Guest Blog by Robert Mills
The Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 16
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
FIVE Points from 7.16
**BEWARE Spoilers in our Discussion**
Follow @SUPERflixMoviesWow. What a finale that was! After what can be safely described as the most lackluster season in TWD history since Season 2, TWD went out with a great closing episode in Season 7. Before anybody gets too down on Season 7, let’s all look back and remember how Season 2 was so dreadfully dull. It was a bunch of standing around at Hershel’s farm waiting to find out that Carol’s daughter was in the barn all along. But, season 2 laid the groundwork for season 3 and 4, where TWD really took off and gained a lot of popularity. Season 5 and 6 coasted off of the momentum of 3 and 4….but then we got to Season 7. Every great story has to build and develop characters, depth, and relationships. When we look back at Season 7, we’ll see all the threads that they were laying in place for Season 8 and 9. This finale finally felt like the excitement was back for the first time since Abraham told Negan to suck his nuts.
So, let’s get into dissecting the Season 7 finale of The Walking Dead with 5 big moments from the last TWD until October.
Sasha’s Death
Well, we’ve been anticipating Sasha’s death for a while. I called that this was going to happen several weeks back. She’s already been announced in the cast on another show, so this was completely expected. With that said, OMG how amazing of a death was that? Until this moment, there has never been a time where we had a ‘good’ character killed off in a fashion where we actually stood up and cheered. You knew early on that Sasha was going to sacrifice herself, but it seemed like she was going to allow Negan to beat her to death with Lucille instead of forcing that burden on to someone else. Instead, Sasha ponied up on her ‘lady nuts’ and pulled off the most insane sneak attack in TWD history. By taking the option to commit suicide while locked inside the coffin, Sasha was able to almost take Negan out after her death. She gave them a fighting chance.
Eugene’s Bargain
Eugene was begging Rick and the Alexandria army to stand down. Rick turned that bargain down. Rick was fully prepared to execute Eugene and would have, if not for Jadis and the Junkyard Gang turning on Rick. I think that line has been firmly drawn in the sand. I don’t see Eugene having any kingdom in the end of this. Negan has his suspicions. Rick isn’t going to let him come back. Has Eugene ended up with nothing and no place to call home because he has been trying to align himself with the strongest party? If Eugene was really sincere about wanting to join up with Negan, why didn’t he tell him about the suicide pills that he had made? Why didn’t he sell the women out? There’s something hiding in his actions, if we can just put all the details together.
Jadis’ Betrayal
I really actually honestly did NOT see that coming. Call me stupid, but I thought that Jadis’ and the Junkyard Gang were going to fight with Rick. A few burning questions here...who approached who about selling Rick out? Did Jadis actually go to The Saviors and offer to sell Rick out? What was the bargain that was made? 12 of something. Was it guns? We know that Jadis was light on firepower, so was that what she agreed to sell Rick out for?
Relationship Reset
Everything comes around full circle here at the end of the season. Rick is back to being the ‘full on defiant’ version of Rick that we were used to. His speech to Negan was great! “I already told you I was going to kill you...so kill Carl...take my hands...it’s already done. I’m going to kill you”. So intense! And Negan, wow….what a performance by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He plays Negan as the perfect sociopath. He is The Joker to Rick’s Batman. You cannot help but like him...but still, he was back with all of his fury in the closing moments. Rest assured, if not for some help, he was about to beat Carl’s brains in and cut Rick’s hands off. Negan is fresh out of sympathy. Like he said last night, “This is about punishment.”
The Alliance is alive
Just when all hope seemed lost, here comes Carol, Morgan, and Ezekiel to the rescue with the Kingdom and Maggie shows up with the Hilltoppers. Seeing a bengal tiger in combat was a sight to behold. Hearing Negan’s reactions to the tiger was even better. Carol, Morgan, Ezekiel, Maggie, Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Jesus...all in action at the same time. Wow. How over the top great was that final battle sequence? It just might have been the most exciting 15 minutes in TWD history. The Battle Of Alexandria was much more exciting that the Battle At The Prison in Season 3. Is this a taste of what is to come in Season 8? Will we see more battles on this scale? I’m going to call it now...What about another similar battle at The Sanctuary for the mid-season finale of Season 8?
Follow @SUPERflixMoviesQuestions for next season:
Who is on the chopping block?
Let’s be honest...there weren’t that many deaths in season 7. Yes, we lost Abraham, Glenn and Sasha. You can rest assured that more characters are going to be written off in Season 8...but I would put money on it right now that Rick, Carl, Michonne, and NEGAN are all safe. Negan is too much fun to kill off. JDM is doing an AMAZING job in the role. He showed again in the finale that he could be menacing...and he’s so great at being bad. So...I’ll say that Morgan, Carol, Eugene, Daryl, Rosita, Ezekiel, Jesus, Aaron, Maggie, and Gregory are all on notice in Season 8. I’ll go even farther than that, and I’ll say that 5 of those 10 will not be alive at the end of season 8. We had a light body count in S7, so I think S8 is going to be a bloodbath.
Who runs The Hilltop?
Maggie led the Hilltop into battle against the Saviors. They’re officially on Negan’s hit list now. This isn’t going to sit well with Gregory. How will the weasel strike back at Maggie for the betrayal of stealing ‘his’ community and ‘his’ people? You can bet this will be a major thread in season 8.
Who is going to get less screen time?
This year saw a decrease in screen time for Carol and Daryl. I think Carl is definitely going to get less screen time in Season 8 because Chandler Riggs is going to college this fall. He won’t have time to be hanging out on set all the time. I think you might only see about 4 episodes with Carl on board in Season 8.
All out war?
Yeah, it’s coming. Hell, it’s here! Who is going to be left standing?
How brutal is Negan going to be when there are no holds barred?
We have always seen Negan when he is trying to prove a point. Everybody he has killed has been to inspire fear in others up to this point. How’s it going to look when he doesn’t care about paying the butcher’s bill? Rest assured, he’s coming for Rick. He’s going to bring everything he’s got. This is going to get messy.
What role is Dwight going to play in Season 8?
He’s the spy in the enemy camp. Will he be the one to really truly bring Negan down?