‘The Walking Dead’ Season 8, Episode 2 Recap: ‘The Damned’
By Shawn Lealos
Last week opened The Walking Dead Season 8 with Rick and company in a full-on assault of Negan and the Saviors.
By the end of the Season 8 premiere episode of The Walking Dead, the three leaders in Rick, Maggie and Ezekiel rallied their troops and planned their attack and the continuation of the All Out War. Episode 2, “The Damned,” starts out shortly after that episode with four units sent out to attack various parts of Negan’s base of operations. Here is a look at what happened on this week’s episode of The Walking Dead.
The episode starts out with close up, slow-motion shots of many of the people heading out to battle Morgan before it finally flips back into regular speed. Rick and Daryl are looking for Negan’s gun supply; Morgan, Jesus and Tara are taking a large contingent of people to the Satellite Outpost; Carol is joining Ezekiel, and his Kingdom fighters are trying to recover from the explosion from last week; while a group of soldiers hit a Savior outpost.
Jordan Woods-Robinson as Eric Raleigh, Ross Marquand as Aaron- The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Aaron
The fighting starts out when a Savior outpost shows men and women working on weapons. One of the leaders is a strong-willed woman who browbeats slow workers until she senses something coming. That is when the armored covered cars race up, and a large group of people jump out and start spraying bullets at the Saviors.
There are a few familiar faces here, including Aaron, Eric, Tobin, Francine and others. They take a quick advantage due to the surprise factor, but they are outnumbered. Luckily, they get some help when some Saviors killed at the start of the attack come back as zombies and attack their own.
However, some people are also taken down. Tobin is shot in the shoulder and is unable to continue in the fight. However, the most significant hit here is when a bullet hits Eric in the gut. Aaron realizes this and grabs the man he loves to try to get him to help.
This gunshot could tie into one of our Walking Dead predictions for this season, and that could push the character of Aaron into a dark direction.
Tom Payne as Paul ‘Jesus’ Rovia, Lennie James as Morgan Jones – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Jesus and Morgan
Morgan, Tara and Jesus lead a group of fighters to the Satellite compound and learn that they have put up a moat of walkers surrounding the compound. However, Morgan says he will take care of it and tells them that he doesn’t die (that isn’t a smart thing to say on this show). He heads to the fence and leads the zombies to him which allows Dianne a perfect shot to take out the outer guards with arrows.
After this, the team charges into the compound and start preparing for battle. The first significant deaths happen here. Jesus gives the signal, and they charge in and start killing every Savior they see on sight. Morgan, Freddie and Andy bust into a room but there were too many Saviors there, and they gun down Freddie and Andy, killing them both and leaving Morgan for dead as well.
Jesus and Tara find a man hiding in a closet, having pissed his pants. He claims to be from the Kingdom and says he was forced there to work for them against his will. Tara wants to kill him in cold blood, but Jesus won’t allow it. That is when the man proves he was faking it and takes Jesus hostage. However, because Jesus is amazing, he takes the man down and knocks him out – but ties him up and refuses to kill the man.
This decision leads to a massive conflict between Jesus and Tara. She wants to kill everyone, and Jesus says they don’t do that if the people surrender. They then find a large group of Saviors and everyone surrenders. Tara wants to kill them and says Rick will listen to her, but Jesus refuses and says Maggie will listen to him.
Meanwhile, inside, Morgan is still alive. He gets a pair of guns and heads through the compound, methodically killing everyone without remorse. Finally, he comes outside where he sees the Saviors all surrendered and goes up to kill one, only to have Jesus stop him.
Morgan has a vision of Rick saying they have to kill everyone but Jesus says that is not what they do. Morgan asks what it is that they do then and walks off. It is clear the Morgan who refused to kill anyone is now at odds with the man he has been forced to become.
Khary Payton as Ezekiel, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Cooper Andrews as Jerry, Carlos Navarro as Alvaro – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Carol and Ezekiel
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Carol is with Ezekiel and the Kingdom when they start looking for the Savior who set the bomb. They know that if he lets people know they are coming, they will have a massive fight on their hands. Ezekiel just smiles and sets off after the man.
The entire way through the woods, Ezekiel keeps his men ready to fight and does it with a smile, which is just astonishing Carol. She reminds him they could fail, but Ezekiel explains to her that his role as the leader of the Kingdom forces him to smile and lead by example and his “fiction” has become a reality. He says that failure will not become his reality.
They finally find the man in the woods bleeding and on the run, but Ezekiel tells Carol not to waste her bullets because their friends are there. That is when SHIVA races out from the side and freaking eats the bad guy!
This group realizes that the man has alerted the Saviors that they are coming and Ezekiel says not to worry because they will press on and win for tomorrow. Carol smiles, and it seems like King Ezekiel has won her over.
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Juan Gabriel Pareja as Morales – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Rick and Daryl
The final team is a smaller squad of Rick, Daryl, and a few others. They are heading to where Dwight had told Daryl that the weapons were in this building. When Rick and Daryl reach the fourth floor, they split up to find the guns. Daryl only comes across a torture cell, similar to the one Negan held him in.
Rick, however, finds living quarters. That is when a man attacks him. The two fight and Rick gets him in a chokehold. He asks where the weapons are, but the man says there are no weapons here and looks at a door. Rick assumes the guns are in there and kills the man by impaling him on a spike on the wall.
This is when Rick and his entire will are shaken to the core. He goes into the room expecting guns but finds a baby bed and an infant lying in it named Gracie. This ultimately rocks Rick, who realizes the man he just killed was protecting his baby.
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Rick leaves the infant in the room and moves on to another bedroom where he sees a family photograph. This photograph floors Rick when he sees who is in it and then turns to find Morales (from Atlanta in Season 1) holding a gun on him and saying he has called the Saviors back to them, ending the episode.