Season 7 of "The Walking Dead" has been a drag due to the amount of characters that were introduced to the story and different settings added to the plot. But, after 15 episodes of buildup, the season finale did not disappoint. It was perhaps the second best episode of the season, behind the first episode where Negan bashed in some heads. After sitting through episodes of mostly dialogue and the group being split, the finale was satisfying.
Ruthless Rick is back
Rick delivered what was probably the best line of the season. Following up on what he said in episode 7.1, that he wanted Negan dead, Rick repeated himself in the most intense scenario of the episode.
After Negan had told Rick that he is going to smash Carl's head with Lucille, Rick responded by saying, "I told you already. I'm going to kill you. All of you. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But nothing is going to change that. Nothing."
After hearing that line, it's safe to say that ruthless Rick is back, the one that would stop at nothing to kill the people threatening him and his family. He doesn't care if Negan kills more of his people, even if it's his own son. He's not afraid to fight back. Most importantly, he is not scared of Negan.
Kingdom and Hilltop uniting
The part that gave me chills is when an Ezekiel led Kingdom charged Alexandria to help Rick's group by killing The Saviors with a vicious attack from Shiva to kick things off.
Then following the Kingdom, Hilltop, led by Maggie, came to cease control of Alexandria and scare off The Saviors completely. It was an amazing moment to finally see all three groups uniting to take down The Saviors.
Scavengers' betrayal
From day one I found something totally fishy about that garbage group. They seemed a little odd and untrustworthy, and my gut feeling about them was correct.
When Negan approached the scene, the filthy garbage people turned their guns on Rick's group, apparently having a better deal in place with The Saviors. At least some of those junkyard dogs were killed.
The all-out war
All the groups now know that there is an all-out war going on -- The Saviors vs. Alexandria, Hilltop, and Kingdom.
The cat is out of the bag. Negan knows that Rick wants him dead and has teamed up with the other communities. He knows that he can no longer control Rick; he will cease to work for him.
Action packed
Overall, the episode was action packed, to say the least. It seemed like the story was swinging back and forth the whole time. At first, Rick's group looked ready to take down The Saviors, but their plan was nixed because the Scavengers betrayed them. So then Negan and The Saviors had control of the situation, but a reanimated Sasha created a diversion, and Rick's group started fighting back. But again, Negan took control of the situation and was ready to kill Carl until the Kingdom arrived along with Hilltop to retake and maintain control.
Season 8
Season 8 will strictly focus on the groups preparing for a major war. People will die, bullets will be fired, and hopefully a lot of blood will be shed. There is no way around it no more. It's either kill or be killed, and Rick now knows that.
