The Walking Dead S07E13 Review: All Convoluted Plans Will Fail

The Walking Dead, Season 7, Episode 13: Bury Me Here

The Saviour/Kingdom situation has always been a time bomb waiting to explode. In a show with a less predictable format, this might be a 'will they/won't they' situation. But it's always going to end in blood no matter what, because the Walking Dead isn't exactly the most subtle of shows in telegraphic what's going to happen next. And you just know the Saviours are going to fuck up -- they're dicks, and their dickery has been made evident many times. Likewise, it doesn't take much to guess that Richard's going to make something happen sooner or later, and Benjamin's probably going to get his ass killed to cause Ezekiel, Carol and Morgan -- the characters we actually care about -- to fight. But it usually makes the journey there palatable enough, but not this time, I feel. But there's just no real tension here, and the utterly convoluted plan Richard cooks up just kind of fell flat.

So yeah, it's a very Kinngdom-centric storyline here, but not even Ezekiel's bombastic delivery of his lines or Jerry's obsession with cobbler made this episode any less of a slog. The episode quickly sets up Benjamin's "look at this nice, sweet kid" bit by having him bond with Morgan some more, giving Morgan a painting to hang in his room, and Morgan teasing him about finding a girl. And how Ezekiel keeps praising Benjamin and noting how he's the future of the Kingdom. All well and good, but it ends up coming not as a shock or a huge moment, but more of a 'well, we reached this point' bit when Jared the jackass Saviour shoots the kid in the head.

Granted, the episode tries its best. The Saviours aren't as cartoonishly dickish as before, and it helps that we've seen this particular group interact with Ezekiel -- basically treating his king shtick with contempt but tolerating him as long as he delivers. Gavin, the leader of this particular cell, is particularly interesting in that he doesn't seem as too into the role of being Negan the way Dwight or Simon did, and while not a pleasant person, just seems like a bit of an ass instead of being a total monster the way Negan, Simon or Dwight were. His reaction to finding one less melon than what was promised is more like an exasperated boss going "really, guys? I told you this is the one thing you cannot fuck up, and you fucked it up. How can I not punish you now?"

Of course, tensions have been built up between the hotheads of both sides -- Richard and Jared -- so for things to explode didn't come out of nowhere. Hell, Richard's desperation to do something, in light of what he tried to do a couple of episodes back (which Daryl stopped) even makes sense for the dude, especially after he tells Morgan about how his inaction basically is as much to blame for his family dying as the zombie apocalypse. 

So Richard sabotages the meet. He makes a huge blockade and a nearby grave with the cryptic warning to 'bury me here', and steals the melons, but things go awry when the Saviours didn't shoot and martyr him as planned, but shoots the innocent boy instead. Honestly, just come with a less complex plan and shoot Jared in the head next time.

Which is all convoluted and dry, but not actually bad. What's weird next is the direction we take next with Morgan. Seeing him basically go nuts and have relapse flashbacks to his pre-zen days is absolutely forced, but somewhat believable. Morgan glowering at Richard and getting him to confess his crimes to him is also believable. But what's not believable is for Morgan to suddenly snap, choke Richard to death in the next meet in front of Ezekiel and the Saviours, tell the Saviours to leave the Kingdom alone... and then plan to go Saviour-hunting himself. Which is absolutely freaking weird and honestly makes very little sense. Let's make note that no one tries to stop Morgan -- I believe that the Saviours don't give a shit, but Ezekiel, Jerry, Dianne and the rest of the Kingdom's people? No? Or the fact that Morgan doesn't try to talk to Ezekiel about it? This feels as sloppy as Carol's sudden need to convert to pacifism, only unlike Carol's change, Morgan transforms far more abruptly and he has been so, so stable throughout all his post-Clear appearances. 

It's not the worst plot twist out there, and Lennie James' acting performance does make me buy for a brief second that the old Morgan that's a bit more psychotic and filled with trauma would resurface and snap, and bury down all his attempts at being a pacifistic monk, but there's only so much a great actor can do when the script and story pushes the character in unnatural directions. 

At the very least, though, despite the hoop-jumping, we've gotten rid of Benjamin and Richard and Morgan's back in his killing ways (though not insane) and sharpening Eastman's stick back into a spear is a chilling scene. But Carol has been given the information about the people that died from Morgan, which also causes her to get off her ass, come into the Kingdom and convince King Ezekiel to fight. The ending scenes with Carol and Morgan are both very well-done, but at the same time I honestly really wished Morgan's transformation could've been done with either more buildup or in a different way.