The Walking Dead: Go Getters (7x05)

Damn, Maggie! Damn, Carl! You guys don't mess around! I guess you're the "Go Getters" mentioned in the title.

Cons:

Despite the fact that I'm very impressed with a couple of our key characters here, I will admit that this episode dragged on a bit. I was getting sick of Negan, but now in an episode without him I felt like all of the tension was gone. And, another problem is that none of these episodes really build on top of each other. You've got everybody spread out so far that there's no rising tension or advancement of larger plots. In almost every episode, we've got to start back at the beginning. First it was with Carol. Then with Daryl. This week it's Maggie and Sasha. I think I've said this before, but episodes like this can stand pretty well on their own, but they don't help the feel of the season as a whole.

We're at Hilltop this week, which means we're back with Jesus (yay!) and Gregory (booo). Gregory is just too much of a cartoon villain. I mean, Negan is too, but with Gregory there's not even a hint of impressiveness to go along with it. He's sexist, he's racist, he's a coward and a traitor. Not exactly a guy I want to spend a ton of time with, and this episode kept spending time with him. He's a dick to Maggie and Sasha, wanting them to leave as soon as possible so that the Saviors don't find out that they're harboring anybody. Later, one of Negan's representatives shows up with a group of men and has a talk with Gregory, who cowers and plans on giving up Maggie and Sasha on the spot. There's just nothing all that compelling about such a wimpy scumbag. And the group of Saviors didn't feel very threatening to me at all, especially without Negan or Dwight there to lend some gravitas.

Pros:

That being said, I love Jesus. Which feels weird to type as an atheist, but whatever. He spends the episode defying Gregory's wishes to turn the girls out. Maggie is okay, and her baby is okay, but they might not be if Maggie overexerts herself. Jesus ends up standing up to Gregory by the end. It's so interesting to see this character who physically emulates Jesus, and yet wants no responsibility or leadership. He loves to help people, but he doesn't want to lead them. This is an interesting dynamic, because Gregory seems to be the exact opposite. He likes being in charge, and maybe he's even good at it in some limited capacity. But he's also just an asshole who's more than willing to give up a pregnant woman who just saved his community, all to protect his own skin.

Sasha and Maggie are both such bad-asses, especially Maggie. The Saviors, before they come to visit, decide to teach Hilltop a lesson about who's in charge. They blast music and start small fires, opening the gate and letting in a flood of Walkers. Sasha, Jesus, and Maggie kick some major ass, all culminating in Maggie running over a car and a Walker with a giant tractor. That was so sweet! She also gets to stand up to Gregory again, fulfilling her bad-assery from last season. She punches him, and tells him that he'd better learn her name, and fast. She's not going anywhere. She also identifies herself as "Maggie Rhee" which marks the saddest I've been about Glenn's death so far.

Sasha has never been one of my favorite characters, simply because I never felt like she had enough to do. I also felt that her relationship with Abraham came out of left field. But here, watching her defend and protect Maggie, and even offer to leave so that Maggie could stay and be safe... I really appreciated all of this. She's a person with a great deal of integrity. She's lost so many people, just like Maggie. Both have lost a sibling, a lover (in Sasha's case two) not to mention all the other people that used to be a part of their lives. It looks like Maggie and Sasha are sticking around in Hilltop, and I couldn't be more thrilled to see how their friendship develops. I want Maggie to take over, and I think Jesus would vote for her over Gregory any day!

The other plot thread starts back in Alexandria. Rick and Aaron are going out to look for supplies to deliver to the Saviors the next time they come around. Michonne stays behind, and tells Carl she's still trying to work out how she can live with this situation. Carl, however, thinks there's no way. He's pissed. He and Enid end up outside the wall, as Enid wants to visit Hilltop and make sure that Maggie is okay, and Carl doesn't want to let her go alone. They end up having a good time on their journey, finding roller-skates, holding hands, laughing... but then they reach Hilltop, and Enid realizes something. Carl didn't come along to keep her safe, or to go to Hilltop for Maggie. He came because he wants to find Negan and take him out. Enid goes to Hilltop and meets up with Maggie and Sasha. Carl sneaks into a supply caravan to make his way to Negan. Jesus is there as well, on a secret mission from Sasha to track down Negan's home.

Carl and Enid! Awww. This whole thing had a very indie movie vibe, but I was okay with that, honestly. Carl got his first kiss, and it was an innocent moment. However, nothing in this world can remain untouched for long, and this kiss ends up being a goodbye between them. Carl's mission is beyond dangerous - what are the odds of him coming out of this alive?

I also thought Enid and Maggie's little moments were very sweet. I'd forgotten that they'd developed a relationship last season. Maggie even gives Enid Glenn's pocket-watch, the one that Maggie's father gave to Glenn so long ago to welcome him to the family. How sweet is that?

So, as we look forward, there's one thing that's become very clear: not everybody is as defeated as Rick. Several people have already started their bids at changing the situation. We've got Michonne, who's not ready to accept defeat. We've got Rosita, conspiring with Eugene to make a bullet to go with her secret gun. We've got Sasha, sending Jesus out on recon missions, and we've got Carl, off on a quest for assassination. This is all shaping up to be mighty interesting... even if I do wish they could stick to one plot thread for a while, and pick up the pace.

7/10