Negan believed he had every angle covered in thwarting rebellious Rick’s plan of destroying the Saviors

However, he didn’t figure in the Hilltop and the Kingdom joining in.

The Walking Dead Season 7 finale review

Season 7, Ep. 16 – ‘A Tiger and a Shark’ | Aired April 2, 2017
by TS Alan

The seventh season of The Walking Dead has finally come to an end and fans finally got to see Rick Grimes get his balls back and take on Negan and the Saviors in the season’s finale, ‘A Tiger and a Shark’. Fans got what they wanted and deserved with the Hilltop and Kingdom communities coming together with the Alexandrians to do battle against Negan, well sort of. It wasn’t really a battle, more a skirmish than anything. There was no resolution in Negan’s oppression or putting an end to the man himself, as Rick so wanted.

So what did we really get? We got a treat with a few flashback sequences of Abraham and Sasha, right before they were about to depart to escort the ailing Maggie to the Hilltop to see the doctor. It was enjoyable to see actor Michael Cudlitz slip right back into the character. However the flashback sequences were too drawn out, detracting from the action and deflating what would have been an intense, nail biting episode.

On the plus side — hate me if you want — we got rid of a rather boring character that was not in the comic, Sasha Williams. On the upside of her demise, we got some resolution to her backstory and she finally understood that members of her community always did things for the betterment of someone else. She died by self ingesting cyanide to protect her community. Even as zombie Sasha her lunging out of the casket at Negan helped the community, distracting the Saviors and the Scavengers for that moment needed to help Rick get back the upper hand — short lived as that was. On the downside her death was telegraphed with the flashback sequences.

Furthermore we got what most fans probably saw coming and that was a betrayal by the Scavengers. It was clear from the moment we were introduced to them that they weren’t to be trusted and were self-serving. Remember Jadis did warn Rick early on by telling him they only take.

It was also pretty clear during the episode that Jadis and her group were going to betray them. Clues were subtly dropped during various conversations, the biggest of which was between Michonne and the Scavenger on the roof. In the end we get a no surprise reveal that Jadis and her people are they’re actually working with the Saviors, and have been supplying them with information.

For a season finale, the episode was lacking in a lot of suspense and action. It wasn’t until Sasha popped out of the coffin that the action took off. And it wasn’t until Carl and Rick were on their knees in front of Negan and Lucille that we felt any tension.

So what did we really get in this finale? Simply put a big set up for season eight. Negan may have lost the skirmish, but an all out the war is about to begin — in October!