While The Walking Dead #133: “Impending Doom” isn’t as fast paced as the latter half of issue #132, I think this issue is important because of the individual character moments.

Unlike previous issues, where we would pick up immediately following the issue before it, we start somewhere different as opposed to returning to Dante and the human walkers. I don’t think there’s a defined term for these people yet, if there ever will be one. We know they’re not too happy about Rick and company coming into their territory, but we still don’t know much about them, who they are, where they came from and why they do this. Again, I assume that will come over time.

Sure, part of you wants to flip straight to the portion of the comic that deals with Dante’s situation, but by doing so, you miss the little things. And like Rick, Carl, Maggie, Sophia and the baby just watching the sunset, those small moments show humanity starting to reemerge both after the apocalypse has hit and Negan’s fall.

But let’s go to Carl. With his father gone, Carl is set to become his own man. We get a glimpse of him beginning his apprenticeship, and I think that’s all you really need since he’s just getting established at the Hilltop.

Plus, he finally opened and read Anna’s letter. It’s no secret that she has feelings for him, but now we know that she’ll still be waiting for him if he ever decides to return to or visit the Alexandria Safe Zone. On the other hand, there’s still the possibility of Carl and Sophia’s friendship blossoming into something more. I mean, their friendship has been developing ever since they were little kids. So Carl the Apprentice is also Carl the Player. I don’t know if this will turn into some sort of awkward love triangle, but for the moment, it’d be nice for Carl to have some form of happiness outside of his apprenticeship.

As for Andrea and Magna’s team…huh. That turned out to be rather peaceful. After it seemed like Magna would cause Andrea some trouble, their conversation looks to be pretty civil. They appear to have bought Andrea’s story at face value, which I found odd since they did not believe a word of Negan’s tale. Mind you, Negan’s tale was completely false, and it’s possible that Andrea comes off as more genuine and believable than Negan. Not too hard to do, really.

And if we’re going to have an issue that has a lot of quiet moments, I am glad we spent some time with Eugene and Rosita. This relationship interests me for some reason. Despite not having many moments together, the fact that the two are together does catch my attention. Over time, both have become leaders in their own way, Eugene especially. Since Rosita is with child, it makes sense that Eugene would want to step in and be there for it, even though both know that he’s not the biological father. Eugene is making a wise move as opposed to taking the coward’s way out by throwing Rosita to the wind. He’s not that kind of person.

Then there’s Jesus and his crew. While I’m interested to see how Jesus will get out of this mess, I don’t think the tension was there. It didn’t just come out of nowhere like Dante’s situation did. I doubt a character as useful as Jesus would be killed off, and knowing how versatile this man can be, I’m sure he’ll find a way out of his mess.