“The Walking Dead” Review – “Faith” Delivers One of the Best Episodes of This Final Season

With two episodes now remaining, “The Walking Dead” delivers one of the best episodes of the season. Following up after the weak “Outpost 22,” “Faith” gets the narrative completely back on track and elevates the tension in exciting ways. A revolt is heating up from within the survivors trapped at the labor camp all while Eugene is legitimately put on trial before a judge within the Commonwealth. The two competing main narratives couldn’t be more distinct, yet each of them has enough redeeming qualities and tension to keep viewers hooked. 

Ezekiel and Negan’s continuing beef reaches an all time high when Ezekiel tells him, “If this works out and we get out of here, you don’t deserve a brand new life. Damn sure don’t deserve to be a father.” Insulting one of the most important motivators in Negan’s life nearly causes him to snap as anger bubbles beneath his restrained facial expression. Bear McCreary’s familiar, and terrifying, Negan music cue rumbles aloud, harkening back memories of the vicious Negan we used to know in the earlier seasons. With the Commonwealth already skeptical that someone is planning an uprising from within the work camp, Negan’s behavior seems to suggest he’s going to throw Ezekiel under the bus for his hard-hitting insult. 

After what feels like forever we finally see the return of Luke (Dan Fogler) and Jules (Alex Sgambati), who happen to come across some of the survivors on their way back from Oceanside. The characters were noticeably absent for the majority of this season, something many fans picked up on and criticized. While their casual (and coincidental) emergence from the woods was definitely on the nose, it’s nice that the show is making an effort to tie up loose ends any which way they can.

The trial of Eugene ends up being a surprisingly effective sequence running throughout the episode. Josh McDermitt continues to absolutely nail the role of Eugene, delivering an incredible monologue as his final statement to the jury that completely encompasses his arc throughout the series. From a character development perspective, Eugene Porter’s journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. As expected, Eugene is found guilty by the Commonwealth’s rigged legal system. 

The crew of survivors who engaged in the train battle in last week’s episode have finally made their way to Alexandria, now called Outpost 22 and run by the Commonwealth. They secretly infiltrate the facility by using the Alexandria sewers, calling back haunting memories of the scene where Carl Grimes revealed his bite wound to the survivors in Season 8 in the very same location. Maggie and Carol have a brief run-in with some guards patrolling a house, but the threat doesn’t cause much of a hindrance to their plan. 

Without seeing the full-scale of what Outpost 22 looks like, this supposedly grand base camp for the show has so far just been the Alexandria set with a few Commonwealth flags added to the production design. It would be way more effective if Alexandria now had an updated and distinct visual identity to represent its new function as a military outpost. Luckily, Maggie ends up uncovering the room where her son Herschel was being held. 

The golden scene of the episode comes in its final moments when the survivors at the labor camp are rudely awakened in the night and dragged into the field in front of Alexandra’s windmill. Large overhead lights illuminate the eerie field as snow flurries fall, creating a sense of scale we haven’t seen from the show in what feels like some time. The lighting, production design, and overall cinematography of the sequence felt grand, tense, and unsettling. It was clear this scene would be an important one, and it certainly delivered. 

In a revelation that proves that Negan has truly changed for the better, it is revealed that Negan turned himself in as the one conspiring against the Commonwealth so that his friends could remain safe to carry out their plan. The “Negan” music cues were nothing more than a misdirection, as Negan gets on his knees in front of a row of Commonwealth soldiers. It’s an eerie reversal of arguably the most tragic scene in the entirety of “The Walking Dead,” where Negan punished Rick’s group with his bat in Season 7 for their repeated attacks against the Saviors. Now Negan is the one powerless, defeated, and on his knees at the disposal of deadly weaponry. Ezekiel’s expression says it all as he realizes that Negan is willing to put the well-being of the survivors over his own life. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s performance combined with the excellent production value of the sequence make it an incredible moment in “The Walking Dead” canon. 

Continuing to eerily mirror the lineup from Season 7, Negan’s wife Annie (Medina Senghore) pushes past the Commonwealth soldiers to try and force them to stop the slaying of her husband (much like Daryl did during that iconic, fateful scene). Negan smiles, telling her it’s okay, only for the Commonwealth commander to forcefully order Annie to get on her knees right beside Negan. Morgan’s dynamic performance shines again as Negan realizes his plan has backfired and potentially cost his wife and unborn child’s life. In an even more profound moment, Ezekiel and the rest of the survivors form a wall in front of Negan and Annie. The Commonwealth soldiers don’t know what to do, as Ezekiel tries to persuade them to turn on their leaders. It all ends in gunfire and madness, with Rosita pushing a re-animated Commonwealth soldier onto the commander’s face. The walker rips out his eyeball with decaying teeth in a wonderfully satisfying demise. It’s been a while since “The Walking Dead” had a scene that made me so jazzed to be a longtime fan of the series, and luckily “Faith” hit the sweet spot. 

With Eugene escorted to the bowels of the Commonwealth by Mercer (Michael James Shaw) and his soldiers, it appears that he has no choice but to accept his sentencing of death. Suddenly, soldiers unhook Eugene’s cuffs and Mercer delivers one of the most bad-ass lines (ad-libbed, according to showrunner Angela Kang) of the entire season:

“Time to f*ck shit up.”

With all groups heading towards Alexandria, Mercer united in the fight against the Commonwealth, and Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) struggling to hold onto power, it seems like the final two episodes of “The Walking Dead” series will feature the group united against the last ultimate threat standing in the way of a better tomorrow.

Here’s hoping things finish in a satisfying, and exciting way. 

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