I actually liked the decision to hold the actual Lucille-ening in media res until roughly the twenty-minute mark. It left me completely adrift in unfamiliar territory as Negan dragged Rick into the RV and went on that little road trip with him -- every time the ax he took from Simon (Stephen Ogg's hitherto-unnamed Savior) got slammed into the desk, I thought for sure that the show was finally having Rick lose his hand to match the comics. Alas, that didn't happen, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan more than made up for it. He's phenomenal in this role, F-bombs or no F-bombs, even more so than in the finale. His one-on-one taunts were perfectly in character, and though having Rick fetch the ax out of the walkers seemed pettily evil, it ultimately lined up with his morality. He grabs this whole episode by the lapels, drags it through the dirt, and makes it his bitch.
And then we flash back to the long-anticipated bat death, upon which my heart was kicking even though it would've been a lot better with the tension of the finale behind it. I called that Abraham was reserved so he could meet his end here, and though I love Abraham and his last moments were perfect, I was left kind of cold by his death. I knew he'd be the decoy death, but still. AND THEN... Daryl gets up and punches Negan in the jaw. And I was so, so ready for the redneck arc-stealer to finally meet his end, because he gets held down in the middle of the field, and Negan spits that he doesn't give second chances for emotional outbursts... but then he kills Glenn instead. Damn it! It needed to happen for Maggie's sake, and the way the scene is set to match the comics version is wonderful, but why? Why wouldn't Negan kill Daryl? Instead, he kidnaps him because he likes his attitude or something. I pray he'll meet his end regardless soon, and that he's not being set up to absorb yet another arc in Carl's weird hate-friendship with Negan. Please let Carl keep that. It's one of the most interesting facets of both characters' stories. Fuck Daryl.
Regardless of my hopes, though, Glenn's death is as tragic as can be expected. And I have to give props to the way the death scenes play out, between the obvious (the gore is some of the best the series has dished up, between Abraham's head splitting into glistening chunks and Glenn being rendered in every comic panel, from the eye-popping and blood-spitting to the way his skull just blossoms open on the dirt; the strings of meat hanging off Lucille's wires were the cherry on top) and the effective touches like the countdown and Abraham's death being filmed from Rick's eyes. And just like I predicted, Steven Yeun sells the hell out of those last desperate, choking words to Maggie. I'll miss him.
But oh, the episode's not done. Rick's still bloodthirsty and rebellious -- he's not broken yet. Negan can't have that. Instead, the RV returns from their road trip, and Rick gets tossed out while Carl is dragged up in front of him. I saw the basics of where the scene was going immediately (Negan supposedly forces Rick to chop off Carl's arm because he's still not submitting), but the performances make it powerful regardless: Carl stares Negan in the eyes and answers questions without fear as his arm is tied off, Negan himself is ever-cocky but exposing his distaste for hurting kids, and Rick... Jesus, Andrew Lincoln deserves accolades for this episode alone. His threats dry up into whimpers and barely-legible pleas, he's crying and sweating and blowing snot bubbles and screaming his lungs out... yeah, Negan breaks him. After six seasons building him up as the unshakeable leader who could always rise back up from the beatings, even more so than his comics incarnation (who is a better character, but one with enough flaws and cracks that just Glenn's death shattered him), it would take this much -- at least, being put in the position, and the imminent threat of it -- to truly put him on his back feet and get him to submit.
Luckily, it was just another showcase of what Negan's willing and able to do, and he calls it off as Rick has picked up the ax -- neither Carl nor Rick actually lose their arms, and Negan actually gets calm and somewhat sympathetic toward all the pain he's caused as he marches off, Daryl and the Saviors in tow.
Now, the episode wasn't perfect. Aside from the wasted Daryl kill-off opportunity and the teases of Rick losing his hand that still went nowhere, the episode kind of floundered in its last minutes. The brief hallucination of everyone sitting at an idealized Thanksgiving dinner, panning to Glenn and Abraham while relevant snippets of Negan's speech replayed, was completely on-the-nose, saccharine, and unnecessary -- it gave us one last look at them with their faces so we could say goodbye, but otherwise, fuck that whole thing. And the whole last scene with Maggie trying to go to the Hilltop on her own and the others refusing to let her go by herself just sort of... confused me with how it was filmed and what everyone was doing.
But other than that, fuck yeah.