**Disclaimer**
This recap contains spoilers from the season finale of The Walking Dead, “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.” If you haven’t seen the episode yet, DO NOT READ ON! You’ve been warned.
The long-anticipated season 7 finale begins with Sasha in the dark, dreaming about Abraham, God rest his soul. Good to see that redneck ginger again, even if it’s only a flashback. Negan (aka The Evil One) wants Sasha to join the Saviors and she seems to be pondering it. We see numerous flashbacks, actually, all conjured by Sasha’s mind as she hatches a tragic plan to assist Rick and the group.
Viewers have anticipated (and clamored for) a showdown between Rick’s group and Negan and the Survivors since the season’s first episode, which saw Negan and Lucille take out not just Abraham but also the much beloved Glen. Rick and company have armed themselves to the teeth and teamed up with Jadis-of-of-the-awful-bangs and her junkyard crew, having been turned down by the gals in Oceanside. Eugene and his mullet are sent to try and convince Rick to give up the fight and when Rick asks Eugene “Where’s Negan?” he’s met with the brainwashed and sad reply, “I’m Negan.”
At that moment Jadis and the junkyard crew prove to be the turncoats that everyone expected and turn their guns on Rick’s group, stating nonchalantly that Negan gave them a better deal. Shocking. Negan wheels out a silver casket and announces that Sasha is inside and alive and that he’ll give her back, for the low, low price of all the guns, a human sacrifice of Rick’s choosing, and a pool table. Rick asks to see Sasha and when Negan opens the casket, we figure out why Sasha was feverishly reminiscing about Abraham. Eugene had given her some sort of pill, and we now know that it was poison. Walker Sasha lunges at Negan and gives Rick and friends the element of surprise they need to gain the upper hand with the Junkyard crew. Negan, having escaped Walker Sasha’s clutches, comes within seconds of taking Lucille to Carl’s head, but comes face to face with Shiva, King Ezekiel’s tiger, heralding the arrival of Jesus, Maggie, Carol, Morgan, and others from the Kingdom. Negan escapes in the ensuing gunfire and lives to torment another day or at least another season.
Jesus and Maggie have the heartbreaking task of dispatching Walker Sasha, and the season comes to a bittersweet close, with the residents of the Kingdom, Alexandria and Rick’s group together at last. It’s always torture waiting for the season premiere, but next season should at least have a leveled playing field in Rick’s fight against Negan and the Saviors.
The Walking Dead has been renewed for an 8th season and is expected to return this fall.
