The Walking Dead: Something They Need (7x15)

This episode had actual forward momentum, and contained multiple subplots. It still doesn't feel like enough is going on, especially for a penultimate episode of the season, but I'm much happier with what we got here than with what we've been getting for most of the season. Let's take a look.

Cons:

The weakest of the plot threads was at Hilltop, as we see Maggie and Gregory discuss their difficult situation. Gregory seems to be contemplating killing Maggie for a moment there, as he knows she threatens his authority. However, we later see that he isn't even capable of killing a Walker. Maggie has to do it for him. I think my problem with this plot thread is that I too have trouble understanding why Maggie is staying at Hilltop. She could go back to Alexandria now, couldn't she? Especially since the doctor is gone? And Gregory is beyond unpleasant. He's just not fun to watch. He's a wimpy and annoying irritant and nothing more. I don't feel a connection to him. And that can be fine sometimes, sure, but it makes it difficult to spend extended time with his character.

Pros:

Then we've got the Saviors' plot thread. Sasha, it transpires, was not killed instantly at the end of last week's episode. She was captured. After one of Negan's men attempts to rape her, Negan comes in and kills him, offering Sasha the same basic deal he offered Eugene. Eugene comes in to gives Sasha some food and other comforts, and encourages Sasha to say yes. Next time Sasha and Negan talk, Sasha does indeed accept Negan's offer, but later she talks to Eugene through the door, faking despair and saying she just wants to kill herself so that the Saviors can't use her to hurt her friends. This is a ploy to get some sort of a weapon, but it doesn't work. Eugene decides to grant Sasha her request, but he gives her the poison pill he had created earlier.

This plot thread had so much going on, and I loved every second of it. First off, I'm so relieved Sasha wasn't just killed off, because this is much more interesting. I love the weirdness of Negan having a moral code. I mean, he's essentially raping his wives, or at least most of them, since there's no way all of them would consent to the arrangement under healthy circumstances. And yet he draws a hard line, and says he doesn't condone rape. He even kills Sasha's would-be rapist.

The real meat of this episode is in the scenes between Eugene and Sasha. It's so sad and powerful to see these two people, both of whom were close to Abraham, take such different paths in response to his death. And Eugene, who says he's a coward and who says he is Negan, 100%, is willing to do something he knows Negan doesn't want, just to give his friend Sasha a chance out. It's a compelling dynamic, to say the least.

Finally, we've got the main plot. Tara leads a group of people, including Rick and Daryl, to Oceanside. Tara tries to convince them to join in the fight against Negan, but Natania, the group's leader, is staunchly against it. Things escalate very quickly, as Natania overpowers Tara and puts a gun to her head. Rick and the others set bombs off around the perimeter of Oceanside, and quickly overpower the inhabitants. The standoff between the two sides ends abruptly as a group of Walkers appear. They take out the Walkers together. Rick takes the guns, but Natania refuses to let her people leave to help fight the Saviors.

I really hope they're setting up a romance between Tara and Cindy. I'll just say that. Also, I love that this situation escalated and kept escalating, but nobody died. Rick burst in on a community of people and took their guns, but the fact that he genuinely wanted to do so without hurting anybody, and the fact that he succeeded in not hurting anybody is what separates him from Negan.

Also, they have guns now, so there's that! Next week is the finale, so inevitably some of this feels like a ramp-up with no payoff. But we've got a lot of players in the mix now. The Kingdom is coming out to play. The Alexandrians and Hilltop people are ready to fight. We have guns from Oceanside, and hopefully Cindy will be able to get a few people to join the fray. This season has been a lot of waiting around... I really do hope that the payoff is worth it.

8/10