Say Yes, pretty much amounted to a weekend getaway in a zombie apocalypse. Richonne set off to look for guns and food, so that they can bring Jadis and her people on side to fight the Saviours. They manage to steal a van from people who they find golfing in a field of all things. Why are all of these people on holiday during an apocalypse damn it? At any rate, each night after a dutiful search for supplies the Rick and Michonne make love. This is going to sound weird because it had me thinking about Lori of all people and not because I thought that Rick and Lori made a better couple. From Lori, we learned first hand the consequences for women who have sex in a zombie apocalypse and end up pregnant. I wanted to scream at the television, "no glove no love". Now more than ever, women need access to birth control and not once did Rick or Michonne have a conversation about this. Look, I know that they are about to engage in a life and death struggle but given how Lori died, this is a conversation they should have had before getting sweaty. I suppose because the writers control who gets pregnant and who dies, they didn't see it as a necessary but I deeply feel that this conversation should have been included.
Rick and Michonne stumble upon a long abandoned camp. It's probably the kind of area that the military set up as a safe zone at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. It's clear that something went down there because there are several zombie military personal walking around with weapons. This is just the break that Michonne and Rick are looking for. They climb up onto the roof of a highschool to get a better look and plan how to kill the zombies and take what they need. The roof which is covered in water, collapses and they end up falling through but have a soft landing. The room that they land in is filled with MREs. They actually have a candlelight dinner and gorge themselves on the food, clearly grateful to be full for a change. Rick actually brings up taking a few days for just the two of them to enjoy what they've found. It's Michonne who points out that they should head back because of what they are dealing with.
The next day, they start their assault on the walkers. It's a great reminder of what a great team Michonne and Rick are because not only do they work well together, after all they've been through, they are competent fighters. Rick being Rick, gets a little too cocky and tries to shoot a dear by climbing on a carnival ride. Rick ends up falling off and finding himself surrounded by walkers. Michonne notices that Rick is in trouble and when she rushes over, she finds the zombies huddled together feasting on something. In this moment, Michonne believes Rick to be dead and she drops her sword on the ground. Rick pops up out of hiding and grabs Michonne's sword and tosses it to her. Together, they finish off the last of the zombies and collect all of the supplies.
On the ride home, Michonne is very quiet. Rick finally broaches the subject of what happened while they were gathering the weapons. Michonne makes it clear that she doesn't think that she could go on if something happened to Rick; however, Rick makes it clear that if something happens to her he will go on. I don't know about you, but that had me screaming, "fuck you", at the screen.
Rick brings up how Glenn saved him in the early days and how he was incapable of saving him. Rick admits that he is haunted by Glenn's death but adds that he is determined to go on to build a world for Glenn's child and for Judith. Rick tells Michonne that if something happens to him, he wants her to go on and he wants her to lead the group because she's the only one who can. Okay, maybe he redeemed himself a little bit here but we know that Rick has so much plot armour we are never going to see Michonne in a true leadership position.
The group delivers the weapons to Jadis, who while pleased with what they have found, believes that they still haven't provided enough guns. Rick and Jadis do their odd bartering thing and they agree to allow Rick and Co to keep 20 weapons while they search for more guns. Even though the task ahead is daunting, Rick and Co are still very confidant that they will be able to find what they need, take on the Saviours and emerge victorious.
All of this puts Tara into a difficult position. Tara would not have survived stumbling into the Oceanside community, if she hadn't been saved by one person. Tara promised not to return and not to tell anyone about the community but now with time running short, she knows that the weapons the community has would really come in handy, to say nothing of the extra fighters. Tara reasons this all out in a conversation with Judith of all people. I suppose it's just nice to have someone to listen to you. Tara reasons that Oceanside should join their team since the Saviours killed all of the men that they love.
Rosita has her own issues this episode. It beings with her deciding to confront Gabriel about him not being onside with her attempt to take out Negan. She completely ignored the fact that he was right and goes on about the fact that now Eugene was taken and several others are also dead. It feels like denial and it feels ridiculous. Rosita is determined to kill Negan come what may and she makes her way to the Hilltop to see Sasha with a gun stolen from Rick's new stash. Together, they agree to go after Negan and Sasha negotiates to take the kill shot. Both women agree that no matter what happens, they cannot allow themselves to be taken alive. At this point, it feels like a fools errand.
As you can see, nothing much really happened in this episode. Rick and Michone confirmed their concern for each other and Rick declared he wanted to co-lead the future with Michonne, with the caveat that he is capable of ruling without her if she dies. The Walking Dead writers tried to frame the whole thing as an apocalyptic romantic weekend away, but it all felt flat to me. I think that Say Yes, was little more than a place holder and an attempt to slow the story down and draw it out just a little bit more.
I'm going to need an explanation for Jadis and Co's speech patterns. It's only been a few years since the apocalypse happened and these people are speaking like English isn't their first language. It makes no sense and feels like a cheap device to separate them from the other groups in the alliance. I think this episode would have been a little bit better served by telling Jadis's story. The only thing I can surmise from the writers failure to so is that Jadis & Co, will make up a large group of the people who are killed in the big battle against Negan.
