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negan-riverbenders.jpeg

Negan Is Back and He Has New Friends on 'The Walking Dead'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 22, 2022 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 22, 2022 |


negan-riverbenders.jpeg

The Walking Dead’s multi-season-long redemption arc for Negan continues, and while no one who bailed on the series after the death of Glenn would believe it, it’s working. It’s working for a few reasons: Negan was a changed man who repeatedly came to the aid of Alexandrians after serving seven years in a jail cell; in fact, under the guidance of Carol, he infiltrated the Whisperers and killed their leader at great personal risk; an origins episode provided some context and explained how a warped sense of grief transformed him into the supervillain he was; and maybe most important, a number of “heroic” characters on The Walking Dead, in particular Maggie, have done things that might be considered as bad or nearly as bad as the violent acts carried out by Negan when he led the Saviors. It helps, too, that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a great actor capable of eliciting sympathy from the audience even after having committed the heinous acts he has.

Ironically, given her own recent history, it’s Maggie whose trust Negan hasn’t been able to gain, which is understandable given Negan’s direct role in the murder of Maggie’s husband. Several episodes ago, after helping to save Maggie, Daryl, Father Gabriel, and the entire Alexandrian community of ruin, Negan split from the group, concerned both that Maggie would kill him and that Maggie had turned into the old version of himself.

Cut to six months later, and a number of folks from both Alexandria and The Hilltop have joined The Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth is eager to expand its presence into Alexandria, Oceanside, and The Hilltop. Maggie, however, refuses to join, and without The Hilltop, the Commonwealth is not interested in partnering with the other two communities.

Enter Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton), the right-hand to The Commonwealth’s Governor Milton. Hornsby is invested in expanding The Commonwealth because he envisions himself as the new leader of the prospective satellite communities. He does not take it well when Maggie rejects him, and he devises a plan. The plan hasn’t completely come together for me, but it involves taking over another nearby small community that he claims is a wackjob religious cult operated by a creepy Michael Biehn. Hornsby recruits Toby Carlson (Jason Butler Harner), who puts on a dopey smile and convinces Aaron and Gabriel to confront Ian, the warlord, and talk him into joining The Commonwealth.

Ian, like Maggie, basically says, “No thanks,” only he’s more yell-y about it and threatens to kill Toby, Aaron, and Gabe if they ever return. That’s when dopey, smiley Toby reveals himself to be former CIA (of course), a sadistic killer type asked by Hornsby to take over the community at whatever costs. He puts down Ian and repeatedly kicks his corpse and then takes control of the building, turning against everyone including Aaron and Gabe, who are now on the side of “the cult.” Because Toby is also in charge of a unit of Commonwealth soldiers, it also pits the Commonwealth against Aaron and Gabe, with Maggie, Elijah, and Lydia en route to offer assistance.

Gabe is as good as dead until Negan — gone for six months — returns to offer help. It turns out, he is part of the community in the apartment complex. They’re called Riverbenders. They’re good peeps, but like Maggie, they’re skeptical of The Commonwealth. For good reason. It also appears that Ian’s wackjob persona was just an act to scare away The Commonwealth. It didn’t work.

Negan is trapped inside the building with Gabe and the Riverbenders, and Toby and The Commonwealth soldiers have the building surrounded. Negan and The Riverbenders are going to have to defeat Toby and the Commonwealth soldiers without weapons in order to escape. It’s a tall order.

The episode ends in a cliffhanger, but next week will see Maggie and Aaron come to Gabe and Negan’s aid (reuniting Maggie and Negan, again, ahead of their spin-off series set in New York next year (JUST F**K ALREADY)). The wrinkle here is that a number of Alexandrians are now members of The Commonwealth, including Daryl and Rosita, who are Commonwealth soldiers. We also know — because Part II of the season is told in flashback — that Daryl will ostensibly be on the side of The Commonwealth when their soldiers surround Maggie and The Hilltop. I suspect, however, that Daryl is playing double agent, while this ordeal will ultimately force Maggie and Negan to work together, whether Maggie likes it or not.