Think about what happened.
Rick looks shocked. He has blood on his face. He tells Negan he is going to kill him. Negan's bat is covered in blood. Rick says, "Not today, not tomorrow. But I'm gonna to kill you." Negan asks Simon, his right hand man, for Rick's weapon (an axe). Negan says having a right hand man is important. He wants Rick's axe. He puts it through his belt. He grabs Rick and drags him to the RV. The camera pans down and we see a bloody mess. That is all that is left of Negan's victim.
Negan slams the axe into the table. He sits in the driver's seat and tries to start the engine. Rick eyes the axe and tells Negan he is going to kill him. Negan goads him. He tells him to grab the axe. When Rick goes for it Negan pulls out a rifle and hits Rick with it. "Dawn is breaking. It's a brand new day, Rick. I want you to think about what could've happened. Think about what happened. And think about what can still happen." We see flashes of Rosita. Negan drives the RV through the fog laughing as he runs over zombies. We see flashes of Glenn. Zombies can be heard outside of the RV. Negan sits next to Rick. He tells Rick, "You are mine. The people back there, they are mine. This (he gestures with the axe), this is mine." Negan opens the door to the RV kills a zombie, throws the axe outside, and tells Rick to get the axe. "Let's be friends." When Rick stays sitting he puts Lucille in Rick's face and tells him to get the axe. We see flashes of Sasha. Rick is fighting off zombies. We see flashes of Eugene. Rick is surrounded by zombies in the fog. Flashes of Aaron. Flashes of Abraham. Flashes of Maggie. Rick eventually climbs up the side of the RV. Flashes of Daryl. Rick stands at the top of the RV and sees the wall of logs that blocked their way in the season finale last year. Zombies surround the RV. He looks behind him and sees the zombie hanging from the bridge. Flashes of Michonne. He doubles over and cries. Flashes of Carl. Negan taunts him. "Bet you thought you were all gonna grow old together, sittin' around the table at Sunday dinner and the happily ever after. No. It doesn't work like that, Rick. Not anymore. Think about what happened."
Rick lies on the RV staring up at the sky as zombies growl. He remembers the previous night. Negan walks up to the gang brandishing Lucille at each of them and saying eenie meenie minie moe. He walks up to Abraham. Sasha cries. Rosita cries. He slams the bat down on Abraham's head. Abraham says, "Suck my nuts." Negan keeps hitting him with the bat. With every hit the gang shakes and cries. He keeps hiting him until there is nothing left of his head. He tells Rosita to lay her eyes on Lucille. He asks if she had been with Abraham. He tells the gang it is all Rick's fault. He tells Rosita to look at Abraham. When he keeps pushing her Daryl stands up and tries to hit Negan. Some of the Saviors pull Daryl to the ground. Negan announces, "That is a no-no." Dwight comes up with Daryl's crossbow. Dwight offers to kill Daryl but Negan says no. "That's not how it works. First one's free. I'm a man of my word . . . I need you to know me. . . So back to it." He turns around and hits Glenn twice with the bat. Glenn looks over at Maggie. His eye is popping out. Maggie his crying. Glenn Says, "Maggie, I'll find you." Negan hits Glenn again. We hear the sound of the bat hitting Glenn as the gang cries. He just keeps hitting Glenn until there is nothing left of his head. Rick lies on the top of the RV crying. Negan keeps saying, "Get me my axe."
Rick stares at the axe. Negan says, "Last chance, bring me my axe." Then he starts shooting at the roof of the RV. Rick runs and jumps onto the hanging zombie. The other zombies pull at Rick's legs and the body starts to rip apart under his weight. Negan shoots at the zombies. Rick crawls away and looks for the axe. Negan says, "Think what can still happen." Rick grabs the axe and kills zombies as he makes his way back to the RV. We see flashes of Negan hitting everyone over the head with the axe. Negan opens the door and shoots the zombies. Rick enters the RV and hands Negan the axe. They drive away. Negan says, "This must be hard for you, right? . . . Losing two of your own like (snaps fingers) . . . and in front of your boy." Negan pulls out a towel and some alcohol. "You were in charge. You were probably addicted to it. And now, well, clip, clip, that's over. But you can still lead a nice productive life producing for me." He cleans the axe with the alcohol and hands it to Rick. "You're gonna need it. I just got a feelin.' So take it."
