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‘The Walking Dead’ – Season 7, Part 2 – Sundays on AMC

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Finally got around to watching the season finale today, and it was pretty good but I hated it. Does that make sense? The episode is well directed, excellent scene composition, powerful performances with a solid farewell to Sasha. But like my former complaints this season, community battles aren't working anymore and this finale is setting the pace for a war that will be milked into season 8's finale. Negan will probably not die by then either. I think this will be my TWD finale, which works well with Maggie's stupid end monolgue.

If you want to find a good place - story wise - to drop the show, the end of next season should be perfect.
 

border

Member
Finally got around to watching the season finale today, and it was pretty good but I hated it. Does that make sense? The episode is well directed, excellent scene composition, powerful performances with a solid farewell to Sasha. But like my former complaints this season, community battles aren't working anymore and this finale is setting the pace for a war that will be milked into season 8's finale. Negan will probably not die by then either. I think this will be my TWD finale, which works well with Maggie's stupid end monolgue.

The conflict with the Saviors will almost certainly be over by the end of next season. There's really no way for them to draw out the war longer than 16 episodes. I'm kinda debating whether they can really manage it for more than a half season.

What comes after that will be a significant departure from what the show has done, so much so that I wonder if the showrunners will continue to use the comic as a blueprint. At that point they may go off down their own path.
 

Chumley

Banned
The conflict with the Saviors will almost certainly be over by the end of next season. There's really no way for them to draw out the war longer than 16 episodes. I'm kinda debating whether they can really manage it for more than a half season.

What comes after that will be a significant departure from what the show has done, so much so that I wonder if the showrunners will continue to use the comic as a blueprint. At that point they may go off down their own path.

I could see them wrapping up all out war by the mid season finale kind of like how the governor took 1 1/2 seasons from start to finish.
 

border

Member
I could see them wrapping up all out war by the mid season finale kind of like how the governor took 1 1/2 seasons from start to finish.

The arc following The War will introduce a slew of new characters, so if there's a bunch of new casting announcements it should be pretty obvious what direction they are headed in.
 

near

Gold Member
The conflict with the Saviors will almost certainly be over by the end of next season. There's really no way for them to draw out the war longer than 16 episodes. I'm kinda debating whether they can really manage it for more than a half season.

What comes after that will be a significant departure from what the show has done, so much so that I wonder if the showrunners will continue to use the comic as a blueprint. At that point they may go off down their own path.

We were introduced to The Saviors at the start of season 6, with an ambush on Sasha, Abraham and Daryl, so I'd say this battle has been going on for ~26 episodes. I understand that a lot happens in between, but it's already been drawn out beyond it's worth in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I loved the season 6 finale and was always excited about season 7 entirely for Negan, but I think they're exhausting it's relevance.

How much of season 7 adhered to the comics pacing? Honest question since I don't read the comics. When you say significant departure can you elaborate? (Without spoilers - lol in case I jump back on the bandwagon).
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
We were introduced to The Saviors at the start of season 6, with an ambush on Sasha, Abraham and Daryl, so I'd say this battle has been going on for ~26 episodes. I understand that a lot happens in between, but it's already been drawn out beyond it's worth in many ways. Don't get me wrong, I loved the season 6 finale and was always excited about season 7 entirely for Negan, but I think they're exhausting it's relevance.

How much of season 7 adhered to the comics pacing? Honest question since I don't read the comics. When you say significant departure can you elaborate? (Without spoilers - lol in case I jump back on the bandwagon).

"The Lineup" that started the season is Issue #100 and things aren't 1:1 by any means, but the events of the season finale are roughly what happened in Issue #114. I'd say it's about the same, honestly. I think the key difference is the comic follows different perspectives in the same issue. Where the show likes devoting entire episodes to one group/character/location.

MINOR COMIC SPOILERS
I think it's hard to say how fast they burn through the next arc. There are some pretty action heavy stretches coming up, but those could always get broken up by bottle episodes.
 

border

Member
I don't see how it's possible to drag it out much longer than half the season. S7 already took some material from the all out war plot and added a ton.

I think his point is more that what comes after The War is such a sharp divergence that they would rather save it for a new season than try to shift gears in the middle of production.

If the war is going to take 16 episodes then that's going to be a lot of tap-dancing, even if Oceanside and the Garbage People have given the writers new ways to kill time.
 

Surfinn

Member
I think his point is more that what comes after The War is such a sharp divergence that they would rather save it for a new season than try to shift gears in the middle of production.

