Spoilers The Walking Dead - Season 9 discussion and spoilers

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Walking Dead
Season 9 / episode 12- "Guardians"

Daryl: The Dog retrieves Daryl's arrows? Who knew Daryl was a trainer.
The idea of Daryl and Connie using the Whisperer's own tactics to infiltrate the camp was smart, but Henry's "Not without Lydia" was so assbrained. He never learns from his endless mistakes.

Alpha / Whisperers / Lydia: I thought Lydia punching Henry was putting on a show for her mother's sake.

One would think after the passing of five years, he would be far more proficient with the bo staff--enough to have dropped Alpha's hairy strongman to the ground with one move...but I suppose the plot needs him to be easy to fall into the larger story to come.

Er...no matter what Alpha used against the woman, no ordinary human could behead her with the ease of Alpha's move--and starting in a standing position behind the woman.

Michonne: "It mean Alexandria survives." Cold, but she--and Aaron are right about (among many things) the threats out there. Gabriel, Rosita and Eugene were being naïve in trying to contact anyone locally, after they have been surrounded by the Saviors, Jadis/Anne's real allies, the Wolves and now the Whisperers. Who--exactly--do they hope to find when there's no evidence of anything other than threats?

"You're an asshole, not an idiot." Michonne...just as salty as her daughter.

Regarding Judith, she's a bit too disobedient for her own good. She's a child, but the time has come for Michonne to really explain who Negan was and what he did--details, and how it gutted the minds of people she knows.

Negan: Offering his services as a leader, or as he put it, "sounding board?" Obviously, Michonne was not having any of it, but Judith could be a problem--not by setting Negan free, but seeding Negan's idea amongst the rest of the Alexandrians.

Father Gabriel: Well, its nice that Rosita still wants to be involved with Father Gabriel after her revelation, but he was so incorrect about considering putting an end to the relationship in order to allow Siddiq to act as a father.

NOTES: Solid episode, but the next episode's fight at what looks like an apartment building should be thrilling.

 

[The Wormhole]

One would think after the passing of five years, he would be far more proficient with the bo staff--enough to have dropped Alpha's hairy strongman to the ground with one move...but I suppose the plot needs him to be easy to fall into the larger story to come.

Another thing to consider, that's five years he's been sheltered (or as sheltered as one can be in a zombie apocalypse). This could very well be his first actual combat situation since before Rick left, so I guess Henry being a bit rusty is to be expected.

 

[Admiral2]

Henry's playing Romeo. He sees freeing Lydia as a romantic crusade.

He got way too much chivalry training from Ezekiel and not enough practical badassery from Carol.

 

[137th Gebirg]

In other words, a hormonal cup-drooling fuckwit.

In this world, someone that absurdly stupid should have been dead long ago.

Hmmm... do I sound like Alpha?

 

[The Wormhole]

Hmmm... do I sound like Alpha?

Depends. Do you actually speak with a Southern accent?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Virginian accent. Not Deep South like her, but I’ve been told I have a slight drawl. Gets stronger with beer.

 

[theenglish]

To be fair to the source material, this is pretty much what happens to Carl--he makes some poor choices in this arc.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Is it just me or do the Whisperers look like a 90s Grunge band?

Anyway, it does turn out that there's a lot more of them than we thought, but most of them look pretty wimpy. Alpha must have some kind of cult of personality going on, because those two challengers that she killed didn't even try to put up a fight. And, objectively speaking, she is not a very threatening presence. Beta, on the other hand....

I seem to detect a little bonding going on between Daryl and the deaf girl. I loved their little moment when Daryl seemed so proud of dog retrieving his arrow and she just kind of rolled her eyes.

It was pretty clever of them to use the Whisperers own MO against them to overrun their camp with Zombies. I'm surprised that Lydia is back with the Hilltop already. I'm still not sure where her loyalties lie, but she was definitely not happy about having to kill Henry (although I'm sure much of the audience would have been pleased).

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there are some interesting things going on. Eugene showed quite a bit of character when he encouraged Father Gabriel to stay with Rosita. I'm still not quite sure what happened when he walked up to Rosita and the doc on the porch. Maybe she's getting a threesome going.

On the other hand, Michonne has her hands full with a rebellious Council, a daughter who's too big for her britches, and Negan getting under her skin about not practicing what she preaches. I wonder if she will want to sign Ezekiel's charter-- or if the Council will. I'm really looking forward to the Faire and I hope it's not ruined by Zombies or 90s Grunge bands.

 

[Seven of Five]

That was a pretty good episode. I wonder if the Whisperer threat will be over by the end of the season? I hope they don't play it into the ground like they did with the Saviors.

Anyway, it was nice seeing Judith get some home truths about Negen from Michionne. He's a dangerous person, though I do wonder what role he'll play in the upcoming conflict?

As well as that, I've been pretty convinced that she's been in the right regarding helping themselves before anyone else.

Henry is such an idiot, and I think he's assumed the role of annoying young male character from Carl quite well.

I think Daryl and deaf lady did a good job using the Whisperer's tactics to attack the camp and rescue Henry and, sigh, Lydia. Henry is such and idiot. Don't get me wrong, I sympathise with Lydia and her horrible mother, but things always come back to bite you in TWD universe.

I love Daryl's dog and I think he should get a spin-off. How well trained is he?

 

[Jayson1]

So what would one call such a spin-off "The Barking Dead" or if Daryl comes along how about "A Boy and HIs Dog."

