TWD Season 7 Episode 8: Hearts Still Beating

Tonight we've reached the mid-season finale on The Walking Dead and I'm relieved to say it doesn't disappoint. Yes, there is bloodshed. Yes, there is an almost endless amount of Negan sarcasm. Yes, we lose another character that we've come to love. But most importantly, we can say yes, our heroes finally start getting back to being heroes. Here's what went down during the 90 minutes of "Hearts Still Beating."

They Can Smell Your Intentions

The episode opens in Hilltop with Maggie sitting next to Glenn and Abraham's graves. She's crying but for a woman who looked like death in the season premiere, she's definitely got some color back in her cheeks. She climbs to the top of the wall to keep watch and douchebag Gregory calls out to her from below. He says that the folks in town have been chattering about how Sasha and Maggie saved Hilltop from the Walker invasion. "Don't let it go to your head." Maggie quickly replies, "Don't let it bother you."

Turns out the Hilltopians (we're just going to go with that) do see themselves in a debt of gratitude to Sasha and Maggie and they're swinging by the ladies' little house frequently to drop off apple pies and other goodies. They know the way to a pregnant woman's heart for sure. Enid thinks they are also encouraging Maggie to run for president of Hilltop...if that's a thing. Come to think of it, I have no idea what Gregory's title is outside of douchebag. Anyway, Maggie is 100% fine with all of the attention and she's hoping she, Sasha and Jesus will start having more pull around the community. Speaking of Jesus... 

We resume in the Sanctuary with Daryl after he receives the "go now" note. He and his filthy sweatsuit duck into a room with peanut butter and clothes and it's like our boy hit the jackpot. He quickly changes into a better ensemble and shoves some peanut butter in his mouth.  Good for him.

Daryl sneaks outside and begins to steal one of the motorcycles. The Savior known as Fat Joey catches him but swears he won't say anything. "I'm just trying to get by. Just like you." Daryl beats him to death with a pipe anyway just as Jesus swings around the corner. He grabs Fat Joey's gun and off they go to Hilltop.

We Don't Deal With Outsiders Very Well

CAROL!!! How I've missed you so. My favorite tv lady is laying on the couch in her cozy not

Kingdom home, reading a book near the fireplace. Not kidding. I like what she's done with the place. She senses someone outside and realizes Morgan has dropped off a bag of fruit. She calls out to him and invites him inside so she can tell him she doesn't want or need the food. Morgan starts to argue with her until he realizes she has a stash of her own produce thanks to Ezekiel.

Carol is all kinds of popular today though - Richard comes bearing gifts as well and he's eager to talk to Morgan and Carol about something important. He sees the Saviors as a huge threat and he wants Carol to talk Ezekiel out of the deal they have with Negan. "I know that Ezekiel likes you. I also know that Ezekiel trusts you." Richard says one day things will go bad and The Kingdom will fall. Richard wants Ezekiel to attack the Saviors and destroy them but he needs Carol and Morgan to help get this party started. Carol says she wants nothing to do with The Kingdom, the Saviors, or the fight. Morgan thinks Ezekiel can continue to build peace with the deal he's made with Negan and Richard storms out quickly. 

Take It Slow
Rick, meanwhile, is still out and about with Aaron trying to determine how they are going to cross the lake of Walkers to the barge on the other side. A small boat with bullet holes in it seems to be the only way and it totally makes sense for both of them to get in a boat that looks sure to sink. The boys use pieces of a broken fence as paddles/weapons as the boat makes its way across the water. As expected though, the boat fills up with water fairly quickly and just as they reach a sturdy canoe at the halfway point, a Walker pulls Aaron under water. I assume he's a goner because he shouldn't have been on the damn boat to begin with, but Aaron somehow makes it in the canoe unscathed and both he and Rick reach the barge. I wonder if he'll end up like Bob (remember Bob?)...bitten under water but not quick to realize it.

