Josh Thomas tears up as Please Like Me fans praise devastatingly raw episode. About This Game Gain access to the full seasonThe Walking Dead Redemption Club season 7, episode 8 Hearts Still Beating. AMCs The Walking Dead has an uncanny knack for manipulating its audience, but this years hyper violent season premiere went too far. So far that we canceled our ongoing series The Walking Dead Quitters Club, and co author Bryan Bishop swore off the show entirely. Ever since, Nick Statt has been trying to change his mind. Instead of tearing the show down, Nicks been finding something to highlight. Sometimes its been a subtle change in character others a great action scene, or a new development in a narrative arc. But every episode, Nick has sought out the things that remind us of the very best of The Walking Dead. Dead Like Me Episode 12' title='Dead Like Me Episode 12' />This week, he convinced Bryan to come back. Welcome to The Walking Dead Redemption Club. Bryan Bishop Tap tap tap. Still, even though Negan Has UpendedRead the Latest Entertainment and Celebrity News, TV News and Breaking News from TVGuide. Is this thing on I gotta say, Nick, I didnt think Id be back here. Quitting The Walking Dead after this seasons premiere didnt just feel justified or warranted it felt like a blessed relief, like Id finally broken free of a dysfunctional relationship that was grinding me down on a weekly basis. It might go without saying, but I actually havent even been missing the show but Ive had your Redemption Club columns to keep me up to date. Judging from what you wrote last week, it seemed like this weeks mid season finale might be the time to check back in on The Walking Dead, and see if the show had any new tricks up its sleeve. The mid season finale is the shows opportunity to redeem itself. Nick Statt It certainly seems like the shows characters are gearing up for a full scale war, and it could be the most ambitious storyline weve seen yet. The only problem is how long its taken us to get here. This season has had its ups and downs, for sure, but its defining trait has been its unbearably slow pace. We had to sit through four standalone episodes across four different communities just to illustrate to viewers that Negan is an unpleasant human being and people really want to kill him. But The Walking Dead is always best when its focused on fireworks. And were about to see a whole lot of those. Bryan It sounds like the run has been like a greatest hits of the shows worst tendencies from the last few years, all hyped up and supercharged. But through it all, theres been a thread that maybe just maybe this could be a moment where the show subverts expectations instead of going for the usual TWD finale bloodbath. But theres only one way to know for sure. Lets do this, and see if this half season of The Walking Dead really has redeemed itself. Gene Page AMCCooking with Negan. Bryan The last time I saw Negan he was murdering some of the shows most beloved characters in a display of torture porn tinged brutality. Reading your piece from last week, the previous episode ended with him in the threatening situation of holding Ricks baby daughter. But in this weeks open, we see a lighter side of Negan, as he shaves for that matinee idol look and then sets out to. I have no idea what to make of this. Is there some nefarious bolognese sauce backstory alluded to in previous episodes Have we set up that Carl is allergic to the rolls that Negan asks him to pass at the dinner table when Rick doesnt return How is this supposed to be creepy or intimidating in the slightest, because coming into this episode cold, Negan comes off like the doofiest joke of a clown Ive ever seen. Watch The Delta Force Full Movie. What am I missing hereNick Im sorry to say, Bryan, that this is pretty par for the course. The show has built Negan up as this buffoonish caricature of a biker gang thug whose capacity for violence and manipulation is supposed to illustrate some deeper sociopathy. But liking to hurt and abuse others is not really a good enough reason for Negan to be the big bad guy. It certainly got old fast. Viewers and characters, too need to hate Negan for what he stands for. And its unclear at the moment what that is, because we dont know much about him or why he is the way he is. Maybe there is some spaghetti reference in his backstory weve yet to see. But its more likely that much of the characters quirks are just cheap winks to comic book readers thrown in for fun, designed to make Negan seem like this likable jerk that makes light of every situation. What I do know is that the second half of season seven could sure use some Negan flashbacks. Gene Page AMCSwimming in zombie lake. Nick In one of the episodes more lazy detours, we have Rick and Aaron paddling a boat across a lake full of zombies. It feels as if this entire scenario was concocted to kill time, and these kinds of scenes are pretty common now on TWD. They remind us that, yes, we are in fact watching a show about the zombie apocalypse, yet these zombies pose the bare minimum amount of threat. In typical fashion, Rick and Aaron come close to getting bitten, but come out unscathed and with a truck full of supplies for Negan. Bryan So let me get this straight, The Walking Dead. Aaron falls off a boat. Aaron gets attacked by swimming zombies. Swimming