I had reckoned this episode would see a 'fight back decision' made and a sort of rebuilding of the team (but in exactly what manner I wasn't sure), so I'm very happy with this episode. Sometimes the 8/8 split can work really well, but at the same time you still have to meet that mid-season finale point exactly where it is - in episode eight - so as a result we've had a bit too much circling about (e.g. 7x06 - 49 minutes of Tara and Oceanside was one bottle episode too many, even if there were various parts of it that were very enjoyable - e.g. all the bridge stuff).
Anyway - loved Negan in the kitchen, loved Spencer trying his hand at post apocalyptic politics, loved the whole Negan showdown outside Rick's house (which really confirmed his power as an individual - the violent unpredictability combined with intelligence make him a dangerous foe).
In past threads for Season 7A some folks have said they'd like to see members of Negan's team who are evidently loyal and not just in servitude by force - we got that loud and clear in this episode - the tattoo lady is clearly having a ball (trying to nail Spencer, to boot), as is her male cohort (who shook Spencer's hand) who seemed very happy in his middle management position, and the lady (forget the name, couldn't quite hear it right in the episode) who shot Olivia is evidently chock-full o' Cool Aid for the whole "We Are Negan" thing.
Likewise we saw with "Fat Joey" (if I'm remembering his name in the show correctly) we saw another example of why people follow Negan - he's clearly a weak individual who lucked out early in the apocalypse to a community under a capable leader that managed to protect him and provide safety and shelter. He probably got there very early on with the majority of the others who are clearly well used to kneeling to Negan - at their weakest and most scared moment they bowed to a tyrant and have remained in that position whether they like it or not. So "Fat Joey" is just happy to have shelter and food and, especially if he had he found a better group early on, not that bad of a guy - but he
needs Negan and cannot defect to another camp (it'd mean his death or punishment), so he's trapped. He's not necessarily having a good time, but he's not have a terrible time either.
Look at the others we saw in this episode - a bunch of dudes player poker, laughing and joking - and working for Negan they've got themselves some pretty tidy digs to live in (remember the room that Negan was offering Daryl in 7x03 - not too shabby at all, especially so in the apocalypse). However, on the other hand we saw that red haired lady in the truck who was clearly sick of it all (either of being a servant, or out of disgust from what she's allowed herself to do under Negan's leadership). That was a great scene - her telling Michonne about the silencer.
Back to "Fat Joey" though - the one thing I really didn't see coming at all was Daryl smashing his head in a la Negan and Lucille. Holy shit!
And in front of Jesus, too (which confirms it was Jesus who left the note ... speaking of which, nice to see a little detail with the card keeping the lock on the door at bay, thus allowed Daryl's exit into the bike yard). That scene was brutal - I wonder how Negan's gonna react to that (and Daryl's escape). To be fair, his own people let him down on that front ... might that iron be getting roasted up?
I didn't get to see the post-credits scene (will try and see that tonight) - but who do you think the guy in the boots is? The one we saw by the lakeside (loved that one improved oar said "I am dead" and the other said "asshole" as they were twatting those walkers in the lake.
It was great to see the band get back together again - you could see it in all their faces - that strength of togetherness (we clearly saw the weakness in lone wolf actions from Rosita). It was interesting, I think had Spencer not been killed she would have done as Father Gabriel said in the church scene (another great bit of character interaction in this episode). Yeah, loved everyone hugging it out, Rick getting his mojo back, his hug with Daryl - and getting his Python back! Fudge yeah - you could see the Rick Grimes sheriff swagger hit back as he slung it in its holster.
So yeah - very pleased with this episode.
Oh hell yeah. Eugene will be a servant, but a respected one because of his clear and present value as a munitions maker.
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TWD 7x08 Memes:
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Originally Posted by facestabber
It was great to get the family back together, but it was absolutely right that it had to be taken away at the beginning of the season - I'm glad they didn't wait any longer than the mid-season finale to get them back on track. You couldn't do it sooner as you need to save that for the mid-season finale to provide a hook for February, but in-turn we've had to have too much 'bottling up' of the story to pass the time - not that there hasn't been some really good stuff along the way, but the overall pacing was off. I feel we'll have a better sense of propulsion in 7B now, though.
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