Once inside the barge, Aaron and Rick find guns (no ammo) and several other boxes of supplies. Negan should be pleased. Rick mumbles a bit about how people at home aren't on board with the plan to serve Negan but Aaron is fully supportive. After seeing what Negan did to Glenn and Abraham, he'll do what it takes to make sure everyone is safe. The boys are somehow able to navigate the barge back to land and load their findings into the truck. As they drive away, we see boots approach the water. The owner of the barge perhaps?

All My Friends Are Heathens

Negan is still hanging out at Rick's house. He shaves in Rick's bathroom. He cooks pasta sauce in Rick's kitchen and makes eyepatchless Carl help him out. Olivia has been on a search for lemonade and Tara is able to provide her with some of the stash she had in her kitchen. Tara offers to take over for Olivia since the poor girl is in tears on the front porch, but Olivia says she's fine and heads back in the house. "I told Rick I would watch Judith and I'm going to do that." Negan, Carl, Olivia and Judith then sit down to dinner like one big (not so) happy family. 

At the gates Eugene and Smokin' Hot Rosita have re-entered Alexandria to find Spencer unloading his car of supplies with the Saviors and sucking up big time. Rosita has the bullet Eugene made her and Gabriel sees her staring at it in church. He tells her the Saviors will kill her if she kills Negan and she doesn't care - as long as he dies first. She tells Gabriel, "If Abraham was alive, we could fight. If Glenn was alive, Maggie's kid would have a father. Michonne and Carl can fight. They have Rick. Aaron has Eric. Eugene knows things. Daryl's strong." Gabriel tells Rosita that they will win but they have to wait for the right moment or create it together..."and you're a part of that 'together.' We need you." He leaves her to her thoughts and exits the church.

Spencer cleans himself up and seeks out Negan, armed with a half full bottle of liquor. Smokin' Hot Rosita is back in smokin' hot mode as she sits on her porch and calls out to him, asking if he's got a hot date. Spencer explains that he's going to try to win Negan's favor to help the community. He's bummed that Smokin' Hot Rosita ended whatever they had started and she admits to using him. She then apologizes. Spencer turns on an "aw shucks" attitude and asks if she wants to have dinner that evening. Smokin' Hot Rosita smiles and agrees. Maybe she's going to abandon the killing Negan thing for a while.

Spencer is held up on the steps of Rick's house by Arat who seems to be one of the key Saviors. Negan steps outside (I'm assuming with a full belly) to see what the commotion is all about. Spencer introduces himself and the two men share a drink on the porch followed by an outdoor game of pool. Nice to know the Alexandrian's have a pool table handy to drag out into the street on a beautiful day. Spencer takes this opportunity to talk shit about Rick, saying he has a history of not working well with others. Most of the town is witnessing this conversation. Spencer asks Negan to put him in charge but Negan says that Rick is out there getting shit done and swallowing his hate. "That takes guts. And then there's you...the guy who waited for Rick to be gone so he could sneak over and talk to me to get me to do his dirty work so he could take Rick's place. So I gotta ask, if you want to take over, why not kill Rick yourself and just TAKE OVER?" Spencer looks surprised and starts to say he wasn't looking for Rick to die but Negan cuts him off. "If I had to guess...it's because ya got no guts." Negan then takes out a knife and literally guts Spencer. So much for dinner.

Don't Make Any Sudden Moves
At this point we're hoping the episode will just end, right? I mean, Spencer was annoying as shit. Let's let him be the "big mid-season finale death" we've all come to expect. Negan isn't done yet though. He picks up Lucille and says someone needs to clean up the mess Spencer has made on the ground. Smokin' Hot Rostia stands fairly close to him. She aims her gun with her one bullet and MISSES. She hits Lucille instead which is almost worse. Shit Rosita! Did you not learn anything from Daryl?!?!

