Whether you loved or hated the Season 6 Finale or the proceeding Season 7 Premiere, you’ve got to admit that all of it has been building up to the Season 7 Finale of The Walking Dead, entitled ‘The First Day of the Rest of Your Life’. Season 7 was about watching Rick & Co. dust themselves off and rise out of the ashes, stronger, filled with hope, and more resilient than ever before.
This season has been a journey that has led Rick & Co. to encounter different communities like Hilltop and The Kingdom in a way they’ve never done before. (I’m talking about you Woodbury and Terminus.) It has shifted priorities for some and explored how willing each community is when faced with their own survival.
Season 7 of The Walking Dead has created a world worth exploring, full of people we care about, across various locations.
It has also shown all of our survivors and every viewer that even at the end of the world, pieces of the old world are still there. People are still kind. People are still loving. And people are still willing to do what they must to live a good and happy life for themselves and for those they consider family.
Rick & Co., the core of this show, family might’ve lost a couple valuable members of their family along the way, but they’ve gained so much more as this chapter closes and we are propelled into a new era on The Walking Dead.
Sasha’s Sacrifice & Death
Sasha knew that she wasn’t getting out of this alive. From the moment that she stepped inside of Negan’s compound she knew her life was forfeit. There was a flicker of hope when she thought she’d duped Eugene to bring her a weapon but it floated away when he gave her that pill.
That little pill ended up being Sasha’s saving grace and that of Alexandria.
Out of all the deaths that I’ve seen on The Walking Dead, this might’ve been the most peaceful yet painful to watch. Negan was going to use her to hurt the people she loved. And instead of being a coward like Eugene, she chose a different road where she had control and made the final decision on her life and how it would end.
Then there’s the flashbacks/dream sequences will Abraham. For a moment I wondered and hoped that everything that had happened with Negan was a dream. That they hadn’t hit the road yet. That Abraham and Glenn still had a chance to survive. Then the rational part of my brain kicked into gear and I remembered that this a show with risks, consequences, and no take backs.
The flashbacks/dream sequences with Abraham were Sasha’s regrets, moments where she wished she had been selfish, and where Abraham was still alive. Moments she wanted to take back but knew that she couldn’t do anything about and in all reality wouldn’t change because of the good person she was inside.
Eugene could learn a thing or two from someone like Sasha, a hero till the end.
Jadis, The Garbage People Traitor
I knew someone with a haircut like that and the manner of speaking, via Kevin Malone from The Office, couldn’t be trusted! I knew it but still gave them a chance because two of the communities they’ve met have been pretty cooperative and trustworthy. Jadis had to ruin it all by being the bad one of the bunch.
People like Jadis and the Scavengers always end up being their own destruction. They can’t be trusted. As soon as a bigger and better deal pops up they’ll drop you like a hot potato and put a bullet in your side because they’re always on the look out for the better end of the stick. As a result they’ll be watched more closely and squashed like a bug by Lucille if they step out of line.
Given time, I’m certain they will.
On a side note, I’m trying to write off Jadis’ comment about sleeping with Rick as a means to throw Rick and Michonne off their game. Keyword ‘trying’ and failing. Honestly, who knows how many times she’s handed out comments like that within the Scavengers and gotten her way. She’s a weird woman, who if given the chance, would totally try to swoop in on Rick.
She’s got zero chance.
Dwight’s Redemption & That Wooden Carving
Dwight has spent the entirety of Season 7 making people miserable and testing them to prove to himself that what he was doing with Negan was right. Coming to Rick, switching sides, is him finally cracking under the pressure of killing his friend, losing his wife, and still following Negan’s orders.
Revenge is still driving him, but at the core of it, he’s a man trying to find something/somewhere better in this world. He’s finally ready to admit that he’s strayed and become a man he, his wife, and his friends don’t even recognize. He thought that Negan’s way was what he had to do to survive and that there was no other way. Now he knows that Negan was wrong and that Rick & Co. are a better and different way to survive.
Unlike Eugene, who I’ve lost hope for, there’s a spark of something resilient and good inside of Dwight. Yes he’s done a lot of horrible things. And yes he’s made us want to wring his neck once or twice. But do you know who else did unspeakable things because they thought that’s what you had to do in this world to survive? Rick & Co. did.
Many of our most beloved characters on this show have lost themselves and come back multiple times. Dwight can do the same thing. Him being a ‘bad guy’ doesn’t make him exempt from redemption or any less worthy of being given a chance.
Here’s hoping that the little wooden carving, a throwback to meeting Dwight in Season 6, is a sign that Dwight has turned a new leaf and that he’s ready to be Rick’s inside man in Savior territory come Season 8.
Additional Notes:
- Was really hoping Shiva killed Jadis. I guess Savior goon is alright.
- Morgan supported Carol and wanted to help her see through the pain that she was going through last season. Now Carol is repaying the favor in Morgan’s time of need. These two have come so far since they met.
- Sweet mother of Jesus I am so proud of Carl Grimes. He saw an opening and he took it, starting off a small battle with the Scavengers. Sure, they temporarily lost until the Kingdom came around, but he stepped up! This wasn’t a teenager popping off and doing what he wanted, inadvertently causing a hot mess that gets someone killed cuz of his naivety. This was a man, making a calculated move to protect his family while fighting by their side. Look like our Carl is all grown up.
- How very dare you make the last scene of Season 7 be Hershel’s and Glenn’s watch?! It’s as if both men continue to live on in Maggie and every single person they’ve met along the way or that Rick & Co. will meet.
- Rick Grimes is no longer fearful of death. He knows it will come for all of them at one point of another and that he will feel the pain of it. But he won’t let it defeat him. No matter what way, shape, or form it takes, he will continue fighting in their honor and for the survivors still left alive.
Favorite Scene from Season 7 Finale:
I love this family. That is all.
What did you think of the Season 7 Finale of The Walking Dead? Let us know in the comments below!
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.