Sunday, February 25, 2018

The Walking Dead: Season 8 Episode 9 - Honor


Hello friends and welcome back!  Season 8 returned and as we feared had to close up a particular story arc on the show.  This episode went a little differently than I anticipated based on interviews after episode 8.  I was expecting a guns blazing send-off that might take out Negan (not even featured in this episode).  Now we have to consider a different tactic based on promises made.  Still, it was a well done episode and a proper send off to a long running character that was expected to make it to the end.  Let's dive in.

Recap

There were basically 2 stories running in parallel in the episode.  The rescue of Ezekiel and the farewell to Carl.  The episode opened up with some montages that filled in some of the gaps left empty by the first half of the season. We saw Carl get bit, we see him coming to terms with his pending doom, we see him getting in final moments with Judith and writing his farewell letters to everyone.  We then visited the Sanctuary that showed the Saviors escape and how Morgan tailed the Kingdom Lieutenant dude (forgot his name and didn't feel like looking it up) back to the Kingdom.  

Carol led the Kingdommers to a cottage for safety and then was off to rescue Zeke.  Of course, Henry had some exposition lines about how Morgan taught him the stick and Carol taught him the gun and he wanted to come avenge his brother.  The more Carol said don't come we knew he was going!  I even said to my wife, "he's totally going."  And boy did he ever!  Long story short here.  Morgan and Carol met up and returned to the Kingdom and picked off saviors one by one.  The Lieutenant dude kept preaching how he wasn't happy about the predicament and didn't want Ezekiel to die.  But, he made his bed and he will be the one living in the end.  The final standoff happened in the "throne room"/ Theater/Auditorium.  We must of course call out the Morgan kill where he ripped a dude's guts out.  Yowza.  They are clearly showing he's gone from one extreme to the other.  It was then mirrored in Carl's final moments talking about how easy it is to kill people.  While Zeke was saved, they spoke of sparing the Lieutenant and Morgan's soul (beyond repair guys...beyond repair).  But when Morgan made up his mind to take LT. Dude out, Henry used his own stick to take him out and get his own revenge.  Maybe this helped wake up Morgan?  Maybe.  

Meanwhile, in the sewers, we spend out final moments with Carl.  It's a tough hit to everyone, but he made a compelling case for Siddiq the man he saved. Turns out the guy is "almost" a doctor so Carl gave the right guy a chance.  Dwight recommended staying in the sewers until the Saviors were done torching Alexandria.  They listened, but then were off to Hilltop which was an idea that Dwight wasn't crazy about.  Daryl reassured him that with all of them together they'll be hell for the Saviors.  

Carl's goodbyes were pretty heart felt.  Daryl giving Carl the nod of approval of saving everyone in that sewer was touching.  The Judith goodbye was basically for Rick's ears too.  Listen to Rick and Michonne but not always because sometimes kids need to teach the parents.  Rick and Michonne stayed with Carl to the end.  Carl thanked Rick for getting him to be the man he is today.  He spoke of the kid he shot who was surrendering at the prison.  (I vaguely recall it, but not really)   He talked about how easy it was, but then Rick gave up killing and became that peaceful welcoming dude.  He did it for Carl and Carl acknowledged that.  Carl wants that again for Rick.  He has visioned the future (Are we to believe now that these visions of grey bearded rick is a fictitious vision of Carl's now?) where everyone got along.  Everyone can't die.  There has to be something to live for.  Rick promised to make this vision happen.  In the end, Carl volunteered to take his own life with Rick and Michonne standing outside.  But, the final "I love yous" were pretty powerful.   RIP Carl Grimes.  

Future Vision - Not only is Eugene cheffing with Judith in these visions, but Uncle Negan is there as well!  Do we think this is actually possible?  We have a long way to go to get to that.  

Actual Future (?) - We got some more shots of stained glass window Rick.  The final shot of the episode showed Rick on the ground with a wound in his chest.  A gun shot?  Stab wound?  Walker Bite?  Guess we'll still need to wait and see. 

That's about all I have for tonight.  Lots of hanging threads out there that I'm sure we'll be visiting in future eps.  Might be awhile before Enid gets her farewell card from Carl!  And let's not talk about those certain castings for next TV season shows that might spoil events of the final 7 episodes of season 8!  Looking forward to discussing with everyone in the comments.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 

10 comments:

MJ said...

OMG! RIP Carl. I have been working for 9 days and doing off hour shifts supporting a go live. But made sure I watched last night. Gotta run now - but I will be back 1

Plumbarius said...

Very impressive episode...was really cautiously optimistic about this episode. I thought the two side by side stories played well off each other. I don't think they could have done a better job of dealing with Carl's death than they did. I was surprised that Carl wanted to end his own life before he succumbed to the virus, though.

At the Kingdom, I thought they might try and keep Gavin (the LT) alive and try to change him like Ezekiel tried to do all episode. Morgan is about as close to his "Clear" persona as I've seen him since that episode.

The kid he shot was after the 1st prison attack by the Governor and Carl and Hershel and others? were waiting in the woods and the kid was running away from the Governor's group and stumbles onto them. He starts to surrender and is putting down is gun when Carl shoots him in the head. When Hershel tells Rick later about the incident, that is when Rick realizes that Carl is almost too far gone and becomes "Farmer Rick" to bring Carl back.

