1. I liked how we were given a glimpse into the fracturing of leadership versus followers at the Sanctuary. Negan is trying to hold it together but I am sure he is feeling the pressure of losing his stronghold over not only ASZ, but the Kingdom and Hilltop. Add to that already volatile potion brewing, we have Simon now openly questioning Negan and his decisions. Questioning how Negan sees the future panning out (Simon wants to just wipe out the communities nearby and extend their search for other communities to take advantage of). And not only is Simon questioning Negan, Maggie sends him a walker-gram in the form Dean-O. She is pretty much letting him know that Simon's little foray into instilling fear only served to piss her off. Scare tactics are no longer working, but killing all of the "good guys" will not serve the purpose Negan requires of them. The man is feeling backed into a corner and his ability to reign in his anger and volatile outbursts is diminishing. When a leader appears to be losing his cool in front of his followers those same followers are going to begin questioning his ability to lead them.

 

2. The Junkyard People. Well damn Simon! Killed one, then two, then a massacre. This was (IMO) a plan that was probably discussed between Simon and his ride along gang to the junkyard. Otherwise how would the Saviors all know that if need be they were going to kill them all EXCEPT Jadis. And I was surprised that Rick left Jadis there. And I fear that will come to bite him in the arse in season 9.

And Jadis. We finally get some insight into her group and how they came to be. She saw them as their own entity, their own world in all ways. And with that we finally have a quasi explanation as to the preferred speech of the heepsters. I felt for her when she was talking to Rick...Pollyanna did a great job with her first scene that has offered her something to work with in order to give us the room to understand her character a bit more. The meat grinding stuff though - ewwwwwww, but effective.

 

3. Rick and Michonne. It hurts me that they have no time to grieve. That they are running on automatic. When Rick pulls over and states that he needs a moment - as always Andrew Lincoln's face conveyed everything that needed to be said.

Trying to save the gazebo. We know we know, they were not able to. We know, we know many will think it was an exercise in futility. And maybe it was. But the fact is that Carl had JUST died and they were faced with leaving his grave behind uncertain that they would ever be able to return. Saving that gazebo, in Michonne's mind, was probably akin to a promise of being able to return and to have something of Carl to return to. Yes it was reckless, but the reality is that when we are battling a high level of emotions we rarely think clearly. I think it was clever way to show that they were both feeling despair, sadness, loss, anguish, fear, etc. All of those emotions within the span of hours makes for questionable decision making

 

The scene with Simon and Jadis was one of the best scenes on the show in a while.

I am going to be sad when Simon isn't part of the show any more. I actually prefer Rick kill Negan and let Simon live in captivity.

 

Everything @Dnae said because I'm unoriginal and she hit the nail on the head... 3 times.

 

(psssssst...... @Reina lookey lookey!)

 

I like the Negan development. He is a far more complex and interesting villain now than the cruel smart Alec that we saw last season.

The high point for me was the walky-talkie talk between Rick and Negan. Rick is grieving the loss of his son. Negan honestly looked like he is grieving the loss of Carl in his own way.

Was Negan trying to manipulate Rick into submission by blaming Carl’s death on him or was he taking out his anger on Rick? Was it a little of both?

I still want to see Rick kill Negan but I think I could be satisfied by another outcome that involves Rick overcoming Negan without killing him.

 

Only one outcome will satisfy me; Rick making good on his oft-repeated promise - that of killing Negan.

 

Probably the best thing in this episode was this fact that the garbage people are GONE!! God, for the first time after 2 whole season i LOVED Simon!!

And one thing that i loved in this episode was the last scene!! when Negan says to Rick :"give up!! coz u've already lost."
cant say i've been a Rick's fan in these two last seasons, but in that scene, i was like :"My hero will NEVER give up and is gonna kick ur ass!!"
It was so dramatic!!