Sunday, October 7, 2018

The Walking Dead: Season 9 Episode 1 - A New Beginning


Hello friends and we're back!  It's been a long hiatus for the The Walking Dead and without Game of Thrones this year for my blogging habits!  I'll try my best to keep up with it, but 9 seasons into this show and it's getting tough to get hyped for write ups.   But I still love discussing the show.  I'll jot down some notes below and we can let the conversation go from there.   There will be a lot happening in the first 8 this season.  It's Rick's final episodes and Maggie's too.  Will they live?  Will they perish?  I have thoughts and we can get into it.  We have a new showrunner again.  Could you tell the difference?   Maybe it's too soon.   Tonight's episode was pretty solid.  Let's see how things pan out!  


Discussion Points


Sidenote: RIP Scott "Hershel" Wilson.  Really eerie timing that he passed away last night the day before we find out Maggie named her child after his character/her father on the show.

So, there clearly has been a time jump.  As noted, Hershel II is born, Judith is older.  Carol is getting it on with King "fancy snoring" Zeke!  Things look good on the surface.  All communities worked together to pull off the D.C. mission to get the farming equipment and supplies.  (Who didn't think everyone was going to fall into that pit of walkers in the museum?)    But, things get dicey on the way back when Red Shirt Ken goes back to save a horse and gets taken out by a walker herd.   We see that the civilians are not happy with how things are running.  There's unrest at Sanctuary (people are secretly still supporting Negan while others are blessing Rick as their true savior).  Grace under Fire is all mad at Maggie for having her son, Ken die to help said saviors.  Gregory is scheming and ended up plotting to kill Maggie (and ended up on the losing end of that thanks to Maggie going against Rick in the end.  NOT RIP Gregory.  I finally don't have to try to remember your name from season to season.)   Quite the kickoff to season 9.   Where's it all going to go?  Well, you don't just keep Jeffrey Dean Morgan locked in a cell forever!  Here's some other things to point out from the episode:


  • Talking Dead just confirmed it's 1.5 years later. 
  • Jesus/Aaron finally getting their flirtation going.  Who didn't see that coming once Jesus mentioned he's into dudes?
  • Daryl gives an update on the dire situation on supplies.  Gas is almost out (though Sanctuary is making fuel from corn?).   Saviors are starving.  Bridges are out making commuting rougher.  They're going to start rebuilding but Hilltop won't be supplying from their stockpiles.  Maggie has had it.   Daryl is fed up with leading Sanctuary so Carol is going to take over.   This also worked out for her since Zeke is looking for a marriage and she is not quite ready. 
  • Apparently, the Gregory death is from the comic book  (I'm typing while listening to Talking Dead).  

I'm sure there's more to point out.  But here's what I'm going to say about Rick.  I've seen one too many TV shows where the lead actor leaves before the show is ready to call it quits.  In EVERY one of those shows, the lead comes back in the series finale.  So, I'm guessing we may be left in a situation where either we know Rick has walked away to return another day or his fate will be uncertain.  I don't think we'll be getting a death scene.  Maggie is a little more unpredictable.  But, hey, I've been known to be wrong.  (Man I had some wild LOST theories)  

That's about all I have to share tonight! I'll look forward to getting into our discussions tomorrow and through the week.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! 


9 comments:

MJ said...

I was shocked to hear that he passed ! Cause I did not hear it until the thing came up on screen ! And - did read that NY Comicon revealed that Hershal Sasha and baby-daddy Shane will be appearing this season ! Obviously via flashback. And probable in dream sequences for Rick. LOL My husband even commented that the kid looked like Shane ! But that was just to get a laugh from me.

Still liking TWD - still has potential to change and morph - so no complaints here. Though going forward don't know if more Daryl is a good thing. We shall see. And Carol and Zeke ? Hmmm - we shall see again. And I do not believe they are calling this Maggies final season. I think she will be back in future. Rick yes - but not Maggie.

Mike V. said...

Yeah it's pretty crazy that he died the day before the episode aired. you know me and my twitter notifications. I found out right away. I had heard about Shane coming back.

Yeah I meant to comment on Daryl having so many speaking lines. They're definitely grooming him to take over as the central figure. Not sure how I feel about it. As for Maggie, don't you remember that she signed on for another show? AMC isn't promoting it as her final episodes, but word has been out there that she's only in these 8 too. It was so prevalent that I don't consider it spoilerish. lol But maybe it is??

MJ said...

