Sunday, February 23, 2020

The Walking Dead: Season 10 - Episodes 9 through 16 Discussion

Hello everyone and welcome back for more zombie talk!  Things have been quiet around here lately and parental duties are getting in the way of giving these recaps my devoted attention.  I had a new idea to just keep one post up for any discussions on the rest of this season.  I’ll put a comment up to separate the episode discussions and we’ll see how it goes.  Thanks for understanding and see you in the comments! 

41 comments:

Mike V. said...

Episode 9 - Squeeze

If people were complaining about the long night episode of game of thrones, they certainly had issues with this one. We had to turn all the lights off to see anything. Very claustrophobic episode. Thought Jerry was a goner, glad he isn’t. Carol is just flat out crazy this season. I know she’s supposed to be out of her mind, but I’m having a hard time swallowing the performance! Negan/Alpha scene....disturbing and hilarious! I wonder how many episodes will be dedicated to hanging out in these caves. Guess we’ll see! That’s all I have for now but happy to discuss with anyone stopping by!

MJ said...

Is it me or has Carol just become the worst !? She is doing absolutely no good for the group. Tho the sweaty TNT totally reminded me of Lost - uh you have some Arzt on you. LOL I thought for sure that Jerry was gonna buy it when they put him in jeopardy not once but twice. And because of Carol Connie and Magna are now trapped. We all know Daryl will recure them - but honestly Carol ! I don't even have words for the Alpha/Negen thing - except what is the point of leaving the socks on ? LOL Just gross. He really gets all in when he plays the long con - cause is definitely NOT one of them. I'm guessing next ep we will be done with the cave.

Good idea to just have a running comments for the season. At least this ep was dark because they were in a cave - that actually makes sense. LOL

Mike V. said...

I was trying to be nice about Carol but I’m glad you said it. It’s horrible! Lol she’s a much better actress than the performance she’s delivering. But it might be the material she has been given. So in the end it leads to Carol being the worst. It’s so out of character for her to be acting like this. I know it’s the point but it’s not good television. Lol totally thought of lost with the dynamite too. I’m reliving the Arzt explosion! Yep Daryl having to go back is what makes me wonder how long they’re going to drag the cave plot out. Maybe it’s a 1 and done. Totally missed the socks. Lol that’s hilarious. Oh no Negan is definitely playing them. I agree.

Glad you agree with the running comments. It’s basically just us talking now anyway! Lol the general tv thread only has 50 comments so we can keep chatting in that one too for other stuff. Very true on the darkness being warranted for this one. I did just get a 4K in the basement. (Old tv died a few months before I was ready to make the purchase!). But we still watched in the bedroom and you can’t see anything in night shoots. Especially on twd. Lol

MJ said...

Funny - the director was on Talking Dead and he brought up the difficulties of lighting a show in a cave. Needing light to see but making it appear dark as caves should be.

Mike V. said...

Oh I’m sure on the darkness. The flashlights looked great and all. But damn it was hard to see. That show is always tough to see even outside of the caves. Any night scene is just really dark. We’re always turning off lights. It could be our bedroom tv though.

Mike V. said...

Episode 2 - Stalker

Well, seemed a bit of an anticlimactic episode to be killing off Daryl and Alpha! (And beta and Gamma and Rosita). I guess the biggest highlight is that Lydia is back after all of that. Alexandria’s defenses are breached. And well...that’s about all I got! I’ll write more later. That’s my initial reaction.

MJ said...

Sorry - didn't get to watch til last night. I enjoyed seeing badass Daryl again ! And again Beta survives what should have been his death ! Loved Gabriel's insistence that he can tell when some one is lying - remember that doctor dude who just was randomly with our group and who was a spy ? LOL Just how could the Whisperers build a tunnel under Alexandria and no one hear that ? Saying. Glad they saved Gamma though - Lil Kick-ass to the rescue ! LOL

Having now discussed with others I realized the tunnels were always there. Carl and Siddiq had used them previously. Strange I'd forgotten that in the characters time Siddiq was killed only days before. The biggest thing for me about the ep was basicly Lydia chose Daryl over mom so now mom feels that the gloves are off and she will be proactive in attacking us rather then let them live as long as they don't interfere with the Whispers.

Mike V. said...

That’s hilarious on Gabriel and not even knowing one has been living with them. Too true! Also good point on the tunnels. We were wondering as well. And yes you’re right on Lydia and the biggest takeaway. Alpha will have a chip on her shoulder. The sooner we can get other out of this story the better! Lol.

