The Walking Dead season 7 finale review: A casualty of war; Dwight’s message

It has been a polarizing season of The Walking Dead for many fans as some have really loved the amped up violence that Negan has brought, while others have felt that the story has been somewhat disjointed and main characters like Carol and Maggie were basically absent. That being said we are set up for one heck of a finale! Sasha is being held prisoner by Negan and while she tried to get Eugene to give her a weapon to “kill herself” (really to kill Negan), he gave her a poison capsule which does her no good… or does it? Negan knows that Rick’s group is up to something, but how much he knows will be revealed tonight. We also saw Dwight flip the script by showing up at Alexandria and pledging to help Rick’s group fight Negan.

In the opening minutes tonight, Dwight convinced Daryl to not kill him, and to allow him to be an asset in the impending battle. That’s good, given that the Rick and the group need every bit of help that they can given that Eugene is (at least at the start of the episode) a traitor and Sasha was still in being held prisoner by Negan. Sasha was being told in the midst of her Abraham fever-dreams (nice to see Michael Cudlitz back) that the only way to improve things was for her to take a life. Rick had the guns, but no Oceanside. The walls were very quickly closing in.

In expected fashion, the first half-hour of the finale dragged, much in the way that the season has. This is a season of highs and lows and then highs again. You see some great moments interspersed through times where it feels like we’re moving at a snail’s pace. Don’t get us wrong, the scenes with Abraham were great, but it took a long time for the good stuff to get there.

This “good stuff” started to come at around the 40 minute mark, where Eugene showed up to Alexandria in an effort to do a little bit of Negan’s bidding. He announced that “the jig is up,” and then said “I’m Negan” in a way that seemed to really make Rick upset … upset enough to make Rosita want to ignite the bomb.

Well, here’s the problem — a big part of this was a setup. The garbage-people betrayed Rick (that’s what he gets for trusting garbage), and apparently so did Dwight after Daryl let him go. Negan’s of course a guy who loves his bluster and his monologue, and he decided to offer Rick a new deal: Give up all of the guns, give Daryl back, the pool table, the pool cues, and someone else for Lucille. It was basically a lose-lose situation.

Sasha was in the casket that Negan brought over, but she was still alive. It was actually in this place that she was dreaming about Abraham, and where she had that temporary joy. That was a gift from Eugene, a sign that he still had some of his old humanity in there. Oh, and she had something else … the poison to kill herself. Their plan was to let her turn in there, completely blindsiding Negan in the process. This was AWESOME, and a hell of a way for Sasha to go.

The violence erupts

Unfortunately, this stunt from Sasha was short-lived, since Negan then decided to doll out some punishment. He was ready to kill Carl, and may at this point regret that lengthy monologue given that what he ended up doing was giving the folks over at The Kingdom and The Hilltop enough time to make to Alexandria. Shiva kept Carl alive, and the carnage began anew.

We saw Rosita and Rick shot in the carnage, but they seemed to be breathing. We were worried once things started to die down that we were also going to lose Michonne. Everything about this battle scene was AWESOME, other than the fact that there were so few casualties among major characters, but that’s par for the course for The Walking Dead.

The aftermath

The majority of the heroes are alive, but Negan’s preparing for war and they don’t have much that they can do about it. We’re not sure how you call this a hopeful finale given just how badly outnumbered the crew is, but the only cliffhanger we really got is a message from Dwight left behind: He didn’t know what Negan and company were planning. He’s still the mole! Consider that the one person still on the group’s side.

Overall

The finale for The Walking Dead was slow as ever in the early going. However, the final half of it was insanely entertaining and what we’ve been hoping to see for quite some time. Consider this finale a mixed bag, but the closing minutes of it and the carnage make up for some of the deficiencies. Still, how is it that so few people ended up dead? Grade: B+.

What did you think of the season 7 finale of The Walking Dead? Leave us a comment below with your thoughts.