The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 8 Review: Well, That Took Long Enough (Winter Finale)

I, like many viewers, have a love/hate relationship with "The Walking Dead" these days. The premiere may have been one of the best hours in television history. I still havent recovered yet. After that though, we settled into episodes focusing on the different groups-- Maggie/Sasha at Hilltop, Negan/Daryl/Carl/Jesus at the Sanctuary, Carol/Morgan at the Kingdom, Tara at Oceanside, and of course the Alexandrian crew. Instead of catching up with each team weekly, the show forced us to wait a number of episodes. Sorry "The Walking Dead" but this structure does NOT work for me.

At least the finale "Hearts Still Beating" gave us some action. Typically "TWD" finales have at least 1-2 deaths to keep use coming back for more. Who will it be this time? Rick and Aaron go out scavenging to pay Negan his tribute. Aaron is almost killed in a pond full of zombies. Meanwhile, Daryl has had enough and escapes from the Savior stronghold thanks to help from someone. We're not sure who. Daryl takes his anger out on Fat Joey on the way out. Negan makes Carl cry but forcing him to reveal the gaping hole where his eye used to be. He then takes the teenager back to Alexandria.

Negan makes himself comfortable until Rick returns. He shaves his beard, has a nice spaghetti dinner with Olivia and Carl and plays with Judith. I was seriously worried he would bash the baby's brains in. I have no idea how the child has survived this long. Spencer makes a play at being top dog by insinuating to Negan that Rick is weak. We think Negan might go with the plan until he de-guts Spencer after a game of street pool. Poor stupid Spencer.

Upon their return, Aaron is beaten by two Saviors for the note he found on the houseboat. Aaron better keep a low profile. After Spencer's death, he's the only original Alexandrian left (except for Tobin who no one counts). Rosita stupidly tries to off Negan with her one bullet. Lucille is hit instead. Negan instructs Arat to randomly kill someone. This time it's Olivia. Eugene is forced to reveal that he is the bullet maker and is carted away. As usual, Rick watches helplessly.

After the Saviors leave, Rick vows to fight back after a little (OK, a LOT) of encouragement from Michonne. That look long enough. Michonne, Carl, Rosita, Maggie, Sasha and Daryl already arrived at this conclusion long ago They just need to work together to come up with a good plan.

Team Rick all head over to Hilltop and reunite with Maggie and Sasha. Daryl is also there and gives Rick back the revolver that the Saviors took from him. Carol and Morgan are the only members of the original crew not there. Will they give up their vow of non-violence and join the others soon?

Any thoughts on who the mysterious person with boots is? They have been following our folks for some time. Are they friend or foe? It's hard to tell since if this show has taught us anything, it's that man is the true monster. The zombies are just an annoyance.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5) for this episode. Team Rick FINALLY comes to the realization that they MUST fight back against Negan at all costs. While this episode had some good moments, the rest of the season (minus the premiere) drug on at a snail's pace. "The Walking Dead" returns from break on February 12. Here are a few suggestions on how to keep fans (like me) from abandoning ship before the end of season 7:

Show, dont tell. We know Negan is a badass. We dont need him to tell us over and over again. The more he talks, the less menacing he becomes.
Check in with each team member at least once per episode. Showing a quick five to ten minutes about each person would greatly accelerate the pace of the show.
How about showing a few walkers once in a while? We got some "floaters" in the lake during the finale but several episodes had zero zombies. This is one of my main criticisms of "Fear The Walking Dead" as well. This is a show about zombies after all.
Keep episodes to 60 minute run times max. If you cant show it in an hour, I dont want to see it. Plus many of the scenes that caused the elongated episodes were entirely unnecessary. I'm all for seeing more of Michonne but was that side trip with her Savior hostage really necessary?
Randomly kill one of the main characters when it's least expected. This is supposed to be a violent world. If everyone is safe (except for the finales) then it's less enjoyable.