The Walking Dead Season 7: 3 Ups And 4 Downs From 'The Other Side'

Downs...

4. Not Much Narrative Progression

This is the sort of filler episode you're always going to get with The Walking Dead. A bit of a pause on the main narrative, instead just doing some word-building and scene-setting.

It's not something they always get right, but a big issue in this instance is the fact that this is the 14th episode of a 16 episode season. This isn't the time for that stuff, which should've happened with Hilltop far earlier, but instead to be ramping up the tension and escalating the plot to the point of serious conflict with Negan and the Saviours.

It does that Sasha, who is looking very unlikely to come out of this alive, but not so for the other characters and the wider plot. There's still a big disconnect between the groups and major players, and this episode probably needed to be building towards that some more, rather than giving us this middling instalment.

The final moment, which shows Daryl (it has to be Daryl, right?) back at the Sanctuary does offer some promise, but after the 40+ minutes that came before it's too little too late.