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The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 4: “Service”
“Who are you?”
“Oh, I know you’re joking. Negan… Lucille. I know we left an impression.”
Why yes you did Negan… in far more ways that one you left a huge impression and hole in my heart. Sure you tell others they need your “service” to keep them protected and I know there is no way this large group could have protected themselves against that one lone walker. It was clearly far too dangerous for them and they really do need to pay you to keep themselves safe… which is just from you.
And who else would have enough balls to stand up to the big bad wolf like a dolt? Leave it to Spencer. Like hello you spoiled little mama’s boy, rest in peace Deana, you know damn well who this is. If you couldn’t tell by the disturbed look on Rosita’s face I would think the menacing children’s rhyme and barbed bat would give you a pretty good idea that this is not the guy to try out your big boy pants on. Like really Spencer we clearly just heard Eugene and Rosita talking about the dude and you’re going to act like you have these massive balls and zero idea who he is.
Sure there have been little moments we’ve seen the potential that Spencer could be a sort of leader or maybe just all around good and productive member to their society but really what does he have to bring to the table? A nightly companion for Rosita, but really not much more than that. He’s really good at hording and hiding things from everyone else. I know, he lost his mom and she ran the place the best she could before they got a real taste of the outside world. Spencer is kind of like a man-child. Like did the apocalypse set you back a bunch of years man, cause you act like an ungrateful whiny teenage boy.
You’re lashing out more than one-eyed Carl man. Coming at Negan, which we know doesn’t end well, hiding guns, I mean come on Spence do you really know how to use them. And then you have the balls to attack Rick. Sure you have a point, Rick did promise you and all the Alexandrians this beautiful idea of peace and safety and sure there have been a few hiccups along the way but really Spencer have you stopped to think about the fact that without Rick, his gang and all their crazy drill sergeant training you would have never survived a) the walker horde or b) the wolves. Let alone if Negan found your little home with no Rick to take the brunt of Lucille.
Yes, Rick has kind of lost his sh*t but he watched his best friends get their heads bashed in, almost had to take his sons hand and almost lost all his other friends. I think given everything that has been handed to him he is doing the best he can. Rick needs to regroup, get all his people to fall in line, so they can have time to figure things out. And maybe Spencer’s main reason for acting like such a bratty teenage big man on campus because he’s trying to impress Rosita. Cause really what’s the likelihood that Spencer could survive without Rosita protecting him? Without anyone protecting him… He’s kind of like a bull in a china shop.
She’s made it clear she’s kind of just not really that into him, he’s just someone to help clear her mind since Abe… And she’s really a badass who can take care of herself out there in the woods against 5 walkers, seriously she’s such a badass when she’s not throwing major attitude. While Spencer is off being all loud and calling out to her, come on man noise brings the walkers. It’s like Walking Dead 101. Ok, I need to move on I can’t take anymore of Spencer… He just drives me mad.
I feel like we’ve seen the beginning of the crack that could be leading to end of Ric-honne. Did they ever really stand a chance? But what really makes them what they are as a couple? She’s a strong woman who learned how to survive the heartache of loss of love, family and child. She survived the wilderness on her own, figuring out how to walk among the walkers undetected. She defends those she loves fiercely. And Rick… well, he knows how to give a rousing speech, leaps before he thinks but you can’t say he doesn’t protect those he loves and calls family fiercely. Is Michonne drawn to the level of power Rick fell into? Was it a mixture of his authority and morality and the premade family. I’m still trying to wrap my head around them. It makes sense… but then again it doesn’t.
Rick has so much to lose in the war against Negan. He has Carl and Judith to think about first, although sometimes I wonder if he remembers Judith is around since we very rarely see her. But hey, he finally admits what we already knew about Judith’s potential parents and Rick as noble as ever says it doesn’t matter to him and uses Judith as a teachable moment to Michonne. He uses accepting that Shane could be Judith’s father and not caring because she is his no matter what and that is what they have to do with the Negan situation. Accept and move past what has happened, just live for the next day. But come on Rick, remember the pigs and phone calls or those times you decide to single handedly take on hordes of walkers? You didn’t always live for tomorrow you really kind of dwell in your pain and when you dwell you kind of go a little mad. So while you decide to take a back seat and let Negan… errrr… let him have his way with you Michonne is going to be off in the forest practicing her shooting so she can protect her family. Right now her aim is about as good as a stormtroopers so she has a bit to go.
But you know, it isn’t just Michonne that is showing that spark of defiance in her eye. With Negan front an center, waving his Negan ‘essence’ in everyone’s faces just waiting for someone to step up against him. It’s not just Rick and Daryl that he’s testing it’s all the people of Alexandria, the few people that actually witnessed what he is capable of. Lou Diamond Phillips put it perfectly on Talking Dead. It’s been awhile since Negan has had someone or a group of someone’s that’s had this kind of fight inside them and the need and want to defend themselves and he needs to address that right away. He doesn’t want them to be prepared so he shows up to receive half their stuff early.
He takes away the things that help them survive against outside forces and walkers, they take away their mattresses only to burn them because sleeping on a hard ground can for sure break someone. It worked on Daryl. Speaking of…
I have this feeling that the silent few sad eye contact moments between Daryl and Rick have a much deeper meaning than just sadness and loss. I just can’t shake the feeling that at this point Daryl is working as a kind of silent unknown inside man and after all their years together in the wilderness Rick and Daryl can quietly pass messages with a single glance. Rick asking Negan if they can keep Daryl at the end is just another way Negan shows his extreme male dominance and to him Daryl not trying to argue his way into staying means he’s breaking Daryl down and soon he will be the happy owner of one sad Daryl Dixon. But couldn’t Daryl staying quiet just be keeping his friends safer, sure Rick knows what Negan is capable of but he doesn’t know the crazy torture methods of Easy Street, or maybe he’s quiet because he knows that no matter what Negan would never allow him to stay. Daryl is like a sort of insurance policy, he knows how much he means to Rick why would he let him return home?
So that brings us to people standing up to Negan. Sigh… every time I see Rosita grind her teeth together or bite her tongue, or when Michonne throws a deer on the ground and stomps off or when Carl FIRES A GUN AT THE NEGANITES! Carl, I thought we had an understanding after the last Negan encounter. You stepped up, you were willing to give up a hand to save your family. And here you are foolishly standing tall and proud trying to once again protect your family…
Ok, my feelings for Carl are a little confused now. I’m totally use to Carl mucking everything up but I’m starting to see him in a totally different light. Like… he’s really starting to turn into a little man. We’ve literally seen him grow right before our very eyes and really who wouldn’t want their son to grow up and stand up for their loved ones and making the tough calls and carrying them out the way Carl has. But Carl, you need to calm down your sassy pants a little bit cause as much as you’ve grown into a real boy I’m sure you’ll find a way to totally ruin this, that is if Spencer doesn’t first. Carl, little baby Carl. I see that you’re mad at your dad for letting Negan run all over him. You’re mad that big guy is picking on your girlfriend but you need to lay off that evil glare you’re giving Rick. Even though Negan doesn’t see that crazy beard wearing Rick that first came to Alexandria, the guy “he wouldn’t have messed with. But that’s not you anymore.
Speaking of father son’s relationships. I don’t feel like I could have been the only one who saw the way Negan was looking, talking and reacting to Rick. The way that he made him hold Lucile, the way he keeps testing him, the way he keeps expecting Rick to bow to him it kind of comes across as this super twisted father son relationship. It wouldn’t be a relationship I would ever want to be in but Rick is definitely looking like the defiant teenager.
Predictions:
Could Carl’s voice end up being the voice of the groups rebellion against Negan. Did he just knock Maggie out of the running, we still don’t know what’s going on with her. Sure she want’s revenge for Glenn but she’s not really in the right place to be leading a bloody rebellion. The things that Carl says, the way he is looking at the world… in this kind of total middle ground where he seems to see both the good and the bad in people (he did try to save and befriend little porch dick). While all the adults are very black or white. But Maggie is really the voice that could get everyone on board.
And what about Father Gabrielle? I have to believe his role is going to become more intense and more important because he really had a lot to say in this episode. I mean he’s like totally onboard with Rick’s kind of crazy. Maybe Father Gabrielle’s words of wisdom will be the thing that will break through Rick’s thick skull and make him realize what really needs to be done. And that’s not sit back and let this bat wielding psycho run over their home. Also, the way that Rick was caressing Lucille…. Negan better watch himself or his beloved Lucille will cheat on him in a very not so good way.
“This is our life now. This is where Rick got us. Maybe if he would have thought things through…. people would still be alive.” Well Spencer… I have a feeling we’re going to be saying the same thing about you in just a matter of episodes. And ‘That’s a Wrap’ for Walking Dead E4.
