This episode, we see Michonne’s last episode, supposedly. They did a lot of interesting “what if” type flashbacks, and it truly paid off. It was a nice send-off. My name is Kent, and I ask 5 weekly questions and then people answer them. Any comments in BOLD are written by me. I hope you enjoy and if you or someone you know may want to do this blog, contact me, leave a comment, etc.
1. What were Virgil’s original intentions with Michonne? What was his end game?
Bob: Virgil didn’t really know, it just materialized. He reached a breaking point in reverse to correct what he needed to have done. (I can get behind this idea. He saw his opportunity and went for it. Makes sense.)
Raylene: My original thought was he wanted Michonne to clear out a group that had taken over the island and was holding his family hostage. (That was my initial idea as well, but now I am kinda buying Bob’s idea what it was a bit more spontaneous.)
Kent: I asked this question because I don’t really know and I don’t have any good theories, so I felt that this would be a good time for ideas.
2. Virgil chose to stay on the island, presumably alone. Why?
Bob: He is self deprecated. Maybe he is just really smart and got rid of mouths to feed and crazy Michonne. (Fewer mouths to feed is a good plan. Technically, he’s pretty safe. I wonder if there are other boats on the island. I am going to assume that there are.)
Raylene: He reminded me of when we first met Morgan and he couldn’t kill his wife. I just think Virgil is unable to move on with his life now. (When we meet Virgil again, he’ll be busy clearing.)
Kent: He knew that he done f”d up and this is his penance. He may find a Creed album and play “My Own Prison”. That or he is legit crazy. I prefer that he is legit crazy.
3. We got to see many altered flashbacks of what could have been in Michonne’s world. Which particular flashback was your favorite? There was Andrea, the lineup, Michonne getting killed by Rick and Daryl, Michonne meeting with Negan for the first time, and probably others that I have forgotten.
Bob: I saw this as one universal flashback. Michonne would have bought into that system and been finished off by Rick. True greatness. One decision could have changed everything. (It’s some great butterfly effect in action, which I appreciated, and also enjoyed the film.)
Raylene: I enjoyed where she didn’t save Andrea, that’s only because of my dislike for her character. (Yeah, I kinda suspected that would be your choice.)
Kent: As much as I loved the lineup, and I loved the reasoning for wanting revenge for the satellite murders, I have to go with the scene where Negan meets Michonne. That shows just how quickly your allegiance can change. I appreciate that this season has tackled this thought process multiple times. Had Mary found Rick before she found Alpha, that changes the perception of the character. Aaron or Enid would have made awesome Whisperers. One thing that I found interesting is how quickly Michonne turned on The Governor but was cool with Negan, which tells me that The Saviors weren’t all that bad.
4. The producers of the show have kept Michonne’s sword for now. The implication is that there is more to come with that particular story. If they do something with the sword, how and when will we see it? Obviously Rick has 3 films coming out eventually, and of course, the show doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon.
Raylene: I say we see Michonne killing Jadis for keeping Rick away from her all these years. (But Jadis is the one that saved Rick’s life. Would Michonne be that petty?)
Kent: I can see Michonne making a grand entrance at the end of RIck’s second film. Give a big climax to keep fans eager to see the final one where Rick and Michonne end up back with the group when they need them most. The timing is problematic though. If they do one Rick film a year, that gives us 4 more seasons of TWD. I can see that happening, but then we teeter on Game of Thrones territory where they run out of written material and have to craft their own finish to the journey. I am thoroughly intrigued. We have had about 7-8 good seasons of this show. Anything beyond that Is just gravy…delicious from a jar gravy.
5. If Judith had told Michonne to come back home, would she have?
Bob: No, she was relieved Judith “sent” her because she was going anyway. Rick was Michonne’s stability. That’s kind of ironic because Rick is not entirely stable. (Yeah, Rick was the stabilizing factor for quite a few characters. He also was the character that caused others to completely unhinge. Well, now you have gotten me thinking.)
Raylene: She would have for a while. Ultimately, her not knowing if Rick was still alive would have driven her to go. (The sheer potential and curiosity would make her go. Look no further than the lengths that Dwight has gone to find Sherry. In the ZA, you go that extra mile because most people are assholes.)
