The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 4 Review

The Walking Dead 

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Season 7 Episode 4 Review

**SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW, EPISODE AND COMICS FOLLOW, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK**

Last week we got a peek into Negan's world at the Sanctuary.  The week before we were introduced to Ezekiel, THE AWESOME SHIVA, and the Kingdom.  The week before that we were mourning the loss of two main characters.  This week we're back with Rick and his Alexandrian group after the aftermath of Glenn and Abraham's deaths, and it oddly seems like either a) the townspeople get over things really quickly, or b) Rick didn't tell them everything that happened.  I was expecting more sadness and anger, but most of the Alexandrians seemed just as confused as I was over what was happening.

As the show began, Rick and Michonne are in bed (although in a vastly different way than last time we saw them: before they were face-to-face and cuddled close, now they're on separate ends of the bed facing away from each other), and Michonne sneaks away with her katana and an assault rifle (although Rick sees her leave).  She goes to an open field to do some personal firearms training, and proves that she is extremely capable with her katana, but not so much with a firearm. 

As Eugene was working on a radio (a small nod to the comics, where his work on the radio resulted recently in communication with a new group of survivors), Rosita and Spencer are planning on going on a run when Negan and his men arrive unexpectedly.  Rick is angry because it was sooner than Negan said, and Negan simply replied with "I missed you."  I love Jeffrey Dean Morgan and I love Negan's character in the comics, but here I'm starting to get a little annoyed with him and his constant prodding, like a bully with a big mouth and no follow through.  Basically this whole elongated episode was about him degrading Rick more with his annoying banter and forcing Rick to hold Lucille the whole time (another nod to the comics, which I liked because it really showed Rick's weakness). 

Dwight talks with Rosita and Spencer (he remembers Rosita from the time he met her, Daryl and Denise on the road - after sending an arrow through Denise's skull) and takes their guns, pours out their water and takes her hat, and orders her to find Daryl's bike.  After spending a whole episode on Dwight's humanity, seeing him treating Rosita in such a degrading way is definitely a step back.

Negan talks about Maggie and wants to see her, because there's nothing hotter to him than a mourning widow.  This shows a glint of genius especially from Father Gabriel (who is FINALLY growing on me after his cowardice and annoyance last two seasons), who wisely dug a fake grave for Maggie and asks Negan if he came to pay his respects.  Rick goes along with the ploy to keep Maggie safe (she and Sasha went to the Hilltop after Negan's first encounter), but it could end up biting him in the butt because Negan will surely find out she's alive, and will be none too happy to learn his newest lapdog betrayed him.  

As Negan and his Saviors ransacked the town, he maintained his banter with Rick which made me sad the episode was longer than others, because it was more filler than anything.  After Carl holds one of the Saviors at gunpoint, Negan decides to take all their guns (nice going Carl!), but finds that two are missing.  Two measly handguns.  And if he doesn't get them back, he's going to kill Olivia (who, you might ask?  She's the one who keeps tabs on firearms and food for the town, in case you didn't know.  She's actually a huge, important character, much like Patricia and Jimmy...*sarcasm*).  So a good third of the episode dealt with Rick meeting with the townspeople concerned that Negan was gonna kill who's-her-name if he doesn't find the guns, and tells them that he's no longer in charge - Negan is. 

Meanwhile, over to the B-story, Rosita and Spencer find Daryl's bike, and Spencer cries that Rick got them into this mess, and now they'll have to be slaves to Negan.  Rosita, in all her amazing glory, will have none of it as she goes out and kills some Walkers that used to be some of Negan's men, and takes one of their guns - unfortunately, there's no ammo.  She tells Spencer that they don't have to live this way, and we're treated to the most character-driven episode of Rosita's to date.

Back at Alexandria, Rick finds the missing guns in a hidden opening in Spencer's house (along with stolen food and booze - nice going Spence!), and eagerly returns them to his master.  As they're about to leave, Rosita and Spencer return and Dwight takes Daryl's bike and returns Rosita's hat, and Rick sees Michonne just outside the gate.  He goes to her and tells her to give him her gun, because he's worried Negan will find out they have a gun and kill them (yet previously he didn't bat an eye to pretending Maggie was dead, which will more likely incur his wrath).  She stands up to him, but finally gives in, and Negan is even more pleased at Rick's obedience. 