Mike V. said...

Episode 3 - Morning Star

Actually a pretty decent episode! Mostly a calm before the storm at Hilltop. But I’m shipping Eugene and Stephanie! Lol. Let’s get him to his date. Negan definitely is playing Alpha, but the gas/fire combo was a pretty good tactic on the whisperer’s part. Carol got some catharsis in this ep. But still a little too much whining. I’d imagine next episode will be wall to wall action and hopefully they’ll be wrapping up the whisperer arc earlier than the end of the season. Probably wishful thinking lol.

MJ said...

Sorry - been down with a bad cold. LOL No not Corona !

Loved the electric fencing - tho knew it would only last so long. And who knew sap was ignitable ? Agree - still say Negan playing the long con ! Wondering if he will somehow rescue Judith since she is now missing ?

Below is major spoiler - do NOT read if you do not want to be spoiled.




***Spoiler*** Do not read ahead if you don't want to know. The chick Eugene is talking with is the same name for the group that comes after the Whispers in the book. And the album woman that Maggie is with is probably one of those too. Not sure if the teens in the new show are as well. From what I hear the next group is way more of a community then even our group has been - so makes sense that we might lose our homes to enable our transition to the new group. Not sure if this is not also where Rick is - so this could be a big circle that all meets up at some point.

Mike V. said...

Lol stay healthy! hopefully the covid is mostly fear based and won’t get too crazy.

Don’t have a lot of time but wanted to say I had read more about the Eugene thing last year. All I know is in the comics that was the beginning of the end game. And I was not so secretly hoping that it meant the same for the tv show. lol but yeah surely that’s the next plot ramping up.

Mike V. said...

Episode 12 - Walk With Us

Note to self, don’t look at Twitter notifications if you’re going to watch on delay. 10:04pm I get a tweet that says “details on that Alpha Shocker on The Walking Dead”. Gee thanks! Lol. Of course, it seemed like it was coming. The bigger surprise was that Carol must’ve been the one to let Negan go? So she did have something else going on with all the whining and moaning she’s been doing. Also RIP to Grace Under Fire’s husband and Gamma. And maybe Connie? No body, I don’t believe it. So Beta is in charge now. Whisperers not a threat anymore or maybe they have one more fight in them? Someone recognized him too. Not sure how significant that is to us viewers or not. And Back to Michonne next week for her swan song.

All I got for now!

MJ said...

Megan killed alpha. Didn't think would be this soon. And Carol Bei g in on it was a shocker. Still think all her whining was real. But yeah I guess she Released him. Glad she looks so horrified at Hilltop. Cause it's her fault it got ramped so quick. Not buying Connie dead either. Judith saving the kids not a surprise. Curious what that random Whisperer meant by "it's you?". WS beta famous before the apocalypse?

Had we're g Sunday night is why I am day behind

Mike V. said...

I was curious about Beta too. Didn’t think about him being famous. But they clearly haven’t shown his face yet...even in flashbacks. obviously we know it’s Ryan Hurst from SOA fame...but outside of that don’t know how it would be relevant to the audience who he is more than maybe relevant to the people in the story. Looks like you had some autocorrect issues on that comment! I feel your pain these days. Of course, I’m working from home for the foreseeable future so I can type on my iPad keyboard. Lol

MJ said...

I thought we did see his face when we saw Alpha and Beta meet ? And he had that stupid smiley face tshirt that had been his friends or something ?

Mike V. said...

We saw him and the tshirt, but his face was kinda covered in shadows if I recall.

Mike V. said...

Episode 13 - What We Become

Didn’t get to it Sunday night. Maybe we’ll watch Monday not sure. Kids are all off their schedules because of covid. I did hear there might have been a teaser for the rick grimes movie?? Not sure if that was in show or a commercial teaser. Anyway I’ll comment after we watch!

MJ said...

EP 14: Slightly confusing ep at the beginning. Virgil was kindaannoying too. LOL I mean - I felt bad for him once we heard about his family - but keeping all those people in a cell !?! Great to see Glenn, Andrea, Maggie all again. Creepy as hell with her being Negan and threatening our group with good ole Lucille. Then Daryl shot the arrow and RICK shot Faux-Chonne. Awesome finding the phone and Ricks boots ! Guess this ties to the movies that are to come. And that was some group she was helping those 2 strangers to catch up with. Almost like they were walking in very specific formations. Japanese writing on the phone supposed mean 'wait a little bit longer'.

MJ said...

