The Walking Dead Season 7, episode 3: Most shocking moments

3. An escape attempt goes awry

Daryl Dixon is tortured for days in that cell. He eats nothing but dog food subs and listens to the same pop music songs on loop over and over again. His mental psyche starts cracking. It gets to the point where he’s trying to kick his way out and no longer eats the sandwiches. Negan’s goal is to completely break Daryl, and Dwight insists that they’re getting close.

One day, an incompetent henchman leaves the door unlocked. Daryl notices this and sneaks out of the cell. He creeps through the hallways looking for a way out when he’s stopped by Sherry, who Negan refers to as Dwight’s “ex-wife”. Sherry warns Daryl not to proceed, and that he should go back now. But Daryl would rather take his chances and heads outside to escape. He doesn’t want to hear that damn song one more time.

Daryl finds some motorcycles outside, but is surrounded by Saviors before going any further. Negan himself shows up with Lucille, threatening to smash Daryl with the weapon. But Daryl doesn’t even flinch, which impresses Negan. He chooses to spare Daryl’s life for now, but not before Mr. Dixon is beaten to a pulp and locked back up.