REVIEW: The Walking Dead S7 E16 ‘The First Day of the Rest Of Your Life’ is glorious yet flawed

After a season of slow and deliberate and sometimes painful buildup, The Walking Dead finally delivered the confrontation we’ve been waiting for in ‘The First Day of the Rest Of Your Life’. It was glorious.

‘The First Day of the Rest Of Your Life’ really had everything one could ask for in a season finale. There was an important death, ample action and twists a-plenty. Great strides were made in the plot. Finally Rick and Alexandria, for the first time all season, have survived an encounter with the Saviours on top. Put short, the season finale was a spectacle and showcase for how to make a season finale.

Of course, it was clear The Walking Dead was heading for a kind of positive conclusion after the horror and brutality of ‘The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be’ all the way back in October. This season has had a clear, if sometimes frustrating, arc that came to a close beautifully in the season finale. Some individual character arcs have also been on a long and powerful journey – none more so than Rick, who has gone from defiant, to broken, to hopeful, to defiant once more. Rick’s journey, played by an exemplary Andrew Lincoln, has been a sure highlight of the season.

That’s not to say ‘The First Day of the Rest Of Your Life’ was a perfect finale, because there were numerous flaws. In The Walking Dead‘s eagerness to conclude Sasha’s arc in the same way as Holly’s – yet not the same way as Holly’s – we got this bizarre decision to carry Sasha in a coffin from the Sanctuary to Alexandria. This kept it a surprise for the audience when Sasha emerged as a walker, but doesn’t really make any sense from Negan’s point of view. Elsewhere, some very convenient timing from the Kingdom and the Hill Top is the only reason Carl still has his skull and brain intact. We won’t even talk about the likelihood of King Ezekiel training Shiva to only take out enemies on the battlefield, like some sort of Game of Thrones-esque Direwolf.

It also feels like cheating that the only major character we have lost in the first battle in a war is Sasha, whom most suspected would kick the bucket by the season finale. Sasha’s death was for many a foregone conclusion, so the lack of an unexpected death feels a bit like The Walking Dead playing it safe after the backlash to the season premiere.

‘The First Day of the Rest Of Your Life’ did a lot to ask for forgiveness for that brutal season premiere and the dreary tone of part 7A. It offered the closure we never expected for Abraham and Glenn, brought our heroes out on top and maintained a sense of victory and optimism that felt nearly impossible back last year.

Abraham was right, the world has to keep turning. And The Walking Dead keeps getting better.

The Walking Dead’s showrunner Scott Gimple promises ‘righteous battle’ in season 8

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Walking Dead season seven finale.

The Walking Dead season seven has come to a close after an explosive finale last night (Monday), but series showrunner Scott Gimple is already promising big things from the next season.

Last night’s finale saw Rick finally launch the attack on Negan that we have all been waiting for and, boy, was it intense. There was a surprise betrayal from the junkyard community, the zombie-fication of Sasha and even a tiger attack that arrived just in time to save Carl from the swinging Lucille.

Although we’re still catching our breath after last night’s dramatic events, showrunner Scott Gimple is already preparing fans for more excitement in season eight, which will arrive sometime during October.

Now that Alexandria have secured their first victory against the Saviors, Gimple says that events in the upcoming season will get “intense and emotional” in a “different way”.

“I’d say Rick and the group are coming off a win and even with the loss of Sasha, she was such a huge part of that win,” he told the Hollywood Reporter.

“She wasn’t a victim, she was a team captain in some ways – and that’s a good way for them to start the season and a good place for them to be.”

He added: “This isn’t a time of them wringing their hands; it’s a time to descend into righteous battle, which is a serious thing.

“They’re not glib about it but there is something extremely freeing to these people to be involved in such a noble cause.”

The showrunner continued to describe how the finale’s outcome has set season eight up for a much faster pace.

He said: “The things that they are getting into demand a more kinetic narrative. The pace is accelerated by virtue of the things that they’re up to.

“Though I don’t want to say exactly, anybody who watches the show can extrapolate that they’re now into public conflict with the Saviors.

