This week, we learn how to build a bridge, Walking Dead style. It’s season 9 episode 2, so this may be the last time I get to celebrate a TWD 9 Deuce, so let’s enjoy it. Aaron loses an arm, Michonne makes progress, Earl is out of prison, Negan’s still in prison, Rick is talking trash, Justin got the boot from the group, Father Gabriel is with Anne, Jerry is with Nabila, Carol took Ezekiel’s ring, and the chopper reappeared. My name is Kent, and I ask 9 episode-specific questions, and 2 bonus questions, and that’s how we get the 9 Deuce. 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, whatever. The contact info is at the bottom of this blog.
I am doing a GoFundMe to help pay for the costs to keep 9deuce.com up and running. I don’t make any money off of the site. I do it because I love it, but it is expensive at times, and I had to recently renew for 3 years. So I am asking any of my readers to consider donating if they have the extra funds. If you don’t, I get it. It would mean a lot to me.
https://www.gofundme.com/keep-9deucecom-alive
_____________________________________________________
The 9
- Which of the 2 new relationships are you liking more: Jerry and Nabila or Gabriel and Anne (Jadis)?
Bob: Jerry, because I like Gerry more. Plus, Nabill handed him his weapon. (I do like that she handed him his weapon.)
Kristi: Jerry and Nabila. I just love Jerry so he will always be my choice. (Jerry loves cobbler, I get it.)
Chris: It has to be Gabriel and Anne. I mean, they both had a pretty shitty go of things last season, they could use some happiness! Plus it’s bound to go up in flames, Anne is still sneaky. (Awww man, you just brought me down a bit with that last line.)
Raylene: I am curious if Anne is running a game on Gabe I still don’t trust her. (Why the distrust?)
Kent: As much as I love Jerry, I gotta go with the best-dressed man on the show in Father Gabriel and the former Jadis. They are such an odd pairing, but they provide a story for both of them when they may not have been featured without it. Jerry was going to get his time no matter what. Plus, as much as I like Nabila, I feel that we haven’t gotten to know her well enough yet.
- Anne saw the helicopter again. Will we learn anything more about the helicopter this half season?
Bob: Midseason finale cliff-hanger….. (You may be right. I am banking on it taking longer.)
Kristi: I hope so. They have been teasing us with this damn helicopter too long. (Imagine how fans of the Whisperers feel.)
Chris: I have to think we will. I know about the Whisperers so I’m looking forward to that a lot. But I have to admit, I’m far more curious about the helicopter. (This helicopter thing HAS to deliver at this point, and I don’t think it will. Just a guess.)
Raylene: Since I didn’t tune into last season I had no idea the helicopter was in play as I messaged you “was that a plane?”. (Yup, that did happen.)
Kent: Much like the situation with Georgie, I think this is another one of those long, drawn-out stories. By the end of the season, not this half season though.
- Who did Justin see? He is the Savior that fought with Daryl and Rick gave the boot.
Bob: Carol. 100%. “Not here, not like this.” (I had so many cool thoughts and then you bring logic into this. Boooooo!)
Kristi: It was someone he knows for sure. No idea who though.
Chris: I want to say a whisperer, but he seems to know the person. Maybe Dwight? (That’s been my best guess when I first saw it. He’s due back.)
Raylene: I was hoping for a Whisperer but since he seems to know who it was as you pointed out perhaps another Sanctuary resident. (It could be a member of the missing Saviors.)
Kent: Dwight is my best guess. He’s not gone, he’s just away. Dwight’s woman, Sherry, is also a possibility. Honestly, I’m not sure who else makes that much of an impact. Carol is a fine choice, but I wouldn’t leave that as a cliffhanger.
- Who is doing more to see Carl’s vision come to fruition: Rick or Michonne?
Bob: Ahhh. Negan. I know, I can’t answer that! So, Rick, because he is communicating with Negan. (I would have enjoyed elaboration on the Negan response. You’re not wrong.)
Kristi: Michonne. Rick is just in his usual power trip. (At least he’s not talking to Carl on the phone…..yet.)
Chris: I am leaning Michonne, but Rick did spare Negan….. I’ll still go Michonne. (It’s kinda like the age old question, who did more to end the war: Rick or Eugene. Neither works without the other.)
Raylene: Michonne I think will be the one that makes Carl’s vision a reality. (Only if she lets Negan out of prison.)
Kent: Neither is a wrong answer. Michonne is actively trying to provide structure to the communities, which was part of the vision. Rick is not only communicating with Negan, and technically listening to him, he is showing Negan that this society can work, no matter how big of a Darsh he is in doing so.
