I don't know why I got my hopes up for the midseason finale. But the season so far had been so aimless I thought there was a chance this episode could at least partly make up for it. I was wrong. Sure, this episode finally gets the plot moving, but it doesn't even do that particularly well.
It tries to hammer home Negan's dominance AGAIN, even though that's what this show has been doing all season. Negan laughing, grinning, doing what he wants, his thugs beating up a character, and so on, it's all stuff we've seen before. Negan's discussion with Spencer takes an interesting turn as Spencer's intentions are revealed, but all the interesting places that idea could have been taken end with Spencer's death, killing the potential for a truly interesting plot. It's a shame that the first hint of greatness in Season 7 was killed off barely as soon as it began.
And don't get me started on Rosita's attempt to kill Negan. The bullet was deflected by his bat? Seriously? Is this genuinely what people think is good TV? What a joke. Negan will also go down as the stupidest villain of all time for constantly exposing himself to danger. The fact that Rosita could have killed him so easily tells you all you need to know about him. Above all, we all knew Rosita's attempt to kill Negan would end in failure as it's obvious hes far from done yet as a villain, and AMC already confirmed he's returning for the next season. So the whole 'Rosita trying to shoot Negan' storyline is stupid for many, many reasons.
So this is a complete joke of an episode, which is highlighted even more by the ending. The characters are reunited with Maggie, Sasha and Enid and there are lots of cringey shots of their smiling faces. Then Rick decides they're going to rise up and revolt against Negan, which is weird since nothing has really happened to tip him over the edge. And they're even less able to fight back than they were before with their weapons and bullet-maker gone. It makes no sense, other than in terms of viewing figures of course, where it actually makes perfect sense.
There were good bits here and there. The less significant moments were actually the best ones and at many moment it felt like I got my old Walking Dead back. But not yet. Not quite yet.
It tries to hammer home Negan's dominance AGAIN, even though that's what this show has been doing all season. Negan laughing, grinning, doing what he wants, his thugs beating up a character, and so on, it's all stuff we've seen before. Negan's discussion with Spencer takes an interesting turn as Spencer's intentions are revealed, but all the interesting places that idea could have been taken end with Spencer's death, killing the potential for a truly interesting plot. It's a shame that the first hint of greatness in Season 7 was killed off barely as soon as it began.
And don't get me started on Rosita's attempt to kill Negan. The bullet was deflected by his bat? Seriously? Is this genuinely what people think is good TV? What a joke. Negan will also go down as the stupidest villain of all time for constantly exposing himself to danger. The fact that Rosita could have killed him so easily tells you all you need to know about him. Above all, we all knew Rosita's attempt to kill Negan would end in failure as it's obvious hes far from done yet as a villain, and AMC already confirmed he's returning for the next season. So the whole 'Rosita trying to shoot Negan' storyline is stupid for many, many reasons.
So this is a complete joke of an episode, which is highlighted even more by the ending. The characters are reunited with Maggie, Sasha and Enid and there are lots of cringey shots of their smiling faces. Then Rick decides they're going to rise up and revolt against Negan, which is weird since nothing has really happened to tip him over the edge. And they're even less able to fight back than they were before with their weapons and bullet-maker gone. It makes no sense, other than in terms of viewing figures of course, where it actually makes perfect sense.
There were good bits here and there. The less significant moments were actually the best ones and at many moment it felt like I got my old Walking Dead back. But not yet. Not quite yet.