Dead Viewing: Season 9, Episode 8-"Evolution"

***WARNING***

***You may want to stop here.***

***There will be spoilers.***

***This is not a review. It is just my thoughts as I'm watching the show.***

***I update during commercials.***
Remember, I'm just writing what I see and reacting.

Welcome back, everybody!!! Mid-season Finale time! Definitely, not my favorite time of the year. We almost always lose somebody, and I'm thinking it may be Rosita this time. 

We open with Walkers just milling around, and Daryl, Aaron, and Jesus are watching with concern because these walkers aren't acting like normal walkers. So, they are not normal walkers, because one just seemed to be listening. I'm guessing that these guys will be the Whisperers that everyone who has read the comics keep talking about. 

Meanwhile in Alexandria, there are a lot of kids there, and Gabriel is trying to help Negan meditate. Gabriel wants to know why he won't change. Negan tells him how people talk outside of his window as if he isn't there. He tries to goad, Gabriel about Rosita. As Gabriel leaves he notices the messengers from Hilltop and learns from another Alexandrian that Rosita is hurt. As Michonne and her crew approach, everyone disappears as a messenger tells the Hilltop that riders are approaching.  Man, Hilltop is hostile to Michonne. She has to disarm to enter. Tara tells them about Eugene and Rosita. She also tells them about Carol, Daryl, and Aaron. Tara allows the newcomers to stay, but tells them that Jesus has to have the final stay, but if they stay, they will have to earn their keep. Michonne sees Carol and smiles, but Carol turns her back. I am really, really curious as to what happened (besides Rick's "Death") to splinter the group into so many pieces.

Michonne is angry that they have been communicating with Hilltop. Carol and Michonne are talking about their kids. Michonne still refuses to come to the fair, even though Carol tells her they need some people from Alexandria. Aaron and Jesus are discussing how Daryl use to trade with Hilltop; he tells Jesus that he should stop fighting and become the Hilltop leader. Jesus says that he and Aaron were better when they were out scouting for people. While they are talking, Daryl hears the heard coming for them. Dianne asks Carol for a ride back to the Kingdom. She tells Carol that the Kingdom needs her more. I really wish that we could find out what happened between all of the settlements, and why does it appear that the Kingdom fared the worse. 

The herd that they saw earlier seems to have increased in size. Henry has a crush on Enid, but he sees that Alden and Enid are an item. Negan is being his normal disgusting self as Gabriel comes to take this discards. Gabriel tells Negan that Rosita is hurt, but he can't go to her because has to be responsible for Negan. Some of the Hilltop kids are trying to befriend Henry, but they want to sneak out of Hilltop at night to their secret "hideout." Siddiq apologizes to Michonne for not tell her about his communication with Hilltop. He tells her that it's not to late to mend fences, but she tells him that she will not mend the way they want her to (whatever that means). She also said that she had to make a tough decision, that apparently was life or death, and she would rather they hate her and be alive. SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED???? Then, Rosita wakes up and tells Siddiq and Michonne that she knows where Eugene is and that our boys have know clue what they are about to run into. I wish somebody would be direct.

Storm is a rumbling, we see our heroes Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron, finding a barn. Eugene has been hiding in a crawl space under the barn. Eugene tells them that the herd has double back twice looking for him. He tells them that the herd was talking. Daryl can't believe that its the same herd. They try to get Eugene out of the barn and away from the herd. The Hilltop kids have a nice little hangout, and they are trying to get Henry to participate in a a game with a walker they trapped in a hole. Henry jumps in and kills the walker. Eugene and the boys are discussing the herd that Eugene believes is evolving. The group splits up with Aaron and Jesus taking Eugene to the horses while Daryl will try to draw off the walkers. Meanwhile, back at Alexandria, Negan is playing ball by himself when he accidentally loses the ball outside of his cell. The wind is shaking the bars, and when Negan checks it, he finds that the door is open, dang it, Gabriel, and just like that, Negan is free. 

