Why was Rick smiling at the end of The Walking Dead 709?

“The Walking Dead’s” upcoming Episode 10 entitled “New Best Friends” seem to offer up new hope for Rick and his group, or it could also mean that their lives will be threatened anew, according to a report by Comic Book.

The episode was more of the same slow burn we’ve had from the first part of the season, but we have been here before with this show.

And while Rick and his crew are attempting to form a militia to rise up against Negan and the Saviors, they learned some of these other groups are going to need a lot of convincing.

He is successful as a leader and the love of his life couldn’t be happier as she asks him to smile. It’s a small victory for the Resistance, but it’s something to build upon.

Official answers will have to wait until the next episode, because “Rock in the Road” cut off on a cliffhanger without revealing who the people were or what they wanted.

“The Walking Dead” Season 7 has proven to be a real test for viewers as well as Rick’s group.

Our original meeting with Ezekiel’s ludicrous and flamboyant medieval-style reign was nicely punctured by Carol’s straight-talking attitude – but here neither Rick, Michonne or even Daryl seemed even remotely bewildered by Ezekiel’s cries of ‘delivering decrees in the morn, ‘ to raise the snide comment you’d expect.

Meanwhile, at The Kingdom. We know Ezekiel doesn’t want to fight.

Rick recalls a story his mother told him of a road to a kingdom plagued by a rock in its center. Even if Gregory’s not on board, Jesus (Tom Payne) knows some people who might be interested in challenging the Saviors. Back to the boat they go! They’re following the footprints, when suddenly.

Despite the support, they knew they still lacked numbers.

Anyway, after the group has to return to Alexandria to prove to the Saviors that they’re not hiding Daryl, they go back out on another scavenging mission, only to find themselves surrounded by a massive group of well-armed survivors. With a little game of track quickly deciphered by Rick, Father Gabriel drew them out of Alexandria and directly at the Garbage Kids.

Then they fight their way through what’s left of the herd to the SUV.

Morgan and Ezekiel kept their deal with her not to tell the others she was alive and shacked up at a house just outside of town.

Although Eugene (Josh McDermitt) wound up demoralized by Rosita (Christian Serratos) and then kidnapped by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in the final moments of December’s midseason finale, you shouldn’t write him off as a useless lump just yet.

The Saviors may have taken most of their guns, but who needs guns – or dynamite, for that matter – when you’ve got two cars and a decent length of cable? Their suspicions are confirmed when they find his beloved Bible left behind, and a clue in a notebook: the word “BOAT” scrawled across a page. Rick will have to go on a recruiting trip. It turns out that the Saviors have booby-trapped the entire road, making it impossible for the group to pass through the highway unscathed. For whatever reason, Rick gives this great smile that could not have me more intrigued. On their way back, Rick’s Rangers stumble on some type of Savior explosive trap. “The Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9 p.m.