I ’ve tried to be patient , to hold my judgment , because I ’ve been burned before . I ’ve been very afraid that time of year nine ’s streak of good installment was an anomaly , or just seemed better since the Negan War was safely behind us . Four episodes in—25 pct of the entire season — and The Walking Dead has n’t been big at all . In fact , it ’s been pretty damned good .
I may be designate the show by saying it , and goodness knows the coming loss of Andrew Lincoln will be hard ( if not unacceptable ) to cover well , but the last meter I truly relish four episodes of The Walking Dead in a rowing was before thegodawful season six conclusion cliffhanger , which marked the show ’s decline from ratings juggernaut to … non - juggernaut . I ca n’t commend the last time I ’ve been so excited for next week ’s episode .
It ’s amazing how different the show feels now . There are more storylines find simultaneously , but they all have their own momentum , and very small time is spend dawdling . These report are working together to keep not only each episode exciting , but the entirety of the season , too , since if one plotline ebbs , others flow to asseverate the excitement . I ’m not suppose it ’s arrant , or that it does n’t stumble occasionally , but that ’s a pit of a lot better than the show has managed for years , when it would regularly trip , fall to the ground , and just lie there for hours at a time , assuming that everyone was spell-bound .
Case in point : Michonne induce her own spotlight in “ The Obliged , ” but the episode still has wad of time for everything else going on — which is big , because Michonne ’s storyline is probably the sapless part of the episode . ( It ’s still not big , though ! ) It begin with a collage of Michonne ’s life as a mother of Judith , a leader of Alexandria , a researcher and drafter of law of nature , an arbiter of fights , and more , all during the sidereal day — but at night her restless nature causes her to leave the colony and start hacking apart zombie with her katana . At one point she ’s blindsided by a zombi and has to bludgeon it with a nearby baseball bat , which she seem at with horror , because it was Negan ’s weapon of choice .
This little incident is supposed to have us finger like there ’s some variety of kinship , or at least something equivalent , about Michonne and Negan , an allusion made incredibly explicit when Michonne visits the prisoner after she hears Negan ’s start a hungriness strike . It turn out he just want to have a conversation with her , in which Negan literally starts speak about how they ’re alike and really Orcinus orca who ask the freedom of the station - Revelation , and how it ’s unspoiled their former loved 1 are dead because they were a weakness .
This dark side of Michonne is n’t something that ’s been substantiated through the last several geezerhood of the show , but I ’m not going to hold the sins of the past against time of year nine . However , the real reason I ’m okay with this is because the on - the - nose conversation contain two revelation — or , rather , one Apocalypse and one stunning reminder , the latter of which is that Michonne used to have kids . This is something that the show has n’t talk about for five years , and that I — and I bet a lot of you — had all forgotten . dead , her relationship with Rick and Judith is cast in an entirely newfangled and much more interesting light . It gives , or rather , gives back to Michonne some much - postulate profundity , lacking since she was relegated to Rick ’s love interest and lieutenant .
The other present moment is Negan ’s , and that ’s when , after his extended and only slightly self-satisfied endeavor to forge a connection with Michonne , he asks if he can see Lucille , his squash racket . When Michonne pronounce it was leave behind on the battleground , Negan says “ No”—but when he does he sounds like a four - year - old , about to flip a pique tantrum . He is confused to the tip where he denies that Mchonne is telling the truth , because does n’t want it to be the truth . It ’s a lurid exposure we have n’t see in Negan before — I mean , I know he ’s been freak out before when he ca n’t receive Lucille , but this … this is a regression . It ’s something beyond a weakness , because Negan get so scourge that he starts beating his head against the stone wall , altogether with splorchy blood interference . I hope that The Walking Dead engage the clock time to explore this more , and I ’m actually a fleck affirmative that it will .
Meanwhile , the bridge circuit - as - metaphor - for - civilisation is still form overtime , even if the span itself ( as well as what it ’s represent ) is in unfit soma . Progress has been made but the rising river threaten to wash all the work away . Two zombie herd are approaching , which will make everything more difficult , too . Meanwhile , Maggie is in secret headed to Alexandria to murder Negan , but a concerned Jesus institutionalise Jerry to Rick with a line warn him about it .
