The 5 best moments from ‘The Walking Dead’ season 8 premiere

So last night was the season 8 premiere of The Walking Dead! I was actually in LA for the 100th episode premiere and party at The Greek Theatre since I won tickets. Being there was an amazing experience and although I didn’t get to meet any of the cast (No, I’m not bitter or anything 😛 ) it was still a lot of fun. I also got to spend a little time in Hollywood and Beverly Hills!

As for the show, I really liked the episode and it was awesome to see the characters back in action and standing up to Negan! I wanted to share what I thought were the best moments from the episode. Spoiler alert — if you haven’t seen the episode.

5. The “Old Man Rick” sequence

The “Old Man Rick” dream sequence was one of the biggest things I was curious about in the premiere. Was it going to be a dream or a flash forward? After watching the episode, I’m still not 100% sure but I’m going with the theory that it’s a dream. I loved seeing the Grimes family so happy living together and just having a somewhat normal life. Although I hate seeing Rick old and grey and walking with a cane (and with that awful haircut…..), I know all he’s ever wanted was to keep his family close and safe. This was about as close and safe as they can get in a zombie apocalypse. Also, how funny was it that Michonne still looked young and beautiful while he had aged about 20 years?

There was another sequence where Rick had red, teary eyes — is that a flash-forward or was it just part of the events in the episode that were shown out of order? I guess only time will tell.

4. Rick says goodbye to Michonne, Carl, and Judith

Another Grimes family moment that I LOVED was seeing Rick say goodbye to Michonne, Carl, and Judith. I’m a huge Richonne fan, and Michonne is my favorite character, so I wanted to make this #1 but I decided to put it at #4. In this scene, we see Rick saying goodbye to Judith (she’s getting so big!). Then we see Rick and Michonne kissing goodbye and saying so much to each other without even actually saying anything. This was such a beautiful moment between them because they are so strong together and I know it’s hard for them to not fight side by side like they always have since season 3. But we know from last season that Michonne is very injured and needs to recover. No worries though. She recovered from her injuries back in season 3 and went right back out there to kick some ass. She’ll do the same in season 8!

In this scene Rick also hugs Carl to say goodbye. Rick and Carl’s relationship goes through rough patches and lots of ups and downs, so I always love it when they’re on the same page and happy despite the circumstances.

Rick also tells him that “This is the end of it.” My first thought was, of course this isn’t the end– we have an entire season to get through. But the more I think about it, the more I realize he didn’t mean that TODAY was the end of it, he just meant that this war is the beginning of the end of Negan’s rule. I just hope that this, along with the “red eyes” thing I mentioned above, isn’t some kind of foreshadowing that Rick will be completely blindsided again this season by a death or some other traumatizing event…

3. Gabriel gets screwed

This is not a good thing at all for Team Rick, but I added it to this list because the moment itself stood out to me so much. Even though I HATED to see him do it, I understood why Father Gabriel went back for Gregory.

In season 5, we learned that he survived by hiding inside of his church and locking the doors while refusing to let anyone inside to get away from a heard of walkers. I’m sure he thinks about it every day and everything he does now is to try to atone for what he’s done. Trying to save Gregory is no different. There’s also the fact that he had just told Rick, “This isn’t about you.” so I’m sure those words were echoing in his head. Too bad his attempt at a good deed may cost him his life.

2. Rick, Morgan, and Daryl take down Savior lookouts

Seeing Rick, Morgan, and Daryl take out those Savior lookouts was so much fun. All 3 of them are back together and on the same page that they need to FIGHT to win this war. To keep quiet they don’t use guns — Daryl takes out a couple of Saviors by stabbing them or using his crossbow, Morgan uses his staff to stab one through the chest, and Rick takes out a couple of them by stabbing them as well.

The best part was when Rick stabbed a Savior in the stomach and was going to let him bleed out until he made the mistake of saying, “You’re boy’s gonna die.” That was enough for Rick to cut loose a nearby walker and let it finish the job as he walked away. Badass.

1. Rick calls out Negan and the saviors

This was my favorite moment of the episode. Rick called out each of the Saviors standing next to Rick by name — including Dwight and Eugene, which is funny because we know Dwight is actually on Team Rick and Rick probably wouldn’t ever kill Eugene. But he tells them that they, and anyone else on Team Negan, can survive if they surrender right now. This means they are prepared to kill a lot of people to win this war.

Negan talks a lot of mess, as he normally does, and even tries to get Gregory to threaten the Hilltop residents and send them home. But they are resilient and ready to fight. The best part is when Rick says “Are you gonna make me count?” and proceeds to actually count down from 10. 😀 He only makes it to 7 though and starts firing at the Saviors. And just like that the war has begun.

What was your favorite moment from the premiere?