Rick and Aaron arrive home just then and Rick is surprised that to see that the Saviors have already come back to Alexandria for more supplies. He's eager to get to his house but sees that Aaron has a misunderstanding with one of Negan's assholes. The Saviors start beating the shit out of Aaron and I don't even understand how Rick can get him off the ground. Rick drags Aaron toward his house right as Rosita has fired her gun. Negan picks up the bullet casing and realizes the bullet was made from scratch. Arat holds a knife against Rosita's face as he demands to know who made it. Rosita claims she did but Negan knows she's lying. She's ready for her face to be cut up but she should know that's not how this works. Negan orders Arat to "kill somebody" and Arat shoots Olivia in the face. DAMN IT!

Rick flips out but Negan explains how reasonable he is being all things considered. He fills Rick in on dumbass Carl sneaking into the Sanctuary and shooting some of his men. He then tells Rick he eliminated Spencer for him. "And this one here? She shot Lucille trying to kill me just now so I gave you one less mouth to feed...and by lookin' at her, that mouth did some major damage." Rick asks Negan to leave, telling him there's a bunch of shit waiting for him at the gate. Negan agrees, but says he first needs to know who made the bullet. Eugene speaks up and explains how he did it so Negan believes him. At first I think Negan is going to kill him...but why take out a resource who can make bullets? Off Eugene goes with the Saviors just as Walker Spencer is waking up. At least Rick is able to channel his anger into violently stabbing Spencer's head.

You Don't Know The Half Of The Abuse
Michonne returns home from her quest to find Negan and tells a very solemn Rick where she'd been. Though she had kidnapped the female Savior on the road to get to Negan, Michonne settled for seeing where Negan lived. After this woman showed Michonne the Sanctuary from afar, Michonne realized anything she would do, she would need a team to do it. Though we didn't see it onscreen, Michonne killed the Savior and dumped the car. She tells Rick they are outnumbered. "It's not even close. But that doesn't change the way that I feel." Michonne says they have to fight and they have to find a way to beat the Saviors. Rick agrees (woohoo!) and they share an adorable kiss.

The final minutes show Rick, Michonne, Tara, Rosita and a newly patched up Carl entering the gates of Hilltop and reuniting with Maggie. Rick tells Maggie she was right about fighting the Saviors and while they embrace, Daryl and Jesus come walking up from around the corner. Daryl and Rick cry when they hug, Enid and Carl share a smile, and Rosita and Sasha share...a head nod. Good enough. Daryl hands Rick the gun he took from Fat Joey and the group marches towards Gregory's house. 

The episode "ends" there but after the previews for what's to come in 2017, we see those same boots from earlier step out near Alexandria. I'm hoping it's someone from Oceanside because that would make me less bitter about the hour we spent on Tara a few weeks ago.

So The Walking Dead in 2016 is over and I'm so glad things seem to be looking up for Season 7...not necessarily looking up for the characters, but at least looking up for the viewers. We've endured way too many hours of watching Daryl mop floors, seeing Dwight brood, and witnessing Rick play the role of Negan's bitch. The "All Out War" is finally on its way and I'm excited to see how it plays out on the show. Also exciting? Seeing Spencer get his guts ripped out. Dude had gotten on my last nerve. Poor Olivia though...I was really starting to love her and seeing her slap Negan last week was awesome. I guess we should know by now that when minor characters start to grow balls, they will be exiting the show sooner rather than later.

How will Smokin' Hot Rosita cope with causing Olivia's death? How is Daryl coping with his guilt about Glenn? I have to wonder how that first conversation between Daryl and Maggie went when he got to Hilltop. I also have to wonder how the conversation between Carl and Rick went after Negan left Alexandria. "What were you thinking?! Look at the mess in the kitchen! And for god's sake, cover up your eye hole!" I've been anxious to see the gang back together again and once we get Morgan and Carol (and the tiger) in the mix, I'll be a happy camper. Until then, have a safe and happy holiday season.