The Walking Dead: Season 7 (Review)

Welcome to a new beginning, you sorry shits. - Negan

Season 7 of The Walking Dead is an interesting beast to tackle. We start off with an episode that is literally the most brutal, heartbreaking episode in the history of the show. For everyone who hated the cliffhanger at the end of Season 6, you finally get the death(s) you wanted and you may wish it never happened. This is a very different way to start a season. Once this episode is out of the way the rest of the season follows a pretty straightforward formula. We see that the world now belongs to Negan as he asserts his dominance over Rick and the rest of the group, and our survivors try to adjust to the new order. This continues until Rick reaches his breaking point and decides to fight back.

Much of the first half of the season is split between both world building and a slow build toward Rick's eventual desire to rise against Negan. This format has caused much fan backlash to this season, that I believe is partially unwarranted. The main complaint is the structure of the season, especially the first half. The writers devote entire episodes to one storyline at a time in an arc where we are introduced to new communities and at least three distinct storylines. I will say, however, that the structure does not seem as slow paced if watched in a binge format.

The production value is mostly still there with a few budget issues that might be noticed fans who are knowledgeable of filmmaking, but these are minor critiques. The story is still intriguing and inventive and show runner Scott M. Gimple continues to prove that he handles the comic material well. As has become usual with the show Michael E. Satrazemis continues to find new and creative ways to approach the cinematography. This season the biggest stand out to me is the performances by the whole cast. Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan are particular stand outs in the season opener, while Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan commands the screen in every scene he is in.

This season can seem dour to many fans, however it is a necessary step in the storytelling to get to later payoff so I definitely recommend it to those who are invested in the story.

Season 7 starts right after Negan has killed whoever the victim is from the end of Season 6. We see him taunting Rick, who is clearly in shock, as he waves a bloody Lucille in front of his face. Rick looks up at him and replies, I'm gonna kill you. Not today, not tomorrow, but I'm gonna kill you. Negan decides that Rick has not learned his listen and drags him into the RV. The rest of the episode consists of Negan continuing to break Rick down as he taunts him and asserts his dominance. Midway through the episode we are finally shown the Lucille victim as Negan tells Rick to think on what happened. This is definitely one of the stand out scenes of the season. We watch from Rick's perspective as Negan continues his game of Eeny Meeny Miney Moe until he finally picks Abraham. He proceeds with bashing in Abraham's head while continually cracking jokes. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance shines as he seems to enjoy of second of the atrocity he is committing. The actual death is not shown as graphic as one would think, but this is a false sense of security. After Daryl punches Negan in the face, he decides to take another victim. Instead of killing Daryl, he walks over to the far end of the line up abruptly spinning around and hitting Glenn over the head with Lucille. This is when the producers bring home the point with the brutality of Negan. We see Glenn lift his head back up mutilated, struggling to speak to Maggie. Negan continues to talk as this happens until finally Glenn can get out the words, Maggie I'll find you. Negan then finishes him off in graphic detail. This scene is extremely hard to watch even for viewers with a strong stomach.

We then, go back to Rick as Negan continues to taunt him and tells him to imagine everyone he loves being killed. Negan brings him back to the line up and says that he is not convinced that Rick has learned his lesson. He tells Carl to walk over to them and uses his belt as a tourniquet on Carl's left arm. He then instructs Rick to cut his son's left arm off. Rick begs him to take his arm instead showing himself to be completely broken at this point. Negan tells him that it must be Carl and threatens to kill everyone there is he does not do it. Just as Rick is about to go through with it Negan stops him believing he proved his point. This is a direct reference to the story of Abraham in the Bible as God instructs him to kill his own son as a sacrifice to prove his loyalty, but stops him right before. Negan is God in this new world. Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment is after everything is said and done. Our group is left on the ground with Abraham and Glenn's bodies lying next to them. We see Maggie try to walk over to her husband's body and carry him away on her own. She says that she must do it on her own so no one else gets hurt, but Rick, Carl, and Aaron insist on helping. He's our family too, Rick assures her. Lauren Cohan and Andrew Lincoln truly shine in this moment. Rick then contemplates what Negan told him as they carry away the bodies. I bet you thought you were all going to grow old together, sitting at the table for Sunday dinner. It doesn't work that way. Not anymore.

The rest of this half follows four main storylines. First, we have Morgan and Carol at a new community called the Kingdom. We are introduced to King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and his pet tiger Shiva. Carol does not want to live with other people after the events of Season 6 and Morgan must comes to terms with the fact that he was forced to kill to save Carol's life. It is also revealed that the Kingdom has a deal with the Saviors to avoid being killed. The second storyline is following Daryl at the Sanctuary after being taken by Negan. Dwight (Austin Amelio) is put in charge of breaking him down to eventually join them. He continues with various torture techniques, but nothing convinces Daryl to join them. We get more development for Dwight driving a wedge between him and Negan and setting him up as an important part of the story later on. Next, we have our main group back at Alexandria. We see Negan's first visit as he demands his tribute. Rick is trying to adapt to the new way of life as he does not want anyone else to die. Michonne and Rosita both continue to try and fight. Last, we have Maggie and Sasha at the Hilltop. Maggie's health is recovering after she is treated by the Hilltop's doctor and Sasha is attempting to prepare herself to try and assassinate Negan. All the while they are becoming leaders in the community much to the annoyance of Gregory.

In addition to these storylines we also get an episode showing what happened with Tara and Heath on their two week run. After being separated Tara discovers another community called Oceanside. Throughout the episode it is revealed that they are in hiding after the Saviors killed all of the men in the community. This is a lot of set up and world building to get through for eight episodes, which may cause some viewers to feel like the story is not moving forward, but I promise you it is. Each episode serves a purpose in the narrative, even if it may not seem like it on first viewing. The writers are giving us a scope of how far the Savior's reach extends in the world.

Episodes 9 through 15 are focused on our survivors scavenging for weapons and trying to convince the other communities around them to join them in fighting the Saviors. After more Alexandrians are killed because of Negan, Rick decides, guided by Michonne, that he can no longer live under Negan's rule. They travel to the Hilltop to try to convince Gregory that they can take on the Saviors. They meet up with Maggie, Sasha, and a newly escaped Daryl and all discuss what to do moving forward. Of course, Gregory is a coward and refuses to help them, but the people of Hilltop go to Maggie and pledge to fight with them. Jesus then takes them to the Kingdom where Ezekiel turns them down, but offers to take in Daryl so the Saviors won't find him. The whole of the second half continues to build with more losses for the communities and another group being discovered all leading to the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and Alexandria all coming together to fight Negan in the finale. This other new group that Rick and the others find ends up betraying them for Negan, but we still get a small win by the end of the season kicking off the popular comic arc titled 'All Out War.'

As I stated before Season 7 is a unique season for the show. The first half is extremely depressing as we watch our continually lose time after time. This has to be shown, however so viewers will get a small reward in the season finale along with the promise of an explosive Season 8. So is Season 7 bad? No. Is it the best season of the show? Also, no. Season 7 is a very solid season, but I do not find it as enjoyable as some of the previous ones. Should you still watch it? To that I say yes. If you love the characters and the story do not be discouraged by the depressing nature of this season. Keep pushing on and you will be rewarded. I also recommend a binge as it greatly helped my enjoyment. The format of the episodes did not work as well with waiting a week between episodes.