'The Walking Dead' Recap: 'Sing Me a Song'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

'The darkest hour' is something that so many of us dread, simply because we know that regardless of what circumstances pull us into it, we will experience a powerfully painful time in our lives, where our mettle is tested and our lives are tossed and turned about and while we often hear that going through these hard times will inevitably make us stronger, we know deep down that's not always the case. 

Because tough times can break us. If they continue, with no end in sight, the darkness surrounding us can also consume us to the point where we accept this as the new norm and surrender ourselves to it. While the darkest hour is one of the greatest tests we will ever go through, it is also a trap waiting to be sprung and The Walking Dead has reached a delicate point when it comes to this notion and its characters. Because the good people of Alexandria are dealing with their darkest hour and at this point, they are either trying to find a way out of the darkness or they're at the dangerous precipice where it is about to consume them...making last night's episode, 'Sing Me a Song', one of the most cerebral episodes of season seven thus far and quite frankly...one of its most terrifying since it also managed to give us further insight when it comes to Negan and what this man is all about. 

But before we get too far into that, let's take a moment and talk about the people that are losing the fight against fear and darkness, specifically in Spencer and Rick since last night saw both men teetering on the brink. When it comes to Spencer, he is a man who firmliy believes that Rick is responsible for all of the bad things that have come his way, and his disdain for the man is starting to cloud his ability to do anything productive or worthwhile for the group since his fury was vile enough to actually get under Father Gabriel's skin and if he cannot find a way out of this toxic place...he may cause more harm than good. Rick in the meantime, continues to be the man closest to losing himself to the proverbial void since last night he and Aaron resumed their hunt to find something extra special for Negan and while its clear they've found something potentially worthwhile...the fact that Rick is now ready to risk life and limb to get his hands on anything to please his new boss demonstrates the precarious position his mind is in.

However it wasn't all gloom and doom in this episode since we learned that some of the characters are ready to make a difference and fight to ensure that everyone in Alexandria has a better life. Michonne set a trap to capture a Savior in the hopes of being taken to Negan at the Sanctuary. Rosita dragged Eugene to the factory he discovered with Abraham to have a little chat about how Eugene needs to get off of his behind and do something more than simply be a coward...and to make her a bullet, which he begrudingly took care of for her and most importantly...Carl made it with Jesus to the Sanctuary where the young man wiped out two Saviors in the hopes of getting at Negan and while he did indeed get the man within the sights of his rifle, Carl was simply outnumbered and promptly captured and that's when the episode took quite the fascinating turn.

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Because rather than bash Carl's skull in with Lucille; Negan decided it was high time to get to know the boy that refuses to be intimidated and he took Carl on a tour of the Sanctuary. It was here that we learned the people of this complex will do Negan's bidding on a moment's notice, without question and well, they often say the finest villains are simply misunderstood creatures that carry out terrifying actions with the best of intentions and believe it or not, Negan qualifies under that definition, because what this man truly stands for was revealed to us at last.

We learned last night that Negan is a man who believes the world we left behind before the dead walked the earth...got it all wrong. That the rules we set up didn't matter, that some of those old rules were stupid, so with a brave new world awaiting mankind...the time has come to re shape everything into what he envisions as a utopia. In Negan's world, rules exist and are followed or else one must face the consequences, giving us a sense of civlization once again and of course...only the strongest survive and are rewarded for it, starting with himself since he lives in the most lavish part of the Sanctuary, has multiple wives and only the finest food to eat and the most comfortable bed to sleep in and perhaps the most fascinating thing we learned about Negan after all this time, is that deep down, there is still some humanity to be found, where he actually does care about what people feel and think. 

That little surprise we discovered during a tense moment between he and Carl, where he demanded that Carl sing him a song and remove his eyepatch as part pennance for killing two of his men and part morbid curiosity, and once the patch was gone and the gore of Carl's injury was on display...Negan went to work, running his mouth and doing what he does best...breaking down the young man to the point of tears before genuinely showing regret over his words and sincerely apologizing, but the moment of levity simply didn't last. Neither man was able to achieve their goals in this little game of psychological warfare and once it became apparent that it was business as usual and that Negan was likely never going to shatter Carl's psyche, the decision was made to return to Alexandria with the younger Grimes to have a little talk with Rick and since the elder Grimes was out and about foraging for Negan, well he got his own tour of this suburban paradise, complete with an introduction to Judith Grimes...

That little meeting led to one chilling moment. With Negan, Carl and his sister sitting on the porch, lemonade ready to be poured, and Negan bouncing Judith on his knee as if he was her Uncle as he pondered exactly why he has bothered to keep Rick and Carl alive. Because it's clear that Carl's actions this week has convinced Negan that there is no breaking the Grimes clan which means he will have to resort to drastic measures to get them to comply and one has to wonder if Judith is going to be part of that plan. Either way, this turned out to be quite the powerful episode when all is said and done. One that was filled with danger and uneasiness at every turn since we never quite knew if Negan was going to do something horrible to Carl or not and it seems as though next week's midsesaon finale is going to be just as tense as we wait for Rick to return  and find this psychotic monster in his home and one has to wonder if what Negan has planned to further break Rick is going to backfire and bring back the leader that everyone in Alexandria needs. We'll find out next week...until then.

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