The Walking Dead: Hearts Still Beating (7x08)

I've been saying it all season: this show has a pacing problem. Hell, this show has had a pacing problem practically since the first season, but it's only recently that it's been irritating to me. That being said, this episode on its own did have quite a few lovely things going for it, and I definitely want to make sure to talk about those things, too.

Cons:

The plot follows pretty much the entire ensemble again. We see Daryl escape (yay!), we see Richard from the Kingdom try and convince Caorl and Morgan that they need to strike against the Saviors (yeah, good luck with that), we see Maggie solidifying an unofficial sort of leadership at Hilltop, we see Rick and Aaron continue their treacherous supply run, we see Michonne go on a drive and see that Negan has a lot of men, and we see Negan wreaking havoc at Alexandria. Surprisingly, the episode didn't feel crowded, even with all of this material in it. I do have some problems with it though...

First of all, in subplot news, I was annoyed that Carol and Morgan felt so shoe-horned and separate. Why bother to even show the Kingdom if there's no resolution or forward motion? We didn't even get to see the glorious CGI tiger. Then there's Michonne: she drives in a car, sees that Negan is really powerful, and then comes back, teaching us absolutely nothing about her as a character, or about the bad guys either. Talk about pointless. And what about Rick and Aaron? Aaron almost gets killed in a lake full of Walkers, but he survives. Rick and Aaron find supplies, and take them back to Alexandria. This felt a bit like a plot cul de sac. I didn't feel a lot of tension for Aaron, since I doubted they'd kill him, and even if they had, he'd be a cop-out kill. It felt like a red herring. Uh oh, will Aaron be the one to die in this episode? Nope. We've got some other equally uninteresting deaths to attend to.

RIP Spencer and Olivia... I guess. What is with this show and its cop-out kills? Of course it would be two Alexandrians who got killed off. Of course it wouldn't be Rosita or Eugene or Tara or somebody interesting. I'm not complaining, because obviously I don't want any of my faves to die off. But I mean, come on. Where's the tension? Who gives a crap if Spencer is dead? To be honest, I'm kind of happy about it. He was such a dick, and he died while trying to undermine Rick's authority. Olivia is collateral damage, and while I liked her character well enough, we barely got any time with her. Her loss isn't exactly a big blow.

This episode ends with Rick finally deciding that he needs to fight back against Negan. I'm happy with the result, but not happy with the way we got here. Since we've spent the season jumping from place to place, we've hardly had enough time to see Rick bend under the yolk of Negan's rule. Suddenly, he's ready to fight back. Why? Because he realizes he doesn't have control of his people? I mean, Michonne, Rosita, and Carl have all made it pretty darn clear that they plan on fighting. Or is it because of the oh-so-tragic loss of Spencer the idiot and Olivia the expendable? I mean, I guess Rick is probably upset to have lost more people, but I can't see why losing Abraham and Glenn would make him subservient, only to have the loss of Spencer and Olivia fire him back up again. Seems a little silly. I guess what I keep coming back to is the pacing. This was a lot of buildup for an obvious payoff: Rick wants to fight. Well who woulda thunk it?

I have one last complaint, and it's sort of a weird one. See, the episode ends with a very sentimental yet completely appropriate reunion between most of our main cast, as Rick brings the bulk of his people along with him to Hilltop. Among all the reunions that I really enjoyed, there was this strange moment where Rosita and Sasha make eye contact and nod to each other, like they're declaring a truce. Is this supposed to be the resolution of their weird and pointless love triangle with the now deceased Abraham? Because I thought they already had that moment in the season premiere, when the two of them, along with Eugene, moved Abraham's body. Was I supposed to think there were still resentments between them? The only reason I'm dwelling on this is that it broke up an otherwise beautiful scene where everybody was smiling and hugging and reuniting in glorious and well-earned cheesiness. That one little moment between those two really took me out of it.

Pros:

Okay, so, I know I complained that Negan has been wearing out his welcome, and also that I didn't care about Spencer dying, but I have to admit I loved the actual scene where Spencer got killed off. It was so completely out of nowhere. I genuinely did not expect Negan to do that. In some ways it was the complete antithesis of what we saw in the season premiere. There was no drawn out "suspenseful" speech, it just... BAM. Spencer's guts are everywhere. And then Rosita steps up and shoots Negan, but it hits Lucille instead, and then Rosita is on the ground with a knife to her cheek, and then Negan is telling her to fess up to who made the bullet, and then Olivia is dead, and then meanwhile Rick and Aaron are showing up, and then Tara tries to confess to the bullet, and then Eugene is finally speaking up... oh man. This whole scene was just supremely paced. It was great. Full of tension, and it played off of many of the developing plot threads going on here. Rick sees how far Negan will go, Rosita takes and misses her one shot, Eugene steps up and gets to be the hero. Amazing.

Rosita was one of my favorite characters in this episode, which is something I don't think I say a lot. She doesn't mind that killing Negan will likely be a death sentence for her, because she knows Negan has to die. Father Gabriel agrees with her that Negan will have to die, which is in and of itself a pretty big admission from him, but he disagrees that Rosita should take a shot at him right now. You can't blame Rosita for trying. You get the sense that if she'd succeeded in killing Negan, then one of his men probably would have taken Rosita down on the spot, and maybe slaughtered the other people nearby... but Negan is the head of the snake. Without him, the whole organization definitely falls apart.

Oh, and Negan's reaction to Rosita trying to shoot him? The best and most threatening moment of Negan we've ever had. He goes ballistic. He gets so angry. There's something very cathartic in seeing this guy who makes speeches and smiles creepily at everybody suddenly just lose it and go off the deep end. I was instantly more frightened of him than I've ever been. More of that, please.

Also, Eugene. Gah. Eugene. He admits that he made the bullet, and the Saviors leave Alexandria with the supplies Rick has just brought back, and with Eugene as their prisoner. Rosita screams and begs them to take her instead. I said last week that Eugene would get his hero moment, and in a way he did. But how the hell is this poor guy going to hold up under torture? I'd say not as well as Daryl did, and that wasn't exactly all that well.

I complained above that Rick's motivation for changing his mind and wanting to fight against Negan is a little fuzzy. However, I still adored the scene with him and Michonne, where she tells him that against all odds, they're still alive, and that because of that they need to fight for their lives and, more importantly, for Carl and Judith. These two being a united front is infinitely more satisfying than seeing them at odds, and Rick's new determination brings them back in line. I'm thrilled.

I love the end of this episode so much. Rick brings a bunch of people with him to Hilltop, where he reunites with Maggie, Sasha, and Enid. We then see that Daryl and Jesus have made their way to Hilltop as well. I legitimately choked up watching Daryl and Rick hug. It was just... everything I could have ever hoped for. Norman Reedus is just so good at dramatic reunion hugs. Remember his hug with Carol? And now this one? So much love for that moment. And everybody had these great reunions. Rick and Maggie hugged. Maggie and Michonne hugged, Michonne and Daryl hugged, we get a moment where Carl and Enid just look at each other and smile... all in all, it's a wonderful moment. As the episode ends, we see our core cast of characters (minus a few) all walk into the Hilltop headquarters.

This is our strike team, if you think about it. You've got Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Jesus, Maggie, Sasha, Rosita, Enid, Carl, and Tara. I trust these people to get shit done. It was a smart move to take the bulk of the cast out of Alexandria and consolidate them at Hilltop, where it looks like there might be the best chance of mounting some sort of resistance. Now if only we can fold Carol back in to the story, we'll be looking at some really exciting moments to come.

Onward and upwards! See you in February.

7/10