The Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 6 Review: ‘Swear’

(Photo Credit: AMC)

The Walking Dead

Season 7, Episode 6

By Garrett Yoshitomi

This week, The Walking Dead slows down a bit; veering off the beaten path of this season’s Negan storyline, to reunite us with everybody’s twelfth favorite main character, Tara. If you’ll remember (or not), we last saw Tara (Alanna Masterson) in the season six episode, “Not Tomorrow Yet,” when she and Heath (Corey Hawkins) left on a two-week supply run after the group’s takedown of the Savior’s satellite outpost. Since then, a lot’s happened- we’ve seen the deaths of two major characters (three, if you count Denise), as well as the introduction of multiple new characters, including the Kingdom’s King Ezekiel and Shiva. Meanwhile, Daryl’s currently being held captive at the Sanctuary, Maggie and Sasha have moved to the Hillltop, and as recently as last week, Carl and Jesus have stowed away aboard one of Negan’s supply trucks en route to Savior-town. But really, who cares about all of that?

Rather than show us the next chapter in the Rick v. Negan saga, The Walking Dead presses pause on the current storyline to focus on a character most casual fans probably forgot existed, and another character casual fans definitely forgot existed. I haven’t really been jonesing for an opportunity to catch-up with Tara and Heath (I do remember who they are, though, for the record), but their offscreen story is one that probably needed to be told eventually; though, the timing of their episode is pretty unfortunate. I'm not completely opposed to a Tara-centric episode, but when it airs directly after the season’s first real cliffhanger, and grinds the plot to a screeching halt, it comes across as “filler-ish,” and is hard to enjoy. And this *would* have been a good hour of The Walking Dead to enjoy. Tara’s been a group mainstay since season four, and finally finds herself with something to do besides following Glenn around, or getting shoehorned into an out of left field romance (sorry Denise fan). 

(Photo Credit: AMC)

Realistically, though, there was no other way to handle this. Tara had to go offscreen for a while to accommodate Alanna Masterson’s maternity leave, and bumping this episode up or down in the schedule would have caused more pacing problems than it would have solved. For instance, while postponing this episode, until after Jesus and Carl’s Excellent Adventure, would have been more immediately satisfying, doing so would have made 'Swear' the lead-in to the midseason finale, which is not ideal. And forget leaving this episode until after the midseason break. By then, it would be almost a year since we last saw Heath and Tara, in which case, you might as well not bring them back at all.

The earliest ‘Swear’ could have aired this season is maybe third- right after ‘The Well.’ But, this would have pushed current episode three, the Daryl-centric ‘The Cell,’ back a week, meaning we would've had to wait two whole episodes after the premiere, to see how a member of the main group dealt with the aftermath of Glenn and Abraham’s deaths. The one benefit of this hypothetical schedule, is that we would have had five straight episodes of Savior-storyline goodness, starting with 'The Cell,' and ending with the midseason finale. In reality, though, this never would have worked. Airing such a weak episode so early on in the season could have been disastrous, especially since The Walking Dead still finds itself in a rather precarious ratings situation, despite its all-time viewed seventh season premiere.

So, if it couldn't have been moved forward, and it couldn't have been pushed back, that means the writers made the best possible scheduling decision, right? Well, not necessarily. I think the shrewd decision might have been to switch ‘Swear’ with last week’s Hilltop episode, the fifth of the season. It would have delayed Maggie’s first post-premiere appearance another week, but considering episode four (two weeks ago) tried to “trick” us into thinking Maggie died, an extra week of filler could have squeezed out a bit more suspense, before inevitably revealing that she’s alive and well. Even this isn’t the perfect solution, though. Having to wait four weeks to find out how Maggie’s dealing with the death of her husband is just too long of a wait for such important character development.

As for the actual episode? It’s…not great. Probably the worst of the season. Tara just isn’t a compelling enough character to carry an episode on her own, and it shows in nearly every non-action scene she’s in. But hey, look at how quirky and awkward she is. That’s cool…right? Heath’s contributions are predictably just as marginal, and the fact that Corey Hawkins is slated to star in the new 24 reboot, doesn’t bode well for the character’s long term viability. We do get a nice bit of world building this week, and the Oceanside community does have a pretty interesting culture and origin story, at least relative to some of the other groups we’ve come across. I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of the Oceanside women, but if it is, they were a pretty satisfying group of one-off antagonists, with an original backstory, and just enough bite to back up their bark. Although, the fact that they were bested by Tara is mildly disappointing. 

(Photo Credit: AMC)

With just two weeks to go until the midseason finale, The Walking Dead enters the homestretch of season 7A with a half-hearted filler episode that ignores most of the recent central plot development, to focus on a pair of characters that haven’t been heard from (or missed) since the latter third of season six. It’s not incredibly uncharacteristic of The Walking Dead to see its season fizzle out after a strong start, but ‘Swear’ is an unusually poor example of filler, even by TWD standards. It's barely relevant to the season’s overall plot, and fails to tell a particularly interesting self-contained story. In television, each episode is precious. There are only so many hours in a season, in a series, to tell meaningful stories that tie together into overarching narratives. I can’t help but wonder that if Tara had just been killed off in season six, instead of sent offscreen for half a season, maybe this episode could have been used to explore other, more crucial plot points that are currently dangling in the wind, waiting for resolution.

