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Recap / The Walking Dead S 08 E 08 Hearts Still Beating

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Season 7, Episode 8

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Rick discovers that there's only one way out of the hole Alexandria is in.

At Hilltop, Maggie visits Glenn's grave and takes watch, and ignores Gregory's jealousy at her becoming a popular leader in the community. Later, Sasha lies to Maggie about Jesus' whereabouts, knowing that she wants him to help her take revenge on Negan.

Negan shaves, and prepares spaghetti dinner with a makeshift family consisting of Carl, Olivia, and Judith, and grows impatient as Rick has still not returned from his supply run. Meanwhile, Rick and Aaron scavenge some desperately needed supplies for the tribute from a houseboat, also finding a note from the original owner of the houseboat with a middle finger. They are watched by an unknown survivor.

At Carol's house, Morgan ends up paying an unintended visit when she catches him leaving her food from the Kingdom garden, though Carol is well-stocked from Ezekiel's frequent visits. Carol coldly tells Morgan she doesn't want him coming around or for anybody they know to know of her whereabouts. Richard arrives, and asks the two of them to convince Ezekiel to attack the Saviors, knowing that eventually, the Saviors will decide to renege on their peace at a whim and that the Kingdom won't survive a direct assault. However, Carol refuses on the ground she wishes to be left alone, and Morgan is still shaken from having to kill the Savior Roman. A distraught Richard leaves to mourn his late family in the woods, and Carol again tells Morgan to stay away. An annoyed Morgan snaps back that he didn't mean for her to see him on the way out.

Daryl escapes from his cell in the Sanctuary and tries to once again take a bike, only to encounter Fat Joey. Though the Savior is submissive and tries to help Daryl escape in exchange for his life, Daryl brutally beats his head to a pulp with a pipe. Jesus arrives, and the two escape after Daryl takes Rick's Colt Python from Fat Joey's corpse. Meanwhile, Michonne has Isabelle drive her to the Sanctuary, and is aghast when she sees hundreds of assembled Saviors. Isabelle tells Michonne to kill her, as she will be punished for giving away Negan's location. Michonne complies and buries her body in the woods.

Rick and Aaron return to Alexandria and are surprised by the Saviors, who rant at Rick for keeping Negan waiting. Though they are pacified when they see the plentiful supplies the pair brought back, they find the crude note from the houseboat and assume Aaron planted it. When Aaron tries to protest, the Saviors gleefully beat Aaron while Rick is held at gunpoint and forced to watch. Once the Saviors quit, Aaron shrugs off his torture, glad that no one was killed.

Spencer approaches Negan, and has a drink with the Savior leader. Spencer proposes that Negan kill Rick and appoint him as the new leader of Alexandria, saying that while Rick's ego is out of control, he will be a loyal enforcer of Negan's will and a worthy successor to his late mother. Negan is annoyed, and points out that while Rick is swallowing his hate and pride to provide the tribute to keep his community safe, Spencer is trying to have someone else do his dirty work for him. Realizing his mistake too late, Spencer panics, and Negan stabs him in the stomach, spilling his intestines and killing him. An enraged Rosita fires her one bullet at Negan, only to hit Lucille. Negan is furious, and demands to know how Rosita got the bullet. When no one speaks up, Negan has Arat kill Olivia and nearly kill Eric before Eugene confesses. Rick arrives on the scene, and Negan tells him of Carl's actions at the Sanctuary, and of Spencer's attempted coup. Rick asks Negan to leave, and Negan complies, but takes Eugene hostage, having been impressed with his abilities.

That night, Michonne tells Rick of the army of Saviors she saw, but motivates him that they still must fight back. The next morning, Rick goes to Hilltop with Michonne, Carl, Rosita, and Tara, and reunites with Maggie, learning her baby is still alive and healthy. Daryl appears, and everyone has a big reunion. Daryl gives Rick his Python back, and the reunited, hopeful group heads for Barrington House to plot their next move.

In The Stinger, Gabriel is keeping watch of Alexandria in the middle of the night. Unbeknownst to him, the unknown survivor who watched Rick and Aaron at the pond is watching him, and begins moving towards Alexandria...


