The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 2 "The Damned"

This journey will not end in retreat.

Rick glaring, Daryl glaring. Ezekiel and Carol wake up on the floor covered in dust from the explosion that ended last week's episode. Jesus looks around as do Tara, Morgan, and Aaron. One of the Saviors, Mara, is telling the others to hurry up. Todd (Mingus from Boy Meets World) responds, "It's only like a dozen." Is he referring to Rick's group? She gets mad at him and tells someone to take his place. He goes inside. Mara calls several people on the walkie but they don't respond. Todd finally responds and she tells him to lock the stairwell. Our gang's armored cars pull up and everyone gets out and starts shooting.


Zombies mill around outside a Savior outpost. Jesus refers to it as a zombie moat. Tara says that they can do it. They've done it before. This is the same outpost they attacked last season. Morgan says they just need a good shot. Morgan tells Diane to not let the Saviors fire a gun. Two of the Hilltoppers want to provide backup for Morgan. He responds, "I don't die." Ezekiel and Carol get up dazed from the explosion. Zombies pour out of the building. The knights shoot at them. Jerry yells, "Protect the King!" Ezekiel calls out, "Protect yourselves!" Carol wants to know the location of the Savior that threw the grenade. Ezekiel says they will find him so that he won't make it back to Sanctuary. He sends some of his group to join the others and release Shiva. "To our foe, then to his compound. Then to certain victory." Carol does not look convinced. Aaron and his group are now in a full blown shoot out with the Saviors. Two Saviors stand guard in front of the the door to some building. Just as they are told to stand guard over the walkie they are shot. Rick, Daryl, and three others walk in. They are looking for guns.

The shootout is in full swing between Aaron's group and the Saviors. Erik is part of Aaron's group. Morgan bangs on the chain link fence to attract the zombie moat. Two Saviors head towards him. They are promptly shot with arrows. Tara, Jesus, Morgan, and another man enter the building quickly dispatching the Saviors inside. Morgan signals to Diane and she whistles for the others to join them. They quietly make their way through the building. Tara stops in front of a door that says, "Tomm says kill the bitches." The group heads down the hall towards a partially opened door where two people can be heard talking. One of the Hilltoppers shakes with fear. Rick reads a hand written map of the building. Daryl tells him the guns aren't on this floor and their only option is up. Aaron yells at one of the Alexandrians to stick to the plan. They will hold their position and pick them off one at a time. Aaron calls for Tobin to cover him. Erik makes his way forward. Jesus signals for his group to attack. They all simultaneously burst into rooms and shoot the Saviors.  Morgan and the two Hilltoppers look scared as they wait to enter. The door opens and they shoot that Savior. Several other Saviors shoot at them and they all fall to the ground.

Daryl climbs out of a dark elevator shaft and helps Rick up. Rick says the guns will be there. "Everything else he's passed you is checking out." To which Daryl responds, "That guy's a piece of shit." I'm assuming they are talking about Dwight? They split up. Jesus and Tara kick open a door. They find a man with his hands up. The man begs for them not to shoot him. He has pissed himself. Tara is ready to kill him but Jesus tells her to wait. He tells her to check out the gunfire down the hall. It is the rest of her group. They ask about Morgan. No one knows what has happened to him and the others. Diane tells Tara to wait until it's clear. The man insists he is not a Savior but a worker. He asks if they are doing this at the Sanctuary. Jesus will not shoot someone with their hands up and he won't let Tara either. Tara notices the medical supplies the Saviors stole from Hilltop. "They took them because they could. Because they don't give a shit. So why should we?" Jesus knows she is upset about Denise being killed but this is not about revenge. They get distracted and the man gets the gun from Jesus and uses him as a human shield. He pissed his pants on purpose. He is a Savior. He smashes a bottle of prenatal vitamins and says, "Well, looks like that dumb bitch Maggie and her kid are just gonna die anyway." He is going to use Jesus and Tara to escape. Tara insists that she will shoot him even though he has a gun to Jesus's head. Jesus gets the gun away from the Savior. He looks down at him. The man says, "You're not gonna do it. Not you." Tara says, "It's not about revenge it's about getting it done." Jesus pistol whips the man and ties him up. Tara is mad that he didn't kill the man. Jesus says it's not about him. Tara says that Jesus isn't Rick or Maggie. He replies, "No but she'll here what I have to say." Diane calls for Tara. She and Jesus follow her. The Saviors are falling back. They follow Jesus for another way out. Morgan and the two others lie on the floor. Morgan is alive but the others are dead. Morgan gets up and follows the Saviors.

