The Walking Dead S7E08: Hearts Still Beating

As we come to the mid-season break we are graced with an episode that ties together every loose end left by the preceding six episodes. Gone are the episode-long dissections of one or two people in a single location. We finally have bits of all our main players coming together and finding strength in one another. Spoilers ahead.

When people say that hindsight is 20/20 they usually mean that looking back on something with a different perspective changes their opinion about it. I might use that phrase to describe my current feelings on this season so far, but my opinion still largely remains the same. There has been a lot of poor execution in this season. The primary theme of this episode was everyone coming together and deciding to fight, together, rather than on their own. We had some scenes that specifically focused on characters trying to do things on their own; Michonne forcing the red-headed savior to take her to their camp, Sasha keeping Maggie in the dark about her desire to kill Negan on her own, and Rosita actually taking a shot at Negan! By the end of the day all, mostly, realize that this is a task too large for any one person to accomplish on their own. They need each other, just as they always have. So, looking back on the way each episode has been produced this season you begin to see something of a meta-examination of that theme. Episodes two through six all focused on the efforts of one or two people in a specific location to accomplish a task of their own interest. This was done partly because much of our group was separated after the season premiere, but it’s also a foreshadowing of the conclusions drawn in this mid-season finale. I’m still not a fan of the theme of acting alone used as a method to shoot a series of episodes, but it is what it is. Striking out on your own doesn’t work in this world. You need community, you need family, you need friends.

There is much we can say about this from a Christian perspective. It seems the popular thing today to ditch the typical congregational worship and fellowship in favor of a more personalized or individualized form of belief. Folks are unhappy or unsatisfied or un-something with the biblical pattern for the church and decide that they can do better or be happier on their own. Often times this leads to their own falling away. Their own destruction. We see the example of the New Testament church and we find them sharing all things with one another (Acts 2), including the burden of the trials and temptations they face on a daily basis (Galatians 6). If we look at our churches today and don’t see anything resembling that, the answer is not to abandon our fellow believers. We share a common faith and we all need one another, whether we know it or not. There came a moment of this episode when we saw father Gabriel be more pastoral than he has ever been in the two seasons he has been on the show. Rosita is feeling particularly alone with the loss of Abraham and needing some way to release the anger she feels toward Negan. Gabriel councils her. “You’re a part of the ‘together’ that we have”, he says to her. “We need you”. This desire to reach out and cling to each and every member of the Lords church should be the desire of every pastor and elder in every church across the globe. As Jesus describes in his parables of the lost, if even one sheep in a herd of 100 goes astray, the shepherd drops everything and seeks after it. Gabriel is serving in that role for Rosita now, and they are comforting words. At least for a while.

As is clear from the header image on this review, Negan is now clean shaven and a nearly completely accurate representation of the comic character. Aside from Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s lack of about 30 or 40 pounds of muscle. In fact, there were specific lines which were said so perfectly that I’m thinking this is the best single episode manifestation of Negan we have seen. He continues to manipulate Rick’s children, even assuming the role of authority figure while Rick is gone. The children watch him shave, he sits at the head of the table, and he demands that his drink to be filled by the woman in the house. That woman being Olivia, who meets a quick and unfortunate and through random selection after Rosita tries to kill Negan. This is the second time that the actions of one person against Negan have resulted in the death of another. Rosita reacts this way because Negan suddenly and brutally kills  Spencer after Spencer tries to claim leadership of Alexandria. By the time Rick and Aaron come back from their supply run, Olivia has been shot and Spencer has been gutted, and Negan is asking for a ‘thank you’. That’s the Negan we all love to hate.

Almost lost in this episode of drama going down in Alexandria is the scenes with Carol and Morgan talking with Richard, Ezekial’s right-hand man. Richard speaks to them both about convincing Ezekial to go to war with the Saviors. Based on his past, he has seen how this arrangement with Negan can go wrong and he fears the worst. Carol makes it clear that she wants to be left alone. She doesn’t want dragged into a war where she will have to kill others, despite how capable she is. In fact, Morgan calls her the “most capable killer in this room”. Morgan as well, though for different reasons, wants no part in starting a war when there is peace at the time. Judging by how the episode ended with the majority of Rick’s group preparing for battle, the path to convincing those two to fight won’t be an easy one. But if the speech to do that is anywhere near as good as what Michonne said to Rick, then I have to believe they’ll be swayed. Michonne faced reality in this episode when she saw the size of the force they’re facing in the Saviors. Her path these last couple episodes has seemed a bit strange. Not necessarily her going on her own. We saw her do that with the Governor, but the way she did it. She’s hitching a ride with a Savior at gun-point when she sees the size of the Saviors. With her hopes of making it to Negan dashed, the Savior she’s with basically asks to be killed. And Michonne does! This surprised me and felt out of character for her. Either way, this is her moment of realization that she needs everyone. This can’t be just her. This must be a team effort. She says as much to Rick.

-Michonne: “We’re the ones who get things done. We’re the ones who live. That’s why we have to fight. Not for us. For Judith and Carl and Alexandria and hilltop. For all of us. We can find a way to fight them. We can do this. But only if WE do this.”

-Rick: “I know that now”.

My Rating: A

It feels like there is so much I didn’t cover. Daryl escaped, Rick and Aaron’s supply run earned them a tail which follows them back, Daryl returns Rick’s gun to him. So much happened, and that’s what previous episodes in this season have been missing. Focusing on characters is fine if it’s done well. If it isn’t, then a lot needs to happen to please the audience. This episode accomplished both those things and has me, and I’m sure most fans, looking very forward to the return in February.