The Walking Dead: Sing Me A Song has high notes and bum notes

The latest episode of The Walking Dead had plenty going on (thank goodness), some of it was even great but it showed Daryl really needs to visit the same hairdresser that Jesus and Carl uses.

I hope that, after we have seen the second half of season seven, we will look back on these first eight episodes and appreciate them more.

Because it feels hard to appreciate them right now.

Episode Seven, Sing Me A Song, hit some high notes but some of the lyrics were a bit bewildering and, while it made the Top 40 charts, it wasn’t even close to a number one.

Firstly, the good bits.

We actually got an episode and a half of action and lots of jumping between Carl’s one-kid mission to kill Negan, Rick and Aaron on a scavenge, Jesus jumping on to trucks, Spencer finding loot, Eugene making bullets and Michonne carving up Walkers.

Aaron and Rick discover a treasure trove of goodies guarded by Walkers.

It kept things moving well and advanced the story on a number of fronts, taking us to a place where we can see a dramatic mid-season finale to keep us on tenterhooks over the Christmas break.

If they had only mashed up some of the other episodes like this, we would have felt better about them.

Now the dodgy bits.

Where is angsty Rick? At the end of episode 1 he was a broken man. Now he’s running around the countryside as if nothing has happened. Where are the heartbroken conversations with Michonne? The tears? The recrimination? He had the confession about Judith, which was great — but nothing else. Episode 1 destroyed his world but we have seen no sign of it since.

When faced with a sign warning of death, he jumps over it. That’s the Old Rick, who was willing to attack and kill a Saviour outpost because he was arrogant and overconfident. New Rick should have at least had a moment of doubt — am I getting us into something bad again?

Having said that, I am looking forward to him and Aaron trying to get back a tonne of supplies from an island surrounded by Walkers next week.

Rick just ignored this sign, rendering the lessons of Episode One pointless

Then we come to Carl. Oh Carl, if they spent as long on your script as they did doing your hair, that episode would have been so much better.

Leaving aside the whole issue of Negan’s trucks being open at the back and haphazardly stacked with stuff, including random guns, why didn’t he shoot Negan when he had the chance? I can buy him trying and missing but not him shooting dead two goons and then having an attack of conscience. And then just giving up! I would have shot him because he was acting like a spoiled, pouty teenager.

The whole point was supposed to be that Negan is impressed by a ballsy kid. Carl’s hair is magnificent but not enough to cover for his actions.

Negan and Carl enjoy a nice chat and singalong.

So we get to see more of Negan’s Sanctuary, which was interesting but raised more questions. I get that Dwight’s wife Sherry married Negan to save Dwight’s life but why did they come back? They knew what he was like. Why not just keep going? Anything had to be better than this.

Anyway, if we hadn’t already got it in the Easy Street episode, this laid it out — Dwight hates Negan and is searching for a chance to rebel and get his wife and life back.

Likewise, his other wife Amber is devastated when her old boyfriend gets his face burned by a hot iron wielded by Negan. Leaving aside that it would have branded him, rather than melted him, what the hell is going on with these people? They are hauling in tonnes of supplies from all the other camps. It’s not like they are starving. Negan gives you the chance to live with your mother and boyfriend but you turn it down because life is too “hard” in the Sanctuary and it’s easier to be raped nightly by a madman with a baseball bat? WTF?!

Sherry (right) and Amber (second right) plus two of Negan’s other wives show that the Little Black Dress is still in fashion in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

For me the best note was, it appears as if Jesus is about to help Daryl escape. Or is it Dwight helping him escape? Or is it another one of Negan’s traps? Given he’s back at Alexandria, I’d say not. I reckon Daryl is about to break out and set up a mouth-watering second half of the series. I’m hoping for a Double D team to get going. Although it will make for an interesting meeting with Tara, seeing as Dwight killed her lover Denise.

Is Daryl going to escape next episode?

The Michonne segment was interesting. Look, I’m all for road calming devices but speed bumps out of zombies is a bit wacky. And why was there just one woman in the Saviour car? Carol met four of them armed to the teeth but Michonne gets one chick with a pistol? Convenient, methinks. Anyway, it was great seeing her go all badass and kidnap that Saviour woman but, again, why no conversation with Rick? If they are a hot item — and hey, I love the idea of Richonne — they should have at least had some sort of chat before she goes off on a solo mission. We’ve heard this song before; it’s what she did with The Governor. And we all know how well that turned out …

Eugene is making bullets and making Rosita angry, which is great. They were fighting and abusing each other, which is another way of saying they will end up making sweet, sweet mullet together by the end of the series.

Spencer is heading down the path towards one of the great scenes in the comics, where he goes to Negan with a plan to betray Rick. I hope that hits this half-season. It also gave Gabriel the chance to deliver one of the best lines of the series: That doesn’t make you a sinner but it does make you a tremendous shit.

Spencer shows he’s creative as well as being a weasel.

This episode also tried to give us more a nuanced Negan. There have been accusations that the TV Negan is far more evil than the Negan in the comics and the wholesale slaughter of the Oceanside camp’s children last episode does lend weight to that.

By having him mess around with Olivia (hey, who doesn’t love a fat joke) and then cuddle Judith, they tried to give him a different side. The whole Carl raid just didn’t hang right, because TV Carl is too old. I can absolutely see Negan being amused by a little kid trying to kill him. Sullen teens don’t amuse anyone. And then to have Carl tell Negan that he should just kill them because he doesn’t know how dangerous they are. Seriously? WTF moment right there! Again, from a little kid that’s hilarious and easy for Negan to dismiss. From TV’s Carl, it is too much like a threat.

So, it ends with Negan hugging Judith and seemingly seriously contemplating killing Carl and Rick.

Negan shows off his home to Carl and makes some more fat jokes.

It’s all warming up for a big mid-season finale and then an even better back half of the season.

So, despite several bum notes, Sing Me A Song does finish well.