In the sixth episode of The Walking Dead season 7, titled “Swear,” we finally learn what happened to Tara and Heath during their supply run. After the two get separated, Tara runs into a new community of survivors. Meanwhile, an Alexandrian is still plotting revenge against Negan. This episode is a showcase for Alanna Masterson, and she does an excellent job showing us Tara’s long journey to get back home.
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Tara Finds a New Community
The opening of the episode introduces us to two new characters: Cyndie and her much younger companion, Rachel. They are at the beach when they discover a walker. Rachel puts it down and then spots what she thinks is a second walker. Only, it turns out to be Tara! Tara is alive but unconscious. Rachel still wants to kill Tara, but Cyndie talks her out of it. She then drags Tara to shore.
After the opening scene, we flash back to Heath and Tara as their two-week run is coming to an end. They’re both disappointed that they have next-to-nothing to show for their time away, despite having gone farther out than they were supposed to. Heath is still clearly upset by what Team Family did at the Saviors’ outpost. He still feels the weight of the lives he took. Tara feels it too, but she knows they did what they had to do to survive.
Heath understands now that everyone left alive does what they need to do to stay that way but that none of them are in it together. Tara says that’s bull, so Heath changes the subject. He says they’ll take the day to search for supplies, but then they are going home whether they find anything or not.
In the present day, we see Cyndie leaving some water, food and a spear for Tara. As soon as Cyndie leaves, Tara opens her eyes. She’s seemingly been awake for a while and was just pretending to still be out of it. Tara waits for Cyndie to leave the beach and then follows Cyndie back to her community. Tara quietly sneaks around the community to get a better look at things. She is surprised by the lack of men in the community, as she is only able to spot women and children.
Tara is eventually discovered and has to make a run for it, as the women start shooting at her. She manages to knock one of her pursuers down, but when the woman tells Tara to just kill her already, Tara merely knocks her out. Alas, Tara is stopped by young Rachel before she can get away. She’s then quickly surrounded by the rest of the community. (I don’t think it is actually said in the episode, but this community is clearly meant to represent the Oceanside community from the comics.)
Tara Makes Some New Allies (or So She Thinks)
In a flashback, Tara and Heath come to a bridge set up with a makeshift camp. They start searching the bridge for supplies but come up empty. There are large mounds of sand seemingly poured out of dump trucks. Tara spots a bag nearby in the sand, and it’s heavy so she assumes something must be in it. Alas, when she pulls the bag from the sand, there are dozens of walkers buried underneath. Tara and Heath take out a few of the walkers, but they get separated. Tara watches as Heath seemingly abandons her to the walkers.
In the present day, Tara is being questioned by the community’s leader, Natania. The woman explains a few ways in which they keep their community safe, and Tara is impressed. Tara lies and says that she and her friend have been on their own for the last few years. She explains that they got into trouble on the bridge and she ended up being thrown off into the water. She drifted with the current and washed up on shore near their camp.
Tara goes on to say that she followed Cyndie back to their camp so she could see if it was safe. Now she just wants to leave and look for her friend. Natania says that’s a problem for them because Tara has learned a lot about their camp and thus poses a threat to them. Yet Tara didn’t hurt any of their people, so even though it’s their policy to take out strangers on sight, they are unsure of what to do with her.
Tara is eventually invited to dinner with some of the community members, and Natania asks her if she’d like to stay at their community. If Tara stays, they won’t have to worry about her knowing too much about their home. They even offer to help her find her friend and say that he will be allowed to stay as well. Tara points out that there are no men in their community, and Natania explains that they got into a skirmish with another group, and all the men were killed. After that, they left their home and found this place. They stay hidden in order to stay alive.
Tara finally tells them the truth about where she’s from. She explains that she’s also from a community of people who look out for one another, and they have also done what they needed to do to stay alive. She says they took out some people who were threatening them and mentions the outpost. One of the women clearly knows what group Tara is talking about, but Tara doesn’t notice her reaction.
Tara goes on to say that she thinks their groups can work together. Cyndie sides with Tara, pointing out that teaming up with Tara’s people will make them safer. Natania eventually relents and agrees to send a guide out with Tara. This guide will take Tara to look for her friend and then they can continue on to Tara’s home to check things out.
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Tara Makes a New Friend
The next day, during their trek to the bridge, Tara quickly realizes that her guides are not there to help her but rather to kill her. She manages to get away from them, but one of the women catches up to her. Tara tries convincing the woman, Beatrice, to let her go, but she cannot. When Tara spoke about the outpost, the women in the group realized that Tara’s people fought the Saviors.
Beatrice explains that the outpost Tara’s group took out was just one of many. There are more Saviors, and if they learned what Tara’s group did, Tara’s people are probably dead. Tara then realizes that the Saviors are the ones who killed the men from their group. Beatrice explains that the Saviors executed every man and boy over the age of 10. The surviving members were then supposed to work for the Saviors, but they fled and eventually found a new home. Beatrice says they cannot let Tara lead the Saviors back to their new community. Just as Beatrice is about to kill her, Cyndie shows up to save Tara.
Tara runs, but Cyndie eventually catches up to her. Cyndie makes Tara swear that she won’t tell anyone about their community, and Tara promises she won’t. Cyndie gives her some food and water and offers to escort Tara back to the bridge. “Try not to fall off this time,” Cyndie says — and I love her already.
Cyndie and Heath Save Tara
Cyndie and Tara make it to the bridge, but Cyndie knows that the two women from her group will catch up to them soon enough. Cyndie will not leave until Tara gets to safety, so she says they need to move quickly. Tara wonders why Cyndie is so different from the other women in her community, and Cyndie wonders the same about her.
Cyndie and Tara cross the bridge together, taking out a few walkers here and there. Alas, they spot many more walkers coming toward them, so they decide to run on top of the cars lined up along the bridge. Cyndie takes up a position on one of the cars and starts firing at the walkers so Tara can move through them. It works long enough for Tara to get away.
In the final flashback of the episode, Heath comes back for Tara after seemingly leaving her behind. He takes out a walker to save her, and she tries to fight off the others to get to him. Heath yells at her to go, but Tara says they are in this together. They share a final look before the thrashing walkers end up pushing Tara off the bridge.
Back in the present, Tara continues crossing the bridge when she spots a walker with dreadlocks. Luckily, it’s not Heath. Once Tara makes it off the bridge, she looks back and sees Cyndie and her people get to safety. She then walks back to where she and Heath left their truck, but it’s gone. Tara sees tire tracks and hopes it means that Heath got away after they got separated.
Tara Returns to Alexandria
On her way back home, Tara takes shelter from some approaching walkers in a little gift shop. In the store, she finds a doctor bobblehead that she clearly intends to give to Denise. (Cue the sniffles.)
As the episode comes to a close, Tara finally gets back home, only to learn — albeit off-screen — that three of the people she loved are now dead. (Am I the only one disappointed that they didn’t actually show us Tara’s reaction to hearing the news? We all know that Denise, Glenn and Abraham are dead, but it would’ve been nice to see someone who didn’t watch them die react to their deaths.)
In the final scene, Rosita tells Tara that they can do something about their recent loses. She asks if Tara found anything out there that could help them fight back against the Saviors. Tara keeps her promise to Cyndie and doesn’t tell Rosita about the Oceanside community.
What did you think of this episode of The Walking Dead? Were you as happy as I was to finally see Tara again? How long do you think we have to wait to learn Heath’s ultimate fate? Do you think Tara should’ve told Rosita about the Oceanside group or was she right to keep her word to Cyndie? Were you surprised that the Oceanside community showed up so early in the show’s timeline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Walking Dead season 7 airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
