PROS
One of the major plot twists that I actually like a lot is the fact that Morgan has been working with PADRE the past 7 years. I seriously believed they were gonna do a much more simple route of having him be trapped there or a prisoner of war. This created an interesting plot point between him and Madison, since he betrayed Madison and let her stay locked up for that long.
Also, PADRE is a person! I actually thought it was the place's name. Really excited to see who it is.
Another highlight of this episode is Lennie's acting. I was constantly thrown off so hard by some of the writing, however, when Lennie was delivering the lines it threw me off even more that he made them sound normal. This is one of those things that just makes me feel horrible for the actors on this show, and I hope they find better work after.
This is going to be controversial but I actually kind of liked Mo. Yeah she was an annoying brat, but she's going to set up a lot for what's to come this season. And the way they made her grow the courage to kill walkers or "carrion" as she calls it, was actually really cool.
Another thing I liked is the character dynamic between Morgan and Mo. I've never felt so emotionally connected to a character in Fear until this episode. The way Morgan was constantly trying to separate himself from Mo was AMAZING! The subtlety in acting and writing hit the spot here. Morgan first called his daughter Mo but she corrected saying it's "Wren" then he got hit with the realization that he shouldn't be getting close to her. And the line he says halfway through the episode "Wren suits you better" something about it, even though it's subtle, is super powerful.
CONS
Madison's acting in this episode kind of threw me off. In no way do I think Kim Dickens is a bad actor, but her acting can be a little flawed at times, especially in "sad" scenes. When she discovered that the girl was Mo and started crying with sad music playing, it felt like an acting audition. Also whenever Mo knocked her over, she yelled "What the hell are you doing kid?" while laying on the ground face down. To Kim's credit I really just think that was bad directing. But yeah, Madison's character never shined in terms of acting, I just love her character because of how she is.
Something really irritated me about how Morgan was acting about PADRE in this episode. I'm not saying "acting" as in bad acting I mean how irrational/confusing he was. I can understand how he would support PADRE, since for the past 7 years they have indeed kept Mo safe but, there's something off about how much he supports them. The real Morgan I remember from TWD would not be acting like that. It's almost like he's a clone or completely brainwashed. And I genuinely cannot tell if this is bad writing or if this is on purpose since Madison said to him "Something made you forget!" It's been irritating me so much but I seriously hope he's not like this the rest of the season.
This is a thing I'm a bit on the fence about. So we know how annoying last season was because of the character war between Strand and Morgan. And it really looks like C & G are doing it again this season, with this episode being a constant battle between Madison & Morgan. Now here's why I'm a little bit on the fence on this. This battle of emotions can set up a really good divide and story when the other characters from 7x16 are introduced. In the trailer after the episode, I heard Dwight yelling "We know where you are Morgan!" So what could happen is that Madison forms an army with the people from last season eventually forcing Morgan to join. So I don't think it will last very long actually, maybe just until 8x04 when Morgan visits King County. But the thing I DON'T like about this Madison vs. Morgan thing is the amount of times Morgan and Madison betrayed each other in the episode. The first time Morgan did it in the episode was a cool surprise, but after the 3rd time it got annoying.
Another thing that really annoyed me is Mo constantly switching sides on who she supports. First it's PADRE after Madison and her escape. Then it's Madison after Morgan arrives. Then it's Morgan after she hears the tape, and then she tries to SHOOT Madison. Then Madison gets trapped BECAUSE she shot at Madison, so now she wants to save Madison. Then she wants to leave PADRE with Morgan, Madison, and Grace as one big happy family. You see the issue with that right?
The way the time skip is handled is also a problem to me. They said the words "7 years ago" I think 9 times? Like we get it? It's almost like C & G undervalue the intelligence of the viewers. Oh wait. They do. Because obviously bringing back Kim Dickens only because ADC left makes sense right? -_- But besides that, the way they handled this time skip is not accurate. Realistically, Madison would be psychologically damaged once she escaped from the cell. She's been in solitary confinement for 7 years. The reason Negan didn't lose his sanity is because he had the window to Alexandria, while Madison was only visited to draw blood.
Overall, this episode was the slowest premiere out of any of FearTWD's season premieres. And I'm perfectly okay with that, they have to set things in motion especially considering the amount of time it's been. I'm excited for the halfway mark of this season, since I think "CLEAR" Morgan will return. Also I'm really hype for Strand's reveal, at some point in the episode Morgan said that no one knows where Strand went. I give this episode a 6/10, it has its moments, but the writing distracted me too much.
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