The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 4: Service

Towards the end of my Rhode Island Comic Con panel I hosted (entitled “Let’s Get Dead”) this past weekend, the audience and I discussed possible theories and options for the near future of The Walking Dead, most noticeably with this episode, “Service”, in particular. AMC had mentioned this would be a special “90-minute” episode, and they most certainly gave us a nice chunk of Negan and how he operates on his whole “half your shit” system he has maniacally created. Something to keep in mind while viewing this episode is the sheer amount of Alexandrians who have yet to encounter the Saviors or even Negan, himself. Rick and his group that were recently part of the line-up certainly got a taste of what happens when you cross the big bad wolf and his pack of subhuman shitheads. Now what will the people of Alexandria think and have to say about all of this?

Only about a short two minutes into the episode, and we are graced with the silhouette of Negan from outside the gates of Alexandria, knocking upon the big metal bars with his wife, Lucille. If your shadow alone can bring trouble and cause a sudden uproar, then your name MUST be Negan. After Spencer’s smart ass remark (“Uh…who are you?”), it is made apparent that Negan does not have any time for this bullshit he sees before him (We are talking about you here, Spencer). Luckily enough, Rick greets Negan at the gate, acknowledging he is earlier than they had all previously anticipated. Without asking, Negan tells Rick to hold Lucille for him, leaving her in his possession for the duration of the episode. In not even a week’s time (as previously promised), Negan and his men are already back and ready to collect what’s theirs.

As if Spencer wasn’t enough, there are other residents of Alexandria that do not rub Negan the right way. This is made evident when he turns around to the immediate sighting of Father Gabriel, referring to the religious figure by calling him “Creepy as shit”. Clearly just for a tease, and nothing more, Negan has dragged Daryl along with him and claims he is part of “the help”, in which Rick, or anyone else, is not allowed to communicate with, or even look at for that matter. Dwight remains by Daryl’s side as they enter the premises, but quickly trails off to follow through with his strange obsession over Rosita, who is ready to hit the road with Spencer to scour for more supplies. They are promptly sent on their way by Mr. Fleshface, only to be stripped of all of their guns before hitting the road (He even goes out of his way to drain the canteen full of water, what a piece of work).

Through clear and obvious observation, Negan can tell that Rick has more than he can handle within these walls. Whether that is people, houses or supplies in general, Negan will not have a problem taking “half” of everything. The problem with his definition of “half”, is that…”half” is what he says it is, even if that’s more (or less). This immediately worries Rick: does this entitle Negan to ALL of their food and only a little of their medicine? What exactly DOES he mean when he says “half”? Truthfully, does Rick even have a choice in the matter?

Rick isn’t the only one that’s not okay with this, as we witness Carl holding a couple of Saviors at gunpoint; clearly take more than half of the medical supplies. Negan’s intervention leads Carl into putting the gun down and handing it over, even after appearing stubborn about it for a moment. Though frustrated, the members of this community are no longer going to do anything that will put one another, or themselves, in harm’s way. Someone in this community doesn’t understand that message, for when Negan and his people attempt to retrieve all of the guns within the walls; an inventory check confirms that two small handguns are missing. At this point, Negan is nothing short of frustrated and wants to know where they guns are, or it will cost Olivia her life.

After a frantic search throughout the community, Rick finally discovers the two weapons buried in a vent (which also holds food and liquor that someone had been stashing). Without hesitation, these weapons are promptly returned to their new rightful owner, as he wears a fantastically large shit-eating grin, knowing that these people are completely depleted of guns and ammunition. Michonne’s return lines up just in time for her to surrender the rifle she had taken from her and Rick’s home earlier that day (which was not on the inventory list, therefore, the Saviors would not have known it were even there). Rick clears that confusion up on the spot by stating that they would be nothing short of unforgiving had they discovered another weapon (especially one not on the inventory). Before Negan and his band of brothers begin their march out of Alexandria, he steps back to retrieve Lucille from Rick’s cold, emotionless hands.

Spencer certainly isn’t off the hook, for he is confronted afterward by Rick in an attempt to find out why he was holding the guns and food. Rick comes to the conclusion rather quickly that Spencer is behaving this way simply due to the fact that he is “small”, and holding onto food and anything else during this time makes him seem even smaller than he already appears to be. Fortunately for Rick, all Spencer can seem to do is verbally bash him over the head, most noticeably with the bit he mentioned about Glenn and Abraham, which was totally uncalled for in my book. There was certainly a lot that happened during this episode, especially the confirmation we have been expecting for years that Judith is not the child of Rick, but of his long lost friend Shane, and I am only remembering more and more as I reach the end of this recap. However, once again, it has been clarified that Negan is the one in charge, and as of this point in time, there’s not a damn thing or person to say otherwise.