THE WALKING DEAD Season 7 Episode 9
Episode Title: “Rock in the Road”
Writer: Angela Kang
Director: Greg Nicotero
Previously on The Walking Dead:
Episode 7.08: “Hearts Still Beating“
There are spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of The Walking Dead, but don’t pretend that you didn’t know that!
The Walking Dead is back, but whether it’s going to reach its former creative heights remains to be seen. If nothing else, “Rock in the Road” was a promising start to the second half of the season, even when it felt like two or three episodes crammed into one. The biggest improvement was that it kept the focus almost entirely on Rick’s group, with only occasional asides. These are the characters who matter, and we didn’t get enough of them in the first half of the season.
That said, the show is still essentially in holding pattern, since neither the Hilltop nor the Kingdom signed on for Rick’s war against the Saviors…yet. The real question is whether the show is going to try to drag that out until the season finale or if the all out war against Negan will start this season. After the way the storylines were unnecessarily extended this season and last season, there’s not a lot of trust in the show’s ability to set a satisfying pace for itself.
It always comes back to characters. Gregory may be a weasel in human form, but at least he was entertaining to watch as he shot down the group’s offer of an alliance. But it was King Ezekiel who really shined among the recurring players. Ezekiel may have put on his royal act, but there were times it almost seemed like he stopped putting on the performance because he was impressed by the way that Rick and his people carried themselves. That was a small but effective touch by Khary Payton.
If there was anything unsatisfying about the Kingdom, it was the way that Rick and Daryl didn’t really get a definitive answer about Carol out of Morgan, or really question why he decided to stay there. Morgan may have promised Carol not to give up her location, but it still felt like a needless step to keep her longtime friends in the dark.
Also: ‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 2 Deleted Scene
The next part of the episode managed to go from being a needless sidequest to one of the best parts of this installment. After coming across a Saviors’ roadblock, Rick and the group carefully collected explosives from the trap because they were so desperate for weapons. As motivations go, that made perfect sense…even more so when Rick realized that they had taken it too far. That said, Rick and Michonne using the cars to decimate the walker herd was terrific. It was easily one of the best mass walker kills that the show has pulled off in a while. As an added bonus, the show kept Negan off screen while letting his voice be a presence through the stolen radio. Negan’s threat works best at a distance, and it was also quite funny when he described the tragedy of Fat Joey’s death meant that Skinny Joey was now simply “Joey.”
After that, the Saviors came looking for Daryl in Alexandria, without knowing that Ezekiel was hiding him in the Kingdom. That could keep Daryl out of the main story almost as much as his captivity did, but it wasn’t a bad solution. The heads cratcher in this episode was Father Gabriel’s sudden decision to steal all of the food and a lot of the weapons from Alexandria. As presented here, it doesn’t make much sense at all…even if Gabriel really does want to be found by his friends. Can’t help but thinking that Gabriel has to go if this is the best material that the writers can give him.
As for the ending, Gabriel’s trail seemingly led Rick and company into a trap by another community…and we’re fairly certain that it wasn’t the all-female group from Oceanside that may have a grudge against Tara. But that smile that Rick flashed was pretty damn perfect. They’ve found a heavily armed group that’s ready to fight and not necessarily their enemies. That’s a pretty big win, in of itself.
Other subtle touches in this episode included an ongoing tension between Sasha and Rosita, as well as a brief human moment between Ezekiel and Benjamin…even though we know Benjamin will probably die, because that’s how this show works. Same for Sasha, since Sonequa Martin-Green lined up the starring role on the new Star Trek series. Unfortunately, The Walking Dead is a little predictable when it comes to those casting moves. But this was an entertaining episode, even if the run time was a little bloated. As far as we’re concerned, the show can run as long as it wants, as long as it’s good.
