Anyone else feel like the season is about to slow down?
First of all, this half of the season had its tone set almost immediately when the dudes who were trying to jack Abe, Sasha, and Daryl got BLOWN THE fukk UP. They were basically saying "Hey, this core of the group, the OGs, they're on another level." Since then, the episodes have gone 100 miles an hour. The good guys, especially the core group, are on a warpath. They are fukking everyone up, dead or alive.
Action is awesome, and they're progressing the hell out of the story, but I think the writers are about to slow things down because they have a lot to deal with. I think this episode was a pacing episode designed to train the viewer that things are about to slow down, and it's time for some conversation and development.
They've had a LOT of opportunities to off a main character in this half of the season. Not only have they let them all escape, it's been done in like an 80's movie fashion. Not only do they overcome the odds, they fukk the odds up.
But they have to deal with some stuff:
Jesus and his crew are allies now, I guess? We'll have to see how these two groups play together, because we haven't seen any of that yet. We know that the leader is a dikk, and we know that Jesus is sneaky but (maybe) trustworthy. They've got more guns now, so will they trade with the people that don't have guns? Will they hold up their end of the deal? What will happen with this other group now that Negan isn't fukking with them anymore?
I'm assuming they'll take 2 episodes to introduce and further develop the people from Jesus' crew. Try to make some likable characters out of them, or progress little mini-stories. Then in the season finale they'll kill all of those people.
Glenn and all them just bossed up on that other group, but they had to kill a bunch of people in their sleep. Their reluctance makes me believe that there's going to be some PTSD or guilt. Carol is going soft and she's keeping secrets from Rick. Who knows what other bullshyt Morgan is going to stir up too.
Jesus said the world was gonna get a lot bigger, so what else do they not know about?