‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9, Episode 7 ‘Stradivarius’ Recap: Reunion Road

Things are heading towards a semi-epic (hopefully) midseason finale after tonight’s events on The Walking Dead. Season 9, episode 7, titled “Stradivarius,” takes us back to the Hilltop after being absent from the screen last week. It’s weird how you won’t even think of Rick being gone here after his inglorious exit from the show, but one loss is felt significantly—and that’s Lauren Cohan’s Maggie (we’ll get to her in a bit). The threat of The Whisperers also looms closer, and we also see the communities—Hilltop, to be precise—wanting to bring back the camaraderie that the communities used to enjoy under Rick’s leadership.

But with the characters seemingly being killed or written off one by one, another former Walking Dead actor returns—this time in the director’s chair. “Stradivarius” was directed by everyone’s favorite military redhead, Michael Cudlitz A.K.A Abraham Ford.

Henry Gets a Babysitter

Last week, Carol (Melissa McBride) picked up Daryl (Norman Reedus) after the former Saviors robbed her and Henry (Matt Lintz). Daryl now lives as a hermit, trying to make it out of the zombie apocalypse alive. He’s also got a new friend, a dog named Dog (how creative). Carol and Henry watch him perform his hunter skills, much to their disgust and amazement. When Daryl tries to ask Carol why they bothered coming to him, Carol reveals how Henry wants to train for blacksmithing at the Hilltop, and she wants Daryl to escort the kid. Of course, being the grunter that he is, Daryl refuses. Henry would have to learn to fend for himself the way they did before.

Gene Page/AMC

That night, Daryl whipped up his signature apocalypse stew (snake and some weird-looking soup) and admitted that he’s still looking for Rick. “We never found a body, ever,” Daryl says. “After a while, it just got easier to stay out here.” As Daryl tries to call Dog for dinner, the mutt doesn’t show. That night, Daryl heads out to look for Dog. Henry sees this and follows him. Later, Daryl tells Henry to go back to camp but is horrified to see Dog all strung up with trapped Walkers around him. Daryl tries to free Dog but is later pinned down by the Walkers. When one escapes and leaves its foot for Daryl, Henry steps in to help. The pair were able to save Dog and head back to camp. However, we see Carol hiding in the bushes with her arrow drawn.

Gene Page/AMC

Alright, hold up. Did Carol just orchestrate this entire thing to soften Daryl up to Henry? Did she really just risk Dog’s life to get Daryl to agree to be Henry’s babysitter slash escort? What the fuck?

Daryl and Henry end the night with a minor heart to heart, with the boy reminding Daryl that Carol thinks of him as her best friend. This made Daryl realize that he might just have to take Henry to the Hilltop after all.

Michonne Sets Out For The Hilltop

Michonne (Danai Gurira), Siddiq (Avi Nash), and DJ (Matt Magnum) take our newcomers—Miko (Eleanor Matsuura), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), and Luke (Dan Fogler)—to the Hilltop, hoping Maggie would take them in out of the goodness of her heart.

On the way there, Siddiq points out that maybe Michonne likes them after all? Miko also apologizes for Magna’s behavior. Apparently, the death of their colleague, Bernie, hit Magna hard. The group arrives at what used to be Miko’s former camp and sees their stuff wrecked. Luke, on the other hand, laments at the broken musical instruments. It looks like this was caused by the same horde that was after them when Judith saved the group.

Michonne then tells them that she won’t take them all the way to the Hilltop. She only wanted to see for herself if Magna’s group’s story checks out. This shocks Siddiq and DJ. Magna then demands to get their weapons back, but Miko, Connie, Luke, and Kelly all voted for Michonne to take them back to Alexandria. They then camp out at a nearby barn.

That night, Michonne sees Luke rummaging through their confiscated weapons. She tells him to stop and rains samurai down on him. The entire group awakens to a dismayed Luke—Michonne just chopped an original Stradivarius into two. Luke then proceeds to lecture them about how music will ultimately bring people together and out of the zombie apocalypse. Luke believes that it was the art of music that helped the ancient man defeat the Neanderthals. That’s some whacked-out way to look at it. The only thing missing was a Beatles track to score the entire scene.