(TV) Viacom: Why a merger with CBS is the only play Viacom have left

With the end of the disastrous decade long reign of Phillippe Dauman over, there has been a lot of talk of Viacom's next move which seems quite strange since the company only has one option worth contemplating, merging with CBS as quickly as possible. 

With surely no one crazy enough to risk their reputation turning around a company that owns increasingly irrelevant and underperfoming media networks, low on cash and is $12 billion in debt, Viacom not merging with CBS is suicide. Understandably, highly respected CBS CEO Les Moonves is less than thrilled with the prospect of  his company merging with Viacom which currently, for the lack of better words, looks like a shit sandwich. Unfortunately, for Moonves at least, the decision to merge with Viacom isn't entirely up to him.   

The decision to merge the two would largely depend on redstone family (principally Sumner and daughter Shari Redstone) who own 80% of both companies through the company National Amusements. Both Redstones are in favour of merging both companies which split over a decade ago and have already made moves to see it through. 

With both companies boards stacked with members loyal to the redstones, the merger looks like a matter of time. In truth, Viacom would not be in this position if the company would have got rid of now former CEO Philippe Dauman five years ago instead of last August as the Frenchman is largely responsible for the glaring weaknesses that beset the company. Much of Viacom can be laid at Dauman's feet as he oversaw arguably the dumbest capital allocation strategy ever pursued by a media company and failed to respond to glaring market trends particularly the rise of SVOD companies such as Netflix and Hulu and the increasing maturity of Pay TV market. 

Because of Dauman criminally negligible mistakes, Viacom  are alarmingly vulnerable as they own media networks in an age where the market for them is shrinking rapidly. The upshot of this trend is that it affects their two biggest markets, TV and advertising. Viacom for years made their crust bullying cable and satellite pay TV operators into paying  large carriage fees by leveraging  their popular networks such MTV and Comedy Central forcing pay TV operators to cough up for less popular networks in their portfolio and then sell airtime to marketers and agencies during commercial breaks which has made Viacom one of the most powerful media conglomerates in the world.  

However, this business model had dangerous weaknesses as it made Viacom unhealthy dependent on the pay TV market for their daily bread. Thanks to rise of Netflix and SVOD in general and pay TV operators losing subscribers every quarter for the last five years, Viacom's pay TV dependent business model has blown up in their faces and nobody knows just how to pick up the pieces. 

The only way out of the mess Viacom finds themselves in is merging with CBS who have negotiated the maturity of pay TV and the rapid rise of SVOD better than most media companies. CBS, unlike Viacom, has some footing in the SVOD market with Showtime anytime and thanks to its content deal with the NFL, it has its hands on the most important content in the TV business, sports. However, CBS, like Viacom, is low on cash and is $8 billion in debt. Nonetheless, CBS are still in a better position than Viacom which despite some downsides, makes a merger viable. 

In sum, Viacom can thank their lucky stars  they're part of the Redstone universe as if they weren't, one could only imagine where Viacom would be.                  

(TV)The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 6 Trailer & Preview Clip (2016) amc Se...

The Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 5 Review: ‘Go Getters’

(Photo Credit: AMC)

The Walking Dead

Season 7, Episode 5

By Garrett Yoshitomi

It’s been over a month since the season seven premiere, and the aftershocks of Glenn and Abraham’s deaths are still being felt throughout The Walking Dead. For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been getting a slow forming picture of how everybody’s been coping; and so far, the returns aren’t great. Daryl is alone and beaten, imprisoned by the Saviors and weighed down by the guilt of the indirect role he played in Glenn’s death. Rick and the others aren’t faring much better, as Alexandria learns what it means to live under Negan’s rule. There are glimmers of hope; though, no matter how faint they might be. Rosita is on a one-woman mission for vengeance, and it’s likely that more will follow once they see her resolve. Outside of Alexandria, at the Hilltop Colony, hope shines through, as well, even in what should be the bleakest corner of The Walking Dead universe.

