The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16 "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" Discussion Thread

[squeekness]

This might be one of the series ALL-TIME Best episodes.

Best one of the lackadaisical season for me.

 

[terry78]

I was about to say....No they ain't about to kill off two black chicks in the same episode.

 

[terry78]

Oohhj, new mummy commercial.

 

[squeekness]

Oohhj, new mummy commercial.

I'm not a huge Cruise fan but it actually doesn't look that bad.

 

[rashad]

Oh no. Eugene.

 

[squeekness]

Oh no. Eugene.

Or not.

 

[squeekness]

Maggie looks awful skinny for a pregnant woman.

 

[Sithborg]

As much as I enjoyed the last bit, this episode was still uneccessarily stretched out.

 

[NotNickFury]

Good enough. Not great, but good. I'd be lying if I said I felt any sort of tension for anyone minus Sasha since we could predict how this would end for her. We should have a moment of silence for those lost Alexandria residents who we never knew and therefore don't care about their deaths.

All in all, it was a decent finish to the finale of a season that's had its fair share of ups and downs and had to deliver on following up to one of the most disappointing finales this show has ever had. Were there missteps? Oh, of course. Does this finale solve everything? No, and not that it was ever going to, and while I'm sure there are going to be losses on both sides, the closest we came was with Michonne, but no way she'd get offed like this.

That said, I'm curious to see what role the Junkyard Gang plays next season.

But I really could've done without the Abraham flashbacks. They felt there just to inform us of what's going through Sasha's mind instead of just letting that play out as she's listening to music. And it felt like a way just to bring Abraham back for a bit. Like last year, this didn't need to be an extended finale.

 

[Drizzle]

Well that was certainly the best episode of the season. It just edged out the premiere for me. I'd also go so far as to say it was the best season finale the show has had yet. [BLACKOUT]My major complaint is that none of the more prominent bad guys died. I was really hoping that Michonne was going to take out Jadis with a headshot after she took care of that girl on the roof. An unexpected bright spot was seeing Abraham again, even if only in flashback. I loved seeing Shiva in action too.[/BLACKOUT]

This was the episode everyone was waiting for. It's just a shame it took all season to get to. This season was slow but season 8 looks very promising with All Out War.

 

[Evelisse]

in the end Sasha's death was meh for me, never cared for her enough alive to warrant feeling sad at her loss.

 

[Zero_Effect]

Well that was certainly the best episode of the season. It just edged out the premiere for me. I'd also go so far as to say it was the best season finale the show has had yet. [BLACKOUT]My major complaint is that none of the more prominent bad guys died. I was really hoping that Michonne was going to take out Jadis with a headshot after she took care of that girl on the roof. An unexpected bright spot was seeing Abraham again, even if only in flashback. I loved seeing Shiva in action too.[/BLACKOUT]

This was the episode everyone was waiting for. It's just a shame it took all season to get to. This season was slow but season 8 looks very promising with All Out War.

I sure wasn't waiting for it.

 

[Leenie]

This was a really fun episode.

 

[Man in the Suit]

This might be one of the series ALL-TIME Best episodes.

Agreed. It was so good.

 

[Drizzle]

I sure wasn't waiting for it.

'Kay.

 

[Zero_Effect]

'Kay.

Not cool man, Not cool at all.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I am pissed that we lost a major good guy but no major Saviors bit the dust.

 

[NotNickFury]

Well, Sasha's death was all but spelled out the moment Sonequa Martin-Green got cast on Star Trek, and chances are there'll be Savior deaths during the war. Besides, outside of Negan, Dwight, Simon, and Arat- and maybe that small group of Saviors that deal with the Kingdom- what major Saviors are there? Can't kill off Dwight after revealing that he wants Negan killed, while Arat and Simon will probably have roles during the war.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Well, Sasha's death was all but spelled out the moment Sonequa Martin-Green got cast on Star Trek

This

Besides, the all "sacrifice" talk with Abraham and the fact that she had the pill that Eugene gave her.
I expected that the moment she got in the coffin.


SHIVA FTW!! t:

 

[NotNickFury]

Yeah, with how on the nose Sasha's talk with Abraham was, all she needed was a song on the iPod titled 'You're Going to Die Today.'

 

[kvz5]

I really enjoyed that episode. [blackout]Jadis[/blackout] better get a gruesome death in the future. I loved Negan's reaction when he saw Maggie.

Shiva!

 

[OB12]

I thought this was a great episode. I especially liked the exchange between Rick and Negan that mirrored the premiere episode, only instead of Rick cowering to Negan this time he remains defiant puts Negan on notice. Also, Shiva was great!

 

[Elevator Man]

This episode was half Sasha’s swan song and a set up for “All Out War“. I didn’t like the way they handled her death with the nonlinear flashbacks leading up to her death. The show opened with her giving her last breath. So we already knew she was dead. Instead they take the viewers back a couple of hours before she took the pill. Why? We saw her die before they reveal her taking the pill. It’s not clever storytelling. Gimple loves that nonlinear approach and most of the time he fails miserably at it, imo.

