The Walking Dead: Ep. 806 – The King, the Widow, and Rick
The fissures that have been forming in the coalition reach a critical mass this week. The King, the Widow, and Rick nudges the overall narrative along, features more of the cast and delves a little deeper into the growing factions and open dissent on both sides of the conflict. The War on Negan has thrown wedges into friendships, broken leaders and pushed others to question and betray their moral code.
Maggie and Jesus butt heads when he starts feeding the captured Saviors with rations from the Hilltop. His decision to bring the prisoners back to the community is met with scorn and leaves him in Maggie’s bad books. Maggie is developing into a calculating leader and more than proves her worth when she determines the fate of Jesus’ motley crew. There’s even a touch of fan service when a particular character receives some long overdue justice.
Ezekiel’s crisis of confidence continues. Retreating into his sanctuary, the former thespian tries to find solace. Like an actor trying to make sense of things after scathing reviews, Ezekiel’s failure on the battlefield is the first true obstacle he’s had to overcome. Carol however channels her inner Freddie Mercury and has no time for losers. After trying to reach out to the broken king she digs her heels in to get the fallen leader back on his feet.
Rick goes to meet Jadis in search of a deal. After some humorous chatter about Jadis’ shooting skills Rick offers Jadis and her people a chance to trade up in the world. Rick’s offer isn’t sweet enough and Jadis rejects any chance of forming an alliance. By the end of the episode it’s fair to say that Rick’s negotiating skills need some work.
The King, the Widow and Rick is an interesting title for an episode that features the return of several of The Walking Dead’s central characters. Michonne, Rosita and Carl all get significant screen time and the dude shot at in the premiere, Siddiq gets a proper introduction. Fans of the comic are already familiar with Siddiq, but since the comics and show are on somewhat divergent narrative paths it will be interesting to see how things play out for the newcomer.
Michonne and Rosita suffering from a bout of restlessness find themselves at an outpost owned by the Saviors. A brief battle breaks out resulting in one of the more unexpected and satisfying finishing moves undoubtably inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark. While the pyrotechnics of the scene has its merits it does open the door for further developments that will play a significant role in future episodes.
The King, the Widow, and Rick continues the slow play that has marked some of the pacing for this season. While it’s probably unfair to say that nothing happens this week the episode does feel a little light. That is of course unless you like your Saviors “blowed up real good”.
