For a full recap of the episode, visit The Walking Dead Wiki here. This article is a review of the episode in which specific details and events are discussed. SPOILERS may occur, so read at your own risk.
Season seven of The Walking Dead has been crawling through its first half. Nothing has been able to escape the shock value of the premiere. Though one episode, “The Well,” gave us something a little interesting, everything else has felt like a slog. “Go Getters” doesn’t change that trend. In fact, it might be the most tedious episode of the season yet.
The episode is yet another “the Saviors are coming” episode like last week where not much of consequence happens from their arrival. It doesn’t help that this episode strongly focuses on Gregory, one of the most annoying characters in the series’s history. That wouldn’t be quite so bad if Gregory wasn’t terminally boring. But he is. His character is frustratingly two-dimensional and despicable to boot.
The biggest thud comes in the form of Carl and Enid‘s burgeoning relationship. It always feels bad to criticize younger actors but Chandler Riggs and Katelyn Nacon – who will never escape her involvement in Too Many Cooks – just can’t cook up any on-screen chemistry. Their line delivery is flat and their characters feel so forced together by the time they finally kiss. It’s a mishandled subplot in an episode littered with too many distractions.
And though there are now some changes to the Hilltop hierarchy, the end of this episode has very little going for it. Everyone is mad at Negan! And they are going to find out where he lives! Did those sentiments really deserve an entire episode to set in? Did we need five episodes to get some of the characters to that point? And frankly, are the politics of these communities really that interesting?
Season seven has been falling victim to some of The Walking Dead‘s worst tendencies: overlong stories in each episode, too many characters and branching storylines, and very little substantial plot development. “Go Getters” has all of these problems condensed into a single experience. This will probably end up as a skippable episode when the series is all said and done.
Best Moments of the Episode:
- Steven Ogg as Simon. Although his role is just as a surrogate Negan, his performance is excellent. It’s actually more enjoyably villainous than Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been all season.
- “Maggie Rhee.” Great delivery from Lauren Cohan.
- Not really a “best moment,” but it’s worth reminding people how dreamy Jesus is.
- No great zombie gore gag this week, but Maggie running over some walkers in that big tractor was fun.
