‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Here’s Negan’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season 10C Finale of ‘The Walking Dead’.
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It is definitely safe to say, that fans of The Walking Dead, were expecting last night’s Season 10C Finale of the series, to provide them with a dark and gritty tale and understandably so. After all, ‘Here’s Negan’ was obviously going to focus upon the origin story of one of the most vicious villains to ever grace the franchise and considering the brutality he put upon display in the season seven premiere, alongside the incredible cruelty he exhibited during the ‘All Out War’ story arc… it only made sense that this episode would show us his dark past and how he came to lead the Saviors and relish in the wonder of the evil he dispensed. But while that would have made for a compelling finale for certain, one that would once again help us to understand the nature of evil, that simply wasn’t what the writers’ room had in mind.
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For this particular tale turned out to be nothing more than a grand and sweeping tragedy, one that surprised us with some powerful explorations on the human condition. Allowing for this finale to tie into everything that these extended episodes have been exploring, and it accomplished that particular feat by taking the time to examine the darker side of trauma and loss and what we become when we don’t fight off their impact upon our soul, and how we transform when faith is removed from our hearts and how cold we can be when we only trust in ourselves. And all of that came about… courtesy of a walk down memory lane with Negan. One that outright informed us, how an unfortunate ending with Lucille, changed his life in quite the negative and horrifying manner.

Bear in mind though, we’re not talking about the bat here. No instead, it was the woman that inspired the name of that instrument of destruction, that brought out the darkness in Negan… all because he believed he couldn’t do right by her. For this particular tale allowed for us to see that Negan was indeed telling the truth in ‘The Big Scary U’, when he confessed to Father Gabriel that he lied and cheated on her. But what he didn’t tell Father Gabriel… is that he genuinely tried to reform himself and reconcile with her, once her cancer diagnosis came to fruition. Because that revelation helped him to realize, what she meant to him and he immediately worked to treat her right and help her through this tough time, something that he was able to double down upon when the world came to an end. 

For these lovebirds were locked up in the basement of their home when the dead rose from their graves and as the world rotted, they went about their days eating whatever they could find and rekindling their love affair and their bond. Something Negan expected to continue down the line, once he helped Lucille finish her chemotherapy treatments, but alas… the world had other plans. For a fleeting moment of romance allowed for the chemotherapy packets to get too warm in their fridge and that motivated Negan to try something bold and find some doctors that could potentially provide he and his beloved with the last treatments she needed to kick cancer in the teeth. But despite getting the drugs from those kind doctors, his six-week absence, and the need to inform some rough riders about the location of said doctors when they detained him, brought about the dark exploration in question.

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Because his eventual return home, revealed that his wife opted to check out while he was on the road, putting him face to face with a starving, reanimated monster. One that only physically resembled his beloved Lucille and of course… rather than end that creature’s life, he did nothing but sink into sadness. For in that moment, he believed he failed her in every way imaginable, and just like that… the power of loss and trauma consumed him, and he no longer believed in anything or anyone but himself. And that allowed for anger and the pain of losing his beloved to infect his heart in the same manner the virus did the dead and well… someone simply had to pay for this indignity and first up on his list, were the men that detained him and demanded information. After all, had they taken the time to release him sooner, perhaps he could have saved dear Lucille. 
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So, after he wrapped a little barbed wire around the bat gifted to him by Laura… he made his way to the bar those unsavory dudes used as a home base and the Negan we know and despise was born and well, that moment really did engender sorrow and pity. For he truly was the epitome of a broken man, one that used his fury and his fear in every wrong way imaginable in a desperate attempt to fill a void. Not to mention, it was fascinating to see how his story paralleled that of Rick Grimes. For while Rick found nothing but lucky breaks and good fortune on his way to Alexandria, poor Negan found nothing but sorrow and heartbreak, helping to remind us also that sometimes we let our environment dictate our actions since there’s a chance that the Saviors never would have come to life, if Negan had indeed saved his beloved Lucille from the cancer that was trying to ravage her body. 

But what truly made this particular tale so worth our while, is that it had a positive message to inject into this grand tragedy after all. Because eventually, Negan was able to make peace with everything that happened in the past, all by finding and using that iconic bat... to say goodbye to his wife and to forgive himself for his past transgressions. A move that was clearly designed to bring every lesson these extended episodes presented us with, home. Since that made it clear that the real path forward from all of those aforementioned troubles… is us. In that, we have to accept the reality of the situation and/or our pain and confront it and resolve it before we can move forward, and Negan did indeed do all that and it was quite powerful to watch this broken and angry man find peace at last… and of course… to be reminded of that all-important life lesson.

However, the joy we found in Negan’s personal redemption, didn’t last. For he was ‘banished’ in this tale, in order to avoid an incident between he and Maggie. But now that he’s found peace, he’s opted to return to Alexandria to face all of his indiscretions and mistakes and it will be interesting to see if Negan can make peace with Maggie or if she will opt to embrace the darkness as well and indulge in revenge. But while we wait for that resolution, we can bask in one of the finest, if not the best episode, this series has ever offered up. For it was filled to the brim with the humanity and the horror that helped us to fall in love with show in the first place, and it was also packed with stunning performances. For Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton Morgan were simply electric in this tale, and their real-life connection as husband and wife sold the gravity of Negan’s loss. Plus, Mister Morgan also deserves some serious credit for being able to show us a side of Negan we never knew existed, since he was far meeker in his pre-Savior days and the wonder of Jeffrey's performance doesn’t end there… since Jeffrey transformed Negan into a vengeful nightmare right before our very eyes. If anything, this is a finale so jam-packed with wonder that it deserves a rewatch, if not several. And hopefully a few extra viewings of this particular tale will tide us over as we wait for August 22, 2021, when The Walking Dead returns for its eleventh and final season. Until next time.

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