WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for this week's episode of The Walking Dead, "The Big Scary U," which debuted Sunday on AMC.
After fairly divisive early episodes in Season 8, The Walking Dead returned in fine form Sunday to remind us why we love the drama so damned much. "The Big Scary U" finally gave us a much-needed break from the "All Out War" storyline in the form of an incredibly revelatory episode about Negan and the philosophy that guides him. By the end of the episode, the show turned everything on its axis, and we're left with a completely new picture of where things stand. Negan's a long way from redemption, but this episode expertly reveals there's still plenty of room to explore him.
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We open at the beginning of the day we've been watching unfold over the past four episodes. Gabriel's praying in his church in Alexandria, begging God to grant him a useful death, and Negan's sitting through Gregory's spineless defection from the Hilltop just before Rick, Maggie and Jesus arrive. The episode wastes no time letting us know what we're in for this week: Before the credits roll, we're promised an unprecedented look into how the Saviors operate. After Simon suggests they simply murder everyone in the Hilltop with a rocket-propelled grenade if the community refuses Gregory's leadership, Negan launches into a speech meant to terrify everyone in the room. He bellows that people are the foundation of everything they've built there. While they preserve what they've built by occasionally killing people, it's who they kill, and how, that matters.
Now, a philosophy built on a foundation of murdering people in the most messed up way possible in an effort to keep other people in line is problematic to say the least. But seeing the good intentions Negan's using to pave his personal road to Hell gave much-needed depth to his character. He feels a genuine responsibility to his people, and as the episode plays out, we see why -- without him, it all falls apart.
The Gregory meeting falls apart with the arrival of Command Team Rick at the Sanctuary gates, and then we jump back to the present with Negan and Father Gabriel stuck in a trailer and the lieutenants locked in the Sanctuary trying to figure out if their leader is alive and how next to proceed. Infighting and paranoia set in almost immediately as everyone begins to realize what a widespread and coordinated attack the entire Savior organization is under and start wondering how Rick could've pulled this off without a man on the inside.
They're also trying to deal with how to stop the zombie horde that's filing in by the hundreds without alarming the worker population (or using them as bait). It's clear that without Negan around to lay down his law, the Saviors are in an incredibly precarious position internally. He's literally gone a few hours before the workers are almost revolting and there's a gunfire in play. If Rick actually does make good on his promise to kill Negan, and given the weapons we now know the Saviors possess, that particular death could leave a potentially devastating power vacuum. This knowledge has the added benefit of raising the stakes even higher for this war now that we know Rick's win could legitimately make things worse.
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The "U" in "The Big Scary U" stands for "the unknown," and now that we fully understand how valuable and necessary Negan is, despite his misdeeds, that unknown could easily refer to the outcome of this war. The Saviors are living in a house of cards, and if it falls, the collateral damage will be extensive. The revelation in this episode is that not only is Negan aware of that, he's terrified of it because he actually seems invested in the human race surviving and not just being a post-apocalyptic king. Underneath his brutality, he's trying to be reasonable in unreasonable times.
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This idea is masterfully played out as he and Father Gabriel get to know each other in the trailer while things are going haywire inside. After biting our lips for the last four weeks wondering what fresh Hell Negan had in store for the priest, it turns out that was ... not much. After quickly establishing dominance by knocking Father G flat on his back, Negan helps him up and dials back the bravado. And that's when things get interesting.
Father Gabriel is still undeniably and wonderfully loony, and after listening to Negan poke fun at his decision to go back for Gregory, he smiles the creepiest smile in history and tells Negan he's there to hear his confession.
For the rest of their time in the camper, the two men go back and forth in what amounts to another struggle for dominance, but a much more interesting one than what's been going on at outposts in the last few episodes. Negan attempts to avoid Gabriel's offer and insistence that he unburden his soul before the camper's overrun and they both die, and Gabriel doesn't budge. He doesn't push, either, because he knows what happens when people poke this bear and he doesn't want to die a "fruitless death." His dancing and persistence pay off when it becomes immediately necessary for them to work together if they're going to survive, and Gabriel's able to force Negan's hand.
He locks himself in the trailer bathroom and refuses to come out unless Negan gives him a real confession, as that's the most immediate way to make his death mean something. It's strange and annoying and very, very Father Gabriel, but in the end, it works. Negan confesses the story of his wife, Lucille, and how poorly he treated her before she died of an illness during the apocalypse and he didn't have the strength to turn her.
After that, the two men are on common ground and their dynamic changes instantly. They work together as a unit to get out of the trailer and back in the Sanctuary safely where Negan firmly reestablishes who's in charge. There's no indication Negan plans on being that nice to Gabriel ever again, but for the briefest moment, we saw him meet someone else halfway instead of bulldozing over them.
It was incredibly satisfying to watch because we haven't seen this good a philosophical debate in quite some time and it's been missed. One of the things The Walking Dead does really well is showcase its characters struggling with how to human in a post-apocalyptic world. The focus of each season has been about humans figuring out, step by step, how to build a society from the ground up. The show's best episodes have focused on conflicting philosophies going against each other head to head. Last season took a bit of break from that because before now, Negan was just an unstoppable force, and you can't reason with that.
Thankfully, now the curtain's lifted, and he's' just another guy trying to figure out how to manage things beyond survival.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee, Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler, Josh McDermitt as Eugene Porter, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.