Negan throws Rick out of the RV. They are back to where we started. No one else is injured. It was just in Rick's head. Negan tells him that the trip was about changing how Rick looked at him. Rick is still looking at him in the same way. Negan orders his men to put guns to the back of the gang's heads. Negan tells Carl to move next to his dad. He asks Carl if he is a southpaw. Carl replies no. Negan wraps his belt around Carl's left arm. He tells Carl to lie down next to Rick with his arms spread. Negan asks Simon for a pen. Negan draws a line along Carl's arm. Rick says, "Please don't." Negan laughs, "I ain't doing shit." He then tells Rick to grab the axe and cut Carl's left arm off. If he doesn't he will kill everyone there and then everyone back in Alexandria. Michonne says he doesn't have to do this they understand. Negan says he knows she understands but doesn't think Rick understands. If Rick doesn't do it now Negan will kill Carl. Rick says it could be him. Negan says no. "Not making a decision is a big decision . . . Are you gonna make me count?" Rick begs. Carl tells him to do it. Rick grabs the axe, lifts it, and then Negan tells him the rules. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" "Rick replies, "Right." "That is the look I wanted to see. We did it. All of us together. Today was a productive damn day! Now I hope for your sake that you get it now. That you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you that is over now." He tells Dwight to load Daryl into the back of the van. Negan says Daryl is his now. "Welcome to a brand new beginning." They will be back in one week for their first offering.
Negan's men pack up and leave. One of the Saviors takes a picture of Glenn's body. The gang still sit on the ground. Maggie is the first to get up. Rick tells her she needs to sit down. She says they need to go get ready to fight them. He tries to reason with her. She tells him to go home. Take everybody with him. She will go by herself. She needs to go. "You were out - out here fore me." Rick responds, "We still are." Maggie cries. She replies, "I can make it now. I need you to go back. I can't have you out here. I can't have you all out here. I need you to go back." Michonne tells her they are not letting her go. Sasha gets up and says, "I'm taking her. I'm going to get her there. I'm going to keep her safe." Maggie agrees but says she is taking Glenn with her. Sasha kneels in front of Rosita and says she will take him (Abraham). Rosita nods in agreement. Aaron says they need to help her. Carl comes up behind to help. Rick says, "Please let us. He's our family too." Eugene helps Sasha and Rosita. Carl hugs Maggie then he along with Aaron and Rick pick up Glenn. Maggie stands alone crying. We hear Negan saying "I bet you all thought you were gonna grow old together . . ." We see a dinner scene with everyone at a long dinner table eating and laughing. Glenn and Abraham are there. Glenn sits at the end with a little boy on his lap. Back to reality. Rick picks the axe up from the ground and walks into the RV. Rick drives away. He has a haunted look in his eyes.
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| R.I.P. Glenn Rhee |
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| R.I.P. Abraham Ford |
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Final Thoughts
- This was a tough episode. We lost two characters when I was only expecting to lose one. I thought that when Negan killed Abraham he would be the only victim. Alas, I was wrong. I did have Glenn up at the top of my list since he does die in the same manner in the comics. But the show has saved characters that died in the comics and killed off characters that survive in the comic so I was clinging desperately to that hope.
- While Abraham had some of the best one-liners he was not a character that I cared that much about. To be honest, if he wasn't in an episode I would forget about him. So his loss isn't that great in my book. But he did die bravely. A soldier's death. Putting himself out their for his friends and getting one last good line in before he left this world.
- Glenn will be a hard loss to bear. He was the heart and soul of the show. He and Maggie were the hope for society and families in my book. They were the love story that gave that ray of light to an often dark show. Glenn was the pizza delivery guy who became a great leader for our gang. Until season six and the attack on the Saviors Glenn had never killed another living human. He was the moral compass for the gang. His loss will be felt for seasons to come. There will also be repercussions for the group because of his death. Who knows what path they will go down without his input and guidance. He always gave people a chance. He looked for the good in people. That was something this gang needed. He balanced Rick's drive to kill anyone that got in their way. He was a voice of reason. He was also going to be a dad. He and Maggie made the decision to have a baby in this new world. I wish we could have seen that. I'm glad they gave us that happy dinner scene in Alexandria even if it wasn't real. It will be a bittersweet memory of what could have been. His last line was heartbreaking. He and Maggie are soulmates. They will find each other again some day.
- I don't blame Daryl for Glenn's death. He reacted out of love for his friends. I would have done the same thing.
- What is going to happen to Daryl?! I hope he is not stuck wit the Saviors for very long. I also hope they don't torture him. I know he can play along to survive. We saw that with the claimers back in season 4.
- I hope Maggie and Glenn's baby is alright. The baby could bring great comfort to Maggie. I think we all need that baby to bring some light into this dark world.
- I assume that the shots of everyone in the group getting their heads hit by Lucille were death scenes that they shot for all of the characters to avoid leaks about who actually died. I was glad it was all in Rick's head. I girl can only take so much loss in one episode.
- What will happen when they get back to Alexandria? How long before they devise a plan to rid this world of the Saviors? They really should have gathered more information before trying to take them out. I am surprised they didn't watch them more before attacking. This is the consequence of Rick's hubris. He underestimated the Saviors. And now two of his group have lost their lives.
- Carl was very brave in telling Rick to cut off his arm. That is one brave kid. He is willing to do what he has to do for the good of the group. Even if that means he suffers. He will be a great leader some day.
- I'm glad that Sasha and Rosita were able to make amends.
"Maggie, I'll find you."