Rick uses his walkie - talkie relay line to contact Alexandria to verify Michonne does n’t allow her in , and hops on Daryl ’s wheel for a immobile drive back — only for Daryl to drive him away from Alexandria ( since he ’d diagram with Maggie antecedently ) , and secernate Rick that his content never made it to the settlement , as apparently he and Maggie found a military recruit or two . We ’ll deliver to them in a second , but the last problem that face up the bridge deck and the hoi polloi work on it is the ex - Saviors , who 1 ) direct Alden ’s accelerator from him ; 2 ) discovered that Oceanside had been kill them ; and 3 ) add up back to the bridge for more guns to enact retaliation for Oceanside ’s revenge . A gunfight ensues , make enough noise that Rick realizes it ’s going to imbibe the ruck and make everything spoilt .
At this point , Rick and Daryl are in a yap — a large , inexplicable pit that exists only so they can fall into it after one of their brief dogfight , and be stuck in for a while . Yet again , I found myself okay with this because it led to yet another great , no - bullshit conversation , and this fourth dimension I ’d say Daryl get ahead . When Rick spill the beans about how keeping Negan live makes certain thing wo n’t return to the fashion they were , Daryl anticipate that keeping Negan live is in reality yield citizenry hope that things will return to how they were ( speaking of the ex - Saviors ) . A genuinely disquieted , tearful Rick explains how if Negan die everyone ’s sacrifices will have been for nothing , but Daryl give what is sure the strongest comeback - argument potential : “ Do you really think we really could n’t do by [ Negan ’s death ] , after all we ’ve been through ? ”
One of my biggest problem with The walk Dead over the retiring several year is how no one has ever called Rick out his bullshit . No matter how awful his act , no matter how much trouble his action caused , no one ever has state him he was wrong for doing any of it . In time of year nine , people are n’t only query whether Rick ’s plan for the futurity is feasible , but here ’s Daryl , saying that maybe letting Negan live is really one of the biggest impediments to people coming together — that keeping him alive is a constant monitor of what people lost , and what Negan and his citizenry did . All through this conversation , Daryl is unusually calm and collected , not at all hot under the collar , and his words have supernumerary weight because of them , as does the scene .
It ’s great , but I cogitate we all hump what the show ’s remaining viewers will remember this installment for is the death . After Rick and Daryl hear the gunfire at the bridge circuit and climb out of the hole ( which takes much too long , but at least gives us the delicacy of watch Daryl mass zombie corpses to make a set of stairs ) , they disclose the herd are border on . Luckily , randomly , a sawhorse has happened by , and Rick tells Daryl to go help the bridge while he lead the ruck out on the horse . Daryl assure Rick they can go the herd to the water and then destroy the dam , which would avowedly ruin the span , but the torrent would also take fear of the zombies . “ I ’m not giving up on the nosepiece ! ” Rick yells . Again , the metaphor — the bridge = Rick ’s vision for forging a single community — is still alive and well , as Rick is haunt with preserve both despite the dangers , unwilling to accommodate the grim reality that they ’re both plausibly doomed .
Rick beget on a bloodless Equus caballus is a clear callback to the very kickoff of the serial , almost as if Rick ’s journeying was being bookended or something . But when he short encounter the second ruck , his horse keister , throwing him off … straight off onto a rebar which completely pierces his intestine . Rick pass away out in hurting as several hundred zombie shamble directly at him .
Of of course , Rick is n’t get to die here — although he may get bitten — since Lincoln still has two more episodes to go , and I bet there ’s a goodbye - prospect with Michonne in his ( limited ) future at the very least . But I really like the estimation of Rick just pass because of a random accident , mainly because I do n’t like any of the other choice . If he gets eat by zombies , that ’s too grisly and sudden an end for a main character we ’ve been watching for near a 10 ; if he just gets sting it would be too much like Carl ’s death to signify anything . Rick getting assassinate by an ex - Savior or getting killed trying to stop a fight between the ex-husband - Saviors and the others would imply Rick would die knowing he fail completely , which is too tragic , even for TWD . Here , Rick is unwittingly sacrificing himself in an attempt to keep everything he ’s built together , so he can die thinking he ’s achieve something — or at least set out something that can continue past his death , giving him and the audience some measure of peace when he ’s kick the bucket ( even if / when it all completely goes to hell later ) .
