[MENTION=8303]Tony Davis[/MENTION] sticky thread please

 

-THE JAM!! nice surprise
-Got some great insight on Dwight who I hated now I can at least tolerate him
-Naked dirty Daryl which is probably redundant
-seeing a bit of the inner workings of the Savior complex
-the little glint in Negan's eye when Daryl refused
-Daryl's emotional breakdown over Glenn....kudos to Reedus he portrayed real heartbreak.

 

I loved this episode. I liked the opening scene - at first I thought it was a commercial. Loved showing all the resources it took to make Dwight's sandwich. Thought it was interesting to see how they tortured Daryl - the music was torturing me too. The change to Roy Orbison and watching how it affected Darryl. Seeing more of the Sanctuary. Hmm. Terminus was No Sanctuary. Symbolic or coincidence?

 

It was a nice peek into Dwights character. I never really understood that guy, this episode helps a lot.

 

I guess I liked this better than some. Yes, the pacing was slow, but I think we got a lot of information and character development which will be important later.

The opening, while a little disconcerting at first was interesting. It asked us "Who's the Boss?" and then it told us. The sequence of Dwight making his sandwich gave us a lot of insight into his character--despite efforts to make him more sympathetic, he really is a bully and an asshole. It showed us some of the workings of the Sanctuary and glimpses of the average joe in this brutal dog-eat-dog environment. In complete contrast to the choir and schoolrooms of the Kingdom, we have a populace who is completely abused and beaten into submission. You just know that they are going to be held accountable for the items Dwight took. We get to see the favorable positions that the soldiers hold. Why do they do what Negan says, in spite of the way they are treated? They don't want to fall down the hierarchy and become even more abused.

I thought that the torture sequences with Daryl were well done and not gratuitous. I was very afraid it would go over the top the way that GoT did with this scenario, and maybe that's why viewers stayed away to some extent. The techniques used--humiliation, sensory deprivation/overload are very much in keeping with modern interrogation and torture techniques unfortunately. I'm not always convinced of NR's ability as an actor, but I do think he nailed this and deserves credit for this performance. When he names himself as "Daryl" I thought it was a profound moment for the character who has spent a good deal of his life not being very proud of that fact.

I do think JDM is doing a great job. The constant manipulations and testing that he does even to those apparently in his inner circle is very telling.

There was too much angsty Dwight. I guess I understand him better, which was the intent, but I still don't care for him. The exposition is a bit much, particularly Negan relaying the Dwight and Sherry story. Although it also shows us that as omniscient as Negan wants us to think he is, he is flawed. The fact that Daryl and Dwight and Sherry have met before has clearly been kept from him. And he seems to think Daryl will be tempted by that little apartment with the toaster oven--clearly he doesn't really grasp at all who he's dealing with.

Anyway, those are my positive takeways. A little slow to be sure, but I liked it overall.