TWD - Impressed that Hilltop actually had an election ! And they took Eugene back? SIGH OK. And yeah Gregory ! Hated the character - but liked the actor. How awkward was that assassination attempt? LOL How have we not seen birds that have turned I wonder? And really ? Had to go all the way to DC to get a wagon and seeds ? Cause all the farms in VA are out of carts ? And no Lowes or Home Depots have seeds any more? OK - I guess they needed non-powered farm equipment so farms no help. LOL But ugh ! The spider zombie ! I hate droolinng and bugs. I'm with you Siddiq ! Yish. Woaggikes kid was namedGlenn JR in script til actor paying Hershal just passed ? Still ot sure on Carol/Ezekial. Carzekiel ? Ezerol? Still not sure why Darryl wanted to go to Hilltop and not Alexandria once he gave up leading the Saviors. Guess not believing in Rick any more ?

As for Maggoe - her show only has a half season order - so I don't think she has tots quit TWD yet. But could be wrong.

Mike V. said...

Lauren Cohen pretty much says she's in the first 6 eps of the show. But this article discusses how both Rick and Maggie departures might be open ended for their return. I know her show is a short order season, but we'll see what happens. It may not succeed either.

I don't think Alexandria is too far out of DC is it? But LOL on the Lowes/Home Depot. lol The wagon thing was kinda crazy. I'm sure they just wanted an excuse to go to DC. Maybe all other local farms were already raided and they knew you'd need an organized team to head into a city for supplies. Siddiq's spider comment was pretty funny.

Wait what??? There's no way they could've renamed Glenn to Hershel that quickly. He just died on Saturday!

I figured Daryl wants to go to Hilltop to do more conspiring with Maggie since they were a united front at the end of last season.

Definitely like the actor that plays Gregory, but that character was pretty rough. Agreed.

Mike V. said...

Ratings are in - dropped 47% from last year. AMC said they offered the episode a day in advance commercial free on their subscription streaming platform so maybe that was part of it.

The EW article also mentions both Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan's departures from the show this season.

https://ew.com/tv/2018/10/09/walking-dead-season-9-premiere-ratings/


(also, realized I forgot to link the article I was referring to in yesterday's comment..but now I forget where I read it! lol)

MJ said...

I suppose not - but if actress in here for her new show they could have done a quick dub. Its one word after all. But you are probably right.

Jason B. said...

Hey guys! It's been awhile!

RIP Scott Wilson. I fortunately got the chance to meet him a little over a year ago at a comic con, and he was just as nice as people say.

As far as Maggie goes, Lauren has confirmed that her exit is open-ended, as seen here (maybe this was the one you meant to link Mike? Or was it a newer one?):

https://ew.com/tv/2018/07/26/walking-dead-lauren-cohan-maggie-andrew-lincoln/

I swear I remember seeing somewhere more recently that someone like Kang or Gimple said she was almost guaranteed to return in season 10, but I can't find that now so I could be remembering wrong.

I'm not sure about Rick, but based on some of the things the cast and crew have said in interviews it sounds to me like he will be dying. Either way we'll find out soon enough.

I believe Norman said that no one truly takes the "lead" role with Andrew gone, but we'll see if that's actually true. I haven't liked Daryl much for a long time, but I'm giving him a clean slate this season haha. I hope to enjoy him more.

Maggie's kid is named Hershel in the comics, so most likely that was always the plan for the show. Way back in season 6 when Carol and Maggie were taken captive by those three female saviors at the satellite outpost, one of them told Maggie how she planned to name her baby after her father, until she lost him. So that seemed to be placed there to make Maggie consider naming him Hershel. And that episode was actually written by Angela Kang.

MJ said...

Ah - didn't know the kids name in the book. So thanks.

Daryl - I like him - but never thought of him as a leader. A battle leader maybe but not overall leader. We shall see

Mike V. said...

Hi Jason! That's cool you got to meet Scott. He certainly seemed like a nice guy.

That's not the article I planned on linking to (I think it was Daily Beast), but I'm sure it was around the same time! Thanks for linking to it. Never heard of a guaranteed return in S10...but just seeing season 10 in writing makes me tired. lol

Rick - yeah it certainly wouldn't surprise me if he does die at this point. Hard to imagine any other scenario where he'd just walk off unless he was "TAKEN" or lost or something. Plus..his death would be some kind of motivation/inspiration for the rest of the group.

Daryl has been a brooder...he emoted more in season 1 than any other season since. Jury's out on if he can be the heart and soul of the show.

good insight on writer of that episode and now showrunner with the Hershel naming.