Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 7, Ep 14)

Episode 14: The Other Side

Hilltop prepares for war! Maggie and Sasha lead the motley crew in “how-to-kill-people” drills while the community’s drunken leader, Gregory, continues to down brown liquor and sneer at everyone. Jesus opens up to Mrs. Maggie Rhee and tells her she’s made this place home for him, and also subtly drops that he’s gay. It’s not long before Negan’s #1 henchman, Simon (played by the AMAZING Steven Ogg), comes calling on ol' Greg. The sloppy bastard manages to not rat out our Alexandria crew, while Daryl and Maggie hide in the fruit cellar. When only moments before, teenage Enid was going to tell Maggie the truth about Sasha and Rosita’s plan. Meanwhile, the rogue ladies sneak out on their suicide mission to assassinate Negan. By the way, that cellar scene was intense!! Was that random Savior dude gonna find them lurking behind the potato barrels?! Or was Daryl just going to spring forward like a vengeful jack-in-the-box and knife the guy?! Luckily, neither happened.

Well, it turns out The Saviors are calling on Hilltop in order to procure their doctor since theirs is dead now. Sadly, the two docs were brothers! I’m glad that this nicer and more awesome Dr. Carter didn’t have to be there to see his sibling get shoved into a furnace. In a desperate attempt to keep their doctor, Gregory tells Simon he thinks the people will revolt against him with this new development. Clearly, Simon loathes this man, but since they’re good little workers for Negan, he actually gives Gregory a map to the compound, in case he needs help ending a mutiny...interesting.

Sasha manages to get Rosita to warm up to her (eventually) whilst on the road to Negan. Remember, Abraham left Rosita for Sasha, so there’s been some misplaced anger going on there for a while. I liked seeing the dynamic with these two capable, kick ass women. They steal cars, kill walkers, and make it look easy. Rosita has become so knowledgeable and useful after years of dating handy guys, learning & perfecting their talents as her own, and then moving on. They bond, make peace, and swear to have each other’s backs in the end.

The end comes a little sooner than expected. After not being able to get a clear, distant shot at Negan, it’s time to move in. They run into a panicked Eugene, who flees the scene, and then the shocking conclusion; Sasha tricks Rosita and locks her OUT of the gate in order to complete the mission solo. As she smiled and cried, Sasha insists that it’s not Rosita’s time to die yet and heads in. BEAUTIFUL. SELFLESS. HEARTBREAKING. I DIE INSIDE.

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Top 4 Moments of the Night:

1. I already mentioned the cellar scene, but it really was a highlight. Not only because of the danger, but because afterwards, Maggie and Daryl cry it out together over Glen! Of course she doesn’t blame him for the death of one of his best friends! Silly Daryl, stop beating yourself up over that.
2. Simon! I’ve been a fan of the comedy/scariness he’s brought to the show for a while now. A great edition, and a great casting choice. Steven Ogg plays this character with such commitment that he is on the right side, and that he has a job to do, damn it.
3. Trust. The invisible co-title to this episode. Sasha -> Enid & Jesus, Jesus & Enid -> Maggie, Maggie -> Daryl, Rosita -> Sasha, Simon -> Gregory...are you seeing it yet?! All good relationships are built on it, and it’s how we’re going to win the war against Negan!
4. ALL THE SASHA AND ROSITA FEELS FOREVER. I know I said I was ready to say goodbye to them, because they’re off on this crazy plan, but I LIED. I love them too much! Sasha seems ready to fold her hand. She lost her wonderful brother Tyrese (one of my favorite characters EVER), then she lost her beloved boyfriend Bob (after he’d been partially cannibalized by those Terminus freaks), and then she found true love AGAIN with Abraham, and we all know how that ended. Rosita is still finding her place. And every damn character on the show has said how important she is to the group, and how much they need her. But are either Sasha or Rosita going to make it out of this season alive? Doubtful.

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Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 7, Ep 12)

Episode 12: Say Yes

On this week’s episode, Rick and Michonne take a sexy road trip to look for guns. Their wanderings lead them to a hellish carnival/encampment filled with lots of dead people. Apparently this society was some kind of fun hangout where civilians and soldiers had a ferris wheel, carnie games, food supplies, and a good stash of firearms. Sure, it’s weird. But what the hell, let’s roll with it. They do end up getting what they came for, and manage to have some deep conversations along the way. Michonne thinks she lost Rick to the walkers at one point and it forces them to talk about the fact that their feud with Negan may kill them both. But, they’ll do it to ensure a better world for the kiddos to grow up in. Meanwhile, Rick has been trying to prolong their mission in order to avoid reality for a while. I can’t say I blame him.

