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After so much zigzagging and backpedaling in The Walking Dead season 8 so far, episode 4, Some Guy, made for a breath of fresh air, delivering a focused, contained story filled with drama, action, and meaningful character arcs. As a result, I spent far less time scratching my head over plot holes and pacing mishaps than I’ve become used to for this season, but that doesn’t mean the episode didn’t end without leaving behind its fair share of unresolved questions. Let’s go through the biggest six together, but be warned - major story spoilers for episode 4 lie ahead.
1. Who's the rat?
There is no way in hell that the Saviours could have taken out Ezekiel’s crew like that without some sort of tip-off. The sheer organised devastation of their ambush had to have been preemptively planned based on hard intel about Ezekiel’s whereabouts, and that kind of information doesn’t just fall out of the sky. We’ve known about the possibility of an enemy agent among Rick’s ranks for some time, but the sheer number of fatalities caused by their deception in this episode makes this unresolved question all the more pressing.
It can’t be Gregory, as he’s been kept out of the loop for quite some time. Could Dwight be a double agent, secretly working for Negan while posing as a spy for Rick? Or perhaps it’s Father Gabriel? He’s been known for his cowardly ways, and the fact that he didn’t shoot Negan straight away after bumping into him back in the season 8 premiere leaves plenty of room for doubt. Now that the damage has been done, the reveal of the mole is a major plot point for this season to address, as viewers like myself are hungry for them to be brought to justice
2. How do the Saviours' know Ezekiel's secret?
“I heard your story, we all did” brags the creepy, spectacled Saviour to the reluctant King, as he escorts him towards the Sanctuary. It’s not long before the weasley reprobate is cleanly split in two by way of Jerry’s axe, but his few words were enough to touch on an interesting question regarding Ezekiel’s identity. How does Negan’s gang know that the character of the King is all just an act? Every member of The Kingdom is completely oblivious to who their leader really is, so how is it that the enemy knows more about him than they do?
Perhaps it’s just that The Saviours, being the cold-blooded crooks that they are, are far less naive than those who reside within the Kingdom, which allows them to see right through Ezekiel’s theatrics. Or...this once again could be the work of Negan’s mole, who’s dished the dirt on the man behind the Shakespearean mask for the sake of boosting Saviour morale. Think about it: who would you rather fight? A beloved and self-assured monarch, or “just some meaningless conman in a costume”?
3. Has the reign of The King come to an end?
Speaking of conmen, it very much looks as though Ezekiel has finally dropped the method acting for good, now that he realizes his deception was what got many of his followers killed at the beginning of the episode. That Saviour he runs into had yet more truth bombs to drop on the matter, too: “Take away that tiger, and what’s left?”.
Well, this episode did take away Ezekiel’s tiger, and now that she’s gone, we’re led to believe that so too is the pretence of the King. And it certainly looks that way by the end of the episode, as Ezekiel is seen begging Jerry to stop referring to him as “your majesty”, while his penchant for rousing speeches has been replaced by a solemn gaze and a piteous limp. The real question here, though, is what do we call him now? Regular ol’ Ezekiel? Zeke? Eazy Keyzy? Hopefully he’ll have figured it out by next week.
4. What does Rick plan to do with his new weapon?
At long last, Rick and Daryl have found themselves in possession of the weapons stockpile they’ve been searching for since the premiere, and it turns out to be the exact same 50 calibre turret that had been deployed against Ezekiel’s gang only moments earlier. Obviously, there was good reason to focus on making sure the turret didn’t find its way back to Sanctuary, but does Rick have anything specific in mind now that it’s firmly in his hands?
Stick it by the front gates of Alexandria? Mount it on the back of Daryl’s bike? Keep it as a trophy for his mantlepiece? Hopefully not that last suggestion, mainly as that would be a massive health and safety hazard with Judith crawling around, but also because I’m dying to see how the Saviours react when their own firepower is turned against them.
5. What happens to The Kingdom now?
The Kingdom has been left in a pretty bad place by the end of episode 4. Most of its fighting men and women are dead, it’s leader is barely walking, and it’s officially down one tiger. If Negan decides to attack the settlement at this point, it would be wiped out within minutes. So what’s next for The Kingdom?
Is Carol going to take on the role of interim head honcho, continuing the war effort while Ezekiel grieves for the lost? Are its denizens going to be able to forgive the King for his deceit? And what’s Jerry going to do without his axe? For the first time in a long time, The Kingdom - a settlement which always provided the positive energy that Alexandria and Hilltop were so often in short supply of - is in a serious state of disarray, which poses many questions for the future of the community going forward.
6. Is Negan seriously still in that RV?
Right, it’s time to stop messing about, AMC. It’s been three episodes since we last saw Negan and Father Gabriel locked up together in an RV surrounded by walkers, and a not insignificant amount of time has passed since then. Are we really to believe that Negan has just been sitting back as Rick continues to wage war against his people?
Say what you want about the man, but he’s smart and he’s a fighter; surely he would have found a way out of that RV by now and, if so, wouldn’t he have intervened in one of the many conflicts that have taken place since the premiere? This episode put a welcome focus on Ezekiel and The Kingdom, and that’s fine, but if Negan doesn’t show up next week, then The Walking Dead has officially become a show which has forgotten about its primary antagonist.