Meant 13 SIGH

Mike V. said...

Still didn’t watch the ep. My daughter requested a camp out with mommy last night, so I had to wait. :) I do know it’s Michonne’s “last” episode though. Lol Maybe tonight.

Mike V. said...

Just saw the finale is being delayed to a later date due to COVID. They were unable to finish production on it. So we’ll see up to episode 15 in the next few weeks then will be waiting. I wonder if they’ll wait to air it before their new spinoff the following week.

MJ said...

I just saw that ! UGH. They are saying the finale will be a 'special' later in the year. Originally the new one was premiering right after the finale so I would guess the 'special ep' and the premier will still be the same night. SIGH. This sucks.

MJ said...


So Beta was a singer ? They really have made Carol the character we love to hate this year - and now she's off the deep end - yet again. And strangely they made Negan the voice of reason when he warded her people were gonna get hurt - and they did. Loved Alpha on the pike though - very fitting for that character. Loced the name of the ep too. LOL

And why are these whisperers bowing before Negan ? They should be killing him. Very puzzling to me.

Are these people that Zeke and Eugene are meeting nuts or what ? LOL All the walkers posed and dressed up - like some bizarren amusement park !

Sigh - next week is the last until production starts up again. NJ Gov is saying he expects social distancing to remain in place into May now.

Mike V. said...

Episode 14 - Look at the Flowers

I unfortunately didn’t get to the episode last night again. This whole home schooling and working from home has taken its toll on our tv watching schedule! Also, the phenomenon known as TIGER KING has invaded our house as well, and the Mrs. Wanted to watch that instead of TWD. Lol I’ll try to get to it soon.

Yep...makes sense to stay hunkered down longer. It sucks....but hopefully worth it in the long run. I guess I’ll survive without knowing how this season of TWD ends for awhile. Lol

MJ said...

Uh - I heard of Tiger King. Not sure I want to see that train wreck. LOL

Read something about last nights ep - will wait to post it.

Mike V. said...

Watched the episode! Agree with basically everything you said. I guess the whisperers bow to whoever takes out the alpha. But then it doesn’t make sense that some said Beta was the new Alpha too. I got the same impression that maybe Beta was some famous singer. That makes sense why someone in show recognized him but we wouldn’t lol

Don’t know about the new people being nuts. Maybe some of them are. But I thought the walker setup stuff in (Charleston?) was hilarious! I don’t think that girl was Stephanie but she definitely seemed kinda nuts!

I like how they’re integrating Negan into things. It’s been 8 years...people still aren’t over it but he’s providing value. Should be interesting when Maggie comes back though.

MJ said...

So - what I read was that the chick who had the zombie 'diaramas' is Princess and right out of the books. And what they are saying is that she is in Pittsburgh. They showed the skyline of a city which I did not recognize but it was supposed to be Pittsburgh. Now why our group would travel from Va to West Va via Pittsburgh makes zero sense - but they might have just wanted to bring another character from the books on.

Mike V. said...

Interesting....yeah that makes no sense that they went to Pittsburgh. I think this group is called the “commonwealth” right? Which would be PA. So i assume the eventual destination is PA. But, yeah, if they’re meeting in WVA then Pitt makes no sense. But interesting that this Princess may not be part of the same group they’re going to see.

Mike V. said...

Episode 15 - the tower.

So princess is a lot of fun. Haven’t laughed that much at a twd episode in a long time! The minefield was great even if it was pointless in the end. And the reveal of it being a bike garage was hilarious. Crazy that the whisperers and their walkers are surrounding the hospital. Quite the cliffhanger for the finale we may not see for awhile. I’m surprised Judith wouldn’t clue Daryl in on Rick possibly being alive. Maybe it’s best not to spread that around without knowing for sure.

Then there was that tease for the movie and the world beyond spinoff. I hope they weren’t trying to say we need to watch world beyond to understand where rick went. Lol. No thanks!

MJ said...

Wow - Princess is a toal whack-a-doo. Was amusing though. Had trouble understanding Beta - was he like losing it ? And why is Pittsburgh like 100% empty ? Very odd. Agree that in the end the wheels were bikses was pretty good.


Swear that shot of the hospital was very similar to the one where Beth was helf hostage in Ga. Saying.


Noticed immediately that while Judith said her mom was on a mission - but not that it was to find Rick. Assuming she is afraid Daryl would leave to join her.

As for World beyond - that is beig delayed too. Was supposed to start next week after the finale Not sure I've read that you need to watch to understand Rick's journey - but I feel it will be a peek into the group who have taken him.

