I feel like I go back and forth between liking and disliking the structure of the show from week to week. With so many characters, there's really no other way to present the story than focusing on one group/community each week. Luckily, 'The Other Side' was one of the good uses of the focused approach, as it was nice to get back to the Hilltop community after an extended absence.
We learn in the opening few minutes that Sasha, Maggie, and even Enid have been training the Hilltop Colony for a while now. And you guessed it, Gregory has been sitting each and every one of these training sessions out. Of course, that's not the only questionable decision he made in this episode. He didn't make a blatant effort in keeping Doctor Carson at Hilltop, and even suggested to Simon that he should help him take out those who are threatening his leadership position at Hilltop. If this guy doesn't die at the end of this season, I'll be extremely disappointed.
So as Simon and other Saviors surprise Hilltop with a visit, Maggie & Daryl are forced to seek shelter together to avoid being seen. Once again, Daryl broke my heart during his scene with Maggie. His guilt towards Glenn's death was one of the remaining bows untied after the season premiere. I don't recall a ton of scenes between Maggie & Daryl in the past, but I'm not sure how any fan wouldn't be overwhelmed with emotion after they embraced each other. Norman Reedus is killing it of late.
The other pairing this week was Sasha and Rosita. Their insistence that they should take on Negan alone has been painful to watch, but there was a considerable amount of effort put forth to make us care for the two of them on the trip together. At the very least, Rosita was given more to do than pout and make unnecessarily snarky comments to people who are trying to help her. As for Sasha "saving" Rosita by going in by herself? I don't know, it felt weird and a little bit anticlimactic. I can assume that we will get that resolution, and inevitable death, in the season finale.
So it was a slower paced but still emotionally impactful, perhaps just the type of episode you need before two action packed episodes to end the season? One can only hope. The march to war continues.
+Daryl breaking my heart
+Rosita wasn't completely one-note this time
-Sasha's choice
8.0/10