If the war is going to take 16 episodes then that's going to be a lot of tap-dancing, even if Oceanside and the Garbage People have given the writers new ways to kill time.
If they know what's good for the show they'll end war at midseason. But they'll milk it bad. It will stretch out into the finale.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
TVLine has learned exclusively that the recurring characters’ respective portrayers — Steven Ogg (Simon), Katelyn Nacon (Enid) and Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis) — have formally been upgraded to series regular ahead of Season 8.

Source
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that

Good for them. Their pay per episode will go up up up. Simon is a scene stealer. You just have to watch when that dude is on screen. Enid has grown on me a lot this season. Jadis...a tad ridiculous but I think I see what they're going for with her, so I get it.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Ogg *is* rather excellent, but I really don't need any more Enid and I'd rather forget about the garbage pail people unless they can provide some meaty background that is actually engaging and pertinent instead of the usual filler.
 

border

Member
More Simon
More Enid
More Garbage People

Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Hopefully we get some more casting announcements as the weeks roll on.
 

Undefined

Member
Just marathoned all 16 eps of the latest season and I thought overall it was still pretty good.

I've been doing this since like season 3 where I just wait the whole year and watch all 16 episodes at once. I think Its more enjoyable that way because if I watched each episode and had to wait a week everytime, I would get really pissed off like many people in this thread.

I did enjoy the finale, even though its kinda funny how this season and last season sort of ended up in sorta the same way, with Rick's crew kneeling down to Negan. But with this season an extra 15 minutes of people saving them and going to war in the future. Isn't that kinda what we expected at the end of last season?

Anyway cant wait till next year again to see the next season!
 

Chumley

Banned
Happy for Steven Ogg. From GTAV to Walking Dead series regular in 4 years, with tons of great guest spots on shows like Better Call Saul inbetween. Dude is great.
 

Run-M-Run

Member
Just finished the season finale

What a shitshow tbh

And man the toned down violence sucks

Yeah. The season got progressively worse and worse. Governor arc and stuff that happened after it was still alright but now it's just gotten unbearably bad. From the acting to the writing to the characters.. just awful. For example the last fight scene had practically no tension whatsoever - edit: apparently memory works wonders. All of the final shootouts have been garbage.

rzS7Fyx.gif

Oh my god I had already erased that from my mind.
 

Nibel

Member
Yeah. The season got progressively worse and worse. Governor arc and stuff that happened after it was still alright but now it's just gotten unbearably bad. From the acting to the writing to the characters.. just awful. For example the last fight scene had practically no tension whatsoever - edit: apparently memory works wonders. All of the final shootouts have been garbage.

Breh there are minutes of these people shooting each other near the end and nobody gets fucking hit because of DIY smoke grenades? Negan's truck not only gets shot by 10 people at the same time but he also manages to show them a 'fuck you' without getting hurt? It's like in a videogame where you can't hurt the boss because it's scripted in a certain way

Like why create these huge scenes when there is 0 fucking tension in them? The stakes are high and yet I felt nothing

Embarrassing. And now they want to do a war arc? LMAO, good luck

Also, fuck that garbage people twist and I don't give a fuck if it was in the comics or not, it's just UGH
 
They're following the comics.

I read the comics and this is still bull, they're was no tension at all in this last episode, no shocking deaths(sorry Sasha) literally people shooting a clip and a half and nobody getting hit!?!?!? the comic did this war much better, this is some straight bullshit!
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
AMC is casting two new recurring good guys: Dillon, a sexy, blue-collar twentysomething whose survival skills include sarcasm, and Abbud, an innately likable Muslim American whose nerves are, let's say, jangled, because he's flown solo for too long in zombieland. Of the pair, the former is likelier to survive the looming conflict — the casting notice for the roles hints that the actor chosen might get picked up for subsequent seasons.

via Ausiello

I'm guessing Dillon =
Dante
?
 

dustyherb

Member
via Ausiello

I'm guessing Dillon =
Dante
?
Hmmm (comic spoilers)
wouldnt it be too early for him to show up? Unless the war isn't lasting all season. Could be they're going to show some of the stuff that happened during the big time skip. I could definitely see him showing up early if that's the case

Now that I think about it the other one could be Siddiq. Im definitely digging it if they are planning on introducing these two early. Like how Laura was introduced really early.
 

Pyrokai

Member
I don't read the comics, but I just finished Season 7.

I didn't realize people were so down on this show. This is my first time in this thread. I personally enjoyed it and watched the second half all day today, haha.

