This weeks episode begins with an interrogation scene between Merle and Glenn. This is pretty intense and I was enjoying up until Merle mentions T-Dog……you can beat the crap out of Glenn, you can threaten Maggie, you can eat my last rolo but you do not diss the Dog! My respect for Merle has gone way down! The sooner Daryl destroys him the better!

Michonne runs (limps) into a bit of a sticky situation outside the grounds of the prison. Herself and the Ricktator have a stare off competition before one of the zombies realises she’s an imposter “hey wait a minute, you’re not a zombie! Get out of here human! Stop cramping our style!” It takes Michonne to pass out before the Ricktator decides to help her. After a series of scintillating head shots from both the Ricktator and Carl, they manage to get Michonne safely into the prison and then lock her away from the rest of the group!

I must admit, when Carol and the Ricktator were reunited, a little bit of liquid protruded from my eyes. I managed to hold most of it back. It was strange. I googled what it might be. Turns out I have conjunctivitis. Carol looks like she has been given the mother role and it is the only reason I can see why she was brought back. Maybe the writers locked her in the cell until she agreed to mind the baby for the rest of the season while the others do cool things like kill zombies and Governors and stuff.

Merle and Glenn are still going at it. Glenn, who’s face now looks like a mashed potato, tries to put the fear into Merle by telling him that the Ricktator will come for him. He was doing pretty well until he mentioned Andrea’s name who we all know is too busy riding people to cause any threat to anyone.

The group rally up the troops and prepare to head looking for the town for the ultimate showdown. Some brave soldiers volunteer for the trip such as Oscar (T-Dog II) and Axle. Poor Axle. The only contribution he made to the brave souls was to open the gate to watch them leave!

The Ricktator and Carl share a nice moment before the journey. It was the first light hearted moment I’ve seen this season. The more Carl grows up, the more I think that hat is surgically attached to his head. They settle on calling the baby Judith. I preferred ass kicker myself but oh well.

The Governor and his smart friend with the glasses are carrying out some sort of strange exorcism on an old man and they drag Andrea into it. At first I thought it was to give a dying man his last wish….but it wasn’t. Although I would say Andrea would be happy to oblige. The smart, glasses man was carrying out an experiment to see if zombies can critique paintings the same way a human can. Andrea was brought in to kill the man after he turns into a soulless, lifeless art critic and that she does.

So Merle wasn’t getting anywhere with Glenn so he decided to play good cop, bad cop with him, using a zombie I like to call Bill. Bill came in strong from the start. Growling, swinging his arms frantically, and frothing at the teeth, just ready to pounce at Glenn who is tied to a chair. Merle gives the go ahead and in flies Bill ready to redeem himself after being on desk duty for over a month now.

Glenn fights him off well considering he’s tied to a chair. Bill tries his best, but his best is just not good enough and is forced to retire early. Glenn then lets off a giant Hulk like roar, clearly making a statement for the next Avengers movie.

The next scene is pretty intense. For anyone who has read the comics, this part is much much much worse. I’ll not go into it too much as this is a family blog (HA!) but the thing that happens rhymes with grape. Obviously AMC didn’t want to go into it too much either. They managed to create a pretty scary, tense scene without it though.

The group manages to get stuck in an “abandoned” house surrounded by zombies. Little do they know, there is a man that cares more for his bed than looking after his dog! He starts to panic, as you do when a load of strangers enter your house carrying a small armoury. He doesn’t settle down and lunges for the door. Michonne isn’t having any of that, sticks him with her katanna and acts like nothing happened. Rick, as shocked as he is, sees this as an opportunity to use the recently deceased man as a diversion. He proceeds to lift him and throw him to the group of zombies outside. Harsh but innovative you have to say.

Next week’s episode is the mid-season finale. As much as I disagree with this “mid-season break” thing AMC has going on, it looks like a lot of shit is going to go down. The two groups are finally going to meet. Daryl vs. Merle, The Governor vs. The Ricktator, I’d like to see a fight between Maggie and Andrea too. Nonetheless, it will be a good episode.

See here for some other Walking Dead related things:

A Real Review

Power Rankings by ccj

A Reddit Discussion on Episode 7