I think I may have reached the “tuning out” phase of my “Walking Dead” relationship.

Oh, as always,

Anyway, this episode (“The Cell”) is centred around Daryl and his adventures at Guantanamo Bay “The Sanctuary” being psychologically broken by The Saviors. The episode opens with Dwight making himself a nice ham sammich to “Town Called Malice” amidst Sanctuary’s chaos, followed by him preparing an actual dog food sandwich for Daryl to eat in his cell. [Get it?!] Dwight yells at Daryl some, then plays music to sleep-deprive him and help foster his submission to Negan’s will.

Part-way through the episode, Dwight is tasked by Negan with going out to retrieve a Savior that has fled. We are given the understanding that this is important to Negan, because letting the guy escape would show weakness, and strength is what Negan uses to maintain control. It’s also a test for Dwight, since we know he tried to flee once before, and doing this job (right) will earn him survivor credits. Plus, it gets him out of the Sanctuary for a while, which – based on the intro that involved beatings and a zombie wall – seems like a privilege best enjoyed when the opportunity arises. Dressed like Daryl, he goes out searching not for survivors (like Daryl would/did) but for slaves to return to the fold. Along the way he wrecks the bike and almost gets bit, but he perseveres and finds the guy. After a little bro-talk, Dwight shoots Gordon (ultimately leading him back to The Sanctuary as a walker).

Back at Skull Island The Sanctuary, Daryl has been put through more tortures, including being lured into an escape attempt followed by a beating when he refuses to yield to Negan’s will. When Dwight returns, he gets in a little more on Daryl before Negan summons Daryl (& Dwight) to see again if he’s broken. This time, Negan shows Daryl what he could gain, and fills in the rest of details about what happened when Daryl & Sherry returned from their escape attempt in Season 5. To use alt-right Trump voter language, Dwight got turned into a “beta-cuck” – Negan took his woman, burned his face, and reminds Dwight that he’s nothing without Negan. The episode ends with Daryl unbroken but still captive, and Dwight broken and realizing he’ll always be a captive, staring at the zombie he created out on the road.

If you watched this episode, you’re vantage point on Daryl’s situation veered between “Cool Hand Luke”, “Shawshank”, “Papillion”, “Jesse Pinkman making meth for the skinheads”, and “Hotel California” (You can check out any time you like / but you can never leave). But at no point did you get the impression he was ever going to get away (this episode). You’re left with some hope at the end that he’s going to escape, because I don’t think his fan club / AMC’s loyal viewers could handle him being tortured and then not getting a chance at escape. American TV doesn’t really work that way.

The “tuning out” I referred to is because it seems like there’s going to be a pattern of rotating episode focuses (foci?),

• Rick & the Alexandria gang
• The Kingdom
• The Sanctuary / Daryl’s Stockholm Syndrome

If all sixteen episodes follow this format, then we better be looking at a war in the season finale. And that won’t be very good either since it’ll have a cliff-hanger built-in, forcing people to wait until the start of Season 8, which should be the last season, and will probably involve Daryl’s death.

Next week’s episode is 90 minutes, and involves Negan going to Alexandria to receive first payment. **cue Ted Knight Scooby-Doo Super Friends ‘Tune in next week’ voice** What happened after the group returned to Alexandria? Will they have enough to hold off the Saviors? Will Daryl be a Savior when they show up? What about Maggie and Hilltop? Assume there’s going to be more sad until we get to the mid-season finale.

I’m going to keep watching, but am starting to lose interest in how it’s going to conclude. It’s not another season on the farm, but it is another season of rotating between The Prison and Woodbury. That arc, and it’s conclusion, is where a first bloc of loyal viewers gave up; they might’ve been the smart ones.