The Walking Dead - S7E9 - Rock in the Road

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Previously on The Walking Dead, “Hearts Still Beating”

The Alexandria crew are on a recruiting mission. Gregory is still himself so he’s not willing to get involved any more than he already has. In fact, he’d really appreciate it if anyone who’s ever stepped foot in Alexandria would just take their asses home.

With Jesus as their guide, they next hit up The Kingdom to see if King Ezekiel and his subjects are down for a little Savior-killing. King Ezekiel is not, but he does offer Daryl shelter since the Saviors can’t enter their walls. Daryl doesn’t want to stay because he doesn’t hang with pussies, but Rick convinces him to get out of his feelings and do the smart thing.

Without the numbers, they need something that can take out as many Saviors as possible, all at once; something like explosives. Conveniently, they come across a Savior booby trap in the road meant to take care of a herd that might get too close to their compound, and it’s rigged with dynamite. Also, Rosita just happens to be an explosives expert because no one blinks or questions her when she starts fiddling with wires.

It’s great that Rosita continues to be useful and capable (minus the single bullet incident), and I’m going to take their word for it that this ability was already universally known. However, would it have killed them to devote some time to actually developing Rosita as a character (beyond Abraham’s girlfriend) so that we knew she was capable of this? I don’t know, maybe cut back on just one of many “this is the way the world is now” scenes.

Once it’s diffused, the Alexandria group carefully carry the dynamite to their vehicle. Nothing is ever easy, though. Via a stolen Savior walkie-talkie, they hear Negan send some men to Alexandria to look for Daryl, so Jesus and Sasha hotfoot it back to Hilltop. Then, a herd comes moseying down the road because of course. We get to the bottom of this convoluted, self-imposed problem: it was all a setup so we can see Michonne and Rick drive on either side of the herd with a steel wire attached to and between their cars. They slice through walkers like a As Seen on TV set of knives.

They only just make it home before Simon arrives with other Saviors, looking for Daryl. They search the subdivision, taking special care to smash the dishes and vases in case Daryl’s hiding behind or in them, and then leave with a warning: we find Daryl here, that’s yo ass.

The search for Daryl did reveal one thing: All of their food and weapons are gone. And so is Father Gabriel. Some of the group, like Rosita, are like, “I knew we couldn’t trust his bitchass.” But Rick knows Gabriel has changed and despite the damning evidence to the contrary, he doesn’t believe Gabe would betray them. A cryptic message from Gabriel (“BOAT”) suggests Rick is right and they had back to the area where he and Aaron found the riverboat to look for Gabriel.

Still, Rosita is like…

After their narrow escape with the explosives, Michonne told Rick it’s okay to smile, but he didn’t. However, when they’re surrounded by a new group while looking for Gabriel, and with guns pointed in their faces, Rick smiles.

Cause Rick is still crazy.

Bits & Pieces

When considering Rick’s request, Ezekiel asks Morgan for his thoughts. Morgan, of course, is all for a way to get rid of the Saviors without killing anyone. Morgan didn’t see Abraham and Glenn get their heads turned into slushies, nor did he see Spencer’s insides on the outside. While I admire Morgan for sticking to his convictions, his way is getting so old. And the synchronized eye-roll from Rick and Michonne tells me they feel the same way.

Rosita sure is being gully for someone who just fucked up so bad she got poor Eugene taken. She aggressively tells Morgan about the people they lost to the Saviors, she tells Sasha they ain’t friends just cause they both slept with the same dead guy, and she really ain’t here for giving Gabe even the smallest benefit of the doubt. Her cranky-ass days are numbered.

Also not long for this world? Aaron’s boyfriend, Eric. He had about five lines of dialogue, which feels like four more lines than he’s had since we met him in season five.

No Negan this episode, but via the walkie-talkie we did get to hear his hilarious eulogy for Fat Joey. (“Without him, Skinny Joey is just Joey.”) Though, why wasn’t he questioning Joey’s death? Unless he has other prisoners, it should have been clear it was Daryl who killed him, yet he sounded surprised a bit later when he puts out the order that Daryl be found.

Another young boy is trying to be Carol’s friend, which means his ass will be dead soon. And Morgan kept his word and didn’t tell Rick and Daryl where Carol lives. He just said he saved her, she was healed, and she left. You know Daryl gonna run into her ass because despite being told NOT to leave The Kingdom, our group don’t listen for shit.

Leave your thoughts on the episode below or on our Facebook post for this review, and we’ll read them on tonight’s podcast.