I sincerely hope The Walking Dead can bide serious past Rick ’s expiry as well , but after four instalment of consistent quality , I experience optimistic — and I also think this is also going to be enough for me to miss Rick when he die , which I ’m kind of shocked by . draw a blank the bridge circuit metaphor — thanks to season nine , both Rick and The Walking Dead have managed to turn themselves around after years of awfulness , which is an astounding feat ( and again , countenance ’s give thanks new showrunner Angela Kang and her squad for both ) . Except while we know Rick ’s time is circumscribed , this honorable edition of The Walking Dead may in reality live on .
Assorted Musings:
In eggbeater intelligence , Anne has tied Gabriel to a gurney and bike out the dolly with the zombie with the bucket on its head tie to it ; she lowers the snake god to bite on Gabe , just as she was kick the bucket to do with Negan last season . Gabriel apologise to her for making her do this , and forgive her , and hopes one day she forgives him — the full religion guilt trip-up — and Anne settle to permit Gabe survive . When he wakes up by and by , she ’s gone . So I assume the eggbeater mystery is back on pause , but that ’s okay , because …
Maggie is getting letters from Georgie ? ! Georgie of “ Here ’s a Key to the Future , my fresh best - selling post - apocalyptic how - to steer ” fame ? ! What are those letter about ? Does Maggie know more about Georgie and her mass ? Are they connected with the helicopter people ? Because of course they must have some form of secret sinister agenda .
utter of , does anyone have any idea on what an “ A ” or “ B ” is yet ? Gabriel ’s an “ A , ” which somehow means he needs to get infected — but why would the helicopter want a zombie ? I guess they specifically want smart zombie , since otherwise Anne could have just wheeled bucket - oral sex zombi onto the chopper , right-hand ?
Daryl ’s assertion that Rick may have screwed up his own plan for peace is brought up to begin with in the episode by Jesus , who tells Maggie that “ Rick was untimely [ to save Negan ] because he made a call that was n’t his to make , ” which is an absolutely true statement . If he wanted citizenry to work together , then people would need to move on from the past tense — and that means give them the magnate to control Negan ’s fate . thing would be a lot more peaceful if Rick had held a ballot or something , whether Negan lived or died . This is good poppycock , people .
I perfectly make love Eugene ’s decision to name zombi herd after numb Shakespeare character , in this character Tybalt of Romeo and Juliet and King Lear ’s Cordelia . I pray for a future tense where meteorologist - esque zombi forecasters blab about herd movements and their potential destructive impingement like hurricane .
Rick ’s praising of Eugene and Carol really felt like the show was giving the character a parting tour . Additionally , Rick ’s “ Brother , take my hand ” to Daryl was just ridiculously artificial and trite , and I still kind of liked it .
If it seems weird that the ex-wife - Saviors would somehow find out off - camera that Oceanside was responsible for the killings , this is because Walking deadened finally enough interesting thing to cover that it no longer involve to waste time seeing people relearn things we the audience already bonk . Which is amazing and wonderful .
Rick to Carol : “ If anything gives me hope , it ’s you , ” he says , talking about her bit from nihilist murder automobile to someone uncoerced to put themselves out there for a greater good .
prospect of Negan ’s bat still lying on the battlefield and not having been picked up by someone for a big reveal in a future episode : peradventure … two pct ?
Lesson : deal a hit man off from Carol makes her about zero per centum less potential to kick your ass . Speaking of , anyone else laugh out aloud when Jed call Carol a “ washy little woman ” ? Ha ha , you imbecile .
I do n’t guess I ’ve said this in years , but here ’s a reminder that I named the “ Assorted Musings ” incision of my recaps as a jestingly obvious rent - off of the AV Club ’s “ Stay Observations . ” This was a lot funnier to me before the AV Club became our baby site , but after six years I ’m not die to bother to change it now .
Comic Book ShowsThe Walking DeadWalkingdeadrecapzombies
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , skill , and culture news show in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
