In comparing this finale to last season's disaster, I must say I'm pretty pleased with the results. Was this episode still too long? Yes. Were there other annoying aspects to it? Yes. But it actually felt like something happened, and there were a lot of really satisfying elements to it. This has been a substandard season of The Walking Dead, and this is probably a substandard finale, if we're being honest. But it's miles ahead of what I feared we might get, so... a win in my book!
Cons:
Spoilers start here: Sasha dies. This isn't actually a "con" necessarily, as I liked most of the story with Sasha. It was pretty epic, and she got to go out on her own terms, and all that. But this episode weaves in a lot of flashbacks and hallucinations as Sasha slowly dies, and it's here that I have my issues. We see this stupid, overly sentimental scene with Sasha and Abraham, as they talk about sacrificing themselves for others. It takes place just before the group leaves to bring Maggie to Hilltop, meaning Abraham is fated to never return to Alexandria again. As I may have mentioned, I do not much care for Abraham. Like, at all. He's annoying. And Sasha, in her final moments, focuses on this memory of him. We don't get the slightest reference to her brother Tyreese, or her other boyfriend, Bob, who also died. It's all about stupid Abraham and his stupid gross face.
The other flaw is bigger, and it's with the stupid garbage people. Why are they so awkward and strange? We got an explanation as to why Ezekiel talks like he's performing in a play, but not so with Jadis. She sounds so stupid. I never understood why Rick wanted to align himself with her in the first place, and this episode has so many stupid stilted moments with her. There's this moment when she asks Michonne if Rick is "hers," and then says she's going to "lay with Rick" after the confrontation with the Saviors. As we learn later, Jadis and crew were planning on betraying them and turning to Negan's side, so... why did she even say that? It was super awkward. Who the heck were these people before the apocalypse? I keep using the word stupid, but that's what it is! It's stupid! Oh, and the betrayal was super obvious, too.
Although definitely better than Season Six's finale, Season Seven's last episode had an undeniable pacing problem. We all knew that the Hilltop and Kingdom people were going to show up and save the day, so why go through such a rigmarole to have them arrive at the eleventh hour? There might have been something more satisfying, actually, if all of those people had showed up before the Saviors did, and were lying in wait. As it is, we have to endure yet another beat-down from Negan before we can get to the revenge part, and it definitely slows the episode down.
Pros:
Let's start with Sasha. Negan tells her that he plans on using her as a way to get Rick and the others to fall in line. Sasha gets Negan to agree that only one person has to die as punishment for Alexandria's insubordination. Negan, being the dramatic son of a bitch that he is, wants to put Sasha in a coffin, then reveal her to the group. Sasha says she'll make the drive over to Alexandria in the coffin, so she can go to sleep. While inside, she takes the poison pill that Eugene had given her. When Negan opens it, Walker!Sasha emerges and nearly kills Negan, and this sets off Carl and the rest of the Alexandrians to begin firing, ending the stalemate and eventually, with the help of reinforcements from Maggie and Ezekiel, driving Negan off.
This is a good death. I hate that Sasha has to die, and I'm annoyed that her relationship with Abraham was such a big focus in her final moments. But her death meant something, and it felt earned, and proper. Unlike so many deaths on this show, this wasn't a random, shocking violent moment that ultimately means nothing. Sasha planned her death to have the greatest impact possible. As she says, only one person has to die. And she decides that one person should be her. The moment when she emerges from the coffin and knocks Negan off the truck is just great. I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but I really did want her to take him out in that moment. In any case, Sasha definitely gets some kills in, post-death. Turning yourself into a mindless weapon is such a hard core thing to do! I also liked the moments where we saw Sasha and Maggie sitting together in a pleasant field. Abraham-hating aside, it was a great bookend to the beginning of this season, when these two women had lost their partners and were feeling completely broken down. Now, in death, Sasha is serene in knowing that she did something to help her friends.
And it's Sasha that kick-starts the whole battle at the end. Rick and his team were in a completely unfavorable situation, thanks to the fact that Jadis and her people had turned on them. But just as I was wondering if Rick was really going to lay down his arms against overwhelming odds, Negan opens the coffin, and dead Sasha sparks an all-out war. It was the best moment in the whole episode, and it made Sasha's death feel significant.
Rick's character arc also comes to a head, here. After his talk with Michonne, we know that Rick is ready to accept losing the people he cares for most, so that the world can be a better place. At the start of this season, he was a sniveling mess as Negan nearly forced him to cut Carl's arm off. As the season ends, he meets Negan's eyes with fierce anger, believing Michonne has just died, no less, and basically tells him that he'll survive Carl's death and keep going until Negan is dead. Obviously Carl's death would be an unrecoverable blow to Rick, but he didn't back down, even in that most harrowing moment.
Also, Carl. Carl is the one who breaks the stalemate, just as much as Sasha is. The minute he sees Sasha is a Walker, he turns around and starts shooting. It's such a powerful moment for his character. I cannot get enough of it.
There's also an arc in this episode for Rick, Michonne, and Carl as a family. Basically, Rick and Carl both believe Michonne to be dead, knowing that she was struggling with one of Jadis' people up on a roof, and then hearing a scream. Later, they find her badly beaten, but alive. It was such an important thread to include, because Carl and Rick, even believing Michonne to be dead, still rallied when their reinforcements arrived. They still fought to survive and win, refusing to give in to despair.
I've had a hard time all season pinning down how I feel about Negan as a villain. This comes from the fact that Jeffrey Dean Morgan does such a great job, but the character himself is bogged down by too many speeches and a lot of repetition. The most interesting Negan moments are when we learn about his own moral code, and his own strange sympathies. He seems to actually respect and admire Sasha, for example, and he actually seems sad that she died. He's no longer amused by Rick, and finds him to be annoying, but the "necessity" of killing Carl to teach Rick a lesson seems very upsetting to him, because he does genuinely like Carl. Negan is a monster, full stop. But he's an interesting monster, one with more shades and complexities than you might first assume. As annoying as it is to drag out this Negan plot, I'm actually excited that we're not quite done with this character yet. I see promise.
As this episode ends, we have two sides preparing for war. Negan, with Eugene and Gregory by his side, vs. Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel, the leaders of three communities now banded together. It was so satisfying to see this, especially for Maggie. We get a great voice-over, where Maggie says that all the bonding that they've done, all the sacrifices that they've made, they all come down to Glenn. He made a choice to save Rick when they first met, even though he didn't know him and didn't have to. Maggie was just following his example when she decided to show up and kick ass with the Hilltop folks. It's a beautiful speech, encompassing the importance of friendship and loyalty with the great gift of sacrifice. I'm very excited to see more of Maggie in this new leadership role. Things are about to get interesting, for sure!
And there you have it. I can't call this a great episode of television. In fact, we may be past the days of great episodes of The Walking Dead, sad though it is to contemplate. But this show is still good some of the time, and this finale is an example of that. RIP Sasha. Your death meant something.
8/10
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