“The battle lines are drawn. There isn’t quite as much time to dig into anything but prosecuting the war.”

Gimple previously teased the new season would “melt people’s minds and break their televisions.

“I say, ‘It’s gonna be bigger, it’s gonna be more intense.’ I always mean that, but this year it’s the same thing. More intense.”

The Walking Dead will return October 2017 on FOX. 

REVIEW: The Walking Dead S7 E15 ‘Something They Need’ is a rushed disappointment

The Walking Dead is hurtling towards a violent confrontation with alarming pace. The only problem now is it’s doing it with too much pace. One episode before the eagerly-awaited series finale, The Walking Dead rushes, skips and avoids unnecessary storylines in its eagerness to get to the finish line. The result is a disjointed and disappointing experience.

Last episode, we saw Sasha lock co-conspirator Rosita out of the Sanctuary and head to kill Negan with all guns blazing. This episode we saw… none of it. We’re left to guess what happened to Sasha after we learn in the opening moments she is captured by the Saviours. Did she go down with a fight? Did she take anyone out before she was captured? How close did she get to Negan? All of these questions remain unanswered, which is annoying, because they would do a great deal to answer questions of Sasha’s mental fortitude at this trying time. Negan makes Sasha an offer to join the Saviours, and Sasha later manipulates Eugene into giving her a weapon, but none of this is interesting if we’ve been denied the opportunity to see exactly where Sasha’s head is. Instead, this storyline feels rushed and wasted – and that is the opposite of the way we want a prominent character like Sasha to meet her (probable) end.

Elsewhere, without any sort of rhyme or reason, Rick and the Alexandrians rush to Oceanside to seize their weapons. There seems to be no thought and minimal planning involved, and indeed including the whole Oceanside community feels like an oversight. Suddenly, the incredibly protected and capable Oceanside community are reduced to screaming, defenceless women as the Alexandrians plant bombs to herd them to a location where they can be surrounded. Nobody fights back. It all seems awfully convenient and, honestly, bad writing. Rick presents them a choice that is not a choice: it’s my way or the highway. The Alexandrians leave with the guns. It’s a terrible shame and a waste of a potentially interesting community.

The third major storyline of the episode involved the Hill Top, and true to form, it was the least interesting part of ‘Something They Need’. Gregory tried briefly to put up a united front with Maggie but planned to stab her in the back. He did neither. He left humiliated in front of members of the Hill Top community after it was revealed this post-apocalypse leader has never so much as dealt with a walker personally. The only way this storyline can be heading is Gregory’s death or incapacitation as leader, and frankly, it can’t come soon enough.

Such was The Walking Dead‘s rush to get into position for its season finale, it skipped past important narrative points far too carelessly. Sasha’s imprisonment and interactions with Negan and Eugene would hold more weight if we knew where she was coming from. Even without the capture scene, Sasha’s feelings on Abraham’s death this season have been largely overlooked in favour of Rosita’s more visible struggle. Alexandria seizing the weapons from Oceanside was embarrassingly easy. Instead, more time was devoted to presenting Gregory as a feeble, spineless, self-interested leader – which is something we have been clear about for a very long time.

All of these mistakes might be forgiven if the season finale is as good as what has been promised, but for now we are disappointed about the ignored opportunities. The Walking Dead creates so many interesting characters and scenarios that it is a shame to shrug them off in favour of rushing towards a finish line. This is a matter of too much, too fast – and oddly reminiscent of last year’s critique over poor pacing.

REVIEW: The Walking Dead S7 E14 ‘The Other Side’ builds the tension

The Walking Dead is building the tension for an action-packed finale, and in ‘The Other Side’, we saw some of the chess places reach their final position.

‘The Other Side’ was a mixed bag as an episode. What it lacked in action and tension – something The Walking Dead‘s typical formula rarely fails to deliver on – it made up for in character backstories and stunning emotional interactions between characters. It also made some questionable directorial decisions, namely the use of uninspiring music to convey far too little over far too long a time.

