The Walking Dead S08E13 "Do Not Send Us Astray" (My Review)

If you don't want "Spoilers," scroll down to the "Non-Spoilers" section where I give my broad conclusion and overall thoughts

Spoilers (In-Depth Analysis)

Parts I don't give a shit

Morgan and his internal struggles I don't really give a shit because his character keeps swaying back and forth like he has never seen some fucked up shit. The world of Walking Dead is so full it so for a character to survive this long and still be sane should have a CONSISTENT personality. Why do we see him hallucinate about Gavin?

The battle

Simon leading Negan's army to fight Hilltop was good don't get me wrong. This episode wanted to focus on the battle but that is all it offers. There wasn't really much at stake since it wasn't the LAST battle with both sides losing heavy casualty. I'd say it was a tie. This episode was really PREDICTABLE. I knew the Saviors were going to retreat and I knew they were going for biological warfare since they tipped the arrows with Walkers blood, and I knew the people at Hilltop were going to fight against themselves as the injured were reanimated into Walkers. I was a bit upset as I knew all of this was coming and that the episode did not offer any more than just that. I was a little impressed that it did advance the plot for the Saviors who got captured and being held prisoners at Hilltop. IDK if I should be curious to know what happened to the kid who killed Gavin since he got himself captured when the Saviors at Hilltop escaped. I am however curious to know how some of the Saviors who decided to stay will be useful like the character Alden who is friendly.

The parts left out

They left out the character Laura who shot Dwight back in S08E08 "How It's Gotta Be" for quite a while. It has been 5 episodes so far without her. Did she get captured? Or...Did she had a change of heart? Also, did Michael manage to persuade Oceanside cause they left him and the people from Oceanside for 4 episodes. Sadly we did not get any scenes between Negan and Jadis but in the next one we will and I am looking forward to it. With Negan out of the commission I believe the war will truly end in the first episode of season 9.

Future episode predictions

I predict that episode 14 will be about Negan overcoming Jadis then coming back to Sanctuary to take back his leadership again just like in S08E05 "The Big Scary U"
Episode 15 will focus on Negan with what he will do to Simon for his disobedience and questioning himself about his leadership since he failed to negotiate with the Scavengers then deciding to end the war once and for all.
Episode 16, the season 8 finale will ACTUALLY be an ALL OUT WAR of Negan vs. Rick with this being the FINAL battle or it could show how powerful Negan's army still is just like back in the season 6 finale.

Questions left unanswered

When will Oceanside join?
What happened to Laura who shot Dwight?
When will Negan take back his leadership?
What is that helicopter that Rick was chasing at the end of S08E05 "The Big Scary U"? (Still waiting for that answer)
Will the war be FINALLY be over in this season finale?

Non-Spoilers

We dive into the action in this episode. If you have watched the ending of Episode 11 and the ending of Episode 12 then you already know what is going to happen. The battle is exciting don't get me wrong you will enjoy it. So many people from both sides die. The thing that bugs me about "Do Not Send Us Astray" is that it was very predictable. Also it felt somewhat dull since this is not even the final battle between Rick and the Saviors. Another way to describe it was that the stakes were not raised high enough. I hope the next episode is a lot better since we only have 3 episodes left. This one there is not much to go in-depth with. Still...we got MORE action this time so I can't complain too much.

My Grading Rubric:

The two-thumbs up means it is simply AMAZING. It shows that the replay is high and makes you want to watch it again and again. It also means that the show excel in every bit with drama/story/plot-progression/build-up while leaving you excited for the next episode. The two-thumbs-up ALSO proves that it is highly memorable one.

The thumb-up means it is GREAT if not amazing. It means that it while it is not perfect it still has more strengths than weaknesses meaning that some parts are slow/boring while the rest is exciting or it gives plenty of thrills but overall generic. Even though it is not a two-thumbs-up the show can still be very memorable after watching the whole entire season.

This picture grade shows at it is just MEDIOCRE at best. There is plenty of good parts that make this show still enjoyable to watch. Replay is low and after watching it once you don't feel like watching it all over again unless you a HARDCORE fan and/or if you just skim through it to watch a few scenes.

This simply means that it is CRAP. It also means that for an amount of time you spend watching a movie/episode is also the amount of time you are never going to get back. I can simply have another picture that is two-thumbs-down to prove that it is dog shit but this picture grade shows that it is horrible and you want to avoid it at all costs.