The team takes the guns back to Jadis and The Scavengers who find the loot a bit lacking. They want more guns plus, their cat statue back. Jadis is a Greedy Gus! We can’t really fault her for that, considering she’s making negotiations to fight The Saviors. I guess that means the war is postponed for a while longer. Or is it?? Which leads us to...Rosita. Despite her and Father Gabriel having YET another come-to-Jesus chat, the woman just isn’t willing to budge. It was at this very moment I kissed Rosita goodbye -- cause I’m predicting she won’t be long for this world.

After waffling on whether or not to tell Rick about the women of Oceanside, Tara turns to baby Judith to talk it out. The episode ends leaving us to believe she’s told him everything. Doing so means she’s broken her promise to Cindy. Her conscience feels it’s the justified thing to do to keep Negan from taking over the world. I love Tara to pieces, but I’m not sure this was the right choice. But they need those women and their weapons to take down the evil man. The females of Oceanside feel like they’ve lost enough. They aren’t trusting, and they aren’t willing to battle. Is that selfish of them to not help the cause and fight? Does this make them any different from the reluctant King Ezekiel? One thing's for sure, Tara is in pickle. Anyway, Rosita goes to Sasha and tells her the two of them need to set off and assassinate Negan. No more waiting around for their friends. Of course Sasha is still griefstricken and agrees, as long as she can take the shot. If memory serves, Sasha is a really good sniper. So if anyone has a chance of taking Negan out, it’s probably her. So now I’m totally worried because there is no way Rosita and Sasha can take off on this (let's face it) suicide mission and get away with it. Well...bye, gals. Been nice knowing you.

Top 4 Moments of the Night:

1. Rick and Michonne. These two actors have such great chemistry. I can’t decide which I like more, the dialogue they share, or the way they cut through those reanimated corpses so in sync.

2. Tara and Judith. It was such a great scene, Tara telling her woes to the little toddler and working out for herself to do what she feels is right.

3. Rick telling Michonne how much he misses Glen. It was nice to see this warm and squishy side of him talking about how he misses his BFF. The feeling is mutual, bro.

4. Lots and lots of gorey, gooey, gross-ness. That weird bloody, mucus stuff was flying out of those walkers and I was LIVING for it.

Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 7, EP 11)

Episode 11: Hostiles and Calamities

Aww snap, we all knew this was coming. Negan’s return to the series after winter break sure as hell didn’t disappoint. This episode focused entirely on Negan’s home base and the events immediately following Daryl’s daring escape and Eugene being taken prisoner. So Dwight (he of the half flash-fried face and scraggily blonde hair), found the “Go Now” note that his “ex-wife” Sherrie DID IN FACT give Daryl. Dwight then sets off in his best Daryl cosplay garb to go looking for Sherrie.

Of course what plays out is a heart breaking trip back to his and his wife’s former home before everything went to hell. Sherrie left him a note apologizing for making him become the Negan-worshipping monster he now is. She knows she’ll die out there in the wilds, but that is preferable to her than their current lives of servitude to an evil dictator. Their home was always supposed to be the meeting place if they got separated. Though she doubted her man would remember that and actually show up, he did. HE DID!!

And he even brought the pretzels and beer they promised they’d have!! Because even though he’s an idiot, damn Dwight still has a shred of humanity left in there. And I do mean a shred...

Eugene gets a crash course in the Negan lifestyle from a “friendly” lady with a neck tattoo, who hilariously refers to him as, “Haircut." Negan wants Eugene to know that he is getting the rare VIP treatment due to the smartypants services he has to offer. Our boy reverts to his original defense persona from all those seasons ago when we first met him, which is claiming to be a Doctor studying the human genome project and biological warfare. Hey, if it kept him alive the first time why not try it again?! Haircut now gets a private studio apartment and non-sexual hangout time with the wives! A couple of those wives are damn crafty too. They befriend Haircut and convince him to make a suicide potion for another wife. Well, that’s a big damn lie and Eugene sees through it, eventually. The ladies want the poison for Negan of course. Haircut isn’t willing to go there. Probably smart, though a cowardly decision. And why does he come to that conclusion, you may ask? Turns out Dwight sets up the compound’s weirdo medical doctor as having had an affair with Sherrie and helping her and Daryl escape. WTF Dwight?!? That’s low. Doc “confesses” else he gets the dreaded iron. And what does Negan do? He turns the man into a crispy critter. No hesitation, he throws the guy straight into the incinerator. Thus setting a gross and nightmarish precedent for all the little “Negans” in attendance.

