of the guns and ammo the Saviors were loading into a truck...but then she sees Ezekiel and Jerry fighting for their lives on the other side of the fence. What to do... save your comrades and give up on weapons you know are dangerous in the hands of your enemies? Or pursue the weapons knowing that this war will have causalities anyway? Carol goes with the former and the artillery truck gets away. Well, momentarily gets away. Daryl and Rick make a cameo in this hour and intercept the truck. All's well that ends well?
I wish I could say the episode ends there. I do. But Carol, Ezekiel and Jerry are still trying to make their way to safety and the Walkers are coming at them from all sides. Ezekiel tells Carol and Jerry to leave him and he sets off to fight the herd on his own. Jerry says he will not leave his king and Ezekiel turns and screams "I am NOT your king! I'm just some guy." Just then Shiva springs in and starts slaughtering the Walkers. She fights them off bravely but is ultimately Walker food...the poor tiger that Ezekiel once saved and saved proudly, dies a horrible death paying back the favor. I can say with all honesty that I almost threw up as this was happening.
The episode actually ends with King Ezekiel hobbling back into The Kingdom and making his way past his subjects without saying a word. No rousing speech. No words about losing a battle but winning the war. No requiem for the fallen. Just...nothing.
This hour just about did me in. I'm going to mourn the loss of a CGI tiger more than several of the main characters we've lost on this show. And damn it, The Kingdom warriors were so close to victory and Carol was so close to looking happy again. The massacre alone was enough to send Ezekiel into a downward spiral, but I can't imagine his devastation with Shiva. He has said himself the tiger made him who he is. With no army...and no tiger...what kind of a leader will he be now? Will Carol have to step in? Can Alexandria and Hilltop pick up the slack now that The Kingdom army has pretty much been wiped out? Will we see the return of Oceanside? The garbage people? I at least hope that when they made their alliance with the Saviors...the deal included showers for all.
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