This episode should have been called the other side of nothing because absolutely nothing happened. With only three episodes to go, did we really need a place holder to drag out the oncoming war any further? I suppose that the writers are determined that the big battle be the season finale and therefore we have to deal with every single monotonous preparation for Rick's big confrontation with Negan. How long exactly has Sasha been sharpening that knife?
Rosita has arrived at the Hilltop and is busy training the people how to fight while Sasha works on the plans for the Saviours compound, hoping to give them an edge with their raid. Jesus doesn't say much but he's clearly aware of what is going on and he hands Sasha plans for the compound based on what he remembers of the place.
Maggie has really stepped in as the leader of the Hilltop but at the same time she's also settling in. Maggie's eating healthy fruit and vegetables and seeing an ultrasound of her her unborn child. Maggie is content. Maggie even builds on her relationship with Jesus and it's Maggie whom Jesus comes out to. That makes it official, the writers have made Jesus gay in the comics as well as on the show. Jesus's revelation of his sexuality is really rather low key and it makes me wonder if the writers will ever go anywhere with it? There's a trend in the media of making a character LGBT and then never mentioning it again.
The Saviours show up for an impromptu visit. This is enough for Sasha and Rosita to use the opportunity to sneak away and send Darryl and Maggie into hiding. Gregory does his usual bit of sucking up with Simon, who seems to just love having Gregory jump through hoops. Simon hasn't arrived at The Hilltop for more supplies this time. Since Negan foolishly killed the doctor at the Saviour compound by throwing him into an oven, the compound now needs to replace their doctor. Gregory being the coward that he is, has no problems handing over Dr. Carson. Naturally, Dr. Carson is not the least bit thrilled when notified of his pending change of location. Carson however is given no choice when Simon using his pornstache facial expressions explains why Carson will be relocating.
Gregory does manage to pull Simon aside to talk because he's worried about how the removal of Carson from The Hilltop will look. Gregory heavily implies that he's being challenged for power at The Hilltop and adds that this would be a shame because he works so well with the Saviours. Simon decides to throw Gregory a bone and promises that should Gregory show up at the gate of the Saviours compound after being challenged for leadership that the Saviours will be happy to back him up. Gregory will of course bring a bottle of tequila as a tribute.
Maggie and Darryl are forced to hide in the root cellar, not having had time to make it to the secret tunnel that Sasha built. What a ridiculous place to choose to hide given that the Saviours routinely take food from The Hilltop. At any rate, unsurprisingly, a Saviour makes his way to the root cellar and Enid tries to head him off. The Saviour is not waylaid for long and for her trouble, Enid loses her knife. The Saviour make his way into the root cellar and starts to look around and Maggie has to stop Darryl from killing him. When his curiosity is satisfied, the Saviour leaves. Maggie confronts Darryl about his move to kill the Saviour and questions the fact that Darryl has failed to look her in the eye, or speak to her since arriving at The Hilltop. It seems that Darryl is ashamed and blames himself for the death of Abraham and Glenn; however, Maggie is quick to absolve him of guilt. Maggie says that they just have to be patient and then they can get the person who is responsible.
Sasha and Rosita make their way to the Saviours compound and Rosita is still very standoffish around Sasha. It doesn't help that Sasha is wearing the necklace that Rosita made for Abraham. They discuss whether to take a sniper shot from the outside or enter the compound and try to kill Negan that way. It's Sasha who argues for the sniper shot suggesting that this way, they have a chance to live through this.
Sasha and Rosita hold up in a building within sight of the Saviour compound. Looking through the scope of the gun, they notice Eugene and the fact that Eugene seems to be giving people orders. Rosita kindly suggests that Eugene must be working some kind of angle. The two women end up bonding over tying knots with a rope, with Sasha promising to have Rosita's back. Negan finally comes outside of the compound to welcome Carson to the Saviours but Sasha never gets a clean shot. When they hear on the radio, Eugene call out for workers to gather up more walkers to act as a defense, ending his statement by identifying as Negan, this is the last straw for Rosita and Sasha and they decide to sneak into the compound.
Back at The Hilltop, Jesus is sitting down with Gregory, who is full of himself now that he is certain that Simon has his back in case of an insurrection. Gregory announces that Jesus's visitors need to find a new residence and decides that they need to pick up jobs because he's done with free handouts. Gregory then orders Jesus to get back on the road to scavenge for supplies and to look for new people. Jesus wisely surmises that Gregory is not only threatening him but trying to break up his budding relationship with the folks from Alexandria. Gregory however claims that he's joking and orders Jesus escorted out of his office. They're going to have to do something about Gregory.
Outside, Darryl has noticed that Sasha and Rosita are missing.
Sasha and Rosita shoot the guard at the fence, who is standing next to Eugene, before sneaking up to inform Eugene that they are there to rescue him. Eugene being the coward that he is decides that he's not going with them and makes a point of saying that he didn't asked to be rescued. We all know that at least part of the reason that Eugene wants to stay is because he feels valued with the Saviours and has become a man of importance. Sasha and Rosita are both disgusted with Eugene, who turns and runs inside the compound. Sasha has Rosita stand watch while she messes with the fence. When Rosita finally turns around, she sees that Sasha has actually closed the gate so that she can go after Negan by herself. Sasha explains that one of them has to survive this before rushing into the compound. An angry Rosita is given no choice but to flee. A few feet away from the compound, she sees Darryl in the distance.
We all know that Sasha isn't going to kill Negan because that would mean that a big showdown between Negan and Rick wouldn't be necessary and since they've been building towards this for an entire season, it's absolutely going to happen. At this point, the best that we can hope for is that Negan doesn't kill Sasha. We haven't really lost long term cast members since the death of Glenn and Abraham and so we are mostly definitely due. It's also worth noting that Sasha doesn't really have a storyline to speak of and now that Maggie has become closer to Jesus, she's not really tied to anyone either. Things don't look good for Sasha.
At this point, I'm really ready for them to get on with things already. The Other Side is clearly a place holder but at this point, I'm sick of all the damn build up to the war we know is going to happen.
