We are now through five episodes of the seventh season of The Walking Dead. There are only three more until the winter break. Through those five episodes, we have seen Negan kill Abraham and Glenn and break Rick; we have seen Negan attempt to break Daryl; we have seen Negan break Alexandria; and we have now seen Negan’s men humiliate Gregory and The Hilltop Colony. We have also spent some time in The Kingdom, where Carol and Morgan have relocated.
Everything that has happened this season has revolved around Negan and The Saviors. Even in The Kingdom, where we met Ezekiel and Jerry, the storyline intersected with The Kingdom’s arrangement with The Saviors.
In this week’s episode, we finally discover where Sasha and Maggie are. We even get to spend some time with Enid. Everyone is now accounted for in either Alexandra, the Savior compound, the Hilltop, or The Kingdom.
Except two characters.
Where the hell are Tara and Heath?
It has officially been nine episodes since we last saw Tara and Heath on The Walking Dead. In the 12th episode of the sixth season, the Alexandrians invade a Savior compound and murder a bunch of Negan’s men. At the end of the episode, Tara and Heath jump into an RV and go on a two-week supply run. That’s the last anyone has heard from them. There has been no mention of them on the series. Through all the chaos, and all the murder and mayhem Negan has wrought in the past five episodes, no one has stopped to say, “Hey! I wonder where Tara is? She’s going to be really bummed when she gets back and finds out her girlfriend is dead.”
Logistically, I understand the absence. The actors who play Tara and Heath have been busy. Alana Masterson (Tara) had a baby, although that baby is now old enough to drink out of her own The Walking Dead mug.
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Meanwhile, Corey Hawkins, who plays Heath, has been off starring in another series, 24: Legacy set to debut in January.
I might have though the two had been written off the show without explanation, but for the fact that both show up in the season 7 trailer.
In fact, rumor has it that both characters will return to the series next week in the episode, “Swear,” and based on the episode description, we’re about to see a yet another new colony. “Someone stumbles upon a brand new society, and this society is unlike anything seen before.” Could it actually be long-rumored The Whisperers? Maybe, although Kirkman denies it. We also know that the episode will introduce Jennie (Sydney Park), a “sunny-side-up kinda teenager – kind, with a world-weary toughness.”
What we can probably guess, however, is that Heath may not make it through the episode, or at least through this half season, as he will be busy for the foreseeable future on 24: Legacy. Moreover, because they’re set to stumble upon yet another new society, it’s unlikely that Tara will find out about Denise for at least another episode or two, so we have that heartbreak to look forward to on top of the already bleak seventh season of The Walking Dead.
