The Walking Dead Season 8: 5 Ups And 4 Downs From 'The Damned'

Ups...

5. Division In The Ranks

As the war kicked off last week, everyone was working on the same page. Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel had given their big, slightly corny speeches, and the various factions were unified against their common enemy and all stuck to the task.

This week ostensibly follows the same template, but tensions arise when it comes to how they should deal with the Saviours. Jesus wants to spare the lives of those who've surrendered, whereas Tara and then Morgan believe they should be killed. It then uses this as a way of making it Rick's soldiers versus Maggie's.

It's an interesting wrinkle for future exploration, but also works well in the episode itself. Jesus is maybe slightly naive, but it also paints his character as even more likeable than he already is, and a newfound voice of reason. Morgan, too, is as fascinating as ever. There's a great little sequence where he walks through the compound taking people out, before emerging into the light and a reunion with Jared, and it's a timely reminder of Morgan's troubled mental state, something Lennie James once again portrays brilliantly.

Tara's part in this doesn't work quite as well, because Alanna Masterson isn't as good when it comes to serious, dramatic scenes, but it does add to the tension in the ranks and gives Tom Payne plenty to play off.