The Walking Dead: Swear (7x06)

So this is intentional, then. Each episode taking place with a different group. The first episode resolved last season's cliffhanger, and then we've gone, in order, to the Kingdom (with Carol and Morgan), the Savior's post (with Daryl, Negan, and Dwight), to Alexandria (with the bulk of our ensemble), to Hilltop (with Maggie and Sasha), and now to another community, this time with Tara. I'm getting whiplash!

Cons:

Like I just said, I'm getting whiplash. It's an interesting idea to have each episode focus on a different community, but there's a problem here. There's no buildup. No rising tension. Each episode is its own little plot cul-de-sac, and as such there's no sense of how these pieces are all going to come together. I suspect that they're going for a really cool payoff when all of these disparate communities come together to take down Negan. That could be really awesome, but it's frustrating that the buildup is so choppy and slow.

Also, it's frankly a little ridiculous that it took us this long to get back to Tara. I get that everybody has had other things going on, but it's been bugging me that nobody has even mentioned her all season. My parents, who are casual yet loyal watchers of the show, couldn't even remember who Tara was at first when they were watching this episode. It's not a good sign when the viewing audience starts forgetting members of the core cast.

One of the frustrating things about this episode was that it actually started to develop some really cool elements in this new all-female community. The little girl who seems to be hungry for blood, the young woman who defies her people to do what's right, the fact that these women escaped Negan's grasp, etc. etc. But since we've been jumping around from place to place all season, I know that these characters will be pushed to the back burner until everybody starts coming together for whatever the back half of the season has waiting for us. That means that there's a lot of buildup and development with no payoff. I hate being interested in stuff that I know won't get enough screen time!

Pros:

As you might be able to tell, I really didn't mind the plot of this individual episode all that much. It's just how it fits in with the larger whole that has me worried. Basically, we catch up with Tara and Heath. They went off on a two-week supply run like forever ago, remember? They're venturing further and further away from Alexandria. Tara is anxious to find more ammo. Tara and Heath get caught on a bridge filled with Walkers. They are separated, and Tara falls into the water. She washes up on shore and is rescued by a young woman named Cindy. She follows Cindy back to her community, only to learn that these people like to shoot on sight. Tara gets away in the end with Cindy's help, but she never does find Heath again.

Like I said in the "Cons" section, there was a lot of interesting material with this new community. The fact that they're all women is explained by the fact that the Saviors had all the men and boys over the age of eleven killed. That's a really interesting commentary on Negan's inherent sexist views. He sought to cripple this group specifically by taking their men away... and yet this group has apparently escaped from Negan's grasp. Do you think he still seeks to track them down? Or has he written them off because they're all women? That's interesting!

Also, the little girl who has a lust for Walker-killing, and who seemed eager to kill Tara? She was seriously evil! With Carl, we got to see a bit of what growing up in this world can do to a person's psyche. This little girl is much younger. What would it be like to have no real memories of life before the zombie apocalypse? How would this reality form a person's consciousness? I'd love to do more with that.

Was anybody sensing romance vibes between Tara and Cindy? I mean, I know that Tara still believes Denise is alive at this point, but still. I was sensing something.

Heath never got much of a chance to shine in this show, but I'm glad they didn't definitively kill him off. Hopefully he can come back and continue his fascinating conversation with Tara about the morality of killing. Between Heath and Cindy, this episode took a good long look at the rampant murder of human beings that goes on in this show. I'd love to get another closer look at that. Remember Heath and Glenn back at the Saviors' satellite camp? Sigh. Simpler times.

This episode had a new creative twist on the Walkers - Sand Zombies! That was seriously cool, when Tara started poking and prodding at a big pile of sand and suddenly Walkers were just crawling everywhere. I'm constantly impressed with this show's ability to find new ways to freak us out with the same old monster.

The end of the episode shows Tara making her way back to Alexandria. Eugene greets her with the bad news of their recent losses. I liked that we didn't hear their conversation, just saw Eugene start to cry, and then Tara as her face falls. She was close to Glenn and Abraham, not to mention Denise. We later have a brief scene with Tara and Rosita. Rosita begs Tara for information - a lead, anything. Rosita wants to get out there and start finding a way to free herself from Negan's grasp. Tara keeps her promise to Cindy, however. She doesn't say a word about the people she found. The people who did free themselves from the Saviors.

Now that Tara is back, hopefully we've got another recruit in the "Take Negan Down" squad. I always liked Tara. I liked her relationship with Denise (RIP). I liked her friendship with Glenn (RIP). Even with her closest friends dead, I still think this character has something to offer. I'm glad she's back.

7/10