- Aaron’s arm injury was pretty gnarly. Was it the most visually disturbing thing that you have seen on TWD? If you say no, tell me what was worse.
Bob: Yes, this was incredibly believable and gruesome and we all like Aaron, so it got you in the gut when that happened. I used your term “visually disturbing” but added “emotionally challenging” into my head to answer this. (When you add emotionally challenging, then it gets into Glenn and Abe territory as well, I think.)
Kristi: No. I agree with Raylene that the face ripped off Walker takes the cake for me.
Chris: To me, it’s still Noah’s death in the revolving door. That was painful to watch.
Raylene: I have a feeling that there were some walker deaths that were pretty gnarly I keep thinking there was a walker that like peeled his face off on broken glass?? I also think Noah’s death was nasty too.
Kent: I added the Noah video so people can compare it. Noah’s was worse. I thought I was going to stick with Aaron’s, but nope. Also, I am really shocked that Glenn wasn’t brought up. His eye was hanging out of his damn head. Otis also got no love, but he got betrayed by Shane, had a fight and then got tore to shreds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUPdGFSLddM
- Maggie let Earl out of imprisonment after a month. Was that a fair amount of time?
Bob: Earl is not out of imprisonment. He is performing indentured servitude so he is still owned and controlled by Maggie. No way is a month fair for attempted murder and assault. (When I asked this question, I knew in my mind that I was expecting something of interest from you. You did just that.)
Kristi: I think so. He made a mistake. His son just got walked. I believe he truly realizes his mistake and had owned it. I think he needed a sufficient amount of time in there to get clean and get back to his sober living. (“His son just got walked” may be my favorite line in this blog.)
Chris: I think it was fair. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind when he attacked her, and it showed some humanity in Maggie. She saw her father’s demons. (What I like about this is that it wasn’t somebody else deciding his fate. If the person who was wronged feels like the punishment is ample, I see no reason to elongate it.)
Raylene: Sure she is having him supervised so if she feels something awry right back in he’ll go. (He has a nicer cell than Negan, I think.)
Kent: I can’t say that it is fair, but it was necessary at this time. They are two very different things. He seems genuinely sorry for what happened and given the circumstances, it was understandable. They needed a blacksmith and since Carl wasn’t around to apprentice and learn this stuff, thank you, Scott M Gimple, this is what happens. You need the blacksmith more than you need the rehabilitation or “lesson” in this situation.
- Will Rick regret bragging to Negan?
Bob: No, but he will go and tell Negan how it failed. Negan will be a caustic grandfather to him at that point. (This intrigues me. I would be curious if Rick will admit to Negan about his failure. That would be riveting television.)
Kristi: He will die before he has time to regret it. (Yikes, here we go.)
Chris: I don’t think he will. Even if Rick dies and Negan escapes, he’s done everything he can to unite everyone. (In Rick’s mind, yes, he has done everything he can do.)
Raylene: No I don’t think Negan will be Rick’s undoing but he needs to reign in the communities. (Considering how short handed Alexandria must be, I am really surprised that Rick didn’t bring most of the Saviors to Alexandria and get the 3 communities up and running fast and then unite to get Sanctuary in as good a shape as they can, because that place can be a fortress.
Kent: Yes, I think is going to be regret. I still don’t think that Rick is getting killed off. I think that he is going to walk away for a bit. And when he cracks, he’s going to feel like a damn fool for bragging. I think him leaving will be due to a ton of regret.
- What do you think changed in Carol’s mind where she is now cool with wearing the ring?
Bob: Carol sees the writing on the wall and perceives King EZ will not be surviving forever. I think she wanted to gift the ring wearing to him. (Carol probably knows that odds are that either her’s or Ezekiel’s days are numbered, especially since they are leaders.)
Kristi: She realizes he is her person. (I’m still surprised that it isn’t Daryl.)
Raylene: I think just them sitting around the fire and not having a life-changing episode during the day made her feel content with life and accept his ring. I think she felt before he had proposed because he almost got it by the walkers. (Maybe a day of normalcy did help.)
Kent: I think Carol was a big fan of books before everything went to hell. She may have really enjoyed the A Song of Fire and Ice books, better known as Game Of Thrones. I think she secretly wanted to be a royal lady like Catelyn Stark. She must have stopped before Ned had that one problem.
- What do you think is happening to all of the missing members of Sanctuary?
Bob: Absorbed into a new group, or the occasional Carol killing. (The Carol killing story would actually be fantastic. Like she is just getting rid of the toxic people. It’s teh modern day equivalent of getting rid of Facebook. Go Carol!!)
