After half a season of The Walking Dead doing almost nothing, and Rick doing even less, the winter finale finally made some progress. The Negan vs. Rick conflict has finally surfaced as a real possibility. Rick is no longer content to be Negan’s whipping boy. Rick is ready to fight back and (presumably) the next half of season 7 will see him marshal his troops and maybe even attack.
“Hearts Still Beating” was an inevitable and almost meandering episode of The Walking Dead but that didn’t make the outcome any less welcome. Before we can get to all the action promised by the winter finale, there had to be a lot of talking to set it all up. Here are the 21 most important quotes from “Hearts Still Beating.”
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“I know people are saying things — nice things about you and Sasha, hmm? About the other night … about how they’re thinking you saved the place. Don’t let it go to your head.”
Gregory still being a tremendous jerk to Maggie
“Apparently, some people are having a hard time believing me when I say I just want to be left alone.”
Carol
“It’s giving up everything, right up until your own life. But either your heart’s beating, or it isn’t. Your loved ones’ hearts are beating, or they aren’t. We take what they give us so that we can live.”
Aaron to Rick about Negan
“I’m not gonna kill him today. I’m gonna find the way that we win. I’m gonna change how this ends for me. That’s why I’m out here alone.”
Michonne revealing her plan of stalking Negan’s hideout
“If we had help — a lot of people — then I wouldn’t be afraid to tell her, because she’d know it wasn’t on her to do it. But if it’s just me, then –“
Sasha on why she’s not telling Maggie about her plan to kill Negan
“A lot of places came together after the world fell apart. Maybe you’re both from one of those places. Most of those communities and camps are gone now. I lost people. I pretty much lost hope in people. But then I found the Kingdom. I met Ezekiel. I saw what he built. But now I believe what he built is under threat. The Saviors.”
Richard
“Right now, we have peace with the Saviors, but sooner or later, something’s gonna go wrong. Maybe we’ll be light on a drop, or maybe one of ours will look at one of theirs the wrong way, or maybe they’ll just decide to stop honoring the deal. Things will go bad.”
Richard
“If Abraham was alive, we could fight. If Glenn was, Maggie’s kid would have a father. Michonne and Carl can fight. They have Rick. Aaron has Eric. Eugene knows things. Daryl’s strong.”
Rosita on why she has to be the one to kill Negan (and die for it)
“We’ll win, but we need to wait for the right moment or create it … together. And you’re a part of that together. Don’t do this.”
Father Gabriel convincing Rosita not to kill Negan
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“I don’t want anyone else coming around or even knowing where I am. If you somehow see anyone we know, tell them I’m gone. Do that for me please.”
Carol to Morgan
“Whatever you’re trying to do, you can’t. But you still have some choices. Go home. Burn this car, roll it down into a lake, make it disappear. There’s a silencer in the glove compartment.”
The female Savior to Michonne about her plan to kill Negan
“I could never do this with Rick. He would just be standing there, scowling, giving me that annoying side-eye he gives me.”
Negan about playing pool with Spencer
“I get what you’re trying to do here, what you’re trying to build. I’m not saying I agree with your methods, but I get it. You’re building a network. You’re making people contribute for the greater good. It makes sense. But you should know that Rick Grimes has a history of not working well with others.”
Spencer to Negan
“His ego’s out of control. He’ll find a way to screw things up, to try and do things his way, to take over. That’s what he did with my mom. That’s what he’ll do again.”
Spencer about Rick
“It’s because you got no guts.”
Negan: “You know, I’m thinking, Spencer. I’m thinking how Rick threatened to kill me, how he clearly hates my guts. But he is out there right now, gathering shit for me to make sure I don’t hurt any of the fine people that live here. He is swallowing his hate and getting shit done. That takes guts. And then there’s you … The guy who waited for Rick to be gone so he could sneak over and talk to me to get me to do his dirty work, so he could take Rick’s place. So I got to ask — if you wanna take over, why not just kill Rick yourself and just take over?”
Spencer: “What? No, no. I didn’t — I don’t –“
Negan: “You know what I’m thinking? ‘Cause I have a guess. It’s because you got no guts.”
Negan stabs Spencer, spilling his insides.
Negan: “Oh. How embarrassing. There they are. They were inside you the whole time. You did have guts. I’ve never been so wrong in my whole life!”
“Lucille’s beautiful, smooth surface is never gonna look the same, so why should yours?!”
Negan to Rosita after she tries to shoot him
“Rick … how about a ‘thank you’?”
Negan: “Rick … how about a ‘thank you’? I mean, look, I know we started this relationship with me beating the holy shit out of your friends, and because of that, we’re never gonna sit around and braid each other’s hair or share our deepest, darkest secrets, but how about a little credit? I just bent over backwards to show you how reasonable I am. Your kid — he hid in one of my trucks and machine-gunned a bunch of my men down, and I brought him home, safe and sound, and I fed him spaghetti. Another one of your people — well, he wanted me to kill you and put him in charge. I took him out … for you. And another one, here — she shot Lucille, trying to kill me just now, so I gave you one less mouth to feed. And by looking at her — that mouth did some major damage.”
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“I wanted to go with you and Aaron, but I couldn’t. I had to go my way. But when I found it … I realized that … I didn’t want it to be my way. I wanted it to be ours — me and you.”
Michonne to Rick
“We’re still alive, Rick. So much has happened, so much that we shouldn’t have lived through. And … and in spite of it or maybe because of it, we did. We’re still here, the two of us. We’re still standing, and we’re gonna keep standing.”
Michonne
“We’re the ones who live. That’s why we have to fight — not for us, but for Judith, for Carl, for Alexandria, for the Hilltop — for all of us. We can fight them, Rick. We can find a way to beat them. We can do this.”
Michonne
“You told us to get ready to fight. I didn’t listen, and I couldn’t. I can now.”
Rick to Maggie about deciding to fight Negan
What was your favorite quote from the winter finale? Are you ready for Rick to fight back? Did it take too long for The Walking Dead to get there? How long do you think it will take for Rick to take down Negan? How have you felt about season 7 so far?
The Walking Dead season 7 will return in February on AMC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page!
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
