The Walking Dead Review: Say Yes (Season 7 Episode 12)

Rick and Michonne take the spotlight on The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 12, “Say Yes,” as they search for guns and talk about the future.

The Richonne romance has been a kind of subtle one on The Walking Dead. Plenty of shippers waited a long time for them to get together, sure, but there wasn’t a blatant “will-they-or-won’t-they” build-up to the relationship. Since they got together in Season 6, it’s mostly just been little moments of affection in passing or in the background and a few conversations here and there.

“Say Yes” puts Richonne front and center, highlighting their strength both as a team and as a couple. It’s a quieter episode that’s more character-driven than plot-driven. Their trip to find guns is just sort of an excuse to get these two characters on their own for a while.

The episode is fairly light-hearted, even funny at times, but it still feels a little bit like the calm before the storm. Among the joking and the candlelit dinner, we’re still reminded of what’s to come as Michonne suggests they’re going to need a leader once Negan is gone.

The reminder doesn’t necessarily ruin the moment. In fact, it makes you appreciate the episode even more for giving us a break before we’re thrown into the war that may begin in the final four episodes of the season.

The direness starts to sneak back in by the end of the episode, though. Rick talks about the possibility of losing people, of losing each other, in their looming fight and how Michonne reminded him (back in the midseason finale) that the loss would be worth it to ensure a better future for Judith, Carl, and everyone else.

The conversation is meant to be reassuring, but it feels incredibly foreboding. It’s the sort of speech someone gives near the end of a show’s final season or, a definite possibility for this show, before an important character is killed off.

Speaking of killing characters off, before Season 7 started, one thing I wanted was actual grief over losing loved ones. Rick’s brief mention of Glenn is exactly what I was talking about.

Rick losing sleep is a tiny background detail on “Say Yes.” It could barely be considered a subplot, and it doesn’t have to be. His grief doesn’t have to be a focal point of an entire episode. It’s just an acknowledgment that Maggie isn’t the only one affected by Glenn’s loss. He was important to everyone, especially Rick, and it’s nice to hear him talk about it.

Elsewhere in the episode (and still on the subject of killing characters off), Rosita is growing increasingly reckless in her impatience to kill Negan, and she decides to embark on what seems like a suicide mission with Sasha.

Ideally, viewers would be able to watch their favorite shows in a vacuum, uninfluenced by behind-the-scenes factors. But many TV fans like to keep tabs on their favorite actors and actresses, so many Walking Dead fans probably know Sonequa Martin-Green has landed the leading role in the upcoming CBS All Access show Star Trek: Discovery.

It’s fantastic for Martin-Green, but it certainly seems like a death sentence for Sasha.

I just mentioned in my last review that both Heath and Sherry managed to vaguely disappear when those actors joined other shows, but Martin-Green is a series regular and has been for a few years now. It seems highly unlikely that they would be able to convincingly write Sasha out of the show without killing her off.

The point here is — it’s hard to not let that knowledge alter your expectations for Sasha and Rosita’s plan. Sasha and Rosita are smart and tough. If anyone could pull off what they’re planning without getting themselves killed, it would be them. But knowing Martin-Green is probably leaving the show… it certainly seems like Sasha is heading into her final battle.

The final few minutes of “Say Yes” confirm we won’t be getting any more light-hearted episodes this season, as Tara — after working through her moral dilemma — seems ready to tell Rick she knows where to find lots of guns.

The biggest complaint for the first half of Season 7 was that it was aimless and nothing happened. The second half of the season has been, so far, a significant improvement, with a strong midseason premiere that had a renewed drive to it.

Yes, “Say Yes” is a light-hearted, character-driven episode, but it doesn’t feel aimless. It feels earned — for both Richonne fans and Walking Dead viewers in general who endured the earlier Season 7 gloom-and-doom — and it feels like a welcome break before the season barrels to a close.

 

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The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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