I don't see how much story relevance it can have, unless it's a final straw for the Whisperers when he tries to lead them. "Hang on you're that famous singer who went nuts before the world ended. I ain't following you." Guessing he can't have been that famous because the mask doesn't hide his voice or his size. I mean if The Rock showed up wearing a skin mask you'd pretty quickly realise it was The Rock.
Yeah, it's kind of a weird detail. Making it mysterious makes it seem significant, but how could it be?
The comics also built up Beta's secret identity for a while. Maybe not to the extent it's been on the show, IE, there were no movie posters or trading cards of him kicking around from before the apocalypse or anything like that. But they did hint early on he was supposed to be Somebody. In one issue, Beta gets knocked out in a fight. While he lays on the ground unconscious, two Whisperers begin talking, one asking if the other has ever seen Beta's true face. Upon hearing the answer is no, the first guy reaches down to grab Beta's mask, Beta then wakes up, stabs that Whisperer, and tells the other "no one may see my face" and then passes out again. Spoiler: the reveal Then when the reveal does happen, it's in Beta's death scene, so the only real reflection on it is two of the hero characters commenting on how someone who lived a life of luxury and fame in the old world has adapted to this one by wearing a dead person's skin. I suspect we're going to get something similar in the show when his identity is revealed, with all this stuff just an attempt to make it seem like he had a presence in the world before, so that it doesn't seem like they're magically creating a famous celebrity out of thin air just for the reveal.
Tonight on Far Cry: Walking Dead, interesting episode I guess. I don’t know that guy would be left 100% intact if left with me in the apocalypse. We get The Talking Dead this week, and it’s funny that Nerdist Chris Hardwick has such a bush league streaming setup. EDIT: Cailey Fleming is adorable...
The Walking Dead Season 10 - Episode 13 - "What we Become" Michonne: Her mind exploring alternate realities was great stuff; its been a while since Michonne's inner demons were explored. From the moment she met Andrea (S2 - "Beside the Dying Fire") to imagining herself as the person begging for help along the highway (S3 - "Clear") to being another Negan, every moment was a great showpiece for the ever-wonderful Danai Gurira. Up to this point in TWD's history, she was the one character who rarely looked back and questioned her choices. In fact, if she referred to her past at all, it was to list her mistakes, and how she was saved by Andrea, as she explained to Carl (S4 - "A"). Michonne's "where would my life be if I hadn't..?" thoughts was the showrunners' nice bow on the story of this character, since the second she decided to save Andrea ultimately gave her a second chance at a somewhat normal life; it was Andrea who wanted to go the helicopter crash site, which brought Michonne into contact with the Governor, Merle...and ultimately the survivors at the prison. The rest is history--and a family she believed was forever a memory of her 1st child (Andre) being killed by walkers. She has not had the easiest time since then, since lowering her guarded attitude opened her up to constant pain (Andrea, Hershel, Carl, and up to this moment, she still believed Rick was dead), but I was glad to see that all turn around, even in the balancing act of being both single mother and widow. The series will move on, and this season, it been top shelf since the premiere, but a Michonne-free WD will take some getting used to. NOTES: Well, that's it for Michonne, one of the strongest and significant female TV characters of any American series this century, and undoubtedly holds that distinction in the fantasy TV category. I thought Judith accepted the hints about Rick too quickly, but the emotion between mother and daughter was solid. Now that she's going after Rick, Judith cannot keep that a secret. Just the thought of Rick being alive would motivate the long-timers to crush anything in their path just on the hope that they might see him again. Next week: three episodes left in the season, starting with the aftermath of Alpha's death, and Beta's reaction to her fate. Eugene seems to be very upset and/or crying in the episode, so that's probably tied to one of three characters he cares about... GRADE: A+
Excellent episode and a perfect send-off for Michonne. Just like Rick's departure this was a really good cap off to a character we've been following and getting to know for several years. It feels like a fitting end to the Michonne era of the show, providing a full circle closure to her character arc but leaving something that can be picked up on when this story thread gets revisited. And it's clear it will get revisited. The looks into her alternate life in which she leaves Andrea to die and seeing that culminate with her joining Negan and becoming a Savior and ultimately getting killed by Rick was really interesting and chillingly plausible. We're undoubtedly getting further setup for the Rick movies with Michonne now off in search for Rick's possible whereabouts where she meets up with people who are part of some sort of massive convoy. I noted the log book in the boat lists its last destination as being New Jersey, not too far from Philadelphia, which Robert Kirkman says is where the Rick movie is supposed to take place...
