The Walking Dead Monday

Reviewing: TWD: Season 7: Episode 8: Hearts Still Beating

SPOILERS AHEAD. If you have not watched or don't want to know what happened, STOP reading now.

Tonight's episode is 90 minutes and the mid-season finale. The scenes jump from one another pretty quickly so I do apologize if it seems to jump a bunch. Tonight's was the hardest for me to keep up with. 

The episode starts out with Maggie sitting at Glenn's grave. She doesn't say anything, just cries. Then she leaves and goes back to her post. Gregory walks up and calls for her. He says that people are saying nice things about them and he doesn't want it to go to her head. She said that it seems to bother him and he ask her what she's doing. He's got an apple and she ask him if he's going to eat that. He throws it to her after another person tells him she's pregnant. We see Negan shaving and talking to Judith and Carl. We see Daryl looking at the note and key and he opens his cell door and runs. We see Negan cooking and he offers Carl a taste. Tara brings Olivia the lemonade Negan wanted. She offers to take over but Olivia says no because she offered to watch Judith. She goes in. Carl is setting the table. Olivia pours Negan lemonade. We see Rick and Aaron at the boat house they found. They are talking about how they are going to get over the water. Aaron makes rowers for the boat. The boat has a bunch of bullet holes so they know they have to get across fast. They get in the boat and go. Negan is sitting at the table to eat and says he's not waiting on Rick anymore and wants to eat. He ask Carl to pass the rolls. Please * Negan's crew is going through the stuff Spencer found and they are complimenting him. A girl flirts with him. Eugene is watching them all. We see Carol reading a book, eating pomegranate seeds with a fire going. She gets up and sees something on her porch and Morgan walking away. She calls him in. He wants to know why she called him in. They small talk. Richard is at the door when Morgan goes to leave and wants to speak to them both. Rick and Aaron are taking on water in boat. Walkers try to take over boat. They manage to kill them and keep rowing. They make it to another boat that has a walker in it. Aaron falls into the water and Rick can't find him. Aaron finally emerges and makes it to the boat house as Rick makes it too. We see Daryl on the run and he hides in a room where he finds peanut butter. He changes his clothes, while eating the peanut butter with his fingers. Rick and Aaron are going through the stuff on the house. They find guns and a note that says "Congrats for winning but you still lose" with a middle finger drawing in the middle of the page. Daryl is still eating peanut butter and listening to people outside the door. Rick and Aaron load the stuff they found into the van. Rick tells him he wouldn't blame him if he blames him for everything. Aaron says he was there and witnessed it. He gets it. As they are finishing the load, we see a random pair of boats watching them from across the water. * Michonne is with the girl who is taking her to see Negan. Michonne ask her how long she's been with Negan and wants to know why she was alone. The girl doesn't answer her. Michonne says she isn't going to kill him today but wants to find a way to win. Maggie, Sasha and Enid are in their house eating apple pie (welcome to pregnant world Maggie) that someone made them. Sasha tells Maggie that the people want Maggie to be president. Someone needs help so Maggie leaves. Enid wants to know why Sasha lied to Maggie about Jesus. Sasha says Maggie doesn't need to know because they need to keep her safe. Richard is talking to Carol and Morgan about Negan and how they made the deal to his people. Richard wants their help in keeping The Kingdom alive. Ezekiel trust them and he wants them to attack Negan's crew first before they attack them. * Rosita is looking at the bullet and talking to Gabriel about how she is going to kill Negan. He says they will kill her and she says as long as he goes first. She says if Abraham were alive he would fight. Gabriel tries to talk her out of it saying they are all in this together and a day will come where they will win. He explains that they need her alive to win. Daryl is on the run again with a change of clothes. Richard is talking about how they need to attack first. Carol says no, she is not apart of it. Carol just wants to be left alone and refuses to help or convince Ezekiel to do so. Morgan agrees with her. Richard gets mad and leaves. Morgan leaves too. * Spencer goes to his house and sees the mess Rick did to it. A few moments later we see the house clean and Spencer cleaned and talking to himself in the mirror, saying hi over and over. Richard takes down a camping sign and goes into a trailer that is hidden and filled with gas and old milk bottles. He cries. Spencer is walking down the street when Rosita stops him. She ask him what he's doing and he say's he's trying to get good with them. Spencer wants to know why they ended their relationship and she says she tries not the think about things. She apologizes and he ask her to dinner, no strings. She agrees. Daryl makes it outside and sees motorcycles. Joey walks up and sees him but tells Daryl he can leave but Daryl instead attacks him, killing him. Jesus walks up and Daryl takes Joey's gun. Daryl and Jesus leave on a motorcycle. Spencer goes to talk to Negan with a bottle of scotch. Spencer introduces himself. * Michonne and the girl stop and the girl says that's Negan. We see a whole bunch of people. She explains they are all Negan. The girl says that the way out is by taking her car and killing her and Michonne does. Michonne drives the car the opposite way. Rick and Aaron make it back to Alexandria and see Negan's people. Rick wants to know where he is and the guy says he's in his house waiting for him. Rick tries to walk away but the man says he needs to see what he brought first. Spencer and Negan are talking. Negan says all they need is a pool table and Spencer says there is one across the street. Negan's men find the random note that Rick and Aaron found and they beat Aaron up for it, thinking Aaron left it for them. Rick looks on helpless. Negan and Spencer are playing pool and Spencer says he wants to talk about Rick. Spencer says he understands what Negan is doing and throws Rick under the bus. Spencer blames everything on Rick. He says he can be the leader Rick can't be. Rick helps Aaron up and he ask Rick if his heart is still beating. Negan tells Spencer that Rick is out there getting stuff for him and getting shit done. And then there's Spencer, who went behind Ricks back. He wants to know why he didn't kill Rick himself and say's it's because he has no guts and slices Spencer in half with a knife and his guts spill out on the ground. Everyone who was in town has already arrived by this point, watching these two so they all see it. Negan wants someone to clean it up. Rosita is boiling over and pulls out her gun and shoots it. * Rick hears the gunfire and goes running. Rosita missed and hit Lucille instead. Negan attacks her but doesn't kill her. He wants to know who made the bullet and she says her. He says nope she's lying. He ask her again and she say's her. Then he instructs the girl who is holding Rosita down to kill someone and the girl kills Olivia. Rick walks up and Negan explains to him what has happened while he has been gone. Rick tells him his stuff is at the front gate so he can leave. Negan says not before he knows who made the bullet. Eugene finally steps forward and says him. Negan says Rick needs to find more stuff because they are in a serious hole from today....oh and he's taking Eugene. Negan leaves and Spencer turns into a walker. Rick stabs Spencer in the head. * Rick is sitting in a cell looking at that middle finger note and a hatchet when Michonne comes in. They hug. She tells him she found what she was looking for. She wanted to go with him and Aaron but needed to go her own way. Once she found it she realized that she didn't want it to be her way, but their way. She say's there are more of them then she thought, a lot more. It doesn't change how she thinks but how excited that they are still there, together, alive. She wants to know how do they make that mean something. They are the ones that get things done, that's why they have to fight. They can do it together. He says he knows that now. They kiss. Maggie is back at Glenn's grave and then goes to her perch to keep an eye out over the gate. She sees something and smiles. They open the gates and its Rick, Carl, Michonne, Tara and Rosita. Rick hugs Maggie who tells him that the baby is fine. He tells Maggie she was right about fighting. Rick looks up and sees Daryl. They hug and cry. Daryl hands Rick the gun he took from Joey, Rick's Colt Python he originally had. They all go into the mansion as one big group, ready to fight. 

