It was the one I'd been dreading: Negan and Gabriel in a portakabin. Yippee. But those fears proved to be somewhat unfounded. Last year, we'd have had nothing but their (eventually interminable) droning for the whole ep. At least this season things have been mixed up a bit, so cutting back and forth actually made it work. And at last Negan gets some flesh added to his bones. It needed doing last season, in fairness, and to some extent I've gone past a point of caring or wanting to know more - the team were obviously in thrall to the character last season and forgot to actually
make him a character, thereby wasting Jeffrey Dean Morgan's presence and ability - but the little bit of backstory and insight at least made him slightly more rounded and interesting again. In all honesty, Simon was more like how Negan should have been - that guy screams 'dangerous', and I don't know if that's down to writing, performance or chunks of both - but there you go.
There was still some dumb stuff, though. Daryl and Rick's handbags at 50 paces 'fight' being one (and yes, depending on circumstances guys can and do knock each other about and then move on, friendship bruised but intact. It's pretty rare, but it happens. Women, though, generally tend to bear a grudge - it's why arguments run along the lines of 'WTF did I do?', 'Oh! Like X didn't happen or you never said Y!', 'WTF? That was
years ago!'; with men it's over and done almost as soon as it happens (mostly), with women...not so much
), and he subsequent loss of guns and dynamite for plot reasons. The other was Negan and Gabe's Great Escape. Yet again it's the THREAT! THREAT!!...and with a mighty bound they were free BS.