First off, I was 100% right on what the first scene for this episode was. It was a montage of Negan’s time with the Saviors, the lineup scene in season 6/7, and Negan’s rein towards Ezekiel’s Kingdom. We learned a lot throughout this episode and sets up the last two episodes in the series perfectly. I loved this episode from top to bottom. I give “Faith” a five out of five stars! We saw the shift in Negan’s and Ezekiel’s relationship, characters came back that we haven’t seen in awhile, we learned Eugene’s fate on his trial, and learned about who is leading the revolt against the Commonwealth. I will note this because I am not going to highlight this in the next two paragraphs, but Aaron’s mission to Oceanside was a complete bust. We find out, like all the rest of the communities that Lance took over, Oceanside is lost to the Commonwealth, and everyone was forced to either work for them or escape. We found that Luke and Jules are still alive. We didn’t have any explination on what took Luke so long at Oceanside. All we got was Luke telling Aaron and the others that they were in the process of finding everyone else to warn them against the Commonwealth. Luke and Jules are going to join Aaron’s group towards Alexandra, I assume, so we will get a chance to see him possibly for one last time in the series. However, a lot more to unpack in this episode, so here we go…
Negan’s Plan
If you didn’t believe that Negan changed for the better, the closing argument should be this episode. We saw vulnerable, emotional, heart struck, and at times, season 7 and 8 Negan all throughout “Faith”. Negan and Ezekiel still weren’t on the same page in the beginning of this episode, but that all changed by the end. Negan isn’t doing anything in this world for himself anymore. It is all about Annie’s and their soon to be born baby, and Ezekiel finally realized that. However, he did bring up the point of the Saviors taking away his family from him through the downfall of the Kingdom and especially Benjamin. During the middle of the episode, the Commonwealth Warden at Alexandra offered Negan a deal to tell them who is behind the escape plan to spare Annie and bring her back to the Commonwealth. We were set up to believe that Negan was going to out Ezekiel to save himself, but that was not the case. Negan stepped up and told the Warden that he was the only one that thought of the plan and thought that Annie was safe, but it did not turn out the way that he thought. The Warden took Annie and told the Commonwealth soldiers to shoot them both on sight. Negan pleaded with the Warden to let her go and that “this was not the plan that we agreed to”. We saw the most emotional side of Negan since his backstory episode in season 10. Everyone that was in Alexandra (Outpost 22), stepped up and guarded Negan and Annie so they couldn’t shoot them. We found out that in addition to Ezekiel and Kelly, Magna, Nabila, Tyler Davis (ex-Commonwealth soldier), and Princess was also there. The Warden was going to shoot all of them but one of the soldiers started to shoot the other soldiers and towards the Warden. The Warden took Kelly as a hostage, but someone came out of no where and saved the day!
Maggie Reunites with Her Son
If you are wondering who saved the day, take a wild guess. If you guessed Daryl (which should be your answer 100 out of 100 times), you are correct… Daryl saved Kelly and the others, and stabbed the Warden. The Warden did not die right away, but he sure did by the end of the episode. The group that was on the train in the last episode was split into three teams inside Alexandra. Daryl and Connie went through the tunnels, Maggie and Carol looked in the various Alexandrian houses for the kids & Rosita and Gabriel also looked in the various Alexandrian houses for the kids. Maggie finally found Hershel Jr and helped him get away from the other Commonwealth soldiers but there was one problem, he was the only kid that was sent to Alexandra. Judith, RJ, Coco, and Gracie are all still missing. Rosita is completely fed up with the situation and went back out to question the soldiers and the Warden on where they put Coco. She even threatened them with a walker that would eat them, but no one told her where they brought them, so Rosita killed them with the walker. We are all set up for Rosita's death in either episode 23 or 24, but part of me feels like it might be too easy to predict, so maybe we might get a Gabriel death to save Rosita or Coco, and then Coco’s death to completely break Rosita.
Mercer Joins the Revolt Against the Commonwealth
The trial between Eugene and Pamela Milton has come and gone. If Eugene is found guilty for the murder of Sebastian Milton, he will be sent to death. During the trial, Yumiko realizes that she has little chance to win so she has to get someone to help her win the case. Eugene also realizes that it might be his last days on Earth so he says his goodbyes to Max and Yumiko. Yumiko wants Mercer to take the stand and go against the Commonwealth and Pamela, to give the current revolt against some of the community and the current regime. However, Mercer declines Yumiko’s offer by saying that if he takes the stand against Pamela, Eugene will still be found guilty because of who he is up against in the trial, and make things worse inside the community. During the closing arguments, Eugene and says a final soliloquy to the jury. He opens up about his whole time throughout the show: being a coward, having Rosita & Abraham keep him alive during his lie about being a scientist, his time with the Saviors, rigging the bullets against the Saviors to let Rick and company win, and talking to Max on the radio to give his family and friends a better life since they are the reason why he is still alive. However, this was not enough, Eugene was found guilty, and sent back to jail for his death sentence. This might have been the best acting I have ever seen Josh McDermitt do during his time with The Walking Dead, so hats off to him. It is crazy to think that he has been around since the middle of season 4, so around 7 plus years. Eugene was told to leave his jailcell, got put in handcuffs, and was bagged over the head. I thought he was really going to die in this episode but he didn’t. When the other soldiers took off the bag from his head, he saw Mercer standing there with a whole army behind him. He thought Mercer was going to be the one to kill him, but he turned fully against the Commonwealth and Pamela Milton. All we got was Mercer telling Eugene, “Alright, lets fuck shit up” (the best one liner I have heard and I have heard a lot of Negan one liners) and then the episode ended. This sets up the next episode perfectly, letting Mercer and most of the Commonwealth’s army to join Daryl and company and put an end to Pamela Milton once and for all.