Season 8, Episode 14
Rick, Morgan, and Carol search for the escaped Saviors, while Jadis has Negan in her clutches.
- Alas, Poor Villain: The Savior members killed by Rick and Morgan who wanted to defect and leave their leader Jared and the Saviors altogether after Rick told them they could come back to Hilltop and start anew and were assisting Rick and Morgan in defeating an intruding walker herd. The last one in particular considering he was the one who freed Rick and Morgan from their binds and his last words to Rick are utterly pitiful (asking him why they turned on them and said that he was sincere in defecting and joining Hilltop) before he is shot in the head.
- Asshole Victim: Pretty much every character in the show who has met him has been hoping for Jared's death, and the asshole finally gets what was coming to him in this episode. This time he wanted to abandon his injured and sick compatriots and came close to killing one of them just to get it over with despite the fact the Savior was still conscious and didn't want to be killed.
- Bittersweet Ending: Carol manages to find Henry and bring him back to Hilltop, alive and well, and Jared is finally killed by Morgan while the rest of his Saviors are wiped out by him and Rick. However, Rick and Morgan killed people who genuinely wanted to defect from the Saviors (minus Jared), including one who freed both Rick and Morgan from their binds and were helping them with a huge walker herd, which also essentially cost Hilltop more allies for the final battle of the ongoing war. Also, Negan is still alive and brings back someone who is implied to be Laura (who knows about Dwight's defection), Jadis is left alone in the Junkyard with all of her people still dead, and Morgan is still a broken wreck.
- Break the Haughty: Jared. His final moments on Earth consist of his underlings all turning against him, failing to kill his Arch-Enemy, and finally melting down to tears during his final moments as he's being Eaten Alive by walkers while held down by Morgan through a gate, pleading for him to let go.
- The Bus Came Back: Regina appears for the first time since “Time for After”, stationed at Eugene’s outpost.
- Call-Back:
- Both Michonne and Rick bring themselves to read Carl's letters to them that he wrote offscreen during the timeframe of "How It's Gotta Be".
- When visiting the junkyard in "The Lost and the Plunderers", Simon asked Jadis about the helipad on the premises. The massacre is also shown again from Jadis' perspective.
- Carol and Ezekiel revisit their conversation from "The King, the Widow, and Rick."
- While pretending to cut a deal with the Saviors, Rick gives them his word, insisting that a man's word still has to mean something. Rick used these exact words to convince Todd to tell him where the Saviors took the guns in "Monsters".
- When Carol finds Henry, he's hiding out under the roots of a tree next to a creek, beset by Walkers. Not only is this the exact same situation when we last saw Sophia alive back in Season 2, but The Talking Dead revealed it was filmed in the same exact spot.
- The Cameo: After not appearing for the entirety of the second half of Season 8, Regina appears again at the bullet factory.
- Continuity Nod:
- Michonne tells Rick how Andrea helped her deal with her grief over losing her child between Seasons 2 and 3.
- Carol tells Ezekiel about her late daughter Sophia, who died offscreen in early Season 2, and her post-traumatic growth that took place. She also reminds Morgan how he went on a quest to find and rescue her at the end of Season 6.
- Rick asks Morgan why he saved him all the way back in the pilot episode.
- Jared taunts Morgan over his apparent thing for sticks. In Season 7's "New Best Friends", Jared took Morgan's stick as an infraction for his lashing out during a tribute, and was forced to return it by Gavin in "Bury Me Here". He also recalls how Morgan strangled Richard to death in the latter episode.
- Rosita remembers the bullet factory that she had Eugene make her a bullet at in Season 7's "Sing Me A Song".
- Jared dies in a similar fashion as David in Season 6’s “Thank You”; he is trapped against a fence facing forward, and the walkers devour him from behind. Only this time, Morgan brought it about by shutting the fence on Jared before he could escape, and intentionally watches him die.
- When Henry apologizes to Morgan for all the trouble he caused, Morgan tells him to never be sorry. This is what Morgan told Carl back in Season 3's "Clear".
- A Death in the Limelight: Jared gets a bit of character development as he’s shown to have some leadership abilities, and accurately sees through Rick’s lies. He is then killed by the end of the episode.
- Devoured by the Horde: Jared is devoured by several walkers after being caged by Morgan.
- Enemy Mine: Jared's Saviors begin to work together alongside Rick and Morgan to fight the herd, after Rick promised to grant them amnesty if they let him go. Though Rick is initially willing to allow them to help, it was more out of self-preservation than anything, and he and Morgan quickly turn on them once they have their backs turned.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Jared’s cell of Saviors are dealing with the fallout of being abandoned by Simon (and they believe Negan as well). They’re all angry that Simon considered them worthless and cannon fodder. During their discussion, one suggests striking out on their own, independent in the war. Jared’s plan is to bring Rick to the Sanctuary to be forgiven for their capture; the group as a whole decide to defect to AHK before they’re slaughtered by Rick and Morgan.
- Facial Horror: A walker messily rips off a chunk of Jared’s cheek as the horde devours him.