Then they give us a flashback from a moment that happened off camera between Sasha and Abe during the Season 6 finale, which should’ve been revealed in that particular episode. I always felt that their relationship was undeveloped from Sasha’s perspective. It didn’t help that both characters became a couple the day before Abe dies. Do the writers really think one flashback with Sasha and Abe was going to make up for the lack of development for her character and romance with Abe? As much as I miss Abe it didn’t make up for it for me. It also felt like an attempt to make up for Abe’s death being overshadowed by Glenn’s. The flashback was the writers meager attempt to show viewers why Sasha and Abe were in love but I still wasn’t convinced by it. I also found it funny that Sasha had a dream/premonition about Abe dying the night he actually dies. Going off what I remember from the Season 6 finale Sasha didn’t seemed concerned about anybody’s well being but cocky about winning until the Saviors ambushed them.

We’re also shown brief cheesy flashbacks/reshoots of Maggie and Sasha around the ending of “Them” from Season 5. However that was obviously shot this season b/c both actresses looked different from when they appeared in that episode. Maggie had her hair in a ponytail in that episode but didn’t in the flashback. If you’re doing a flashback from a particular moment or season at least be consistent with the characters look.

Even though I liked Sasha her death didn’t have the impact the cast and crew wanted it to have on me unfortunately. It didn’t help that I saw her death coming b/c the actress signed onto another tv show a couple months ago. The writers made her death seemed more important than it actually was. Then nearly forgot about walker Sasha during the battle.

Jadis’ group are traitors! Like we didn’t see that coming. It was obvious they would betray Rick. It never made sense to me why they would join Rick in a fight they didn't have any stake in. Their motto “We take. We don’t bother.”, which was mentioned in both this episode and “New Best Friends”, was a clear give away. Like I said before it ended up making Rick look foolish. It should’ve been common sense that Jadis and her group were untrustworthy. The only thing surprising about the betrayal is that Rick (heck even Michonne), who normally has trust issues with different groups/communities, didn’t see it coming. Now we got to put up with this group next season. I was hoping that Negan would’ve finished them off b/c if they betrayed Rick what’s stopping them from betraying him and the Saviors.

They really need to stop with the cheap fake out deaths. First off you didn’t fake me out. I knew Michonne was alive but wasn't the one screaming or falling to her death. If the writers had the guts to kill her off her death wouldn’t happen off camera. She would’ve had a more dramatic death. Also Michonne getting killed by one of the junkyard people would’ve been a lame way to go out. The sad thing was I wasn’t worried for Michonne when she was being subdued and beat down by that junkyard woman. I knew she would come out victorious somehow. And she did. I don’t know how her attacker (before her death) survived being stabbed in the head with that shiv though.

I also wasn’t worried for Rick and Carl when Negan was about to Lucille Carl. I was just waiting for someone to come to the rescue. I’ll admit I didn’t expect Shiva or the Kingdom to show up during the battle. Though it was convenient that Maggie and the Hilltop showed up at the same time Ezekiel and co. did.

Besides seeing Shiva in action and Morgan fighting alongside Rick I wasn’t impressed with the otherwise predictable battle. It was obvious Negan and the Saviors would fight another day, that the casualties would mostly be red shirts, that the war would continue next season, and most of the communities joining forces against Negan.

What happened to Gregory? Last week’s episode we last saw him planning a trip to the Sanctuary.

Maggie’s speech at the end about Glenn bringing everybody together was cheesy. Actually Morgan was the reason Rick was alive to meet Glenn. Without him Rick would’ve never made it to Atlanta or had been trapped in the tank in the first place for Glenn to help him escape. I know it was a memorial for those who’ve fallen in ASZ (including a belated memorial for Glenn and Abe, which was too little too late by this point) but it was too sappy for me. It didn't affect me the way the cast and crew wanted it too..

I thought the Season 7 finale was predictable, pretentious, and so-so. Unfortunately it didn’t leave me anticipating Season 8 either. I'm still planning on checking out Season 8 but it's obvious that this season was stretched out for the war to take place next season. I hope the battles, stories, character arcs, and season 8 in general will be an improvement over this season.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Great episode. Couple of nitpicks:

Spoiler

- Carl and Rick should've had a moment. "One of us may die today son." "I'm okay with that dad. Are you?" would've made the tension greater.
- A little less of the milking Sasha's death. The more they focus on her, the less of a surprise it is when she takes the pill.
- Shiva should've wounded Negan. DUH!

And otherwise just your general TWD TV magic. But like I said, I liked the episode. Bring on season 8!

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

[BLACKOUT]Can anyone tell me what Negan said when he saw Maggie?[/BLACKOUT]