Let’s Talk About That Walking Dead Season Seven Finale

This Sunday marks the seventh season finale of the show, and we’ve already gotten a handful of details about the episode: Lauren Cohan teased a “heartbreaking” hour, and director Greg Nicotero hinted at an “emotional” aspect, but there’s something else. If you do not want to be spoiled, leave immediately, but watch out for wild animals and backstabbing allies! Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s been more or less interesting since then, but Negan’s softened over time; and while that’s understandable, having him act like a complete moron means the show may have finally given up on ever having tension again. He wanted to trade Sasha for Rick’s stockpile of guns, Daryl, the pool table, and another person as a sacrifice.

Chekhov Eugene’s poison pill, or those awkward bumpers of Sasha’s Abraham flashback telegraphing some significance to her isolation in that casket*. We’re glad she didn’t let him use him, but seeing walker Sasha was brutal, even if she was trying to bite Negan’s face off.

“In this handsome way, it was the first time we had ever rooted for a walker”, she explained about her great sacrifice during Talking Dead. What we got instead was… well, sort of that. Given how the series entered a phase where killing off major characters (much like the comics) was a good way to hold people’s attention, it’s actually nice that a step back from this approach was taken in an effort to increase drawing power from other concepts. At least we don’t have to languish in another bad cliffhanger, right?

But was the season 7 finale any good? As far as big action scenes go, it was right up there with the assault at the prison with the Governor.

Beyond the death of Sasha, we were of course interested in seeing what the sort of season 8 tease was going to be via Gimple near the end of the show. And it won’t be long before Negan’s rule over the other communities comes to a permanent end.

It takes me back to Sasha, who made up a large chunk of this episode.

For a minute there, it sure looked like Rick Grimes’ answer to that questions was going to be: Not a damn thing. As the Kingdom’s armored army marches toward the front, they come across Morgan, whom Carol and Ezekiel all but beg to join their troops – not because he’s a ferocious warrior, but because his unhinged kill-spree could tip off the enemy and doom them all. She didn’t take Negan down, but I think she achieved her goal.

Even though Sasha is gone, season 7 will go down as the most disappointing and weakest of The Walking Dead yet. No other show can keep my heart pounding for the duration of an episode like this one does.

Even Negan is impressed, but that doesn’t dissuade him from going to kill Carl.

Sasha’s death sets the stage for the All-Out War, which featured in Kirkman’s original comic series.