"Monsters" is the third episode of the
eighth season of the
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
horror television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
''
The Walking Dead'', which aired on
AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
on November 5, 2017. The episode was written by Matthew Negrete and Channing Powell, and directed by
Greg Nicotero
Gregory Nicotero (born March 15, 1963) is an American special make-up effects creator, television producer, and director. His first major job in special effects makeup was on the George A. Romero film ''Day of the Dead'' (1985), under the tutel ...
.
The episode continues to follow the different groups in their attack against several Savior outposts as well as the aftermath. It also features the final appearances of
Morales
Morales is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alfredo Morales (born 1990), American footballer
* Alvaro Morales (disambiguation), several people
* Amado Morales (born 1947), Puerto Rican javelin thrower
* Bartolomé Mo ...
(
Juan Pareja
Juan Gabriel Pareja (born December 24, 1978) is an American actor. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, to parents who immigrated from Colombia, Pareja is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
Pareja's film credits ha ...
) and Eric Raleigh (
Jordan Woods-Robinson
Jordan Woods-Robinson is an American actor, musician and composer, He is best known for his portrayal of Eric Raleigh in '' The Walking Dead'' series. He has also appeared in '' Magic City'' and ''Drop Dead Diva''.
Early life and education
Wo ...
). Eric's death was partially adapted from Issue #118 of the
comic book series
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
.
Plot
Inside the Savior office outpost,
Morales
Morales is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alfredo Morales (born 1990), American footballer
* Alvaro Morales (disambiguation), several people
* Amado Morales (born 1947), Puerto Rican javelin thrower
* Bartolomé Mo ...
, a former member of
Rick
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
's group, holds Rick at gunpoint after
Daryl and Rick had been searching for a cache of heavy
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
s belonging to the Saviors. Rick and Morales discuss at length their tribulations since
they parted; Morales lost his family while Rick admits he lost many. Morales swears his loyalty to
Negan and insists that Rick is a "monster" for what he's done, but Rick tries to appeal to him. Suddenly, Daryl appears and kills Morales without any remorse despite having recognized him. Finding no guns elsewhere, the two take Gracie, the infant Rick found earlier, and leave to join with
Aaron's forces.
Outside the stronghold, Aaron's forces have kept the Saviors confined, forcing them to deal with the reanimation of their dead colleagues rather than their attackers. Aaron drags his wounded partner Eric away from battle. Eric insists that Aaron leave him behind and gives him a final kiss before Aaron returns to the battle.
Meanwhile,
Morgan,
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
, and
Tara lead a group of captive Saviors along a road. One Savior, Jared,
who shot Morgan's protégé Benjamin, taunts Morgan, leading Morgan to turn his gun onto him. Just as Jesus tries to intervene a horde of walkers appears, allowing some of the Saviors (including Jared) to escape. Morgan attempts to give chase and fires on the escapees, killing one, before Jesus and Tara stop him. Morgan and Jesus fight about how to handle the remaining Saviors, before Tara breaks them up. Morgan walks away.
At the Hilltop,
Gregory returns and begs to be let back in to
Maggie, but she demands that he tells her what happened at the Sanctuary, seeing that he is driving the car assigned to
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...
. Gregory falsely claims that he doesn't know who Gabriel is and says he was negotiating with Negan, trying to arrange for the best for the Hilltop. While Maggie is distrustful, she lets him in as she comments Gregory isn't worth killing. Jesus and Tara then arrive to deliver the remaining prisoners. Gregory attempts to discourage them from keeping the hostiles there. Maggie, though cautious of holding the prisoners, refuses to listen to Gregory.
Rick and Daryl arrive at the warehouse to help deal with the remaining Saviors. Outside, Aaron finds a re-animated Eric walking off into the woods. Aaron, in a state of shock, is pulled back in and volunteers to take Gracie back to the Hilltop. A lone Savior opens fire on Rick and Daryl from behind a tree. Rick gives his word that the man will live if he gives information. The man confesses that the guns have been transported to a new location. As soon as he says this, Daryl kills the man. Rick looks upset with Daryl’s actions, but says nothing. The two then set off to the location of the guns.
Elsewhere,
Carol and
King Ezekiel
King Ezekiel, later revealed as Ezekiel Sutton in the television series, is a fictional character from the comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Khary Payton.
Ezekiel is t ...
have led their army against a nearby Savior outpost. They are victorious with no apparent losses, but as they revel in their win, some hiding Saviors open fire on them with heavy machine guns, the same guns Rick had been looking for.
Reception
Critical reception
"Monsters" received mixed reviews from critics, with the action sequences and the deaths of Morales and Eric Raleigh being the subjects of praise, while it was criticized for its lack of impact on the season's overall story. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it holds a 56% with an
average rating
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 6.23 out of 10, based on 25 reviews. The site's consensus reads: Despite featuring significant deaths and action sequences, "Monsters" struggles to make meaningful progress in the season's overall story.
Eric Kain of ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' praised the episode, calling it the best of the season giving some “decent fight scenes and shoot-outs and raising the tension up a notch.”
Kelly Lawler of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' had a less favorable review of the episode, criticizing the rationality and reasoning with the characters and their actions, saying “Down to its on-the-nose title, this week's episode asks, "Who are the monsters now?" But ''The Walking Dead'' has asked that question many, many times, and with much better character work than the surface-level stuff done on Sunday.”
She did, however, express hope in the cliffhanger, saying “Hopefully, the cliffhanger ending means next week's episode will move on because presenting the "all out war" from this perspective isn't working out too well so far.”
[
]
Ratings
The episode averaged a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49, and had a viewership of 8.52 million viewers, slightly down from the previous episode.
References
External links
"Monsters"
at AMC
AMC may refer to:
Film and television
* AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain
* AMC Networks, an American entertainment company
** AMC (TV channel)
** AMC+, streaming service
** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company
*** ...
*
{{The Walking Dead episodes
2017 American television episodes
The Walking Dead (season 8) episodes