Kent: I feel that Michonne would have. I still don’t feel that Michonne would have gone on this journey knowing that her group is in such danger. I know that they needed to write her off and that made some semblance of sense and they pulled at the heartstrings, BUT if Danai wasn’t wanting to leave the show, there is no way that they end it like this because it has a lack of logic.
6. Does this wandering caravan of nomads that Michonne and company see at the end play a role in any future stories from the Walking Dead universe?
Bob: I think that is the intent. I am not sure how this all works together. (Yeah, I can’t imagine anybody really correctly predicting the details of it. I tried my best to generalize it due to it being a complete unknown.)
Raylene: I say it’s the group that Al encountered on Fear, well the one lady. Perhaps that is what we are supposed to think. (Wasn’t Isabelle part of the group that has Rick? I’m too lazy to go back to it now.)
Kent: Yeah, I know, a lot of these questions are sheer speculation but there wasn’t much to ask from this episode other than a lot of speculation. I’m going to say no. I don’t think that if we see Michonne again that she will even be with a group. I could be wrong. I think that was just to show another story that they may want to tell down the road.
7. This is supposedly Michonne’s last episode. Did you feel that it was a good send-off for such an important character?
Bob: Yeahhh, sort of. Nowadays it’s like they are afraid to knock someone off the show permanently. (Anybody that is super major, they really seem afraid to pull the trigger, unless that character is Carl. It seems a bit silly to have now done this with 5 characters: Rick, Maggie, Michonne, Jadis, and Heath. Also, let’s never forget the Vatos in season 1.)
Raylene: I think it was a good episode for her. Her impact as a character to me seemed to diminish over time. (Her character became less fun and unique as her mystique wore off. That’s where someone like Negan and Eugene never fully lost what made them interesting in the first place. Daryl goes in waves and I’d say the same for Gabe.)
Kent: Let’s not forget, most of us were extremely intrigued and excited when we saw Michonne at the end of season 2. She was the badass chick that we had been lacking up to that point. Andrea tried but wasn’t there yet. Lori, Carol, Maggie, and Beth were still not badasses. Michonne actually didn’t bother me too much until her relationship with Rick got a bit rickdiculous at times.
In regards to a send-off, I guess it is fair to compare to other send-offs. Most characters don’t get that big episode. For characters that we got attached to in some capacity plus had an episode kinda devoted to their impending doom or exit from the show, I think the list goes Lori, Herschel, Merle, Andrea, Tyrese, Lizzie, Beth, Carl, Sasha, Rick, and now Michonne. Some of those are in a tier below. Michonne’s is probably in third place for me as far as a whole episode goes, behind Tyrese and Rick’s. Tyrese is still the best, as far as I’m concerned. This was a really well-done episode.
Final Thoughts – Due to the pandemic in our real world, the season 10 finale episode is being postponed due to not being able to finish post-production. What that means is that they have thousands of walkers and they need more time to finish. Give me your thoughts on this disappointing announcement.
Bob: Hmm. Hoping the pandemic maximizes viewership? (I imagine that it will pull in huge numbers, but they will have to ramp up their marketing considering it’s a one-night thing. The new spin-off series, The World Beyond is also being postponed for post-production purposes. I honestly thought that was already filmed and good to go. This cliffhanger is a bummer and also the epitome of first world problems. Cliffhangers are difficult to pull off successfully.)
Raylene: I thought they had things done by now so how long do we have to wait for the cliffhangers. (June….I don’t know. But I do have some good news. The season 3 premiere for Killing Eve is getting bumped up 2 weeks to April 12 to try to fill in the gap for the time being.)
Kent: My takeaway is that I am a bit surprised that all the editing hadn’t been finished yet. This also tells me that we are going to see the end-all, be-all of herds. This strikes me as making the quarry look small in comparison. Obviously, I am disappointed as a fan because I think that the finale is going to be one of those big epic episodes, perhaps one of the final epic feeling episodes that the show has remaining. It’s a selfish disappointment, and I would prefer them to take their time and do a great job with it and keep everybody healthy and not screw it up. Maybe not pull a Game of Thrones when they had all the extra time and budget in the world for 6 whole episodes and still botched it. Take your time TWD, but get it right. That’s all I can ask for, in regard to the show. Also, this is sheer speculation, but I could totally see them making the finale the season 11 premiere.