What holds us together as individuals and what happens when those things are taken away? These are the overwhelming questions for episode fourteen, "Still Gotta Mean Something." Each featured character simultaneously loses and gains something, and this is for better or worse. Carol lets go of the fear associated with the loss of her daughter, and she then gains hope and -- finally -- a positive connection with another child, Henry (the real life brother of Carol's on-screen daughter). This is a long awaited reawakening for her, but some of our more mysterious characters grapple with loss as well. We find out what has bound them to life in this world, but when the smallest of threads by which they are still attached to humanity are cut, what can they possibly be left with?

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WTWD? | Questions on Season 8: Episode 13

A Check-In with Caryl, Siddiq, and The Widow Maggie

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) Photo by Gene Page/AMC

In "Do Not Send Us Astray," we see everyone together again for the first time since the war began, and although much ground is covered with many characters, the writers still find time for closer moments with a few in particular. In new ways, we get to know characters both from the very beginning of the series as well as the ones introduced this season. How has someone from the original crew like Carol changed? Who is Siddiq, and can he be trusted right now? How are tried and true fighters like Maggie navigating her newly established leadership role?

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WTWD? | Questions on Season 8: Episode 12

Past and Future Grief

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Lucille Photo by Gene Page/AMC

For once it is satisfying that someone has jumped the gun on Rick's plan, especially since that person is Rick himself. Overtaken by fury and provided with an irresistible opportunity to get Negan alone, he chases him off on wheel and foot into a building that is so dilapidated that it appears abandoned before the turn -- a new and fascinating set choice for the show. While Negan and Rick grapple in this haunted house of an almost forgotten past, leaders like Maggie and Georgie suss out plans for a more developed and interconnected future. Is Rick making a necessary correction to past injustices or indulging in his grief by focusing on the past, and is Maggie's choice to trust a stranger and begin focusing on the future wise or foolish at a time like this? What does this episode of contrasts tell us about emotional healing and leadership?

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WTWD? | Questions on Season Eight: Episode 11

Just the Right Amount of Faith

Photo by Gene Page/AMC

In "Dead or Alive Or" the Alexandrians have entered a desperate no-man's-land somewhere between total conviction and faithlessness; how are they to navigate this, indeed, murky terrain? Greg Nicotero's fantastic swamp and its undead residents are a rich symbol for the ground they are forced to cover in this episode. They are in a state of fatigue, shock, and uncertainty that requires some faith in order to keep moving forward -- how much faith though?

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