Great stuff between Carl and Negan - nice to see a comics highlight play out on the screen. That said, a little tweaking would have been nice at times - as said earlier, the horrors of Abraham and Glenn's death etc drift easily into the background a bit. Although when Negan picks up Judith you can see the sense of imprisonment that Carl feels.
The methods of Negan to belittle Carl and then switch to praise is all about messing with people's heads and sense of self-worth. His game is all about manipulation - with Carl, Negan is kind of trying to seduce him and tempt him. Like they said on Talking Dead - Negan's way seems to be working just fine for him, while Rick's way has been very up and down and, at the moment anyway, crumbled. Interesting to see him with Judith, and interacting with his wives - there's clearly a moral code going on there (albeit a seriously screwed up one) and even a softer side.
The iron scene was grim (most effective just seeing the reaction shots), and it was interesting how he was playing with the public's viewpoint - he's wielding fear, but the man who was punished got it because he abandoned his duty of clearing away walkers (for everyone's safety).
He didn't turn up at Alexandria with a 'couple of guys' though - there were at least three vehicles parked up there. As for the rest of The Saviours - yeah, some of them are having a bad time of it, but others are very happy with where they are. It's not always convincing how its written, but at the same time it's very easy to consider yourself the ultimate badass from the comfort of your living room in a world that hasn't suffered a zombie apocalypse. Screwed up or not, Negan has created himself an army of willing followers. The cost of dissention has been made painfully loud and clear - running in like an idiot isn't the greatest idea. How many times has a dictator or tyrant been bloodily deposed only for the society to fall into chaos and continued violence afterwards? Deposing them isn't wrong ultimately, but the consequences and troubles afterwards can be brutal if there isn't a clear plan and a willing populace. Some of the (many) Saviours that Team Rick killed would have been husbands, fathers, brothers of other Saviours - Team Rick aren't "the good guys" from their perspective.
Clearly there is a better life out there (I rather enjoyed Negan roaming around Rick's home - bare feet in the carpet, the wonder of water on tap), but the foundation of The Sanctuary would have come at a time when all these Saviours were in dire need of help - homeless, fearful, hungry, desperate - now its their home and the downsides don't come at once like a big sledgehammer, they drip-drip-drip away at you and your surroundings. You let one thing pass, you'll let another pass, and then you find yourself like Dwight - hugely compromised (but you can see the continued resentment bubbling under the surface). The society they're living in isn't great, but they've got food and shelter and protection - otherwise it's out on your arse and a likely quick death by being eaten alive. The Sanctuary preys on weak souls, and the strong ones are made to yield and pledge allegiance.
The walker in the tree (both arms get cut off) was pretty rad - but I presume it hit its head on the way down (a bit more blood on the head would have helped clarify that).
The reveal at the end of that crazy guy's supplies hidden on a house boat sort of thing in the middle of a walker infested lake was awesome - tingled all my 'what if' bones. It felt like bringing to life some of the things we've talked about here on the forum. 
The pacing of this episode was much better than last week's - and this week's was longer. I liked that we got to skip back and forth across different stories, maintaining the importance of the main one (Carl and Negan), but also seeing little bits elsewhere (Rosita and Eugene's bullet-making sojourn, Father Gabriel dissing Spencer, etc). I enjoyed Michonne's roadblock of walkers, too. Seems there's a growing dissent in Team Rick - but the haphazard nature of it is dangerous. Will someone's actions (e.g. Rosita attempts an assassination) cause a death next week ... we shall see.
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TWD 7x07 Meme:
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