Alexandria is finally done with Negan’s shit in The Walking Dead’s “Sing Me a Song.” Michonne, Rosita, Eugene, Spencer, and even Carl, are shaking things up and making waves in an effort to kill the man who murdered Glenn and Abraham. But the lack of Rick’s leadership and a cohesive plan leaves them scattered in the wind without actual support.
It’s a time bomb waiting to unfold in the mid-season finale.
The Rebellion in Alexandria Has Begun
While Rick and Aaron are off scavenging in the woods, something is brewing in Alexandria. A resilience and resistance against everything that is Negan has finally emerged. Now, this isn’t a rebellion against Rick. They love him. (Minus Spencer.) But the people of Alexandria see that their leader is broken. Instead of pushing against him, they’re going to support him and do what he can’t.
They’re going to kill Negan.
The people of Alexandria are going to kill/deal with Negan for their home. For Rick. And for the people they’ve lost because of Negan. They’ve finally found the will inside to say no more and will not let it be crushed by anyone.
The only problem with this growing rebellion against Negan is that they’re not doing it together. They’re divided up amongst each other. Michonne has her own plan, creating a walker barrier and flipping the script on an unsuspecting Savior just like they did with the mattresses. Rosita has her own plan, dragging Eugene with her, and trying to weaponize them again. Even Spencer, who has no plan besides complaining, plans on rebelling against Negan.
All of these people are going to lead to more situations like the one with Daryl and Glenn. Daryl acted independently and Glenn was punished for it. It wasn’t Daryl’s fault that Glenn was killed. Anybody would’ve reacted like that to seeing their friend get their head smashed in. But they need to come together to fight against Negan.
No one does this alone. And if they really want to take back the power they’ve lost, they have to do it as one town, one team, one family. Unless they do it like this, they risk losing everything they hold dear.
I Hate Deanna’s Son, Spencer
Leading is not an easy career path, especially in the apocalypse. It takes integrity, vision, support, and a focus on the team interests and needs. Rick is a leader. Spencer is NOT.
He’s under this delusion that it’s an easy job and something that he’s infinitely better at. It’s not and he’s not better at it. He thinks just because it’s in his blood and his mom was in Congress, that he can lead. A fancy job in the government doesn’t make you a leader, sorry Deanna. Your ability to empower others, makes you a leader.
Who does Spencer empower besides himself? Is he really focusing on the team interests and needs or is he just running his mouth because he has nothing better to do and pre-Rick he was in line to learn from his mother on how to be the next leader? I’d say the latter on this one for sure.
Spencer is jealous of what Rick is capable of and sees no other path for himself but that of a leader. You can contribute to Alexandria other ways, Spencer. You can be part of team discussions, contribute to the scavenging (like you did in this episode), and be supportive.
Rick & Co. don’t need a coup. They need people that they know they can depend on no matter what. That person isn’t Spencer, never has been. With the way things are going, and the fact that he thinks he’s got the biggest cojones, he’s the next one to bite the bullet on the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead.
The only way he’ll avoid his death is if he bucks up and doesn’t bad mouth Negan in an effort to show how much of a “leader” he is. And the way that things are looking he’s not going to be able to resist trying to show up Rick and prove to Alexandria that he’s the leader they need.
Olivia is a Mini Carol and You Can’t Tell Me Otherwise
In my mind, everyone’s a Carol on The Walking Dead. Everyone’s got a plan for the way they act and the fear that they are portraying is an illusion. They have a plan just like Carol did when people thought she was meek and not a threat.
Same thing goes for Olivia. There’s a little Carol in her.
Olivia, meek counter of food and stuff, smacked Negan. Take a moment to process that. Rick & Co. cowered under the power of Negan and didn’t make a move towards him. Sure Olivia cowered too but she smacked him across the face and showed him that there is fire still burning in the hearts of the people of Alexandria. It’s people like Olivia that Negan knows he needs to watch out. If he’s not careful he could be destroyed by someone like her in an instance.
What comes next is getting to know the people of Alexandria a little bit better. He’s underestimated them, Olivia’s slap and Carl’s daring mission of stupidity & revenge, proved that. And the deeper he delves into Alexandria, the further he gets away from his home, giving Saviors like Dwight, an opportunity to survive and rebel.
Freeing Daryl is the first act of rebellion against their fearless leader. (Thank you kind stranger.) Imagine what they can do with time and examples like Olivia’s leading them? They can accomplish anything.
Additional Notes:
- The opulence in which Negan keeps his wives and himself, is something that we haven’t seen in ages. For a bit there, I forgot that everyone doesn’t dress like a greased up combination of car mechanic and lumberjack.
- Love that Carl being in danger sparked something inside of Daryl. He’s been too reserved in an effort to survive under Negan’s rule. It’s time to rebel and get the hell out from under the Saviors thumb.
- I have no idea how Rick & Aaron are going to make it across the sea of walkers and I hope it doesn’t keep them away from Alexandria for the entirety of the mid-season finale.
- Praise Father Gabriel for calling out Spencer on being an intolerable little shit.
- Watch out for Jesus. He’s about to take the wheel!
Favorite Scene from Sing Me A Song
Negan and Carl bonding is somehow creepy, yet overwhelmingly interesting. Carl’s never had someone like Negan to encourage the anger within him while simultaneously empowering his grotesque injury. Negan’s the creepy uncle that he never knew he wanted and hates that he admires him in the first place.
Is Rick losing his son to Negan?
The Walking Dead mid-season finale airs Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.