The next day, Siddiq tries to convince Michonne to come with them all the way to Hilltop. It’s the least she could do after she broke Luke’s violin in half. When Michonne refuses, Siddiq reveals that Maggie is not the leader anymore and Jesus (Tom Payne) took over. Maggie left with Hershel to help Georgie build a new community. I’m not sure if this is a genius way or half-assed lazy writing that was made so to write out Maggie for the time being.

Gene Page/AMC

DJ comes running back to them and warns the group of an incoming herd. As they all step out, the horde is closing in on them and their horses. Michonne decides to give back their weapons and the rest of the group fight the Walkers off together. Kelly and Connie turned out to be expert markswomen using their slingshots (David and Goliath can sit down, thank you). Miko and Magna are good with their knives and arrows, while Luke is good at, well, evasive maneuvers.

The last draw makes Magna cry. Michonne notices that this is again the same horde that attacked Magna’s group. Walker Bernie makes its way towards them, and Magna breaks down. Michonne then puts him down to save Magna from her misery.

Gene Page/AMC

In Jesus’ name… Hilltop

The Hilltop is back on its A-game. It’s wider and better-looking than before, and everything is in order. Enid (Katelyn Nacon) is head of the infirmary while Tara (Alanna Masterson) is the groundskeeper. Jesus is now (finally) the defacto leader. Tara then asks about Maggie, and Jesus tells her that she’s happy building the new community with Georgie. She then gives Jesus his daily brief.

Later, Jesus sneaks out of the Hilltop to meet with Aaron (Ross Marquand) whom he is training for combat. Aaron surprise tackles him, but Jesus still gains the upper hand. Seriously, these two should date and fuck. As they cool down, they see a flair that Rosita shoots out.

Gene Page/AMC

Now, “Stradivarius” cold opens with Rosita running away from the Whisperer herd. This time, though, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) isn’t with her. Aaron and Jesus arrive to see Rosita severely dehydrated. She also tells the two that Eugene is holed up in a barn somewhere as Aaron and Jesus rush her to the Hilltop.

When Rosita is stable, Jesus reveals to Tara that he’s been keeping open communication with Alexandria through Aaron. Michonne doesn’t know this, but to hell with her knowing if it makes the Alexandria-Hilltop relationship suffer. Jesus is still hoping for Alexandria to join them in their upcoming fair. Tara doesn’t seem to care, because she wants Jesus to stay at the Hilltop and do his damn job. She also tells Jesus that she will join the search party for Eugene the next day.

The Reunion/Operation: Rescue Eugene

As Michonne and her group draw closer to Alexandria, she tells them that this is where she leaves them. But her speech is cut short by two “knights” from the Hilltop (who are oddly sporting Kingdom attire). They’re heading out to Alexandria to tell them that they have Rosita. This changes Michonne’s mind, and she sets off to the Hilltop with Siddiq and the group. As they move, Connie notices something in the woods but dismisses it. Duh, it’s obviously a Whisperer staring at them longingly.

The episode ends as Daryl (who’s now Henry’s official nanny), Henry, and Carol arrive at the Hilltop. Henry also wonders if Enid remembers him, suggesting that he wants to snatch her up after Carl. Aaron and Jesus then inform Daryl that they’re heading out to look for Eugene, so Daryl obliges to join the search party. He commands Dog to do an advanced search, and they all head out.

‘The Walking Dead: Stradivarius’ Overall Verdict

I’ve got to hand it to Cudlitz for helming a good-enough Walking Dead episode despite this being his directorial debut. “Stradivarius” adds embers to next week’s midseason finale, but it does so underwhelmingly. Of course, Rick and Maggie are gone (the latter temporarily), but it doesn’t mean that the show can slack off with the stakes. Tonight’s episode did little to advance the suspense, but it kind of made up for that loss with good character exposition and a well-established mystery.

Time will tell if the Whisperers will be a formidable foe for the remaining zombie apocalypse survivors, but one thing’s for sure—it ain’t going to be pretty. There’s bound to be more bloodshed in the coming episodes.

The Walking Dead continues next Sunday, November 25th, with the midseason finale titled “Evolution,” at 9/8c on AMC. Watch the preview below: