When you consider the manner in which The Walking Dead season 7 began, it's easy to think the show is planning another character death as a way to bookend the first half of the season with a visceral reminder of what Negan is capable of. What that says about the show's use of time, since every episode this season has already spoken at length about Negan's oppressive tactics and ruthless adherence to his group's code of conduct is uncertain, but at least it will send the show into the winter hiatus with plenty for people to talk about.

It's not as though the show has been coy about placing hints for more violence in 'Hearts Still Beating' (just look at the smattering of blood on Jeffrey Dean Morgan's clean-shaven face in the promo). With just a small punctuation change, the title itself sounds like it could be tailor made to be a snarky line delivered by Negan – something not unlike his "Taking it like a champ!" line after first connecting Lucille with Abraham's carrot-topped noggin. Then again, maybe The Walking Dead is set to throw everyone a curveball and the title will resonate differently. Either way, the midseason finale has its work cut out for it.

There will no doubt be plenty from the episode that you’ll want to share before the others have had a chance to see it, so feel free to do that here. Comments and discussions made here are posted under the assumption that everyone reading has already seen The Walking Dead season 7, episode 8, ‘Hearts Still Beating.’ That means it’s going to be full-on spoiler central. If you haven’t yet seen the episode, this might not be the place you want to hang out.

For an in-depth look at episode, be sure to read our review, which will be up soon. Feel free to discuss all aspects of ‘Hearts Still Beating' right here.

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The Walking Dead returns with new episodes in February 2017 on AMC.

Photos: Gene Page/ AMC