Just to needlessly nitpick, but Michonne in the what-if sequence couldn't really have ran into Negan and co. As they were all around Atlanta originally, and Negan was later on near Washington DC, over 600 miles away. So unless Michonne also happened to just walk all that way.. I know it was only a fantasy sequence, but just saying
Well, well. This is your Michonne on drugs. This episode surprised me in a few ways, and it's not the way I expected Michonne to end her time in the ZA. For a while there I thought that the episode would end with her locked up in the dungeon, fate uncertain. Even after she escaped, there were a couple of times when I thought for sure that Virgil was going to slam another door behind her. But now she's off on a quest to find Rick, who she now knows is, or could be, alive. Does this mean she will be a part of the Rick Trilogy? Well, not if it tells the story of those missing six years. But if they catch up with the present at some point.... And they nicely planted some intriguing tidbits as to what happened to Rick after we last saw him. Our last view of him was laying half dead in a black helicopter. But somehow he ended up on that white boat. Which was later abandoned, apparently, and he had no opportunity to take his boots or his iPhone. It's sort of the Mary Celeste of the Walking Dead Universe. Get on the stick with those movies, Walking Dead people! Michonne's head trip was pretty freaking weird, with her reliving all those pivotal moments in her life, and at times acting as Negan's henchman. It was a bit surprising to see some old familiar faces show up. I'm guessing that was the magic of digital technology and unused footage. But it seems that Michonne is carrying some guilt about the incident that set off the Savior War. And, man, Judith. How did a little kid get to be such a great actor? Also, I love it when they mix it up with the set pieces every so often, like they've done recently. Like the foggy graveyard and the claustrophobic caverns. And now we have a mysterious island with a crazy guy. Can't go wrong there. But I wonder exactly what those people were researching on that remote spot, and if it will figure in to Rick's story.
I dreamt last night that Bill Murray and Forrest Whitaker were playing the same role in a movie. Somehow Bill was the character when younger and Forrest was the older character. Forrest had a big beard and moustache and at one point as the character was getting older Bill was sporting Forrest's mustache. And I thought to myself at least they didn't go with blackface at which point I woke up. And that's without drugs!
Well, if you really want to get nitpicky about that, it sure is convenient that Michonne's imaginings of Glenn and Heath at the satellite outpost mirror almost exactly what really happened, given she wasn't with them at all when that actually went down. Or in the eenie-meanie-miney-moe recreation Negan calls Michonne his second, but we still see Simon lurking around there, meaning Michonne somehow supplanted Simon and took his job without killing him somehow. But since it is a dream, it don't need to make sense. Doubly so since it's a drug-fueled dream. Although I did think it a nice touch in the scene where Michonne meets up with Negan and the Saviors, the only other recognizable Saviors with him were Laura and DJ. Given they went on to become Alexandria citizens (and council members) after the Sanctuary fell, they are the two former Saviors Michonne would be most familiar with, so it makes sense her subconscious would place them with Negan at the height of his Savior days more than it would place someone like Simon or Dwight or whoever.
The season finale is delayed: https://tvline.com/2020/03/24/walking-dead-season-10-finale-episode-16-delayed-coronavirus/
I looked at the list of shows impacted. It seems almost all my shows were finished except all the Arrowverse shows except Legends and Walking Dead and Supernatural. So I guess you could say I sort of got lucky in this regard. The networks and CW were hit hard though with things being impacted. Jason
Cailey Fleming continues to just be an awesome little actress. That little girl nails every single one of her scenes. I wasn't much digging this episode up until we got the "complete" alternate history/visions from Michonne's little acid-trip, the stuff before that was kind of hokey "TV acid-trip stuff" but after that it was all good. So long Michonne. hope to see you in the Rick movies.