A 10 second random scene (after the credits) shows Gabriel at watch at Alexandria and a guy watching them through binoculars. When he jumps out, we see it's the same guy in the boots. 

Main points of this week show:

• Who's the guy in the boots? Not another villain please. Negan is all I can take right now. I assume he's the own of the boat house because of the note. Little does he know (or I think little does he know, maybe he knows everything) who he's messing with. We will see! 
• I'm glad they killed Spencer. He needed to go and this is the point in the comics where he does die by Negan so good for them for committed to that. 
• Yay for Daryl getting out and reunited with his crew. I am so tired of him being cooped up and acting not Daryl like. I miss my man! Daryl is usually the peace keeper for the group so it did shock me when he killed Joey but I don't think Daryl was Daryl then. I think he's learned to not trust Negan's group, no matter what they say. So in that moment, it was him and his freedom and he wasn't going to let anyone get in the way. 
• I will never look at Peanut Butter the same! 
• Is it just me or does Negan not look as bad ass without his facial hair? I mean he's hot but there was something about that facial hair with him. 
• The Rick and Daryl hug is probably my favorite hug in all of TV history. That friendship is one of a kind and for them to be back together, just brings my heart back to TWD. 
• Finally, Rick is Rick again. Man oh man I was so tired of it all. Yes, Daryl is my favorite but there would be no show without Rick. Watch out Negan, the sheriff is back in town! 

Feel free to leave comments, thoughts and/or ideas on what you liked, loved, hated or think might happen.

The next episode won't be till February 12, 2017 so The Walking Dead Monday's will be held off till then! See you then Walking Dead Friends!!

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