We’ll start with where the episode shone, and that was in its character interactions. From Maggie and Jesus’s discussion of home, to Daryl to Maggie’s long-overdue conversation, to Sasha and Rosita’s acceptance of one another – this episode was filled with glorious interactions where usually we would only see one.

Norman Reedus was as excellent as he was in the scene with Melissa McBride a few episodes ago. We felt the discomfort between Daryl and Maggie and we felt the air clear. Quite literally in fact, as Daryl spent the episode shrouded in darkness until the confession that he felt responsible for Glenn’s death. Lauren Cohan was similarly excellent in her broken yet understanding response.

Christian Serratos and Sonequa Martin-Green also played a blinder as Rosita and Sasha built bridges and discussed their pasts, their relationships with Abraham and what happened after. These two women have been through a lot together, good and bad. The moment where they cried and embraced felt like the one journey reaching an end – and perhaps it has.

Perhaps ‘The Other Side’ will be remembered favourably for these interactions – they were rather good. However, there was nothing in the episode to remember in terms of action and excitement. There’s a brief and moderately tense moment where Daryl and Maggie almost get caught at the Hill Top, and then a brief walker diversion plan by Rosita and Sasha – but that’s it. It’s not up to The Walking Dead‘s usual standards at being interesting and original. The effort to build tension there is so little they may not have bothered with the scenes at all.

Despite this lack of excitement, ‘The Other Side’ did leave our heroes in an interesting place. Sasha is inside the Sanctuary – possibly heading to her death. Rosita has been found by someone with a crossbow, and it’s deliberately ambiguous as to whether it’s friend or foe. Elsewhere, the Hill Top are actively training recruits to fight and be ready for the oncoming attack. It’s all starting to happen, and The Walking Dead is bringing all the pieces together at the right time for one seriously good finale. We hope.

REVIEW: The Walking Dead S7 E13 ‘Bury Me Here’ breaks Morgan and fans’ hearts

The Walking Dead season seven episode thirteen ‘Bury Me Here’ returned to the Kingdom for a spectacular hour of tense, gripping television on Monday night.

Something had to give in the Kingdom. The Kingdom’s leader, King Ezekiel, was determined to avoid conflict with the Saviours when the subject was last broached in the midseason premiere. His aide Morgan refused to accept the reality of the Saviours and advise a future which would see many die. Elsewhere, Carol isolated herself from the world in an attempt to escape and deny the pain of all that has happened. Three major characters needed a wake-up call – and boy, did they get one.

The straw that broke the camel’s back came in the form of a plan by Richard to sacrifice himself in order to convince Ezekiel of the need for action. As any fan who has watched the Saviours’ brutal methods of punishment could have warned, this doesn’t go as planned. Instead of Richard receiving the fatal blow, it is Morgan’s son-substitute Benjamin. And then the Walking Dead gets heavy.

Lennie James is brilliant as Morgan deals with the new family he has created for himself being ripped apart in the same way as the last. The facade of the calm Morgan shatters irreparably. He considers suicide, he succeeds in a horribly human revenge, and his grief and pain are so palpable one can almost feel it through the television screen. Although Morgan and Benjamin’s relationship could have been explored in more depth, we still feel the weight of it in James’ acting. Morgan is somewhere far away – back in the internal hell that he struggled with in season three.

Carol’s own journey to choosing to fight parallels Morgans and – in a complete reversal of their characterisation for the last season – decisively less violent. She questions what really happened in Alexandria at the start of ‘Bury Me Here’, but does not receive answers until an inconsolable Morgan tells her the truth near the end of the episode. After this, she packs up her belongings and heads for permanent residence in the Kingdom besides Ezekiel. She will fight from there.

‘Bury Me Here’ is an interesting examination of parallels between characters. We have Ezekiel – reluctant to accept the truth that the Saviours will destroy his kingdom. We have Morgan – reluctant to break away from his religious mantra and disturb the fragile peace he has found within. We have Carol – reluctant to learn the truth of what happened in Alexandria.