zombies then pull Aaron underwater. Delete your account. Gene Page AMCCarol returns, while Daryl escapes. Nick It has taken five episodes for us to return to Carol, and its not quite clear anything has really developed at Ezekiels Kingdom. Morgan is still abiding by his no killing rule, and Carol seems about as interested in her surroundings as The Walking Deads writers are, which is to say not at all. Still, its clear Ezekiel will play some role in the upcoming war, and a member of the Kingdom comes to Morgan and Carol and pleads with them to help coordinate a first strike against The Saviors. Its not exactly clear why Carol spent so much time on the sidelines this season, but heres to hoping she comes back in a big way. Daryl, on the other hand, has graciously heeded the directions of whomever slipped that piece of paper under the doorway of his cell in last weeks episode. He manages to grab some clothes to slip out of The Saviors compound and naturally heads straight for the motorcycles. Hes stopped by Joey, who realizes Daryl could very well beat him to death with the giant lead pipe hes carrying. As fate has it, Daryl does just that. The exchange seems designed to tell viewers that Daryl has no sympathy for The Saviors, regardless of how lightly he was treated in captivity. It was cathartic to see Daryl knock off one of his captors, but it probably could have happened to someone less helpless and more vile than poor Joey. Who cant get behind an unhinged DarylBryan Coming back into the show, its striking just how little seems to have changed with both Carol and Morgan since I last saw them. Theyre both in a sort of default position here. Her strong, willful, and playing by her own rules, and Morgan. Watch Men`S Group Online Etonline. I dont know if it speaks to the strength of these characters or a total lack of attention paid to them during this season, but I honestly feel like I could pick up their storylines right here and not have missed anything. Its certainly making jumping back into the show a frictionless viewing experience. Hed become so ineffectual and illogical during last season, its a pleasure seeing him revert to fight or flight, base instinct mode. Daryls basically going full Negan here, just swapping a pipe for Lucille and without the tasteless gore that the show delighted in back in the season opener. From a character perspective, Daryl unhinged is something Im very interested in seeing. Gene Page AMCThe worst pool game of Spencers life. Nick It wouldnt be a mid season TWD finale if a few characters didnt get cleared off the chopping block. Up first was Spencer, who decided it was a smart idea to cozy up to Negan with a bottle of whisky and a plan to depose Rick. After kicking off a pool game in the middle of the street how the heck did they move that table out of the garage so fast Unfortunately for him, Negan isnt buying it. Here are this weeks main takeaways. Its No Longer Andrew Lincolns Show. For six seasons, The Walking Dead has centered around Andrew Lincolns Rick Grimes. There have been subplots that havent directly related to Rick, but we have been guided through each season by Ricks actions and moods. The first season was about Rick finding his wife and kid and taking a leadership role within his new community the second season was about the battle for control over the group between Rick and Shane the third season was about the loss of Ricks wife, his downward spiral, and his recovery in time to take down Woodbury the fourth season was about Rick defeating the Governor and leading his people to Terminus the fifth season was about Ricks battle with Terminus, the trip to Alexandria, and Rick forcing himself into a leadership role there and the sixth season was about Rick reaching the pinnacle of his power before meeting his match in Negan. We may look back on the seventh season in a year or two and see it as the season Rick regrouped after a defeat, but at the moment, its not Ricks show. Its Negans show. Not only is Negan getting far more screen time than anyone else, but every single storyline has revolved around Negan and his men. Alexandria is scavenging for Negan the Hilltop episode was about Maggie taking power away from Gregory because of Negan The Kingdom episode illustrated their unique approach to dealing with Negan and even in last weeks episode, Tara was nearly killed by the Oceanside group because of Negan. Hes everywhere, even when hes not in an episode, and when he is in an episode, he dominates it, as he did in the opener in the return trip to Alexandria and in last nights episode. Relative to Negan, we havent seen that much of Rick or anyone else this season. How often have we seen that in a series For it to pivot its focus on an entirely new character for an entire season or twoWeve obviously seen dominating villains in the past, but how often have we seen one take over an entire show The closest comparison I can think of is Benjamin Linus on Lost, a villain who absorbed other major characters into his community of Others and continued to stick around. Negan, Id wager, has an ever larger presence than Linus. Whatever else one might want to say about an otherwise weak season of The Walking Dead, it was a bold decision to put the lead character on the back burner and build a season or two around a brand new character.