The Walking Dead Redemption Club season 7, episode 1. Hostiles and Calamities. Last year, AMCs The Walking Dead sparked an outrage. The gory season 7 premiere threw away beloved characters in the name of archvillain Negan and audiences followed suit by the time the midseason finale rolled around, ratings had dropped 4. Now the show has returned for the second half of the season. Its an opportunity to chart a new course, to correct the mistakes its made, and convince viewers that the story of Rick Grimes is still worth following. As Time Goes By Season 7 Episode 7' title='As Time Goes By Season 7 Episode 7' />The only question is whether the series can pull it off. Welcome to The Walking Dead Redemption Club. Nick Statt The biggest issue facing The Walking Dead right now is how it chooses to spend the audiences time. In the first half of season 7, the plot moved so slowly and said so little in the process that the show began shedding viewers by the millions. Its unclear whats driving everyone away, but its almost surely a combination of TWD reaching the end of its life and the poor handling of the series big bad villain. And probably some of that gratuitous violence, too. Now, two episodes into the seasons second half, its clear TWD is picking up the pace. And without Negan in sight, its been a far more enjoyable and dynamic affair that has Rick and crew doing more plotting and bonding than standing around and wringing their hands. But the real test comes now, with Hostiles and Calamities, which brings us back to the Saviors, the Sanctuary, and Negan. How the show continues to integrate Negans storyline with the greater narrative will be the audiences most critical test of faith. Because why bother watching when the inevitable conclusion isnt even worth waiting forPhoto by Gene Page AMCDwights plight. Nick Dwight remains one of the few redeeming aspects of the Saviors storyline. Watch Joshua Online Facebook. So it was interesting to see the show dial back to the moment after Daryls escape in episode 8 from Dwights perspective, rather than Negans. We get to see his panic as he scrambles to find Daryls empty cell, as well as his resolve as he patiently waits for Negans more brutish henchmen to bust his door down and beat him into submission. Despite that, Dwight gets himself out of solitary confinement and earns a complimentary visit to the doctor by pledging his allegiance to Negan and swearing to find Sherry, who it turns out must have let Daryl escape before running away herself. Drawing straight from the comic book source material, The Walking Dead is clearly building Dwight up as the cunning member of Negans inner circle who just might be bold enough to break rank. Instead of having Dwight spontaneously decide to jump ship, however, TWD is actually giving viewers a fleshed out and engaging look at his journey. The Walking Dead Season 7 is about to bring more action to fans of the AMC show in Episode 7 with a more detailed look inside the sanctuary that the Saviors call home. THE EMPTY NEST two hour episode This special episode of The Waltons is dedicated to the memory of Will Geer Writers Rod Peterson and Claire Whitaker. It all started when Sherry married Negan to spare his life, as the doctor so kindly reminds Dwight, and his future might hinge on her sacrifice as well. Photo by Gene Page AMCDOCTOR SMARTYPANTSBryan Bishop Along with Dwight, the other main storyline in the episode is the fate of Eugene. As youll recall, he was hauled off by the Saviors last year after they discovered he could make bullets. Given what he witnessed last year, Eugene is expecting the worst, and is surprised to find out that hes being subjected to. Negan wants to keep Eugene happy, so hes immediately put into a higher social strata than the other common workers in fact, he gets to actually keep his name, rather than just being turned into a number like so many others. Of course a bully cant let a moment pass without taking some sort of potshot, so pretty soon Negan is calling Eugene Doctor Smartypants and baiting him to see how useful he can actually be. Pants comes up with the idea of pouring liquid metal over some slowly decaying walkers that the Saviors use as sentries. Negan likes the idea, bellowing that Not only is that practical, it is just bad ass which I suppose is funny if I thought Negan was an awesome character that I enjoyed watching, instead of a disgusting violent sociopath whose very presence makes me want to turn off the show. Did I mention that I didnt love the fact that Negan returned this episode Photo by Gene Page AMCSherrys Sacrifice. Nick Sherry, Dwights wife and now one of Negans many miserable mistresses, had the potential to be a powerful player. She was Dwights connection to his past, before Negan burned his face and robed him of his family. Her virtuousness, her need to help Daryl because he once helped her sister, had the potential to redeem her husband. Get the 2017 Suits Louis Litt Calendar Why settle for Louis Litt once a week when you can get Litt Up 365 days a year Download the calendar. Watch previews, find out ways to watch, go behind the scenes, and more of Season 7 Episode 2 of the SHOWTIME Original Series Shameless. Watch Air Bound HD 1080P. But shes now gone, having given up and run away. Seeing Dwight read her letter after he heads to their secret meeting place, knowing he still understood her and held their memories dear, is definitely enough to turn him into a sympathetic character worth rooting for. I have mixed feelings about Dwights transformation and whether it will play out as successfully as it does in the comics. Yes, he did what he did to help his wifes sister who ultimately died. But at the end of the day hes still a willing participant in Negans society, so much so that he lets his wife give up her personhood just as a means of surviving and carrying on. Its hard to think that he could believably come around to betraying Negan after having gotten this far and earning this much good will and trust. And why bother now, that Sherry is goneTHE SIMPSONS TM 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Photo by Gene Page AMCEUGENE TAKES WHAT EUGENE WANTSBryan Part of the charm of the character of Eugene has been his total and complete lack of self awareness. A lot of us are geeky, but Eugene is written as a comic book parody of geeky people the kind of guy that is so clueless that he thinks a bunch of Negans wives would be entertained by watching him play video games. Which, of course, is what he does in this episode but then things get interesting when some of them ask him to build capsules to help one of their friends commit suicide. Its a strange and awkward request, but Eugene decides to help them, and when he tries to pick up some cold medicine for his concoction, he learns how intoxicating power can actually be. Eugene asks for the cold medicine from a women in the Saviors marketplace, and is told to get in the back of the line like everyone else. But Eugene doesnt have to wait hes Dr. Smartypants after all, not somebody that simply goes by a number and he demands to be taken care of right then. Hes actually quite terrible at it, and in an effort to demonstrate just how at ease he is with taking things he basically steals everything he can from the woman in the marketplace. The making medicine montage that follows, set to They Might Be Giants Everything Right is Wrong Again, keeps that semi comedic tone going, and while its not entirely successful, its a welcome counterpoint in an episode thats otherwise full of sadness and regret. Photo by Gene Page AMCNEGANS WEEKLY DOSE OF BRUTALITYNick It wouldnt be a Saviors episode unless someone got a piece of hot metal pressed on their face, or a baseball bat to the head, or some other form of nonsensical and unnecessary violence. This go around, the victim is the doctor, who Dwight has spitefully framed for the crime of letting Daryl escape. Instead of burning him with an iron, however, Negan decides that he no longer needs the doc because he has Eugene. And so Nehan tosses the poor man face first into the fire. Every Negan scene is binary and shallow. At this point in the show, every scene with Negan is treated as a binary and shallow form of character development. Either hes going to do something bad to remind you hes bad, or hes going to crack jokes to remind you hes a poorly drawn sociopath. As a villain, Negan works better in the comics. His psychopathic tendencies and cult like following blend more successfully on the page with the vulgar locker room talk of a high school gym coach. Thats because in the comics, he used to be.