After a harrowing, fairly miserable first batch of season 7 episodes, AMC’s The Walking Dead finally gave fans some relief and ended the midseason finale on a positive note with an emotional reunion between Rick and the newly-escaped Daryl. When the show returns from its hiatus this week, those two will set about combining the various communities that survive under Negan’s rule, and apparently that’s going to be very bad news for the deranged villain and his army of Saviors.
While being interviewed over at AMC’s official site, executive producer Gale Anne Hurd revealed that Rick’s determination to keep the rest of the group safe combined with Daryl’s feeling of responsibility for his part in Glenn’s death mean that they’re absolutely determined to see things through, and won’t let anything deter them from their new mission to take down The Saviors once and for all.
The losses have been so great and they have been split up, but one of my favorite moments in the history of The Walking Dead TV series was the hug between Rick and Daryl. To me, that was the start of them moving forward. Daryl, who feels an incredible responsibility for Glenn’s death, won’t give in to Negan and he won’t say, ‘I’m Negan.’ Ultimately, he and Rick are reunited, which I think bodes very well for their future and not so well for Negan’s.
As great as all of that sounds, don’t expect a walk in the park for our heroes. Negan and his men will definitely have dealt with uprisings in the past, and even the combined numbers of the Alexandrians, The Kingdom, Oceanside (and maybe some others?) will have their work cut out taking down the sheer volume of vicious killers that make up Negan’s army.
Whatever the outcome, we’re going to witness an all-out war when The Walking Dead returns to our screens on February 12.
