TV Review: The Walking Dead – Season 8, Episode 4

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Season 8, Episode 4: Some Guy

PLOT: King Ezekiel struggles to survive after his companions are cut down by machine gun fire.

REVIEW: Previous episodes of AMC’s The Walking Dead, like season 6’s Twice As Far, had led me to believe that bullets would soon be scarce on the show. Way back then, Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt) was ready to get to work manufacturing bullets so our heroes wouldn’t be running out of them… But obviously the bullet supply in the Alexandria, Virginia area wasn’t nearly as close to dry as Eugene thought it was, as more bullets have been fired in these early episodes of The Walking Dead’s eighth season than in a RAMBO sequel, and characters have been filling the air with them like they have no concern that they’re going to run out of them any time soon.

Some Guy continues a four episode streak of large shootouts, and I am somewhat astounded by just how empty these action-packed episodes have felt. I’m not making the sort of emotional connection with them that I usually get from watching an episode of this show – I’ve felt almost nothing aside from being tired of seeing shootouts. That said, this episode does end with our heroes suffering one of the most tragic losses possible at this point. That was sad and disappointing. I’ll soon be watching this episode again with a friend, and I’m not looking forward to seeing the reaction she’s going to have to that ending. 

The “some guy” of the title is King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), the average dude who presents himself as being badass, confident royalty to his followers in the Kingdom community. He has spent the last couple episodes assuring his “knights” that they will not lose one member of their party during their battle with the villainous Saviors, but while they had a good run, that party has now been decimated by .50 caliber machine guns… putting a crack in the King’s confident facade. 

King Ezekiel may not be all he’s cracked up to be, but Payton is fantastic in the role, and he has a couple solid companions still on his side: Carol (Melissa McBride) and Jerry (Cooper Andrews). Some Guy didn’t do all that much for me overall, as there wasn’t really all that much to it, but those three characters are a good trio to spend 41 minutes with. If I were asked to pick three characters I’d want to see an episode focus on, those three would be high on the list.

In addition to them, we also get a notable appearance by a Savior who gives Ezekiel some trouble, a fellow who held my attention because he looked like a young Gary Busey clone. Not a first generation clone like Jake, but a couple down the line. This pseudo-Busey was also given a great exit from the episode.

Carol is given a good amount of action to take part in here, and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) show up briefly to participate in a vehicular chase, but it’s really Payton who carries this episode, giving it some emotional depth as Ezekiel is beaten into the ground by the events. The king isn’t much of a king anymore. Ezekiel has paid a heavy price for the act he has been putting on. In future episodes, it will be interesting to see if he will return to his leadership role to continue inspiring his people, or if he’s going to fade into the background as just some guy.

My disinterest in the action aside, Some Guy was a decent time killer. I’m really hoping we’re going to have a break from the shootouts soon, though. These people need to start running out of bullets.

BEST ZOMBIE MOMENT: This isn’t really a “best” moment in a positive way, it’s simply the most notable zombie moment in the episode. The moment in which a group of walkers have a confrontation with Ezekiel’s pet tiger Shiva.

GORY GLORY: The Gary Busey-looking Savior is split in half with Jerry’s axe. We don’t get to see much of his split body, but we see enough to let us know what sort of awesomeness has happened here.

FAVORITE SCENE: Busey 3.0 taunting Ezekiel while leading him to what the Savior believes is the king’s doom.

FINAL VERDICT: