After such an amazing episode last week (Episode 6), I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed with this week’s episode. I’m not sure if it was the fact that it was a follow-up to greatness or that the plot was so fractured, but I couldn’t get into it as much. That’s not to say that it was bad — it was actually very good, but it wasn’t Episode 6 good.
And here’s the thing: the next episode after this is the last one for a few months before the season picks back up in 2022, so episode 8 better be really good.
Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 7: Promises Broken.
This episode follows three of our four major groups: Maggie’s group in the woods, Daryl and the Reapers, and the folks at The Commonwealth. While it might not have had the horror elements of Episode 6 or the action of Episode 5, I’m hoping it’s the calm before that mid-season finale storm.
Maggie and Negan
Maggie’s group stops for a breather in the woods while escaping Pope’s Reapers who just flushed them out of their hiding spot, but Negan is not up for a return to Meridian just yet. He thinks that a further escape from the Reapers is a better plan.
He eventually agrees to stick with Maggie, Gabriel, and Elijah if Maggie will promise him that there will be no more bad blood between them. “No more looking over my shoulder,” he pleads. Maggie makes her promise and they’re back to being civil. For now. The question is (especially considering the episode’s title), does Maggie intend to keep her promise?
I think at this point Alden is dead, he’s waited to long for them to come back!#TWD
— Mitchell Shoemaker 🐥 (@EverythingTWDU_) September 27, 2021
One thing is for certain with this group, though: if they can actually cooperate with each other, they can move mountains… or at least a whole lot of walkers.
Negan shows Maggie and Elijah how to herd the walkers like the Whisperers did, complete with zombie-skin masks and the walker shuffle. Maggie, Elijah, and Negan eventually pass their training and are herding walkers in no time. But where are they taking them? Will they be used to clear out Meridian?
And where did Gabriel run off to? Well, it turns out he decided to go in for some closer recon on the Reapers. He discovers that they have their own man of God who prays over their dead, but considering Gabriel’s recent questions over his own faith in God, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will he risk talking to this other man?
In the trailer for this episode last week, we saw an exchange between Maggie and Negan that proved to be even more interesting than we were led to believe at first. The trailer showed Maggie asking Negan if he regretted anything, and he simply said “Yeah.”
But it’s what he said after that that’s important. “If I could do it all over again, I’da killed every single one of you.”
Wow, OK. Too soon, Negan… too soon. But he has a point. He goes on to explain that, after the enlightening day he’s had with Maggie, he feels that it’s important to be 100% honest. But is he being too honest? Is his honesty working to win over Maggie’s trust?
Daryl and Leah
Back at the Reaper’s camp, Pope is absolutely furious that they were so close to capturing Maggie’s group and his men let them slip away. Leah takes the blame to save her comrades, so Pope orders her to go out and find them. Daryl tags along and the two set off in what Daryl might see as an opportunity to reconnect with his former lover.
They come upon a man hiding in the woods who swears he’s just traveling with his wife and son and they just want to survive, but his wife is hurt. Leah phones in their find and we can hear Pope give the “kill them” order over the radio, but Leah decides to go see this guy’s family and see if he’s lying.
Turns out he wasn’t lying (so far?) and his severely injured wife is hiding out with their son in a nearby house. Daryl and Leah tell the man to take his son and run far away while the woman pleads for them to kill her before she turns. Leah just can’t do it, though, so Daryl puts the woman out of her misery.
For this, Leah suggests that they tell Pope that Daryl killed the man to get Daryl in better standings with Pope, but Daryl is really starting to see that Leah is not 100% on Pope’s side. Daryl knows that there’s a chance he can save her from this whole crazy Reaper group.
The Commonwealth
Back at The Creepywealth, Princess, Ezekiel, Eugene, and Stephanie are working off their crimes by clearing out old abandoned buildings full of walkers.
We see Ezekiel’s health issues come back and the poor man is not doing well from what we can only imagine (after seeing his swollen neck tumors in Season 10) is thyroid cancer.
Yumi seems to be doing well for herself as we see her sporting a very pre-apocalyptic suit, but she still has that fire for saving her friends. Yes sirree, Yumiko is not letting her cushy new job as The Commonwealth governor’s legal advisor distance her from where she came from. She’s still Yumi from the block.
And this really shines through when her brother, Tomi, is nabbed by the white-armored guards. Yumi tracks down Lance and asks him why her brother was taken, but Lance assures her that it’s all part of a harmless plan to help someone else.
It wasn’t long after this that we see Ezekiel return to his friends in much higher spirits. He’s happy to report that he received medical treatment and a wide array of meds, leaving him feeling like new.
Could that be the reason Tomi was taken, to provide medical treatment to Ezekiel? Does this mean Lance and his cronies know about Tomi’s secret medical expertise? That’s my theory, anyway.
And this brings us to Eugene and Stephanie. I’m not really the biggest Eugene fan, but he really let his badass side shine through in this episode… although it did get him into trouble again.
He and Stephanie witness a couple kissing under a pavilion, completely oblivious to the approaching walkers behind them. Eugene runs over to save the day, killing every last one of those baddies. But the young man whom he saved doesn’t seem grateful at all.
The entitled little brat has some choice words for Eugene, especially after Stephanie gets blood on his girlfriend’s clean white sweater. So Eugene dispatches with the violence, as he would say, right to the guy’s nose.
Lance and Mercer run up suspiciously quickly and let Eugene know that the kid he just punched is Governor Pamela Milton’s son, so Eugene finds himself right back in a jail cell facing punishment. Oh Eugene, you absolute ruffian.
Lance uses this convenient opportunity to press Eugene once more for info on the rest of his people back at Alexandria, but Eugene refuses. Well, he refuses until he doesn’t. Yes, we see some classic Eugene at work here as he seriously considers ratting out his friends’ location. But classic Eugene would also have a plan up his sleeve. I can’t wait to see what it is.
What’s Coming Next?
Episode 8, entitled For Blood, will be the mid-season finale, so it should be epic. I’m a little concerned that we didn’t get a trailer for Episode 8 at the end of this one, but IMDB helps with some hints.
“The Reapers defend Meridian from an incoming herd; Pope suspects Maggie is behind the attack, while Daryl treads carefully; Alexandrians scramble to protect themselves when a violent storm leaves them vulnerable to walkers.”
So it sounds like we’ll have a major battle between dozens and dozens of walkers and the few Reapers defending Meridian. And that violent storm at Alexandria sounds like something that may claim a life or two, in true mid-season finale style.
If you enjoyed this write-up, be sure to also watch the video version (or listen to the audio version) during our Spoiler Special podcast coming this Friday. You can find that on our podcast RSS or on our YouTube channel as a companion episode to our regular podcast.
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