Maggie and Negan have an honest conversation and Eugene punches a kid in the face
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: “Promises Broken”
Season 11, Episode 7
Airdate: 10/3/2021
“Promises Broken” was a slower, but effective build up to the fall finale “For Blood” which looks to be one of the more intense hours in the history of this long-running show.
In order to overcome the Reapers, the rather reluctant duo of Maggie (actress Lauren Cohan) and Negan (actor Jeffery Dean Morgan) turn to the creepy tactics of their former rivals. Seeing Maggie wear a Whisperer mask was quite the scene, but she takes to the tactic pretty well, thanks to Negan’s instruction.
This gives Maggie and Negan a chance to talk once more, and while Negan attempts to earn Maggie’s trust, he doesn’t exactly apologize for his past actions. If anything, he tells her he didn’t go far enough.
“I would’ve killed every single one of you,” he says, referring to the infamous incident in the clearing where Maggie’s husband Glenn (actor Steven Yeun) lost his life at Negan’s hands back in “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be.” Negan justifies this behavior by reminding Maggie that her group initiated the conflict in the first place after massacring all of the soldiers at one of his satellite stations in the dead of night, and he’s mostly right. It’s amazing how one single mid-season episode of this show (in this case, “Not Tomorrow Yet” from Season 6) continues to be referenced and has ramifications that affect the characters to this day.
Fans on the show, for the most part, continue to be torn between forgiving Negan for his past actions and labeling him as unredeemable. Murder, even in the zombie apocalypse, shouldn’t necessarily go unpunished. But Negan has arguably severed his time. And his justifications for those past actions largely make sense if you suspend any bias that you have for our team of heroes; as a leader of a significantly sized community, he felt that he had to hold the responsible party accountable. And given the rather large number of people that our group killed at that satellite station, Negan only killing two in return almost seems like an underreaction.
It’s not the wisest move to say that to the widow of a man that you killed, but Negan says that in order for them to co-exist they have to be honest with each other. And he’s right. A truce was made between the two, and they’ll likely never be on the exact same page, but it’s almost time for them to take the fight directly to the Reapers. Any further conflict will have to wait.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the Commonwealth, Eugene (actor Josh McDermitt) and company are clearing buildings of walkers so that the community can continue to expand; this is the group’s punishment for breaking the law in “Out of the Ashes.” Things seem to be going well, until Eugene and the Stephanie doppelgänger come across Sebastian Milton (actor Teo Rapp-Olsson). The son of the community’s most powerful leader (Pamela Milton, whom we have not seen on-screen as of yet) is quite the jerk, and seems to have an extremely low opinion of literally everyone around him. This makes it so incredibly satisfying when Eugene punches the kid squarely in the face after saving his sorry life. However, his actions land Eugene squarely in a Commonwealth jail cell.
It’s also worth noting that the real Stephanie is Pamela Milton’s secretary, which makes her role in things even more interesting.
The last episode of the year airs next Sunday, Oct. 10.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
– Negan also gets bonus points with me for saying on-screen that he knows Gracie was taken during the war. FINALLY, someone said it on-air!
– Pope is going mad, and when that happens to someone it usually means that person is about to be dead. That should resolve itself next week.
– Watching Daryl put that pregnant woman down was extremely depressing. The show is really pulling no punches this season.
– Yukimo looks weird in her Hilary Clinton-esque suit, especially when she goes outside the Commonwealth’s walls.
– Abducting her brother right in front of her is not a good look for someone you’re trying to impress, Commonwealth leadership.