Plus Aaron is still alive so I can continue to keep crushing on Ross Marquand. (No comic spoilers or remarks that hint me to know! Lol)
 

Ledsen

Member
Can anyone find any sort of rationale in Sasha and Rosita's suicide attack on the Saviors? I've been struggling trying to come up with a sane reason for them doing what they did but their only motivation seems to be that they were too impatient to wait a week or so to take part in the actual attack, and decided that going in by themselves, most likely getting captured and compromising the entire plan, was a better idea. Even when Jesus found out he's like "ok" and let them do it. And Enid was supposed to tell Maggie, she apparently didn't do anything either. Then when their plan failed Sasha felt that the best option was to go in by herself like an idiot even though Negan was nowhere to be seen.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Can anyone find any sort of rationale in Sasha and Rosita's suicide attack on the Saviors? I've been struggling trying to come up with a sane reason for them doing what they did but their only motivation seems to be that they were too impatient to wait a week or so to take part in the actual attack, and decided that going in by themselves, most likely getting captured and compromising the entire plan, was a better idea. Even when Jesus found out he's like "ok" and let them do it. And Enid was supposed to tell Maggie, she apparently didn't do anything either.

It's been months since the season ended, so I've forgotten literally everything that happened, but I think the main thing was that they thought they could sneak in and off Negan without anyone else risking their lives.
 
Super crazy late, but my wife (who is huge fan of TV show) and I (less) just finally watched the last two episodes and the finale last night.

Man, what a disappointment for me (less her.) I've read the thread (and thank you for the humor!) but I am just lost/saddened/flummoxed by the following:

1. They develop Carol's monastic retreat and motivation for an entire season and then...just have her be another person firing randomly in a stupid gunfight? Why waste our time if her re-engagement is pretty much "oh, she's back again as another gun in the crowd?" Wouldn't the Carol we know have at least something strategic or some precision shooting to offer? In terms of the last three episodes, I'd rather have had more Carol and Darryl and Rick and even Dwight, than hours and hours of Rosita/Sasha/flashback Abraham.

2. Ditto, develop Morgan's arc over the whole season, and then...not much comes of it at all to make us think about going foward. It's just feels all mushed together.

3. The whole final battle on Rick's part was completely un-strategic, made no sense, and was really poorly filmed.

Like many, I could not determine how the tide of the battle turned or what was going on. I just feel like we are watching sketches sometimes with this show...stuff on screen that we are supposed to accept as fans and fill in the blanks with our fan knowledge/giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Then when Rick and Carl got down on their knees (again) I realized that WD is really more of a zombie-opera at this point with larger than life characters but little in the way of thought out action or plot. We just take it or leave it.

And that especially goes for when the sides retreat to their corners through the smoke with none of the principals captured or killed it just feels fake and very much out of the previous spirit of the show where there were more consequences to things. Like getting shot in the abdomen, for one.

4. Speaking of which, Negan's so OP it's ridiculous. He just walks around like Robert Duvall on the beach in Apocalypse Now. I get that this is part of Negan's character but it does distort the suspense for me.

5. I guess Rick and the folks at Oceanside have mind reading, because large groups of people on both sides just all did stuff in sync...I mean how do we go from that highly choreographed sequence at Oceanside with explosions and groups moving with precise timing to "let's just wait at the fence and blow stuff up (including possibly our friends, our mole, and ourselves) only to get ambushed by the Scavengers, "allies" who are 50x less trustworthy, resemble the Wolves and should never have been let in to begin with?"

I don't know.

The problem for me now is that we presumably are going to have, more war, more group action along these lines next season...and this is how they get us excited for it?

And the zombies, the infection, the arc to build something new in this world, all that, just seems background now to a focus on Negan versus everyone else. Even mysterious Jesus is kind of a prosaic character now, sheesh.

I'd love to see the series have some tighter economy of scale, some strategic action again, some sense of risk and regret. Let the character development come more out of small, distinct actions and choices, maybe. Sasha's story could have been told this way, and taken much less time, I think.

My wife still loves the show and is way more forgiving, of course, so we will see...
 

TheContact

Member
I binge watched the last couple seasons and really enjoyed it. Negan is a really cool and oddly likeably antagonist. His acting is superb too. I wonder if they’re going to have him play out like he does in the comics. The finale was OK and the writing is odd at times but I’m excited for the next season.
 
I binge watched the last couple seasons and really enjoyed it. Negan is a really cool and oddly likeably antagonist. His acting is superb too. I wonder if they’re going to have him play out like he does in the comics. The finale was OK and the writing is odd at times but I’m excited for the next season.

This is where I am. It ain't perfect, and it ain't great, but the hate it gets around here is way overblown.

That poster...my body is ready.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
We asked showrunner Scott M. Gimple what the chances are we might come across the missing Heath in season 8, and there was both good news and bad news. “Not a huge chance,” says Gimple “But we definitely have not seen the last of Heath, period. I will say that. I don’t mean to disappoint the Heathies. He will be on the show. He will be within The Walking Dead again.”

Source
 
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