Tobin gets shot but tells the others to keep going. One of the dead Saviors reanimates. Mara now realizes why Aaron's group didn't move in. They didn't have to; all they had to to do was kill enough of them and wait for them to turn. A zombie rips her throat out. Carol says the compound isn't far so if the Savior made it he will have warned the others and they'll be ready for them. Carol wants to know why Ezekiel smiles. "Do I feel the supreme confidence? Or is my lot, my job, to simply project such certainty? No and yes. Yes and no. And then finally yes to both. Fake it till you make it, baby. That's what I've done and what I do. I am king because I have provided a light to lead my people forward in darkness and they have made my fictions realities." She replies, "All of us may not make it. We may not even win." He answers, "And yet I smile." One of the knights finds blood. It is not zombie blood. One of them hit the escaped Savior.

Daryl kicks open a door and looks around. It's just an empty office. He opens another door and finds a plate with half a dog food sandwich and a handcuff hanging from a pipe. Rick makes his way down a deserted hallway. He enters a room and finds a bedroom. It looks like a girl's room. He goes to open another door and is attacked from behind. The two men fight. Rick has the man by the throat and asks for the location of the guns. The man says there are no guns. Rick kills the man. Morgan walks down the hall shooting Saviors. He flashes back to a conversation he had with Rick back in Season 6. "You sure we can do it. We can beat them?" Rick answers, "Yes, I'm sure." He makes his way through the building killing every Savior in site. Jesus gives instructions to his group. He tells them to hold fire. A Savior opens a garage door. Jesus orders him to drop his weapon and surrender. He puts his gun to the ground. He calls back to the other Saviors that they are surrounded. He tells them to not be stupid. Tara says, "We can do this the hard way. Because Even though Maggie listens to you, Rick will listen to me." The Saviors all drop their weapons and raise their hands. Morgan continues on his killing spree. He finds his way outside and sees his group with all of the Savior hostages. He flashbacks to Rick saying "We can't leave them alive." Morgan answers, "Where there's life there's possibility." One of he Savior's says, "I know you. Did you get transferred too?" Morgan says, "We came here to kill them. We're supposed to," Jesus replies, "They surrendered. It's not what we do." Morgans asks, "Then what do we do, huh?"

Rick pulls keys from the dead Savior's pocket. He has a tattoo "Grace be to God." Rick walks into a room and finds a nursery. A baby lies sleeping in a crib. The name Gracie is painted on the wall. Rick shakes his head. He realizes the man was just protecting his baby girl. Rick looks at himself in the mirror. Armed and bloody. Carol follows the trail of blood in search of the Savior. Ezekiel calls out "There!" and begins to run. "Our friends have arrived." Shiva jumps out on the Savior they were chasing. Erik calls out to Francine as she gets shot. He is alone and trapped. Aaron makes his way down the cars. He looks over at Erik. He gets into one of the cars and runs over several Saviors to rescue Erik. Aaron and Erik reunite. Aaron realizes Erik has been shot in the abdomen.

Ezekiel pets Shiva. He is not glad for the death of the Savior or any death. Jerry holds out the man's walkie. They hear the Saviors preparing to attack. The Saviors know. Ezekiel says, "This journey will not end in retreat." He holds up his sword and smiles. Rick continues his search. He enters another room and finds a photo of a family. A man comes up from behind. He points a gun at Rick and tells him to turn around and keep his hands up. The man says, "Hi, Rick." Rick says, "Your name is Morales. You were in Atlanta." Morales says Atlanta was a long time ago. He called the Saviors on his walkie and they are on their way. Close up of Daryl. Aaron carrying Erik. Morgan walking. Jesus walking. Tara just stares at the ground. Ezekiel smiles as he walks. Carol sort of smiles as she walks. Rick glares at Morales. Morales cocks his gun.

 Final thoughts
- When will Morgan's "luck" run out? Or is he doomed to roam the earth as the sole survivor.
- Morgan coming out of the dark into the light from his killing spree in the outpost. Jesus stops him from killing anymore Saviors. He is Morgan's savior in that moment.
- I understand having the opposing opinions about killing all the Saviors or letting some of them live. I like the interaction between Jesus and Tara but is it too on the nose to have Jesus be the one to want to save them? 
- Did Dwight lie or does Negan know that he is helping Rick and fed him incorrect information?
- I like that Ezekiel breaks character with Carol. And that he called her baby. When are these two finally going to get together?
- Will this season be one endless battle? If so, it will get boring very quickly. I like character conflict that isn't just people shooting at each other.
- Was Gracie the dead man's baby? He did have a tattoo that talks about grace.
- I'm a little confused about the building Rick and Daryl invaded. Instead of an armory they find a nursery and a cell used to hold someone prisoner. Am I the only one that finds that odd for a Savior outpost?
- Will we get a flashback episode for Morales? Another call back to season 1.
- If Erik dies will Jesus and Aaron hook up? Too soon?