The Maggie/Negan conflict has brought on two interesting points - both are rather debatable.
Negan has left both unanswered - but surely he will get to respond at some point.

Maggie lost the love of her life and the father of her child because of Negan theatrical punishment of the Group. He randomly picked two people to kill, and cared nothing about who they were, who'd grieve for them.

Maggie' Group killed a bunch of Saviours before that, not in self defence, not even in punishment, but as paid assassins. Yes, one guy Glenn killed had pictures of tortured and massacred men pinned up above his bed. That twisted mf most certainly deserved to die. But they had no idea about the rest of them. Who was there for what reason, what their roles were. Alden - and guys like him - could have been in there, killed in their sleep.

Maggie also decided very quickly about sacrificing Gage in the subway.

Deciding on leaving Alden behind is a lot more complicated because she knows him and cares about him.

When Negan killed Glenn, he knew nothing about him. He was picked randomly to punish heir group for he murders they've committed. Much as it would take superhuman efforts on Maggie's part to acknowledge this, I think she will need to do that eventually.

The other thing she threw at Negan was how she blames him for everything, how he destroyed all they've built in Alexandria. Now that's an interesting point, and it's true Negan's done a huge amount of damage to Team Family, but after the war there was rebuild, there was positivity, there was even some healing, eventually. Had the Saviors not happened, there were still the Whisperers coming their way. Alexandria would have still been destroyed. And if we talk about "everything we have built" more metaphorically, the spirit of Team Family, then that's certainly not been destroyed, not by Negan, not by anyone, that's still very much a thing.

Where do you think this conflict is going? Will these two find some understanding in the end?

 

You know, I had the feeling that there was always going to be someone else as well. He kept pushing them. Told them not to react but kept pushing for a reaction. It was only a matter of time until one of them snapped. What he did to Rosita, tantalising her with that goddamn bat, was beyond cruel. I never blamed Daryl for a moment for snapping.

I completely agree. It was the only sensible decision.

I think so too. And I’m really hoping for more in depth conversation on the issues above.

Very odd. Hopefully this is temporary and all just because this is her suggested mission. The others all signed up for it, and because Maggie’s the one who knows where her camp was, and the extra supplies at the radio tower, they need to follow her. Not much choice left. They can’t go back home empty handed.

Oh Michonne. I wish. She was my absolute all-time favourite character on this show. I miss her so much.

 

I know I’m in a complete minority but I actually liked the cliffhanger. I thought it was one of the most masterfully constructed episodes and I really felt sick to my stomach as it was, our people captured, on their knees, knowing one of them will die. I was grateful for not having to deal with the death as well. And I really felt like I was there with them. Couldn’t bare the thought of any of them dying. And I think somehow the cliffhanger made that point for me: at the end of the day it doesn’t even matter who gets killed - it’s going to hurt them, and us as viewers, all the same. And it did.

The season premiere was hideously over the top - very true. I cried inconsolably for ages. I’m still not over it completely to be honest, it was one of those things you can never forget or shake off. It was brutal. But it was also probably the most gripping tv drama I’ve ever seen in my life - and I think it completely sealed my bond with all the characters who were in that lineup - a trauma we all went through together. I think we all got a little damaged watching that episode. I totally got why people stopped watching after that. My husband didn’t even watch the premiere. He bailed out of watching TWD after the cliffhanger.

 

Completely agree on the dumpster cliffhanger. It was just taking the piss.

Also agree on the relentlessness of misery that is totally demotivating when watching a series. I found the first half of season 7 particularly hard. But my goodness, that reunion in the mid season finale - what a joyous moment that was, and what a reward for those who stuck with the the show’s darkest times.



This is still one of my all time favourite moments from the series - but we kind of had to “earn” it.

The war with the Saviors went on forever after this, really, way too stretched out.

Good point about GoT structure. Kang used that trick very effectively with S9.

 

Again, I have to agree. The father-son bond was also the heart of the show for me.

Ideally, the show should have finished at the end of its 8th or max 9th year. If they could have guaranteed it for Andy that the show would have been done by then, I’m sure he’d have stayed. That would have been a complete story - and Rick’s story. We started with Rick, he’s been at the core of this show and removing him was, like you said, a reset. It’s like we are already watching a spin-off, or a Part2 at the least. It’s how I see it anyway.

But whilst my preference would have been for Carl’s survival and Rick staying with us till the end, I’ve actually really enjoyed most of the post-Rick era, and most storylines worked very well. Except I didn’t like how Michonne was written out, not to mention the screw-up with Jesus (what a waste of a great character) and let’s not even talk about that stupid episode with Daryl and Leah.