'the walking dead' recap: season 7, episode 9
This recap contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 7, episode 9, titled "Rock in the Road." khổng lồ refresh your memory of where we left off, kiểm tra out our recap of episode 8.
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After half a season of unrelenting misery, torture & junk-measuring contests courtesy of Negan, The Walking Dead finally got back to basics in its midseason premiere, & in the process, rediscovered a show that isn"t a chore to watch.
Rick"s group has spent most of Season 7 separated so far -- robbing us of the banter, friction and interplay that was always a highlight of the show"s early years -- but episode 9 brought the gang back together to try & steamroll Gregory in the opening minutes (they failed for now, but at least they were sassy about it), và then kept that snarky train chugging all the way over to lớn the Kingdom.
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Up until this week"s installment, episode 2 had been the high watermark for the season -- mostly because we got lớn spend it with King Ezekiel & his charismatic cohorts -- & much of the joy of "Rock in the Road" came from watching our group go through the same stages of mistrust và bewilderment that Carol experienced when she first encountered the Kingdom"s eccentric leader.
Not only does the Kingdom allow for some much needed comedy (I"m still obsessed with Jerry, Ezekiel"s... Town crier/jester?), it also makes room for hope.
Ezekiel is a guarded but inherently inspiring leader, one with a grasp of the past (which makes him cautious, for sure, but not callous lượt thích Gregory) và an open heart -- qualities he has in common with Rick.
Reunited & it feels so good.Credit: AMC
No good leader wants to risk the people they care about, but as history has proven time và again, evil can only flourish when good men do nothing. As Ezekiel"s right-hand-man Richard points out, there"s no sense in "waiting for things khổng lồ get worse beyond what we can handle ... The time is now."
That message of unity is one that"s sorely needed right now, both on the show & in reality, and that"s part of what makes "Rock in the Road" so effective. As Rick observes in his somewhat improbable parable khổng lồ Ezekiel, progress often comes at great personal cost, but that sacrifice is usually rewarded in the end.
You can see the motivation behind the producers" decision to isolate many of the characters in the first half of the season -- it"s a tried-and-true method lớn hype us up for when the band inevitably gets back together -- but even if the storytelling choice was logical, it wasn"t necessarily effective this time.
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We didn"t need khổng lồ suffer through eight episodes of emotional abuse in order to lớn understand the stakes of Negan"s vendetta, & I hope that in the remaining episodes of Season 7, the writers don"t lay the angst on too thick. The Walking Dead generally has all the subtlety of a baseball bat khổng lồ the head, but when it plays khổng lồ its strengths -- balancing action with well-earned character development, it can be a thrilling ride.
"Rock in the Road" demonstrated that dual purpose under the confident direction of Greg Nicotero -- our heroes covered plenty of ground, from Hilltop to the Kingdom lớn the highway to Alexandria & then out on the road again lớn try & rescue Father Gabriel from an angry hoarder who was mad at Rick & Aaron for raiding his boat.
That"s a heck of a lot more action than we"ve seen from most of this season"s episodes combined, and that"s not even counting the adrenaline rush we got from the gang"s hair-raising detour lớn defuse dynamite và mow down a bunch of walkers with steel cable in the most high-stakes drag race this side of The Fast và the Furious franchise.
Vin Diesel's got nothing on this guy.Credit: AMC
In short, the episode worked best because it allowed our heroes to lớn be active instead of reactive for the first time all year, & if the rest of the season can keep us on that path, I can forgive a lot of the wheel-spinning và emotional torture porn of the first half. Given Rick"s long-absent smile at the over of the episode, he"s not even bothered about being surrounded by scruffy strangers with a whole lot of weaponry -- new recruits for his uprising against Negan, perhaps?
The only thing the episode didn"t give us was an overdue reunion between the group and Carol (especially since Morgan lied to them about her whereabouts -- naughty!), but with Daryl remaining behind at the Kingdom lớn try & talk some sense into Ezekiel (or "stare him into submission," as Rick wryly suggested) it hopefully won"t be too long before our favorite dynamic duo cross paths again.
Speaking of Carol, I feel lượt thích we"re all frustrated by her newfound isolationism, but her wary interaction with Ezekiel"s optimistic protégé Benjamin reminded me just how often she"s opened her heart up to naive kids only lớn see them die horribly (sometimes by her own hand) over the course of the show -- so it"s hard lớn blame her for wanting to keep her distance. I suspect it"s only a matter of time before she, lượt thích Morgan, is pushed out of her comfort zone again out of necessity, but Melissa McBride is once again portraying her inner conflict with heart & honesty.
"Rock in the Road" brought us further than we"ve gotten in weeks, but we"ve still got miles to lớn go before we can sleep. There seems lớn be a light at the kết thúc of the tunnel now, so let"s cross our fingers it"s not the emotional equivalent of a semi-truck.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. On AMC.
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