Jason

 

[Starkers]

I thought she rolled her eyes because Dog broke the arrow when trying to retrieve it?

Anyway the whisperers were way scarier here, and I love how they walk, it was weird seeing even Lydia shambling along like a zombie in her clean clothes. Morton is genuinely scary, and her American accent seems spot on to me. God Henry's an idiot but hopefully he'll learn from this (stop laughing!) Guessing Lydia took the yoyo string to use as a weapon?

Did Beta remind anyone else of a Klingon, or was it just me?

The producers must have something planned for Negan, either with him gaining power/trying to overthrow Michonne or with some kind of redemption. I can't imagine they're just going to keep him banged up indefinitely.

I think my favourite bit of the episode may have been Eugene, and I guess when the three of them went inside it was to discuss the logistics of parenting etc. It is jarring when you haven't seen characters for 3/4 episodes though. Oh yeah I forgot they exist! I think on the whole GoT is better at keeping characters in the forefront, even if they're not going to play a major role for a while.

 

[crookeddy]

As suspected the ratings crept up without competition on Sunday night. 4.71 this week, up from 4.39 and 4.54 the last two weeks.

 

[theenglish]

There's probably also been good word of mouth with a string of positive episodes.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Maybe some people bailed when Rick left, but now find that they still need their fix of flesh-eating Zombies.

 

[Trekker4747]

The idea of Daryl and Connie using the Whisperer's own tactics to infiltrate the camp was smart, but Henry's "Not without Lydia" was so assbrained. He never learns from his endless mistakes.

It's almost like he's a teenager or something!

Finally watched it. Good episode. Not a whole lot to remark on.

I'm really enjoying Judith, the little actress playing her is doing a hell of a job. As said in "Talking Dead" you had to love her winning her argument with Michonne, leaving Michonne with the parental trump card of, "Go to your room."

Er...no matter what Alpha used against the woman, no ordinary human could behead her with the ease of Alpha's move--and starting in a standing position behind the woman.

There's been a lot of... "Absurd" deaths in this series, both to the living and the dead. Some you just accept for the visual spectacle of it, for the dead you can assume some level of decomposition makes the skulls, for example, softer to be stabbed through with a knife.

Decapitating a living person with a garrote? Yeaaaahhhhhh..... That's a bit much to take. Even if it was the toughest, "sharpest" length of wire possible (that had "handles" on it so Alpha didn't cut her own fingers off when pulling on it for tension) there's a lot between the front of your neck and your SPINE to just "cut" through. As far as ridiculous TWD deaths go.... That one has to be the winner. right now. It out-ranks the previous winner, for me, of Carol aiming a bottle rocket into a breached gas tank.

Oh, and I'm also liking the stuff between Daryl and the the deaf girl. Fun interaction, with them. Daryl between his hair, gruffness and way of talking is obviously a challenge for her. Loved it when she confronted on it, telling him she needs to see his lips to "talk" to him and the level of frustration Daryl shared with that.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Maybe Alpha came across an experimental monofilament garrote at an abandoned DARPA lab. They are all still in the DC area, after all. There’s probably a trove of advanced secret squirrel weapon shit stashed around the whole region for people to find if they go searching deep enough.

 

[Jayson1]

The poor lady wouldn't have even had her head cut off if Tara hadn't just tossed her old Yo- Yo out in the middle of the forest in what must have been may years ago.

Jason

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Walking Dead
Season 9 / episode 13- "Chokepoint"

Daryl: "Good. I'll kill him first" (talking about Beta). Easier said than done, but Daryl's confidence was nice to see.

He has some chemistry with Connie--unexpected.

The fight with Beta was great. Brutal. Realistic, but I never believed Beta was killed by that fall. That kind of near-monster adversary cannot be bumped off so soon...but come one, a fall from that height should have broken several bones.

Henry: He's a fool. So, in typical dumb, hormone-fueled teenager fashion, he's willing to leave all he's known to chase after a girl he barely knows and threatens his family...and nearly loses his life.

Carol / Ezekiel: I too wondered if any of the remaining Saviors were behind the roadblocks, but it was an interesting turn for Carol to think of a peaceful resolution--in the wake of what she did do ex-Saviors earlier this season. Her movie offer was SO out of left field, but the offer--whether it works or not--was a novel idea. Not a Rick or Maggie move at all.

The Highwaymen (the new group)....still do not know what to make of them. A previously unknown beneficiary of the Saviors--a group working with the Whisperers?

Alpha / Whisperers / Lydia: So its established that one, she is willing to get her rescuers killed by turning Henry into a less effective fighter. Two, she's so loyal to her mother, and the others are aware of it, so she has to be seen as a major liability to the ASZ.

Michonne: Next week, she arms herself with Rick's gun....

NOTES: Great episode.

 

[The Wormhole]

They seem to be using the Kingdom for lighthearted material this season. I liked Carol's comment about the Highwaymen's letter being grammatically correct. Th Highwaymen themselves are weird but enjoyable. I like they've taken the latest group that wants stuff from our heroes and made them more of a potential ally right away rather than playing them up as a threat, obstacle or potentially hiding a secret.

Some interesting insight into the Whisperers, particularly that they view the Walkers as "Guardians." Also a nice touch they let the guy killed in the attack turn so he could continue walking among them.

 

[Trekker4747]

The Highwaymen new group seem like a potentially interesting bunch. Apparently willing to operate in some level of society if they agreed to work with The Kingdom in exchange for watching a movie.

I totally ship Daryl and Connie.