After they leave, Spencer insults Rick, and even though he did so in an incredibly childish way, he has a point.  Rick was the one who led Negan to them, thinking arrogantly that he could kill anyone.  In a way, he is really responsible for what has happened this season, but still - you don't mess with Rick.  Rick threatens Spencer and walks away, and Rosita lambasts Spencer as well.

Back at their home, Rick is making his bed on the floor (since the Saviors took pretty much all their mattresses), and Michonne walks in.  She tells Rick that they need to fight, that they can't be subjugated to the likes of Negan.  Rick tells her that they have to, because they need to survive.  He then tells her about Shane, his old friend and partner in the police force, and how he saved Lori and Carl while he was in a coma.  He tells her that Shane and Lori were together, and reveals for the first time that he knows Judith isn't his, but Shane's, and even still, he'll defend and protect her life even if it costs him his own.  This is a huge revelation and something often forgotten because it happened way back in seasons two and three, and we've hardly seen Judith since.  It was the biggest Maury Povich storyline that really couldn't have an exact ending (since it's the apocalypse there's no genetic testing facilities readily available for such paternity tests), so Rick admitting that Judith is Shane's is a huge revelation to the audience.  He then asks Michonne to go along with him, and all she can offer is "I'll try."

Michonne then returns to the spot where she was practicing, and notices something in the distance.  She goes to investigate and finds the mattresses the Saviors took from them, completely burnt.  If she was willing to concede to Negan before, all that is now gone as she gives a steely glare and we know she's about ready to kick butt and take names.

The episode ends with someone picking up a spent shell casing Negan fired earlier, and finding out it was Rosita, who goes to Eugene and asks him to make her a bullet.  This might seem inconsequential, but in the comics this is the huge turning point that shifts the eventual war with the Saviors, as Eugene is able to manufacture bullets at the armory outside of town we saw when he and Abraham went there last season, and this is something Negan doesn't know.  Although I don't know how well they'll do without guns, but there's the Hilltop (and the Kingdom once they know about them) to work with. 

What I found most interesting in this episode is the strength the women of Alexandria possess.  Rosita and Michonne aren't willing to bow down to Negan, and want to stop him.  The same obviously with Maggie and Sasha, as well as Carl.  Yet Rick and Spencer in particular are more than willing to submit themselves to the tyrant.  This is another fascinating bit of information since Negan doesn't consider women as equals and doesn't feel they can hold their own in combat, so it'll be interesting to see how this dynamic works itself out.

When Negan arrived, he knocked on the gate and said, "little pig, little pig, let me in!" which is a comic nod to the Scavengers - who were the Wolves on the show - when they arrived at Alexandria the leader said those words and was subsequently shot in the head by Andrea.  If only that would've happened this time with Negan, but since JDM is signed on through season eight at least, we'll be seeing a lot of this guy for a long time to come.

Finally there was a scene between a Savior and Enid, where he was taking her green balloons, and she pleaded with him to give them back.  If you haven't seen the show before, you'd probably wonder why she cares so much about a few deflated balloons, but they hold a huge significance to her.  Last season when she went out on her own, she rescued Glenn from under the dumpster, and when they went back to Alexandria they saw it was already overrun, but Glenn wanted Maggie to know he was safe, so they released the balloons to give a sign to Maggie that Glenn was alright.  Enid considers Glenn and Maggie to be her surrogate parents, so the balloons held a deeply emotional tie to Glenn's memory, and thankfully the Saviors finally returned them to her.

Next week we're going to the Hilltop to see how Maggie and Sasha are doing, and we also see Carl and Enid in the episode as well.  My thought is that Enid is taking the role of Sophia from the comics (Carol's daughter who died in season two).  In the comics, Sophia considered Maggie and Glenn as her surrogate parents, and when Maggie goes to Hilltop she goes with her.  Carl also goes because he can't stand Rick's lack of spine, and it looks like they might be heading that way on the show as well. 

Overall, this episode didn't have to be 90 minutes, as it was padded with a lot of needless Negan dialogue and way too many commercials (seriously, at one point the show was on for two minutes and then cut to three minutes of commercials).  It wasn't the best of the season, but it did establish Rick as a coward for now, and showed that the women really do run the world. 

The Score: B+