The Walking Dead Season 10 - Episode 14- "Look at the Flowers" Daryl: Daryl was amazingly patient with Negan, rather than just killing him. He does not forgive Negan for past crimes (no one expected that), but he's not filled with rage anymore. I assume he's the one who leads Negan to Lydia, as both are seen in the same shack in the teaser for E15. Carol: By now, she should have learned the age-old truth that revenge (in any form) never settles a troubled soul. Even as she pushed Alpha's head on the pike, one could see what was on her mind--Alpha still wins, as the woman she wanted to kill more beyond all reason now taunts her with her life of loss. She once told Rick that she did not say Sophia's name because she's dead (S4 - "Indifference"), but she will never "get over" the girl's death, no matter how "badass" she tried to be over the years. Same with the feelings brought on by Mind-Alpha quoting what Mika said of her mother. So she returned to Alexandria after all...but in what psychological shape? She's not suicidal (at least I hope she's not), but there's a question about how she functions going forward, especially once she learns that Beta's horde is coming thanks to her plotting with Negan. Mind-Alpha mentioned Carol writing a letter to Maggie--that's something to look forward to (in flashback when she returns?) as Maggie was informed about the Whisperers' victims--most notably her surrogate sister Enid. Negan / Beta / Whisperers: Negan trusted Carol, but he should have had second thoughts about that. Even as he revealed the plot about Daryl's "girlfriend" (yes, I caught that--so even he observed some deeper connection between the two when he never spent much time around either once he was captured). Beta....ugh. He's one sick freak, forcing anyone pointing out the reality of Alpha being dead to be bitten by her reanimated head. At this point. i'm not sure what would be the best way to get rid of him. Recently, he murdered a Whisperer who recognized his voice from the past; now, he's freaked out after seeing a poster from his own past: he was "Half Moon", some sort of country music performer. Seems he cannot escape his past, no matter how much he pretends he's dead and can hear a dead head talking. Just when it appeared there was a crack in the door of his rubber room, he blasted that music to gather enough walkers to create an army for a final assault on the heroes. Sick as ever, he now believes he's merged Alpha with his own personality by wearing a part of her facial skin. Ezekiel / Jerry: Jerry knew Ezekiel was leaving not just for the hope of finding new people, but to die away from anyone who cared. He did not want anyone to see him go through end-stage cancer. Thoughtful and so sad. I guess animals are as overwhelmed by recent walker bites as humans are. The animal just dropped like a rock. Eugene: So, he's off to find Stephanie and ends up running into an armed young woman who had to be one of the people behind that walker "set dressing" in town. Rosita: Sigh of relief--for a second, I thought she was bitten, but she's still far from any shape to deal with what's coming. NOTES: The title of this episodes is--of course--one of the most famous lines of dialogue from the WD franchise (one that has transcended it to a degree). While it threatened something horrible happening, I suspect the reference was not just about Mind-Alpha's trips down memory lane, but a way of Carol looking for anything calming & pleasant (as she instructed Lizzie to do) reaching for some sort of hope before the worst happens. Perhaps Carol returning to Alexandria was her act of doing more than looking, but embracing the flowers, so to speak. The post credits message: Last Episode Before Season Finale Later This Year ...will hold true for the foreseeable future, thanks to current world events. GRADE: A.
I feel that Beta reveal was supposed to be more impactful than it was (for me at least). I was just left feeling "Okay....?". Good stuff with Negan and Ezekiel, more Carol pathos and a quirky encounter with Eugene.
In his mind, Beta just "upgraded" himself with Alpha's skin. Now he is on a mission to destroy. Carol tasked Negan to assassinate Alpha but once he accomplished it, she should have bought him, along with Alpha's head, to Alexandria or Oceanside. Going on a solo trek to "discover" herself while leaving Negan alone, hunted by both sides, was dumb and irresponsible. Negan should have kept the head and bought it, as proof of his loyalty, to Hilltop, Alexandria and Oceanside.
Agreed. If it wasn't for the lucky encounter with the Whisperers who dubbed Negan the new Alpha in Daryl's presence, he never would have believed him. Carol has been dropping the ball big-time this and part of last season, to an alarming and annoying degree. She was always one of my favorite people in the show, and this character assassination isn't sitting well. I guess I should be glad Head-Alpha woke her up enough to realize that Carol did have something to live for, conformed by her subsequent disappearance after escaping the collapsed roof. I guess she was off-board for quite some time, if Daryl had already been there by the time she returned, so Negan should reasonably be an active part of the community now, I would think. Ezekiel is losing his shit. He's another one who I've been sad to see take many falls recently. At least Jerry is still kicking. Not too many original Kindom-folk left alive these days.