The Walking Dead
Episode 7.7 “Sing Me A Song”
Directed by Rosemary Rodriguez
Written by Angela Kang & Corey Reed
Starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lennie James, Christian Serratos, Sonequa Martin-Green, Josh McDermitt, Khary Payton, Austin Amelio, Tom Payne, Katelyn Nacon, Alanna Masterson
AMC
Air Date: Sunday, December 4, 2016

Warning – SPOILERS for AMC’s The Walking Dead…

Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead was mainly about Tara and her altercation with the women of Oceanside, who had gone into hiding after their men were all killed by Negan. We also saw Rick and Aaron heading out of Alexandria to scavenge for Negan, but it seemed that Michonne wasn’t exactly on board with it all. Meanwhile, Carl and Enid travelled to the Hilltop Colony, so Enid could visit with Maggie, but Carl then went his own way… stowing away in a truck that was headed to Negan’s Sanctuary. Hilltop’s Jesus also showed up on the cargo truck with similar intentions.

This week, on Episode 7.7 “Sing Me A Song,” we find out what happened when the cargo truck arrives back at the Sanctuary; what’s going on with Rick and Aaron on their desperate scavenge; where Michonne is going; how Spence really feels and what he’s actually capable of; and what Rosita and Eugene are up to. Oh, and lots more Negan stuff.

This 90-minute episode opens on Michonne walking down the road whistling to lure walkers to her. Once they come, she quickly dispatches them, and then drags their bodies somewhere. What is she up to? We find out near the end.

Meanwhile, Rick and Aaron are desperate to find something to bring back to Negan, who they know can return at any time. So far, they’ve got nothing.

Then there’s the men driving the cargo truck to the Sanctuary. Jesus and Carl are in the cargo hold, and it seems as though they are almost at the destination — recall that no one but the Saviors know where Negan’s Sanctuary is located. Jesus bails out to go the remainder of the way on foot, but Carl doesn’t follow. When the truck arrives, Carl jumps up with a machine gun and kills two of the men, and then says he only wants Negan, who killed his friends. But Dwight overpowers him. Negan laughs at Carl’s attempt. Daryl is nearby in the walker yard and he sees everything.

Negan does his typical Negan dialogue without getting a response from Carl. This happens a lot in this episode. Negan does a lot of “messing” with him, breaking of balls if you will, because that’s what men do, he says. But he’s really threatening him repeatedly — taunting him with the possibility of poking out his good eye, burning him with the iron, cutting off his arm, and bashing him with his baseball bat Lucille; there’s also a little innuendo of sexual assault. He also makes him take off his eye bandage, and then makes Carl sing, and then laughs and swings the bat the whole time, as Carl cries. So really, it’s psychological warfare designed to break his subjects down and keep them in fear and deference to him. With Carl, Negan says he likes the boy and he tries to entice him and impress him through the whole episode by showing off his many wives, his many subjects who bow to him, and all that he commands. He also is trying to establish a rapport that’s the opposite of what Carl has with his father Rick, making it seem like life at the Sanctuary would be much better. In the beginning, Carl is combative and talks back, even shouting. He tells Negan if he was smart, he’d have killed him and Rick already. But as the episode goes on, Carl quiets more and takes in everything he sees – while he despises Negan for killing his friends and for imprisoning and terrorizing people, its seems that maybe, just maybe, he also is impressed by the power the dictator has.

While Carl is getting a taste of life at the Sanctuary, more Alexandrians make their way out to scavenge for Negan. Spence and Father Gabriel go off together, but it doesn’t go smoothly because Spence starts talking crap about Rick, blaming him for everything that’s gone wrong since they met. Father Gabriel says that hatred is one thing, but actions are another. But when Spence says he hopes that Rick doesn’t return, that’s the last straw for the priest. “What you’re saying doesn’t make you a sinner, but it does make you a tremendous shit,” Father Gabriel tells him. “Just for now. It doesn’t have to be terminal.” And then he leaves the car to walk back to Alexandria. Spence doesn’t seemed fazed by this. Instead, he heads off into the woods, where he finds a walker in a tree stand with a crossbow. He manages to pull it all down, and get the weapon, and then finds a note. He smiles. Hmm… what’s that about? (We’ll find out in the end!)

At the Sanctuary, Negan takes Carl to the room where his wives reside, and offers to let the boy see some “titties.” We see Sherry, who used to be Dwight’s wife. He asks her whether Mark skipped out on redirect duties to be with Amber, one of his other wives. She gives them up, but says to go easy on Amber. Negan then lectures Amber, saying she can go back to Mark and her mom, but she can’t ever cheat on him. It appears as though her life before this arrangement was a hard one, and much like Sherry and Dwight did, she agreed to this “marriage” to give her family a better life.