I'm curious about the visions we saw and which ones are clues to the actual future and which ones are just hopes and dreams. My wife thought she saw a knife sticking out of Rick's hand while he was sitting under the tree...have to re-watch it to see.

Had to turn on CC during Carl's death scenes in the tunnel/church because we could not make out the mumbling of all the characters. :)

With any luck, this Saviors story line will come to an end before the end of the season.

Mike V. said...

Welcome back MJ! Gotta love a "go live" messing up TV discussions! :)

@Plumb - Yeah I thought they did a good job with it as well. As for Carl wanting to take his own life...I think he really wanted to spare Rick or Michonne having to finish him off when he turned. He knows what it was like to have to kill his mother after all.

Yeah Morgan has totally regressed. He just can't be in a middle ground. It's either no killing or killing all the time! Will it spell his end to open up the doorway to his stint on FTWD? Who knows?

Ahhh yes....that's all coming back to me about Farmer Rick and his motivation for doing so. I know Carl had gone to a bad place, I just forgot the details. Thanks for the reminder!

Hmm...I didn't see a knife, but it could've been there. I'm fairly certain those images are from an ACTUAL future which we'll catch up to. The utopian future??? Probably just Carl's vision. Maybe some version of that will still happen, but with NEGAN? I dunno. judging by the previews for next week....Rick has a long way to go before becoming best buds with his nemesis. lol

I considered turning on the CC for the mumbling as well but didn't. lol I usually watch TV with them on when it's just me watching. (helps me "hear" whilst treadmilling).....but the mrs dislikes those pesky words on the screen!

It feels like we are reaching the conclusion of the savior storyline. They kept their word on a multi-season arc, but enough is enough! lol

MJ said...

Thought I posted this earlier ?

So the dreams we were seeing at the beginning of the season were Carls ? Freaky the one where Negen is living with them and everyone is friends.

Yeah - knew the kid was going to get involved. And daaamn Morgan ! But i was a balling hot mess over Carl. Knew i would be. LOL You don't remember the kid he shot ? Hershel witnessed it and spoke to Rick about what Carl was becoming. It sorta started rick on his non-violence kick I think.

I kept wondering who was going to have to finish Carl off - didnt see it coming that he'd save them the pain and do it hemself.

And why was there two stained glass windows hanging from trees ?

Yeah - I read about the pilot thing too.

Mike V. said...

Carl shooting the kid - come on that was like 5 seasons ago! lol Plumbarius explained it and it all came back to me. It was vaguely familiar when Carl was explaining it and I remember Carl having that dark streak. I just didn't remember the exact scene.

I believe the visions are meant to be Carl's. Apparently in the comics it's a literal 5 year time jump. (per the articles I read last night) Scott Gimple is not ruling out a time jump though even if this particular vision was Carl's.

No clue on the stained glass windows...it was probably there just to confirm that what we saw in episode 1 of the season was stained class reflections on Rick. lol or there's more to the story that we haven't seen yet.

MJ said...

Now Mike - you forgot NOTHING on Lost even if it had been years ago. LOL J/K !

Haven't heard about the 5 year jump - but not been able to read much today. But I feel that pacifist Rick is making a comeback.

Mike V. said...

I had a feeling that was coming! Btw I responded to someone on reddit yesterday and gave the wrong lost information. I was horrified! Lol is this what happens when you get older??? In all seriousness I rewatched lost 3 times within the week it aired then a whole series rewatch every summer. With twd it’s one and done for me. Lol I just am not that obsessed. Thrones is the only show that comes close now. And good place I’m almost done a 2 season rewatch. I made a couple more findings in the big post last week.

We’ll see on rick but it would kinda suck for Carl to die and for rick to ignore his son’s last request!

MJ said...

Nah - it wouldn't suck cause what this show has taught us with rick and Morgan - you can't be just all for peace or all for war. In the apocolypse you can't just be one way of thinking now. You have to adjust to the situation. Sure you can plan a community where everyone is safe - but you have to defend it or you lose it. But you can be different then Negan - and our own crew who actually started all the trouble with Negen - and not seek out harming of people. That is where Rick went astray - when he went and attacked Negens peeps just cause he made the deal with Gregory.

Mike V. said...

All true. I just mean that Rick has to take something from Carl's death or his death is meaningless.

Jason B. said...

Hey guys, I totally forgot to come here earlier in the week haha.

Yeah,the old man Rick visions were definitely all in Carl's head. If you go back and watch the ones from episode 1, Carl himself is in them. We never see his face though, which was a hint to the fact that it was him imagining it. It makes sense now, but while watching the episode it was a surprise to me that they were his visions and not Rick's.

But yeah, the idea is that Rick is now going to strive to make Carl's dream real.

I don't really get why the writers killed Gavin, as it seemed they were setting him up to be a character to change and survive in a world similar to what Carl imagined.

(TRAILER SPOILERS AHEAD) My only thought is that maybe they decided to do that with Jadis instead?
In the trailer they released a few weeks ago there is a shot of her looking very distraught, and another that seems to show many of the junkyard people as walkers. I wonder if Rick could come across her alone and invite her to join their group in Alexandria. I could totally see it happening with how many chances he's given them, plus with Carl's dying wish on his mind. If they end up doing a time skip, we could see her as a much more normal, contributing member of society. I actually think that would be pretty awesome, especially since I've seen how much the actress enjoys being on the show. Anyway, chances are she will die next episode or something and none of that will happen. That's usually how my predictions with smaller characters go haha!