Tell-Tale TV Picks of the Week: Shocking Moments from The Walking Dead, Arrow, and The Americans

This week on TV, we unfortunately said goodbye to some amazing, strong, and fearless women – Sleepy Hollow’s Abbie Mills, The American’s Nina Sergeevna Krilova and Arrow’s Laurel Lance. Oh, and someone died on The Walking Dead, but hey, we can wait until next season to find out. No problem. We caught back up with Jamie and Claire and the world of Outlander. And even though it technically didn’t air this week in TV, it’s worth freaking out over the fact that Sookie will make an appearance on the Gilmore Girls revival!

Below, some of our writers discuss their picks from this week in TV.

Most Shocking Moment

Christine: I somehow failed to see all of the spoilers about this week’s Arrow, so the death of Laurel Lance is INCREDIBLY shocking to me for a number of reasons, but most importantly because it feels so senseless in the big picture of the show. Black Canary is a HUGE part of the Arrow universe. Why on earth would they kill her? I can’t wait to see the fallout from this.

Lizzie: Rumple finally, FINALLY coming clean with Belle on Once Upon A Time. I’m not a huge fan of Rumple, but even I could appreciate that he was finally all like: This is who I am, take it or leave it. It’s time he (and Belle. And the writers, for that matter) stopped pretending he could change. He can’t change. That’s just the way he is.

Lyra: The Walking Dead ending without telling us who Negan killed. After all the buildup and tension, I expected more from the Season 6 finale. Sure, Negan scared the hell out of me, but I wanted payment for all the waiting we’ve been doing. I walked away feeling jittery and on the edge of my seat. It was not a good feeling.

Samantha: Olivia losing control on Scandal and just brutally letting Andrew have it. I sat straight up in my bed gasping that she actually did it. Sure, Olivia’s got blood on her hands, but I don’t think we’ve actually seen her kill someone herself.

Allison: IT’S A TIME LOOP?? The Magicians revealed that Jane has been running a time loop altering one aspect every time to see if that stops the Beast. Every time it ends with Quentin’s death, and he’s died a lot, like a lot, a lot. It seems crazy to think that this has been going on for years. I have so many questions.

Sheena: Nina being killed on The Americans. I knew they weren’t going to let her live, I just didn’t think she’d be killed so soon. My mouth literally fell open when I watched that. I thought that character had a few more episodes in her but c’est la vie.

Storyline We Could’ve Done Without

Christine: Rowena returning on Supernatural. I thought she was finally gone. I absolutely LOVE Ruth Connell, and I think she’s a fabulous actress, but Rowena? I’m sorry, I could really just do without her on the show from here on out. Actually no, I’m not sorry about thinking that. I’m really just done with that character.

Lizzie: I’m going to go with something they did in regards to the death of Laurel Lance, on Arrow. I’m talking about the whole “You were the love of my life” nonsense that she said to Oliver just before the end. Because …eh, WHAT? He wasn’t. He really wasn’t. She was over that. We were over that. Everyone was over that. And making Laurel’s last moments about something other than Laurel was, in my opinion, a huge disrespect.

Becky: I am 100%, fully and completely, going to jump on in here and say that The 100 did not need to drag sexual assault into Murphy’s plot this week. They didn’t need to go there at all. That entire scene was unnecessary. I found the way they used Murphy’s sarcastic one liner (“The things I do to survive.”) to brush off Ontari’s coercion and his total lack of consent to be absolutely repulsive, and the entire scene just belittles the seriousness of such a situation – which is horrible, considering the stigma that already exists saying that men should always enjoy sex/can’t be raped. Not good, The 100. Not good at all.

Samantha: I completely agree with Becky, The 100 made so many mistakes this week. Sex under coercion is not consensual, and it was completely unnecessary to Murphy’s plot. If the writers wanted these two to hook up, this was absolutely not the right way to do it. It reinforces a horrible stigma that men can’t be victims of rape and abuse. If you’re going to put them together, make it consensual or don’t do it at all. I also found the use and abuse of Abby and Raven unnecessary. There were other ways to get Abby to take that chip, or she could have not taken it at all and helped move the plot forward in a way that doesn’t revoke her free will. Raven’s body being used and discarded is just plain horrifying. She could have been used to convince Abby to join up in a plethora of ways that don’t end in sliced wrists.

Allison: I’m jumping in on The 100, and I’m adding the Octavia beating the crap out of Bellamy scene. I had to look away/fast forward during that scene. It was just way too much. I understand maybe a punch or two, but she wailed on him. I get that she is hurt and she feels like Bellamy is responsible for Lincoln’s death, but that was too much. Someone should’ve pulled Octavia off Bellamy, and yeah, okay, Kane spoke up, but Bellamy told him to back off because he felt like he deserved being beaten almost to death.

Sheena: Olivia brutally murdering Andrew on Scandal. That scene is the most gratuitous thing I’ve seen on TV since the latest pair of breasts shown on Game of Thrones, not to mention I don’t think that killing makes sense for Olivia’s character. I get that Shonda wants to change Olivia’s trajectory and make her bad now, but she was doing a good job of that without taking Olivia’s behavior to extremes. This scene left me feeling extremely disappointed in Shonda and the writers.

Character of the Week

Christine: Zelena on Once Upon a Time, something I thought I’d never ever in a million years say! That scene this week, where she handed her baby over to Robin and Regina…I cried so many damn tears. It was incredibly moving and showed a lot of growth on Zelena’s part.

Lizzie: Claire Fraser on Outlander. God, Outlander broke my heart. Caitriona Balfe wrote my heart. And yet Claire Fraser continued to prove that she could take anything life threw at her (and we’re talking literally ANYTHING) and just roll with it. She controls her life, not the other way around.

Becky: Negan on The Walking Dead. Am I horribly biased because I’ve been waiting for this moment since his casting was announced? I mean, yeah, maybe. But you really can’t deny that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was amazing in the role. I can’t wait to see more of him next season. He was just…ugh. Wonderful and terrible in the best way.

Lyra: Raven Reyes from The 100. I was cheering this woman on every second she was fighting A.L.I.E. off. Her resilience, in the face of insurmountable odds, proves that she is the strongest of them all.

Samantha: Since Lyra already said Raven, I’ll go with Abby on The 100. Abby fights so hard for Raven to the point of sacrificing her own mind to save her life. Abby gave up everything to save those she loves, and now she’s got no one left in Arkadia to fight for her.

Allison: Waverly Earp from Wynonna Earp. She has jumped into the Revenant hunting with both feet. Waverly is strong and brave, and she has impressive research skills. She’s going to be Wynonna’s saving grace.

Sheena: I’m going to have to second Becky and say Negan from The Walking Dead. My God, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is playing the hell out of this role and he was only on screen for about 15 minutes. What I love about the way he plays the character is that he’s incredibly menacing before he even swings Lucille. He menaces you with his words and his physical proximity to you, not his actions. CANNOT wait to see what Negan is going to do in season 7!!

Share your picks in a comment below.