Later, Negan tells Carl that the fire is ready, leading us to believe that he’s going to get an iron to the face, like Dwight did, but we find out, it’s actually for Mark. Of course, Negan had Dwight make the fire — he constantly torments Dwight in this way. The people gather around the furnace, where Negan gives his usual speech about the rules and how people have to pay the price when they break them. Then he takes the iron and puts it right on Mark’s face, until the man passes out screaming. We see skin pull away from Mark’s face as Negan takes the iron off. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Negan tauntingly asks. Mark pisses himself during the torture, and Negan has Daryl clean it up to let Carl see that his friend is now under his control.

After, Sherry and Dwight meet up for a smoke in the hallway. He says she did what she had to do by giving up Mark and Amber, but she says it wasn’t really like that. “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he tells her, but how does he sleep, she asks. He doesn’t, he says (we saw this in one episode where he was up all night watching TV). She says when they made the deal with Negan upon their return, she thought their decision would only affect them. He says that if you’re still standing, it’s on someone back. When she suggests they leave so no one sees them, he says they’re not doing anything. “No, we’re not,” she says, indicating that there’s really nothing going on between them. They’re no longer on the same page even, it would seem.

In Negan’s room, Carl asks why he hasn’t killed him, or Rick or Daryl. Negan says Daryl will make a good soldier, while Rick is already producing for him. As for Carl, the verdict is still out, but he definitely can’t ever let him go. One thing’s for sure, Negan is impressed by the kid. “Let’s go for a ride,” Negan tells Carl, which usually isn’t a good thing when Negan suggests it.

Outside, Negan and Carl get into one of the trucks, but unbeknownst to them, Jesus is on its roof! Before they pull away, Daryl says Negan better not do anything to Carl, so he gets Dwight to put Daryl back into solitary confinement. While in his dark cell, a note is slipped under the door that reads “Go now” and there’s a key attached. Who is it from? It could be another trap set by Negan, but since Negan isn’t there, perhaps someone — Dwight, Shelley, or both? — is truly trying to help Daryl.

Out on the road, a pick up truck pulls up, but then stops. They can’t go any on because there’s a pile up of dead walkers blocking the road. A red-headed woman gets out of the truck to investigate. That’s when Michonne sneaks up and demands to be taken to Negan. They get in the truck and the woman tries to disarm Michonne, who regains control. “Take me to Negan,” she repeats.

Meanwhile, Negan and Carl arrive at Alexandria, where Negan does his usual “messing” around, this time with inventory manager Olivia. She complains that he practically has them starving, which makes him laugh because Olivia is actually overweight. (Note – there’s zero way that anyone in this universe would ever remain overweight, but it’s in the script, so…) She cries, and he apologizes for being rude to her, and then says he’d like to “screw her brains out” if she’s agreeable to it, and bam! She smacks him right in the face. He leans in close to her and says “I am about 50% more into you now,” with a laugh. Realizing he’s not getting any sex, he sends her off to make him lemonade, while Carl shows him around in a montage that ends with him finding baby Judith. He picks her up and smiles at her, like he’s found a new toy. We don’t know how he treats babies, so it’s unclear if Judith is in danger.

On to Rosita and Eugene: Rosita refuses to go scavenge for Negan, and instead takes Eugene back to the factory where he could make her a single bullet. Eugene thinks this is a waste of time, but she humiliates him into complying by calling him a coward who’s only still alive because he lied and then got people to feel sorry for him. After she gets her single bullet, she apologizes, but Eugene doesn’t accept because he knows she actually meant what she said. They then meet up with Spence, who now has weapons and a car full of canned goods. Turns out the note that was written in Latin led to the supplies, and since he’s able to read Latin, he was able to follow it. He mentions about how his mother Deanna told him learning the language would come in handy one day. (Deanna had written in Latin on the plans for the Alexandria expansion back in Season 6.)

Looks like Rick and Aaron may have found something. They come across warning signs on the road, that say anyone who intrudes will be killed, but they continue on anyhow — they are desperate. They eventually come to the property of one Leslie William Staaton, who has erected an even bigger sign with more specific warnings about all of his guns and ammo and how he’ll have a clear conscience using them on anyone trespassing. At the end of the sign, it reads “Congratulations, the only way you have possibly read this far without being shot at is that I’m dead. Have at it, assholes.” So, looks like old Leslie is likely dead, so Rick and Aaron proceed. They see that Leslie’s stores are protected by a body of water that’s swarming with walkers, so they have to figure out a way to get to through it.

The episode ends with Negan holding Judith on the porch while sitting with Carl. He starts talking about firing up the grill, and making himself at home there, because he likes it there. “I might just have to stay here,” he tells Carl, adding that perhaps it is stupid to keep him and Rick alive. That maybe he should bury them both in the flower beds, and then settle in there with a life in the suburbs. He punctuates this sentiment with a kiss on Judith’s forehead.

Next week marks the halfway point of Season 7 with the mid-Season finale, which means we’ll probably get more terror from Negan and then be left hanging until February 2017.

Image Gallery

Video

The Walking Dead Ep. 707 Official Sneak Peek: ‘Michonne on the Road’

Michonne takes out walkers while out on the road.

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