At the Hilltop, we learn that Maggie does in fact survive the complication with her pregnancy, and despite everything that’s happened, is in relatively okay sprits- a testament to the strength she’s been honing since her days of running over Camaros in the Greene family tractor. In my head, I was expecting to see Maggie broken and grieving. Even with all the courage she’s displayed throughout the series, if there was one time the crushing reality of loss would get the best of her, I assumed it would be with Glenn. Oh, how wrong I was. In the face of a situation that’s sent even Rick into a tailspin, Maggie has persevered- finding strength in the impossible, and honoring Glenn’s memory, not with trinkets, but through her own actions. For a character who’s lost more loved ones than anyone else, Maggie has always managed to make her own closure, rather than letting closure find her. And, I’m glad this strength will finally be showcased, as she transitions into a leadership role with the Hilltop.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

Maggie won’t be alone, however. During her stay at the Hilltop, she’s be joined by Sasha, who’s coming to terms with a loss of her own. I’m not totally sure what lies in store for Sasha. Her biggest storyline from last season was her budding relationship with Abraham, and now that that’s over, it seems like she could be settling back into her role as group loner and resident gun enthusiast. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I was hoping that Abraham’s death would serve as a catalyst that sparks some character development in Sasha. Sure, not every character gets to pivot and become leader of the Hilltop, but it is unfortunate that, at least for the time being, it appears we’ll be getting more of the same from Sasha, rather than something resembling a new path.

Jesus makes his fourth appearance of the series, and seems primed to settle nicely into a larger role for season seven. The Walking Dead has never, and will never, have the mystique of say, a Lost or a Westworld, and the mysteries it does tease tend to come off fairly heavy handed. Jesus, on the other hand, has an innate secretive nature that extends past his rather mysterious introduction back in season six. I've talked about how The Walking Dead tends to shy away from interspersing its episodes with flashbacks, choosing to instead dedicate an entire episode to exploring a character’s backstory. Jesus would be a compelling character to learn more about from a solo flashback episode, although with all the storylines we’re currently dealing with, I kind of doubt it happens this season- unless it’s part of a wider Hilltop Colony episode. At some point; though, fans will start demanding answers about this bearded, blue-eyed stranger- like, why doesn't Jesus see himself as a leader (despite his obvious leader-like qualities)? Did he have any family from before the apocalypse? And, most importantly, how the hell did he get so good at fighting?

(Photo Credit: AMC)

And maybe what’s worth exploring even more is Jesus’s uneasy relationship with the Hilltop’s leader, Gregory. Gregory showed up briefly in season six, when he brokered a deal with Maggie over the elimination of Negan. Once again, his narcissistic blustering and cowardly selfishness is well on display in this episode. And while he’s hardly a likeable character, his outwardly braggadocious and predictable temperament is a welcome change of pace from the typical Walking Dead community leader, with their calm, collected facades masking ulterior motives and dangerous tendencies. No, what you see with Gregory is pretty much what you get. And, it’s interesting to see how each community’s leader deals with the Saviors in their own way. The Kingdom’s King Ezekiel was fairly diplomatic during his short encounter with the Saviors in episode two, while last week, Rick reluctantly submitted to Negan’s will, and even hesitated momentarily when presented with an opportunity to strike at him with Lucille. Gregory, on the other hand, believes that he and the Saviors operate on relatively equal ground- that his position of power allows him to reason and “make progress” with them. Only time will tell which method pays off the most; although, something tells me the odds aren’t in Gregory’s favor.

For most of his time on this show (and possibly this earth), Carl has impressively straddled the line between awkward, annoying, and useless, making him the sole proprietor of the middle space of The Walking Dead’s awkward-annoying-useless Venn Diagram (see below). But for the first time ever, things seem to be lining up pretty well narratively for Coral, as he finds himself smack dab in the middle of a good old fashioned shenanigan. Comic book fans have been waiting for this particular Carl storyline for quite a while, and for good reason. While Carl has certainly had his fair share of memorable moments throughout the past several years, this upcoming arc is kind of his coming out party in terms of just what kind of survivor he’s become. The Walking Dead has long teased the question- “How will kids who were raised during the apocalypse turn out?” And finally, it’s looking like we might finally get some answers.

In addition to getting some actual plot thrown his way, Carl shares a few surprisingly tender scenes with Enid, as the two continue to see their relationship blossom. In general, I think The Walking Dead does a pretty good job of pairing off characters into satisfying romantic duos. Sometimes they seem a bit out of left field (Sasha and Abraham), but couples like Glenn and Maggie, and Rick and Michonne, really feel genuine, and serve as important backbones for the show. Now, I’m not necessarily saying that Carl and Enid are the next Rick-chonne, but there’s real chemistry between the two- chemistry I didn’t think would be there when their puppy love was first introduced.

Maggie was the second to last box on my “on a scale of 1-10, how sad are you about Glenn?” checklist. And even though her first follow-up appearance was four episodes after the premiere, it was a satisfying conclusion to the previous chapter of her life, and a promising beginning for the next one. Now, the only thing left is for the group to reunite with Carole, and give her the cliff notes on what she’s missed. She and Glenn were two of the five OG Atlanta survivors (Rick, Carl, and Daryl are the others), and I’m hoping her reaction, reflects this history. Unfortunately, based on the previews for next week, we’ll have to postpone Carole’s reaction a bit longer. It looks like we’re in store for that long-awaited Tara-centric storyline that recaps her two-week supply run with Heath.