The 12th episode of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Season 7, a chapter
called “Say Yes,” finds Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai
Gurira) scavenging for supplies while Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson)
wrestles with a decision to give up the whereabouts of the Oceanside
community.
The episode starts off slow, with the confident and jovial couple
pushing outward, farther than they’ve ventured before, to come up with
guns for Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and her unsmiling junkyard group.
The action ramps up as Rick and Michonne attempt to corner zombies at
the site of an old carnival — where it appears the army once tried to
contain the outbreak.
Many soldiers, now turned walkers, still carry their weapons. But an
animal sighting and a Ferris wheel spell danger for Rick, who has
another close encounter with death (perhaps the most trying since Negan,
played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, forced him out of a RV into the hazy
morning to battle walkers).
“Say Yes” is not the showrunners’ busiest episode; they don’t toss
everything at viewers. In fact, they only incrementally reveal tidbits
about Rick’s inner battle, his relationship with Michonne and their
plans for reorganization.
It’s still another attempt to build the season’s overarching narrative —
a Rick-sanctioned battle cry. Further, director Greg Nicotero uses the
scenery quite well, bringing an abandoned carnival to life with more
unique zombie carnage, especially one windshield walker.
What follows is a close look at what went down in “Say Yes.”
The episode begins with Rick and Michonne scavenging. Nicotero also
cross-cuts to love scenes between the two. Rick pleads with Michonne to
stay out a bit longer.
Meanwhile, Rosita (Christian Serratos) struggles to wait for the
imminent fight. Tara joins her, hoping to help her stitch a cut on her
face. Tara then reiterates that the group must fight, and that it wasn't
easy last time, at the outpost. An impatient Rosita sets out to find
guns.
Rick and Michonne then go to a school, where they find larger, more
heavy-duty guns on the backs of undead soldiers. They realize that
something serious once happened here.
Rick and Michonne then look out upon the carnival beside the school, where scores of zombies roam the field.
After falling through the compromised roof, they find a ton of supplies labeled “ready to eat.”
Back at home, Rosita speaks with Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam) about
how she should’ve killed Negan. “I was stupid enough to listen to you,”
she says.
“But you were. And you did,” the cleric responds.
“You don't know s--t about s--t,” an angry Rosita fires back.
“You're right, I don't,” Gabriel says. “...I decided to meddle. But I
did something I thought was right... Anything is possible until your
heart stops beating. Certainly more than yelling at a fool.”
Rick and Michonne soon have a candlelight dinner with their new packs
of food. Rick says that after the war, they’ll keep going.
“It’s up to us to reorder it (the world), after he's gone (Negan),”
Michonne tells him. Rick says they'll figure it out together.
The katana-wielding survivor then tells her boyfriend that he should be in charge of the reorganization of the communities.
Rick shrugs it off, saying, “You and me, reordering things together , I want that.”
Tara’s soon shown thinking about her tough decision (regarding
Oceanside). She discusses the matter with baby Judith. She says that the
Saviors killed all of the men there anyway. Yet still, she concludes
that they’ll “just fight us...
“I tell everyone about Oceanside, that’s what happens,” Tara tells the toddler.
Then Rick and Michonne begin their zombie purge to gather the guns.
“You can handle eight (walkers)!” Rick says to Michonne. They try to
draw the dead out of the field to steal supplies.
“You got your eight walkers. I can push!” Rick jokes with Michonne as
they shove a car toward a gap in the surrounding fence. However, the
brakes on the vehicle don’t work, and they get stuck in the field,
surrounded by walkers. The two escape out the top of the car. While
fending the zombies off, the carnival fence breaks. They’re forced to
run away and split up.
True to form, the two fighters proceed to kill a ton of walkers.
Amid the action, Rick spots a deer, climbs the Ferris wheel and sees
zombies going after the helpless animal. He takes his pistol out to
spare it, but falls from the ride. Michonne rushes to the scene, but it
looks like zombies have devoured Rick. She’s utterly heartbroken. But
Rick will be Rick — he pops out of a box and starts killing the
remaining undead. Sadly, the zombies got the deer.
The two of them then collect all the weapons scattered across the field
and drive back home. Midway, Rick stops their van to discuss his inner
turmoil. It seems the loss of Glenn still haunts him, as he mentions how
they went back to the very beginning together. They also talk of the
war and losing people.
Michonne tells him, “I can't lose you.”
Rick responds with: “What we’re doing now, (we’re) making a future for
Judith…(and) fighting the fight. That’s living, you showed me that. You
can lose me…”
He even says that Michonne would lead in his absence.
Then, enter Jadis, in her domain, who says that the gun cache is not
enough to solidify the deal. She proceeds to haggle Rick over the number
of guns the survivors can keep — and of course the metal cat back that
Rick lifted two episodes ago.
“More soon, will fight,” Jadis states almost robotically.
Eventually, back inside Alexandria, Tara leaves her home to speak with
Rick, but finds he’s already at her doorstep. “Why were you comin’ by?”
he asks.
Tara hesitates and says, “I have something to tell you.” Will she spill the beans about Oceanside and their weapons stash?
Rosita then rushes off to the Hilltop. She meets up with Sasha, who says, “I get to take the shot.”
Rosita gives her a large sniper rifle. It appears the two have gone
rogue. Rosita says, “(This is a) one-way ticket for both of us.”
By Dan Gunderman
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