- Faking the Dead: Jadis is revealed to have covered herself in a Scavenger's blood and played dead until the Saviors finished their massacre.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Just as the fugitive Saviors are teaming up with Rick and Morgan, the Alexandrian pair turns on them and slaughters them. One of the dying Saviors begs to know why, and says he was sincere before Rick shoots him in the head.
- He's Back!: After spending a few episodes at the mercy of his enemies or wild card Jadis, and suffering the trauma of Lucille nearly being destroyed several times, Negan is back at the Sanctuary, all smiles as usual.
- I Lied: One of the dying Saviors asks Rick why he turned on them, and Rick simply says he lied about giving them a new start at Hilltop.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The Saviors decide to defect to AHK, as they’ve realized how little their lives matter to the Savior leadership. Unfortunately, Rick and Morgan kill them just as they team up.
- Morality Pet: Morgan says that the presence of Duane is what convinced him to save and spare Rick in the pilot episode. Rick thinks hard about this, as he is dealing with the death of his own Morality Pet in Carl.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The escaped Savior members who try to help out their injured members by trying to convince Jared into taking them back to the Hilltop colony to not only to treat their wounded but also the start a new at the colony itself and defect from the Saviors completely after seeing Simon's true opinion about them. In the end, they're all killed off by not just the walkers but by Rick and Morgan, as well after they free them.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Discussed among the Saviors. Jared wants to kill their wounded since they appear to be beyond hope and are slowing down their escape to the Sanctuary. The other Saviors, however, refuse since they are their good friends. Before the herd arrives, the Saviors overrule Jared and agree to Rick’s offer, largely to get their wounded medical treatment.
- Red Herring/Bait-and-Switch: The blond, long-haired Savior who greets Negan at the end of the episode appeared to be Dwight, until Negan's dialogue and the next camera shot reveals it's just D.J., a background Savior.
- Rule of Symbolism: After betraying the Saviors despite giving his word that they'll help them, Rick asks Morgan why he saved him at the beginning of the show. Morgan curtly replies that it was because Duane was present. Rick takes stock of this, and then looks in a nearby broken mirror at his reflection.
- Sanity Slippage: Morgan severely suffers from his mental illness in this episode. At the end of the episode when he reunites with Henry, he touches him quite a bit and even checks on his neck to make sure he's real, as the hallucination Henry he had been seeing had a neck bite.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog Story: The escaped Savior members who try to find a way to get back to the Hilltop colony to treat their wounded members and defect from the Saviors amounts to nothing as their wounded are Devoured by the Horde as soon as the walkers enter the bar, Rick and Morgan turn on them once freed, and reveal to a dying Reilly that they lied to them about giving them a second chance and treating their wounded.
- Spiteful Spit: Gary spits on Jadis' apparently lifeless body, mocking her for trying to play games with the Saviors.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Regina is shown to be stationed at Eugene's outpost. Considering how eager she was to kill him in "The Big, Scary U", one can only imagine how she's chafing under his command.
- Token Good Teammate: Alden accurately pegs most of Jared's group of Saviors as relatively decent people who made a bad, spur of the moment choice in escaping Hilltop. It doesn't stop Rick and Morgan from slaughtering them all the same, however.
- Token Evil Teammate: Rick, of all people, along with Morgan, take this spot among the Militia as their goal throughtout the episode is to hunt down the fugitive Saviors and not even their honest desire to defect to the Hilltop makes either Rick or Morgan consider sparing a single one of them.
- Title Drop: Rick mentions the episode's title when he's trying to convince the escaping Saviors he'll allow them to defect into the Hilltop:"...but a man's word... that's gotta mean somethin', right?"
- Tragic Keepsake: Lucille is revealed to have been named after Negan's deceased wife. Jadis keeps some black and white polaroids of her people.
- Trailers Always Lie: The trailer for the episode implied it would revolve around a Resistance attack on the bullet factory and whether or not they would kill Eugene. This story beat ends up being a Sequel Hook for the (presumably) next episode.
- Villain Has a Point: Jared accurately realizes that Rick is lying about allowing the escaping Saviors into the Hilltop and vouching for them.
- Wham Episode: Negan has returned to the Saviors, and the remaining satellite outpost Saviors have been wiped out. Jadis is also revealed to be trying to contact the mysterious helicopter. And finally, Negan has picked up someone on his way back to the Sanctuary, and it's strongly implied to be Laura, who has news of Dwight's defection.
- Wham Shot:
- Jadis turns out to be trying to signal the mysterious helicopter when it makes a flyby of the junkyard.
- The fugitive Saviors - sans Jared - are working together with Rick and Morgan to eliminate invading walkers in the bar... and then Rick takes out his axe and tomahawks one of the Saviors in the back of the neck, prompting him and Morgan to kill the rest of the ones who were helping them moments before.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Gregory, who was seen escaping with Jared and his group of Saviors in the last episode isn't seen in this episode.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: One of the very few moments where a hero does this to a villain. After being freed by Reilly, Rick and Morgan turn on the Saviors who helped them kill the herd that entered the bar.
