TWD 7x10 "New Best Friends" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MinionZombie]

Please keep all talk of episode 7x10 "New Best Friends" specifically inside this thread. If you have a theory for a following episode, please use the "spoiler tags" (visit the HPOTD FAQ to find out how to use them if you don't already know). Similarly, if you're going to discuss plot points from the comic book, please use "spoiler tags" - not everyone is up-to-date on them, and some people don't read them at all. Enjoy! Directed by: Jeffrey F. January Written by: Channing Powell

[AcesandEights]

Kind of feels like the wheels were spinning this week, and things felt a bit silly.

[Harleydude666]

This episode sucked. As a matter of fact the series as a whole is starting to let the cheese factor creep in. I hate the way this new group speaks, it's just plain stupid. I have a feeling this show is not going beyond season 8

[facestabber]

This show will always be my favorite tv adventure. The magic is fading. I didn't hate this episode at all. The Scavengers were dumb. I just don't feel the dread about the apocalypse that the show delivered so well early on.

[JDP]

Why did the Scavengers need to "test" the group again? They already know very well what the Alexandrians are capable of. They were spying on them when Rick and Aaron successfully passed the zombie-infested lake to get to the cache of weapons, something that they themselves did not want to take the risk of doing. So throwing Rick into a pit with a zombie does not prove anything that they aren't already aware of. They know this guy and his group are tough and get things done.

[Moon Knight]

Why did the Scavengers need to "test" the group again? They already know very well what the Alexandrians are capable of. They were spying on them when Rick and Aaron successfully passed the zombie-infested lake to get to the cache of weapons, something that they themselves did not want to take the risk of doing. So throwing Rick into a pit with a zombie does not prove anything that they aren't already aware of. They know this guy and his group are tough and get things done. Gabriel told Jadis "Rick can do anything". Decent episode not great.

[MinionZombie]

Gabriel told Jadis "Rick can do anything". Decent episode not great. Agreed. Fetching the supplies from the boat is one thing. Fighting off a spiked and shielded walker with no weapons while trapped inside the bottom of the trash hole is another thing entirely - as we saw, when Rick stumbled on the remains, others have failed the same test. This episode was more about getting some business in order - such as Ezekiel, after just saying "no" to Rick's request of joined forces, having an encounter with The Saviours in which the situation sours further. Eventually Ezekiel will say yes, but there's a journey to getting to that point - this episode featured a part of that. Likewise we had to get Carol and Daryl back on screen together, and it was interesting to watch him lie to Carol in order to save her from herself. I'd imagine the lie won't last too long, but Carol clearly needs some time to get her head in order - they all deal with the situation in different ways, and slaughtering people and having to put down a psychopathic kid is far from an ordinary situation. It'd be insanely unrealistic to not see someone suffer the mental consequences of such actions. We also needed an intro to 'The Scavengers' (although it sort of feels like one community too many now ... but we need realistic numbers to fight Negan's forces, so...) - and will Tara reveal Oceanside? She'll have to, I reckon. So a quiet episode, really, getting some business sorted etc. It's a slow build ... hopefully it'll ramp up as 7B progresses ... but I wouldn't be surprised if Season 7 ends on a cliffhanger promising full blown war in Season 8A. Garbiel's explanation to Rick about what went down at the beginning of the previous episode was clumsy - it wasn't anywhere near clear enough to see that suggestion. I had to go back and specifically look out for the 'second person' rising up in the back seat of the car he drives off in, and it's hard to spot (I completely missed it last week). As such, Gabriel's explanation in this episode felt like a porkie pie, rather than the truth, because it wasn't suggested well enough that Gabriel was acting in 7x09 according to his 7x10 story to Rick. Was anyone else confused by that whole thing? ... TWD 7x10 Memes:

[Moon Knight]

MZ, the Gabriel story made sense to me. Everything he said fell into place nicely looking back into what happened during the cold open. It's just that the cold open from last week was a bit clunky to begin with. I saw what they were attempting, it just could have been handled a smidge better. However, I'm just glad it was Gabriel who overheard "Boat" and wrote the note on his own instead of the Scavengers themselves leaving it behind.

[JDP]

Fetching the supplies from the boat is one thing. Fighting off a spiked and shielded walker with no weapons while trapped inside the bottom of the trash hole is another thing entirely - as we saw, when Rick stumbled on the remains, others have failed the same test. Sounds like overkill. They already know these guys can handle themselves around zombies. At the lake they did not have any guns and yet they managed to get through the zombie trap, which, again, the Scavengers themselves were not willing to risk to get through. It would be different if they had given Rick a totally different dangerous task to see how would he handle it. As it is, it's just superfluous. They already know this guy can deal with zombies, and not just one, but even many of them at the same time. - - - Updated - - - Gabriel told Jadis "Rick can do anything". Decent episode not great. Sure, but then they should give Rick another totally different dangerous task to test Gabriel's claim, not something that they already know this guy is good at (i.e. dealing with zombies without having recourse to guns.)