Kristi: I don’t know. Maybe they are all together making a metal band to release all the anger and pain they have endured. (Seriously, this response stuck in my head for at least 10 minutes with me imagining so many variables. I enjoyed it.)
Chris: it almost seems too easy to blame the whisperers. I’ll go with a theory that there are potentially some “vigilantes” led by Daryl that still hate the saviors. (The Whisperers story seems too easy at the moment. I agree.)
Raylene: I am saying two theories either they are making a small group to start their own community to challenge Rick’s leadership. It also could be that they stepped onto The Whisperers turf and got taken out. (An anti-Rictatorship group? I can get behind that. Judith is the leader, right?)
Kent: I think they met the Whisperers. Of course, a fun theory would be that Dwight is recruiting his Anti-Rick or Daryl militia.
Bonus Deuce
- Who is the most respected leader on the show at the moment?
Bob: Negan. If you say Rick, then it’s Negan because Rick consults with Negan to affirm his own beliefs that this can work and I working. Maggie is an autocrat, a boss instead of a leader now. (I also would have enjoyed if you would have called her a Jefe. I disagree with your assertion about Negan, only because he did have a group of Saviors that respected him so little, they stayed at Hilltop last season.)
Kristi: Ezekiel. He is just a good guy. Loved by most. (I was torn between him and Eugene. My thought was, do you think other communities laugh and make fun of the whole king thing, or do they just respect him?)
Chris: I guess Rick. I think people may fear Maggie more than respect her. We haven’t seen enough of Ezekiel as a leader this season. (I can’t go with Rick because even close allies of him don’t back him. To me, that’s the death blow.)
Raylene: I’m going on a limb and saying Eugene he’s not a leader but I can’t see the other leaders respected that much. (I agree. He has the support from pretty much every community. He may not be everyone’s #1, but I don’t think that he has many, if any enemies.)
Kent: It’s either Ezekiel or Eugene. I don’t think many people in the Kingdom, those few that are left, would question the King. Eugene is my answer. The Saviors respect Eugene because he helped them often and is seen as more of an ally than anybody from the other territories. Those in the other territories respect how Eugene ended the war.
- If (when) Maggie leaves, who will take over Hilltop?
Bob: The “once-was” savior. I forgot his name. (I wanted to call him Aiden, but I think that was in Alexandria. The guy’s name is Alden. Interesting choice that I wouldn’t have considered, but I get the pick.)
Kristi: I would say Jesus. He is the most level-headed guy there. (Do you think he would accept being a leader though?)
Chris: I don’t think Jesus wants to be the leader. Either Daryl or Zombie-Gregory. (Sign me up for walker Gregory!!! His first order of business is to invite Tara over for dinner.)
Raylene: Daryl or Jesus (Do either really want to be a leader?)
Kent: Jesus is not leader material, in my opinion. He’s a good consigliere, like Tom Hagen in The Godfather. I don’t think he would want that role. Enid made a lot of sense to me, but now she is in medical. I’ll offer one. Aaron is a good, level-headed individual that I think knows how to lead and wouldn’t shy away from the role. Jesus and Daryl would work well under him. Then again, Aaron may inherit Alexandria, but I’d speculate Michonne does.
Final Thoughts – Are you happy that we are still getting to see most of the characters in these episodes, or do you miss the episodes that only focuses on a handful of characters?
Bob: I prefer this method of storytelling. I like seeing a mix of things even if I feel the show has to show less per episode to do it. (I like this year’s pacing a lot better. I feel like we would have needed 6 episodes to tell the bridge story under past leadership.)
Kristi: I am enjoying this season so far. I do enjoy a good backstory episode but I think this is the right direction so far. (You and I share the fondness of the backstory episode.)
Chris: I prefer it this way. I don’t mind the specific character-driven episodes, but sometimes they go overboard. (I think Angela Kang will hopefully stick to this pace and style for most of the season. It feels more exciting. Plus, with 20 fleshed out characters, plus another 10 with name recognition, it’s better this way.)
Raylene: It works for me although I could go for an all Jerry episode. (That would be very fun.)
Kent: I am preferring this because when you do episodes with say characters featured, it doesn’t move along at a decent pace. Which is why All Out War too forever. In hindsight, I would have combined seasons 6, 7, & 8 into just 2 seasons and then they may have had Rick for this story and Maggie. But hey, we needed that Oceanside storyline, right?
_____________________________________________________
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
- American Movie Classics (AMC) (presents)
- Circle of Confusion
- Valhalla Motion Pictures (as Valhalla Entertainment)
- Darkwoods Productions
- AMC Studios
- Idiot Box Productions
Please go find a copy and support the creators.