Elsewhere we have Morgan and Richard: two men who had everything before the apocalypse. While Morgan buries his head in the sand, Richard is determined not to lose all he holds dear again. There’s a synergy between these two – ultimately very similar men – which ends with one murdering the other. It’s an interesting dynamic of the sort The Walking Dead excels in creating.

‘Bury Me Here’ was an example of The Walking Dead at its best. At heart, it was a human story. It was about loss, denial and grief. It was about what happens when tragedy strikes twice – and how far people will go to avoid and ignore it. Once again, it is truly ironic that a show about a zombie apocalypse can regularly tell some of the most human stories on television.

The Walking Dead boss confirms deaths in the season 7 finale

The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple has confirmed there will be “losses” in the upcoming season seven finale of the show.

After murdering two fan favourite characters – Abraham and Glenn – in the season seven premiere, The Walking Dead has recently been quiet on the murder front. Sure, we lost Olivia and Spencer in the midseason finale, but they weren’t major players (and frankly, Spencer deserved it).

We should have known it would be too good to last, however, as Scott Gimple has confirmed there will be multiple deaths in the season seven finale.

Speaking to TVLine, Gimple admitted: “There are losses. As the stakes get higher and higher… things start to get more intense and heartbreaking, and yet everyone has to sort of band together and keep going.”

However, fans can expect the season seven finale to at least be slightly less gloomy than the season six rollercoaster that introduced the tyrannical Negan.

Gimple continued: “[Season 6’s finale] was the noose tightening and things getting darker and darker.

“This season’s finale has darkness and light, real horrific moments, betrayal, and real moments of beauty, redemption, love and friendship. It’s sort of the panoply of human and Walking Dead experience.”

REVIEW: The Walking Dead S7 E12 ‘Say Yes’ is as fun as a broken down fair ride

Pack your bags, call your loved ones and retreat to your bunkers because the apocalypse has happened: The Walking Dead has turned into a romcom.

As we speculated last week, the cheerfully titled ‘Say Yes’ was a fun insight into Rick and Michonne’s relationship, as the pair fought zombies together and enjoyed candlelit dinners for two. Thankfully, the title did not refer to a possible proposal – although that was looking increasingly possible each minute – but the episode’s B storyline, in which a desperate Rosita asked Sasha for help on a two-woman suicide mission.

The Walking Dead hasn’t really tried a comedy episode since last season’s introduction of Jesus, in which Jesus made a fool of seasoned apocalypse veterans Rick and Daryl. ‘Say Yes’ was very much along the same lines, though not as effective and veering on ridiculous at times. It worked as a brief respite from the intensity of season seven, and a playful moment when Michonne used her sniper gun to shoot targets at a funfair was inspired, but other moments were silly. In one such silly moment, Rick and Michonne become trapped in a car surrounded by walkers and laugh it off, jumping out the sunroof and kicking off walkers like mosquitos. If we’re to continue to believe that people would happily live under fearful dictatorships like Negan’s, we have to believe that the outside world really is terrifying and dangerous. Despite the focus of the show moving away from walkers and towards people, it does not help the narrative to negate the danger of walkers nor promote its protagonists as unkillable.

The Walking Dead did prove something. It has learnt from the backlash after Glenn’s fake death is season six. In ‘Say Yes’, Rick was ‘dead’ for long enough for the viewer to be shocked, but not long enough for them to start complaining about a lack of fanfare. It was good enough for a minor twist to make a narrative point.

‘Say Yes’ made two things abundantly clear: someone important, likely female, is going to die before the end of season seven. It is impossible to ignore the heavy foreshadowing of Rick and Michonne’s chat. Rosita and Sasha’s death march also looks ominous, but Rosita might be saved at this point by the simple fact that her death is now too obvious. It also wouldn’t serve the character well to let her have what she wants. Rosita wants to die. For that reason, it makes a more interesting narrative to have her live and grieve and recover. Sasha might be on shakier ground, but after Rick and Michonne’s love-in, I think we have ample reason to worry about Michonne.

Of course, next week we focus on the Kingdommers problems with the Saviours – so it could well be Carol.