TV Show Review

TV Review: THE WALKING DEAD: Episode 7.10: New Best Friends [AMC]

Andrew Lincoln The Walking Dead New Best Friends

The Walking Dead: New Best Friends Review

The Walking Dead, season 7, episode 10, ‘New Best Friends,’ took another step towards a coalition stand, against the Saviors; but it was also a step in the right direction. There was more pep in the step, to this slow build episode, and catharsis moment that needed to happen. Hell, if the grin – where Rick (Andrew Lincoln) & his beard meet – wasn’t enough to sell you on what happened, this episode, then let me tell you about New Best Friends….

First up, though: routine trouble at the Kingdom. It might be safe to say that one particular Savior’s ongoing dick moves, towards Richard (Karl Makinen), was going to be a pivotal factor in the Kingdom’s status, regarding any coalition with Rick’s Revengers. After Morgan  (Lennie James) took on some of Richard’s degradation, coercion to action became the name of the game – and not just for Richard.

I kind of forgot that Daryl (Norman Reedus) actually has some brow-beating game to him; but Carol (Melissa McBride) remained the deciding factor, regarding his & Morgan’s differences on the matter. Daryl had no such conflict with Richard, however; so the archer’s back. That bromance turned out to be a non-starter, though, since Richard had a False Flag plan with the wrong patsy at its center.

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Darol fans rejoiced, I’m certain.

Elsewhere, Rick had led a search & rescue party to where a grab-and-gone Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) breadcrumb had led them: the survivalist’s floating cache. It also led them into the hands of the group that had left eyes on that cache, and had since put eyes on Alexandria.

So anyone else notice these guys & gals all sporting variations on the same hairdo? Yeah, maybe hard to do, after the performance piece that went into them just forming a circle around Rick’s search party; but clearly some thought went into making them the most recognizably cultist commune in the clutch.

Dangerously endearing dog-speak aside, the collective’s voice, Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), clearly ran a tight ship, and had a purely transactional world-view. Maybe it was just one cultist’s view on another, but Gabe seemed to have them figured. Maybe putting a whole lot of Preacher faith into hyping Rick, after all this time, was a purely transactional ploy. Either way, it didn’t seem to matter to Rick. Even after nearly being swarmed to death, that wicked grin – where he & his beard meet – never seemed to leave his face.

A little time in Trash Town’s Thunder Dome rectified the Rick grin, some (gladiator Walker – not even Negan’s twisted tactics came up with that one), but it did come back – though, it might’ve been the effects of tetanus poisoning. Jadis is going to need another Timmy (I renamed her pin-cushioned proving pet Timmy, the Tin Terror – Winslow just didn’t sell it); but she gained a grinning gun-runner (’cause guns DO make everything better, Butters).

Side note: yes, I know the Thunder Dome thing was actually a pit; but in my defense: shut up.

All-in-all, the party’s time in Trash Town – and more importantly, walking away from it with a deal – made the Rick grin a bit infectious. Then again, considering how Rosita’s (Christian Serratos) scar has taken on a life of its own, there could still be a case made for tetanus….

Now, the fact that Carol was just about ready to start killing again, over unwanted well-wishers, likely made the Darol reunion that much sweeter… but I’m not getting into the shipping lane for any characters – on any show (no matter how much I like ’em). It was nice, however, to see the door to their solo chapters closed, when Carol opened hers to find Daryl there.

Shippers may have been the only ones happy with Daryl’s decision to preserve Carol’s reclaimed domesticity, however. Can’t say that I blame him – McBride made a convincing case for Carol wanting out of the death-dealer life – but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed at him passing on reactivating the Killer Queen (with the truth, even).

Talking with digital tigers seemed easier to Daryl than getting through to Morgan, however; so we’re going to have to wait for two of the show’s best killers to get back in the game. Given how last season ended, there’s a chance we won’t actually make it to all-out Commune War, this season. More build episodes like this one, however, and I might be willing to settle for an ending at the drawn breath, before the trigger pull.

Leave your thoughts, on this The Walking Dead ‘New Best Friends’ review, and this episode of The Walking Dead, in the comments section, below. Readers, seeking more The Walking Dead coverage, can visit our The Walking Dead Page, our The Walking Dead Twitter Page, our The Walking Dead Google+ Page, and our The Walking Dead Facebook Page. Readers seeking more TV show reviews can go to our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page,  our TV Show Review Facebook Page, and our TV Show Review Google+ Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? FilmBook staff members publish  articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook.

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Sam Joseph

Sam is an Avid consumer/observer of Geek culture, and collector of Fanboy media from earliest memory. Armchair sociologist and futurist. Honest critic with satirical if not absurdist­­ wit with some experience in comics/ animation production.
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