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Top 4 Moments of the Night

1. Doctor feelgood getting the Hansel & Gretel treatment by going head-first into the oven. Even though we don’t “see” it, I loved the brutality and the shock of this moment. A not so subtle reminder that Ngean is NOT A NICE PERSON.
2. Eugene getting to show off his big ol' brain. He puts on some cool science experiments for the ladies, helps Negan solve the issue of keeping his guard dog walkers from rotting so quickly, and manages to tell that convincing backstory fable again to keep his ass alive.
3. Dwight and Sherrie. Their marriage and love story is officially at an end. But he still covers for her and says she died out there. AND we see they both secretly kept their wedding rings! Ugh, I hate you Dwight! But then you make me feel compassion for you! Stop messing with my head!
4. Okay, not so much a moment, but I like that we have so many settings and different characters to put them in. This should prevent characters/subplots from getting stale since we can jump around a bit.

Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 7, EP 10)

Episode 10 - "New Best Friends"

Praise the horror gods!! Pollyanna McIntosh, (Offspring, The Woman, various other good scary movies) has arrived as Jadis, the leader of the mysterious Scavengers clan. These are the people who did in fact kidnap Father Gabriel and steal everything out of the pantry last week. Hooray for the redemption of Father Gabriel! "The Scavengers" is a way cooler name than “the hoodie people” which is what I was referring to them as last week. “We take, we don’t bother” is the motto of this tight-knight gang of dumpster divers. I actually totally love this group. They have their own lingo, cult-like hive mind, clever hand gestures, and a serious hoarding problem. Literally, these people live in well-organized heaps of trash and it’s pretty damn brilliant. (Do you think Jadis is her real name? Or did she just pick it because of the witch from “The Chronicles of Narnia”??) Regardless, Jadis has Rick fight their mascot, Winslow-the-absolutely-fucking-terrifying-porcupine/walker, to prove he is worthy of their help. Since Rick is 100% awesome, he’s now won the aide of the Scavengers to fight the Saviors. Jadis just wants lots of guns and cans of food in return. Only one problem, where the hell is Rick & the fam going to get an arsenal of firearms?!? Stay tuned.

Brave knight, Richard of The Kingdom, proves he’s willing to pay any price to get Ezekiel to fight the Saviors. Luckily, Daryl thinks using Carol as human bait/sacrifice is a bad idea. Despite Morgan lying and saying Carol isn’t at the Kingdom, Daryl finds her anyway. Naturally, the two’s reunion was beautiful. Morgan isn’t the only liar-liar-pants on fire either. Daryl lies and says that everyone back home is fine. Wow, couldn’t be further from the truth. People are dead at Negan’s hand, Mr. Dixon himself was kidnaped and tortured by them, and war is freakin' imminent and on the horizon. But sometimes you fib to the people you love to keep them safe and happy, because Carol admits she was losing her damn mind. And if she knew what the Saviors have been up, she would have led the charge against them and dissolved the remaining shreds of her humanity. I love Carol and I do sympathize with all she’s been through but...I’m kind of mad at her. Rick & the gang didn’t get to take a vacation from the harsh reality of their lives. In fact, stuff has gotten A LOT worse for them. No breaks to go read novels in a cute cabin while Jerry (Ezekiel’s fabulous bodyguard) makes you cobbler, and you just get to have some real “me” time and find yourself. Carol’s sabbatical has got to end soon. We can only hope that maybe this break will give her room on the middle path between passion and keeping her sanity. Because frankly, it’s not fair if she’s gotten to have this time away and doesn’t end up learning and growing as a person after it.

In other news, Morgan is still a pacifist.

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Top 4 Moments of the Night:

1. Sorry it’s the obvious answer, but Winslow. The Scavenger’s made a creepy death pit and filled it with a spiked monster. That just wins.
2. Daryl and Shiva the tiger shared a bonding moment. Adorable.
3. Rick giving Michonne the trash-sculpture cat from the Scavenger’s collection. They’re a cute couple, I love them.
4. Week 2 and still NO NEGAN. The showrunners are demonstrating tremendous restraint by withholding him from us for yet another episode. The tension is BUILDING.

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