The Walking Dead S7E04: Service

When Rick and Co. were first introduced to the Hilltop and told of the Saviors, it was explained to them that they offered protection in exchange for half their stuff. This was, as this week’s title puts it, a service they provided. Now only a few days removed from Negan’s total subjugation of Rick and the murder of his friends, Negan and the Saviors pay a visit to Alexandria to offer their services. And to collect. Spoilers ahead.

The gist of this episode can be summed up in two words; psychological warfare. And it was beautiful. Well over half of what was said in this episode was said through body language and facial expressions. Well, at least when Negan wasn’t talking. Because let’s be honest, he basically says whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Most of the screen time was spent on Rick, Negan, or Michonne. Two of those three said a lot without saying much at all. Negan arrives at Alexandria almost at the open of the episode, so he is taking the tour there for almost the full 90 minutes. He’s very adamant about stepping on the jugular of this animal he has just tamed. He makes his presence clear by bringing about 30 men to handle the task of taking half their stuff. And by “half” he means all their guns, all their medicine, and all their mattresses. Negan points out that he was gracious enough to leave them all their food. He is as the tyrant that forces you to disrobe, but allows you to keep your watch on and expects you to be thankful.

One major decision that seems to have been made on the fly was to take all the guns from Alexandria. When Carl threatened a Savior for taking all their medicine, Negan stepped in remind Carl of how serious he was. This prompted Negan to believe there was still an element of rebellion in some folks, and having guns might ensure that rebellion. This was the primary point of conflict in the episode. From Carl’s action leading to it to the community’s opposition to it. Rick basically laid down completely, putting up almost no resistance to giving up all their guns. When two came up missing and Negan threatened to take Olivia’s life, Rick pleaded with the whole community to turn them over. It was clear that not everyone was okay with this. How would they protect themselves? How would they fight back? Rick spells it out plainly for them; “I’m not in charge anymore. Negan is.” You could almost feel the hope leave the room. Hope. This is what was being ripped from the community. Rick and those present when Negan killed Abraham and Glenn had already experienced this loss of hope. A dreaded feeling of helplessness. The rest of their community had not yet felt this, but they were being made to. A couple times Rick had to simply say, “you weren’t there.” Hope is gone in Alexandria, now they only have each other. Losing hope either leads to or implies the loss of other things like faith or love. The bible says there are three things which last in eternity; faith, hope, and love. You could argue that if hope is lost, faith is as well. But what of love? Can it be extinguished? Is it present in Alexandria?

I would argue yes, it is. Paul says it is greater than even faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13), and it is because of love that Rick willingly turns over their guns and pleads with everyone else to do the same. Later in the episode Michonne expresses to Rick how difficult and wrong this feels to her. To hand over power so easily. “Everything we have we got from fighting”, she tells Rick. This scene is where we get what Twitter is calling the #JudithTruthBomb. As surprising yet un-surprising as that was, it reveals Rick’s heart toward this community right now. His love for his people, his claiming them all as his family, clears his mind enough to know that fighting is not the answer. At least not right now. His candidness about this softens Michonne to the point where she’s willing to try to be okay with it. Previously she goes off on her own to either practice her sniping skills (yikes, she’s bad), or let off some steam. Of all those present at Negan’s killing, she seems to be the most resistant to even the notion of allowing the Saviors to enter Alexandria and take their stuff. But Rick’s heart, his adoption of this community as his extended family (as with Judith), has convinced her of the necessity of going along with this. For now.

I said hope is gone in Alexandria. You’ll recall Maggie’s attitude in the aftermath of Negan’s brutal killing. She was ready to fight back. She told Rick to go back and get ready. You might say she still clings to hope, but I don’t think hope is her driving force. I think she’s driven by rage. We see it even a bit in Rick as he tightly grips Lucille, almost imagining bashing Negan with it at first opportunity. We see it in Rosita as she holds herself back from belting Dwight as he instigates her. We see it in Carl in the fight he put up to keep their medicine. Rage abounds in everyone. Except for Gabriel. I’ll recant my prior claim that hope is gone. Gabriel, unbelievably, still has hope. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t there to see Abraham and Glenn be beaten to death. Maybe it’s because no one in Alexandria died when Negan showed up. Or maybe, his faith in something greater sparks in him an inner faith/hope that cannot be doused. This is an interesting position for Gabriel, as a character, to be placed in. I think he had one line in the first half of season six. Maybe two scenes in the second half, both of those as Judith’s protector while Rick takes care of things.  He gets two scenes in this episode alone, one a straight up introduction to Negan! Gabriel seems convinced that things will get better. “I have faith in us. I have faith in you”, he tells Rick. My initial reaction to this was that his faith was misplaced. But on second thought I think this sentiment is an extension of his larger faith, and a means of inspiring or encouraging others. Again, this is a very interesting place to put Gabriel in as the spiritual leader. I’m interested to see if faith will become a more pronounced element of their path forward.

My Rating: A-

This entire episode rested on Negan selling his dominance and Rick selling his/Alexandria’s helplessness. Those are good people on which to place the success of an episode. Both actors excelled in their respect roles and that is largely what sold this one to me. I still see some of the same potential complaints here that I had with the previous episode. We seem to be in a place where we’re treating locations like characters and that has never really been a thing with this show. But this episode has additional elements which moved the story along that I didn’t feel the previous one had. For example; Rosita and Spencer getting Daryl’s bike for Dwight and getting a gun from the previously killed Saviors, Daryl purposefully not saying anything to confirm his underlying defiance against Negan, and Michonne’s inner turmoil and outer defiance against Rick. All good things that kept the episode interesting.