The Cell (The Walking Dead)

"The Cell" is the third episode of the seventh season and 86th episode overall of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on November 6, 2016. The episode was written by Angela Kang and directed by Alrick Riley.

The episode revolves around Daryl (Norman Reedus) being kept prisoner at The Sanctuary, home of the Saviors, and being psychologically tortured by Dwight (Austin Amelio), a reluctant member of the Saviors.

Plot

In the midst of The Sanctuary, Dwight (Austin Amelio) serves Daryl (Norman Reedus) dog food sandwiches inside a dark cell he's being kept in as prisoner under Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) order for attacking him. In addition to being tormented by repetitively playing the song "Easy Street", by The Collapsable Hearts Club, extremely loud to prevent him from sleeping, Daryl is shown the fate of other captives that have become walkers, who are just aimlessly walking around in a fenced off area. Inside the fenced off area, there are also some people reanimated as walkers after being gored through poles.

A failed escape, engineered by Negan, results in Daryl being beaten up by several of his men after Negan tells Daryl he's not going to kill him using "Lucille" this time, but still, Daryl won't kneel when Negan issues his demands. It is also revealed that Sherry (Christine Evangelista), Dwight's ex-wife, is now the wife and property of Negan. During an encounter, Sherry cautions Daryl not to be foolish.

Meanwhile, Dwight goes on a mission to bring back a runaway member of his group so he can try to impress Negan to gain "points", due to a falling out between them. When Dwight finally finds the man, Gordon (Michael Scialabba), he is forced to walk back to The Sanctuary, but he begs to be killed instead, due to the miserable life that awaits him. After some hesitation, Dwight shoots him dead.

After the mission, Dwight returns to The Sanctuary and throws a photograph of Glenn's (Steven Yeun) mutilated body inside the cell, hoping to break Daryl down to obedience. Due to feeling responsible for Glenn's death after his transgression against Negan, the photo haunts Daryl as he breaks down in sorrow while the song "Crying" is being played in the background.

Thinking he has broken Daryl, Dwight brings him to Negan in a clean apartment where Negan starts to narrate about how things went on between him and Dwight.

Tina, sister of Dwight's wife Sherry, was suffering from Diabetes and required a constant supply of medicines which were hard to find. As a trade off to ensure a constant supply, Negan asks Tina to be his wife to which she reluctantly agrees only to the dismay of Dwight. Dwight along with Sherry and Tina steal the medical supplies and tries to evade only to encounter Daryl. As they eventually lose Tina to walkers, they realize it is better to get back to Negan and work for him. Negan, while appreciating their repentance, takes Sherry as his wife.

After this, Negan offers Daryl a position as his lieutenant or suffer death and demands Daryl's total obedience and asks his name. Daryl stares at Negan and replies 'Daryl' (as Negan expects his people to say Negan when they are asked their name.)

Concluding that Daryl has made a choice, Negan asks Dwight to take him back to cell. While Dwight leaves him in the cell, Daryl says that he understands why Dwight came back and chose this life.

Reception

Critical reception

"The Cell" received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 74% rating average with a score of 7.1 out of 10, based on 31 reviews. The site's consensus reads "The Walking Dead delivers another character-driven episode in 'The Cell,' which successfully delves deeper into the world of Negan and his cronies, even if its attempts to humanize a villain achieve somewhat mixed results."^[1]

Critic Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph praised the episode: "along comes an episode such as The Cell and you are reminded that at its finest the Walking Dead is one of the most quietly dazzling things on television.".^[2] Kelly Lawler of USA Today reviewed the episode negativly, saying, "The Walking Dead spent its third episode physically and psychologically torturing yet another of its best and most beloved characters. And why did they do it? Because they had nothing else to do to push this tired and pointless Negan storyline along."^[3]

Ratings

The episode received a 5.7 rating in the key 18–49 demographic with 11.72 million total viewers.^[4] It is at the time the lowest rating the show has had since "Dead Weight" from season four.^[5]

Music

The song featured on the episode "Easy Street" by The Collapsable Hearts Club charted at number 92 on the UK Singles Chart a week after the episode aired.^[6]

References

External links

• "The Cell" at AMC
• "The Cell" at TV.com
• "The Cell" at the Internet Movie Database