It had been a bit since we've seen Negan, Dwight, and Eugene, but we got a whole dosage of them last night as Eugene officially sold out to Negan and Dwight seemed to pass at his final shot at redemption.
Overall, this episode felt a little repetitive. We already watched Daryl go through his trials and tribulations under Negan's control and we've certainly seen Dwight go through his fair share of chances to redeem himself. On the other hand, the differences between Daryl and Eugene are great, and that was made very clear in this episode. I'm glad we have someone like Eugene on the show, but this was some Father Gabriel level cowardice shown by the supposed genius. I shouldn't have expected anything different with his character, but I really thought we were done getting beat down by Negan. I'm ready for him to have a setback or two.
Which is where Dwight's arc comes into play. This could have been the perfect time for Dwight to jump ship and join the survivors. Would I have been there to welcome him with open arms? No. But with everything that has happened to him, I was really hoping he would have his own redemption arc beginning with this episode. Sure, he lied about his wife being dead and her writing the note to Daryl, but couldn't he have just walked away from this life? Perhaps he has a plan for Negan, but it sure doesn't feel like it right now.
So as much as I enjoyed seeing Eugene hang with Negan's wives playing Yar's Revenge or whatever that was, Eugene giving Negan more ideas for armoring up walkers, and a whole lot of pickles, I felt like this episode was a missed opportunity. It's also worth mentioning that there's only 5 episodes left, so I can only assume the "war" will take place next season. Frustrating, but nothing out of the ordinary for The Walking Dead.
+More Dwight material
-But no redemption for him
-Eugene kissing up to Negan
6.8/10