Mike V. said...

Beta was totally nuts. Someone said he was losing it. He’s actually hearing the walkers talking to him? Very bizarre. I haven’t been a fan of the whisperer plot....it was great to get rid of alpha..now they just need to rid themselves of the rest of them!

Yeah...i felt vibes of “been there done that” with the hospital.

She did say that she was afraid daryl would leave too....yeah guess it was as simple as that. Not sure why I didn’t pick up on it! Lol

Yeah I’m assuming whenever production picks back up they’ll air the TWD finale then premiere world beyond the week after. Yeah...that’s kind of the vibe I got too...it’s more about the group that took him. I actually didn’t know that from the original trailer for the show. I’m totally in for a Rick/Michonne movie or whatever they’re working on...i can’t do another series. It would be cool if the Rick movie(s) bridge back into the show prior to a series finale....where they can give it a proper ending. But from the way things are going..that could be years off.

Mike V. said...

But...i will say this...I’ve enjoyed the show much more since I’ve stopped writing about it. Less pressure to try and come up with some inspiring words. :) In the beginning the show felt recappable...like it was on a trajectory of being another LOST-type show. It’s just not that deep. Lol

MJ said...

I think the new show is focused on 4 teems that grew up pretty much after it all began - so they don't know what the world was before it all - and supposedly leave to go see what the world is. Typical knuckle headed young adults. LOL

Glad to hear you are enjoying more now that you are not recapping tho.

Mike V. said...

Yeah....I thought that too....TWD: The Young Adult Novel! lol I know millennials are older now....but in place of a younger adult name....damn millennials! lol

Mike V. said...

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the lost finale. Can you believe it? This article revisits the finale. And Lindelof and cuse rewatched as well. Seems like there might be another article tomorrow. But this one is decent.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/lost-finale-10-years-later.html

One thing the author got wrong was man in black “taking over locke’s body”. I mean kinda but really just assumed his image. Lol

MJ said...

Are we keeping TWD separate or just using the general thread ?

Mike V. said...

Let’s keep it separate. We can wrap up this 16 episode commentary here. Then I’ll create a new general thread until TWD returns. Wow...i totally forgot to comment on the episode! I watched.

Biggest takeaways.

Maggie is back!
Storm Troopers! Lol
Beta was clearly someone “known” in the world of walking dead. Maybe a celebrity or a political figure or something. But I guess we’re never going to find out. To me, he just looked like OPE! Lol

Episode was good....liked the use of talking heads to lure away the walkers. I thought for the herd as large as it was, it seemed like they ended the cliff falling a bit too early. Should’ve shown a passage of time or something! Lol

26 episodes to go! (??)

MJ said...

Weirdly - I read in the comics this was the episode where Andrea died (she had been Ricks lover and not Michonne). Lord - I had forgotten about Princess. LOL Yeah - they hinted at him being famous in some way. I think at one point they showed him on a t-shirt. LOL on Opie.

RIP Beta ! LOL on the stormtroopers. Still hoping these people are the ones that traded for albums - but doubt that - think that is where Maggie has been right ?

Mike V. said...

Yeah they definitely hinted at Beta being known before. Just seems like there isn’t going to be any payoff to it. Oh well.

I forgot about Princess too. She’s a much needed jolt of energy.

I assumed the storm troopers were related to Eugene’s calls with the girl from PA (Stephanie? Or did I make that name up? Lol). They might just be taking precautions. I’m not remembering trading albums....what group was that? Maggie was with the windmill lady I think. But she has some silent assassin with her. What are the odds that person takes off their mask and it’s “surprise!” A woman? Lol.

I did know Andrea was with Rick in the comics. Didn’t know she died. Interesting. I thought Gabriel was a goner in this ep before Maggie showed up. So i guess no one died except Beta, some unknown whisperers and the herd right?

MJ said...

Yep on deaths. No - I thinnk her name is Stephanie. Forgot she is in Pa though. Funny - I don't remember the windmill. Older lady with blonde hair - she traded for albums and gave us like construction plans or blue prints. And when Maggie left that is where they said she went to.

Mike V. said...

Ahh got it. Yeah we’re talking about the same thing. Older lady with blonde hair who i called Ellen Degeneres for some reason lol . But yeah the windmill was one of the blueprints I think. Well....regardless we’ll find out more in February I guess. I’m so confused...now it looks like Fear TWD is back too? So that’s airing at the same time as the limited show? Crazy. Lol