[MinionZombie]

Most people who have made it this far into the zombie apocalypse are going to be generally pretty capable. The way I take it is that the boat situation is like an initial audition, a step in the door, while the one-on-one with that messed up walker - and we've seen how someone beforehand failed that test. Team Rick have come to them asking them to get involved in a war with a formidable enemy that they haven't encountered yet (The Scavengers' M.O. is to steer clear, it seems - no wonder, they live in a garbage dump! ), so they need to know that Rick is an above-average zombie apocalypse survivor. Dealing with some normal walkers chin-deep in water while you've got a boat and back up is one thing - dealing with a walker covered in giant metal spikes with a solid metal helmet protecting its entire head above the nose with no backup and no weapons is an entirely different situation. Even getting close to that thing could mean death by getting skewered. It's not the cleanest couple of episodes in terms of slotting the pieces together (see my confusion over Gabriel's cold open in 7x09 and his explanation to Rick here in 7x10), but it still works.

[JDP]

Most people who have made it this far into the zombie apocalypse are going to be generally pretty capable. The way I take it is that the boat situation is like an initial audition, a step in the door, while the one-on-one with that messed up walker - and we've seen how someone beforehand failed that test. Team Rick have come to them asking them to get involved in a war with a formidable enemy that they haven't encountered yet (The Scavengers' M.O. is to steer clear, it seems - no wonder, they live in a garbage dump! ), so they need to know that Rick is an above-average zombie apocalypse survivor. Dealing with some normal walkers chin-deep in water while you've got a boat and back up is one thing - dealing with a walker covered in giant metal spikes with a solid metal helmet protecting its entire head above the nose with no backup and no weapons is an entirely different situation. Even getting close to that thing could mean death by getting skewered. It's not the cleanest couple of episodes in terms of slotting the pieces together (see my confusion over Gabriel's cold open in 7x09 and his explanation to Rick here in 7x10), but it still works. You forgot that they had no guns at the lake, which was full of zombies, the boat was full of bullet-holes as well and was sinking into that zombie "pit". There is a reason the Scavengers were not willing to take the risk themselves. This is not an "average" situation. It was an obvious on-purpose death-trap. So the Scavengers were just waiting to see who was brave enough to attempt to get through it and be successful. They know that Rick & company can do it. To throw Rick into yet another type of pit with yet another zombie is not something that I would consider a totally different task. It's almost like two of the same thing. If I want to further test this guy's abilities, I would give him a truly different task that I may not be sure if he can really accomplish, not having him fight yet another zombie.

[slayerized]

You forgot that they had no guns at the lake, which was full of zombies, the boat was full of bullet-holes as well and was sinking into that zombie "pit". There is a reason the Scavengers were not willing to take the risk themselves. This is not an "average" situation. It was an obvious on-purpose death-trap. So the Scavengers were just waiting to see who was brave enough to attempt to get through it and be successful. They know that Rick & company can do it. To throw Rick into yet another type of pit with yet another zombie is not something that I would consider a totally different task. It's almost like two of the same thing. If I want to further test this guy's abilities, I would give him a truly different task that I may not be sure if he can really accomplish, not having him fight yet another zombie. Rick and Aaron were up against a time crunch to get back to Alexandria when they came upon the lake of zombies so they had to risk it with the bullet-hole filled boat. The Scavengers were under no such time crunch, so why didn't they just go find another boat (without bullet holes) or something else that floats or just take the time to dispatch enough of the zombies to make it across the lake to the houseboat and get the supplies - hell there were enough of them with guns...And if they are afraid of a lake of zombies, are you really going to want them on your side against an army of living Saviors? And the way they talk and walk around all slow and mysterious is just plain lame - these were functioning adults in the pre-apocalypse world yet they sound like they come from 100 years after the fall of civilization...I don't know, I think the writing is starting to get a bit tired I'm sorry to say...

[JDP]

Rick and Aaron were up against a time crunch to get back to Alexandria when they came upon the lake of zombies so they had to risk it with the bullet-hole filled boat. The Scavengers were under no such time crunch, so why didn't they just go find another boat (without bullet holes) or something else that floats or just take the time to dispatch enough of the zombies to make it across the lake to the houseboat and get the supplies - hell there were enough of them with guns...And if they are afraid of a lake of zombies, are you really going to want them on your side against an army of living Saviors? And the way they talk and walk around all slow and mysterious is just plain lame - these were functioning adults in the pre-apocalypse world yet they sound like they come from 100 years after the fall of civilization...I don't know, I think the writing is starting to get a bit tired I'm sorry to say... Yes, totally agree, man. The Scavengers look like a bunch of chickens if they would not attempt to tackle with the zombie lake trap on their own and had to wait for someone like Rick and Aaron to do it for them. Then how could this bunch of cowards really be of much help against a bunch of ruthless cutthroats like the Saviors??? Seems contradictory.

[shootemindehead]

A weak episode in a weak series this year, it has to be said. And these new guys? Looks like the writers have been playing too much Fallout recently.

[kidgloves]

I enjoyed parts of this but it felt like an episode of Star Trek to me. 2 poor episodes to start the 2nd part of the season IMHO