  • And Then John Was a Zombie: Spencer reanimates minutes after Negan disembowels him. Rick quickly puts him down.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Negan kills Spencer and Olivia, takes Eugene hostage, and leaves a mess in Rick's kitchen.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Downplayed. While the cut is not that severe, Rosita's face is still bloodied after being cut by Arat and she is shown with a stitched up scar when the group reaches The Hilltop in the episodes final moments.
  • Berserk Button: Negan is pissed when Rosita shoots Lucille.
  • Big Eater: Thanks to her gradually advancing pregnancy, Maggie's appetite is beginning to really gain steam.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Spencer and Olivia are dead and Eugene has been taken hostage, but Daryl's escaped the Sanctuary, and Rick decides they're going to fight back, with the reunited group meeting at the Hilltop to plot how to do so.
  • Book Ends: For the first half of Season 7, the premiere and this episode have some similarities:
    • Someone dies by their head being bashed in (Negan to Glenn, and Daryl to Fat Joey).
    • There is one comic and non-comic death each. In the premiere, Abraham (non-comic) and Glenn (comic) died. Now, Spencer (comic) and Olivia (non-comic) are the ones to bite it.
    • Both of the second deaths are also cases of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, with the cause being someone attempting to attack Negan and failing. In the premiere, Daryl punched Negan after seeing Negan taunt Rosita with Abraham's blood on Lucille. Now, Rosita tries to kill Negan, and it fails. Horribly.
    • An Alexandria member is taken as a hostage by the Saviors, with Daryl in the premiere and Eugene this time.
    • However, instead of Rick's group being emotionally broken over these losses, it strengthens their will to take down the Saviors this time.
  • Character Death: Spencer, Olivia, and Saviors Isabelle and Fat Joey.
  • Cliffhanger: The identity of the boots wearer.
  • Call-Back:
    • Once again, Fat Joey interacts with Daryl during an escape attempt. This time, however, Fat Joey comes off far worse for wear.
    • Maggie (and Sasha's) heroics previously saved Hilltop in "Go-Getters."
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Richard brings up how Morgan killed Roman to save Carol in the Season 6 finale, and Carol and Morgan's hesitance to join Richard's plot likely has to do with the fact that a first strike against the Saviors already failed.
    • Spencer mentions how Deanna, Reg, and Aiden all died shortly after Rick's arrival during Seasons 5 and 6.
    • Rosita admits she only hooked up with Spencer in Season 6 to get her mind off her harsh break-up with Abraham.
  • Death by Adaptation: Type 2: Olivia is killed much earlier than her comic book counterpart.
  • Decomposite Character: Rosita is the one who tries to kill Negan instead of Carl.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Negan rejects Spencer's appeal to get Rick's place instead of directly killing Rick and taking over.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Isabelle calmly tells Michonne to shoot her. She even tells her of the silencer she keeps in her glove compartment and advises her to get rid of her car so as not to incur Negan's wrath.
  • Facial Horror: Arat's Pretty Little Headshot to Olivia hits the latter's face instead of her forehead like the trope is known for. Rosita's face is also nearly slashed off.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Gregory is implied to be jealous of the love Maggie is getting from Hilltop for saving it from the Saviors.
  • Gutted Like a Fish: Spencer is gutted by Negan after the latter calls out the former on having no guts in telling Negan to take Rick's place when the latter isn't even there. After actually gutting him, Negan admit's he's wrong, since the guts were inside him the entire time.
  • Heroic BSoD: Rick has one after Olivia is killed and Eugene is taken hostage.
  • Heroic Resolve: Rick and company finally had enough of the Saviors, hence the episode's title.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Zigzagged. Rosita attempts this to spare Eugene, and then Tara does the same to spare Rosita. It's subverted when Negan and Arat don't buy it, and the latter almost goes to kill Eric before Eugene ultimately plays the trope straight by confessing. Fortunately, he's only taken prisoner instead of killed.
  • He's Back!: Rick understands the only way to deal with the Saviors is to fight.
  • I Am Spartacus: Both Rosita and Tara claim to be the maker of the improvised bullet before Eugene finally turns himself over.
  • La RĂ©sistance: Rick finally finds the strength to lead one after seeing more people he loves (specifically, Olivia, Rosita, Aaron, and Eugene) getting hurt or killed.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Rosita realizes that she resigned Eugene to being captured by forcing him to make the bullet that she shot, and she begs for the Saviors to take her instead.
  • Mythology Gag: Negan finally shaves, matching his comic counterpart's appearance more.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: David and Gary do one on Aaron.
    • Daryl also gives one to Fat Joey on his way out of the Sanctuary, resulting in the latter's death.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Much like in the premiere, a failed attempt to attack Negan (this time, by Rosita) results in a second death (Olivia) and someone (Eugene) being taken hostage.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Rick finally regains his will to fight after the Saviors needlessly beat up Aaron for a note he didn't make, and Negan murders Spencer, orders Olivia's death, and kidnaps Eugene. Had the Saviors shown restraint and if Negan had kept his promise not to kill anyone, they would still have Rick as their puppet, but now he knows they won't ever be satisfied and is preparing to fight them.
  • Pet the Dog: Negan states that he has "bent over backwards" to show Rick he can be reasonable, such as not harming Carl after the boy killed his men and taking him home and making him dinner. But he also includes murdering Spencer and Olivia to be this, claiming Spencer was a burden to Rick for wanting him dead so he could replace them, and with Olivia dead they have one less mouth to feed (though also says she wouldn't have been his first choice of someone to kill.)
  • Pretty Little Headshots: Olivia is shot in the cheek by Arat.
  • Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Negan kills Spencer for going behind Rick's back and trying to replace him as leader of Alexandria.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Rick gets back his will to fight Negan. Cue next scene: he gets back his trademark Colt.
  • Shout-Out: Rick and Aaron taking a boat across a lake full of zombies to get to an island in the middle that contains something valuable is very similar to a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
  • The Starscream: Spencer tries to take Rick's place by appealing to Negan.
  • The Stinger: After the end credits, the same figure with mismatched boots that saw Rick and Aaron taking the boat supplies watches Gabriel standing guard through a pair of binoculars and then walks towards Alexandria.
  • This Means War!: After witnessing Aaron getting beaten up for no reason, the deaths of Spencer and Olivia, and Eugene being kidnapped, Rick is finally ready to rebel against Negan and leads his group to Hilltop to make a plan against the Saviors.
  • Title Drop: Done courtesy of Aaron.
  • Villain Respect: Negan continues to show a level of respectfulness to Carl, treating him (mostly) well during their time together. He also hints at this attitude towards Olivia, musing that she wouldn't have been his choice to die (likely given how she stood up to him and was, overall, hospitable); as well as Rick, who as Negan points out to Spencer, is "swallowing his hate" to provide for him despite clearly wanting him dead.

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