The kids have gotten Henry into trouble. He does not want to get the kids in trouble. So, he doesn't tell on them. He tells Earl the blacksmith that he did not want get in trouble, but he he did not take into consideration what a bid deal it was his coming to Hilltop, and blames it on getting used to Hilltop. Daryl tries to distract the herd with fireworks and his dog, but the herd basically ignores him and continues after Eugene, Aaron, and Jesus, who are chased into a graveyard and surrounded by the walkers they fight off.  Michonne and Magna and her crew show up to help them get Eugene, but Jesus stays to fight, and he awesome, but he is stabbed in the back by one of the Whisperers. Naw, man, not Jesus!!! Daryl kills the one who kills Jesus; Daryl realizes what they were wearing the masks of the dead. They are trapped, and now they hear the Whisperers coming. I'm ticked, man. Why, Jesus, though...

Now, we have to deal with Negan and the Whisperers...and no more episodes until February, Sigh.  Been great hang with you guys!!! Happy holidays, everyone!!!! See, you in February, Walking Dead, fam!!!

Dead Viewing: Season 9, Episode 7-"Stradivarius"

***WARNING***

***You may want to stop here.***

***There will be spoilers.***

***This is not a review. It is just my thoughts as I'm watching the show.***

***I update during commercials.***
Remember, I'm just writing what I see and reacting.

Welcome back, everybody!!! Last week, introduced us to life without Rick Grimes, and that life apparently included a break between the once close surviving groups. While it was a good episode, I wish we could have seen the immediate aftermath of the "death" of Rick Grimes. I'm ultra-curious as to why Daryl left all the groups (probably guilt), and why Hilltop, Alexandria, and the Kingdom have splintered. I'm also curious about this Fair, I mean, Faire (you know that Ezekiel is fancy and extra). I also want to know exactly what that X is on Michonne's back.

The Whispering Walkers are closing in on Rosita who is running alone with no sigh of Eugene. The voices are getting closer when she collapses. Seeing traps that apparently Daryl has made for his life off the "grid." C. Thomas Howell, did I just see that name pop up on my screen? Daryl also has a dog and has been living like Huck Finn apparently on a raft. Siddiq is questioning Michonne about the group. The New group has a rig some where. Magna still wants her knives. HIlltop is looking fantastic. Tara is hanging out at Hilltop, and Enid is their doctor. Hey, Jesus. Apparently, Jesus is the new Leader at Hilltop. Maggie apparently has gone to live with Georgie and is happy according to a letter she has sent Jesus. Daryl is just walking around with a dead snake around his neck. Carol wants Daryl to go to Hilltop to keep an eye on Henry. Daryl refuses telling her that Henry needs to learn to take care of himself like they did. 

Michonne's group takes the newcomers back to their rig. Magna finds some of Bernard's things. Yumiko suggests taking some with them. Siddiq finds a recorder. Luke is looking for an instrument they lost. everyone. Yumiko and the others want to agree with Michonne who tells them she will not be traveling all the way. Jesus knocks Aaron off his horse, and the two start mixing it up. Jesus and Aaron want to bring the group together. Michonne doesn't know about Maggie, and she has been reluctant to work on a compromise between the groups. Jesus and Aaron want to go to the Fair to help mend fences. Jesus and Aaron see a flair which leads them to Rosita, who says that she has left Eugene in a barn. So, apparently Aaron was looking for her as well. They decide to take her back and look for Eugene in the morning.

Henry has figured out why Carol was looking for Daryl. He is upset that she feels like he needs a chaperon. As Carol cuts his hair, we find out that Daryl is out in the woods because he had been searching for Rick's body, which he has never found, and it just became easier to stay out in the wilderness. Something is spooking Michonne as she is keeping guard on the group. Luke was bending over something. Michonne tells him to drop it he refuses, and she hits it with her sword. It turns out to be what looks like a violin that she has destroyed. (I'm thinking the Stradivarius from the title). Daryl's dog got caught in one of his and the walkers he had captured almost got him. Henry saves him from another. They manage to save the dog and each other, as Carol looks on with her bow at the ready.

Jesus has been training Aaron. They have Rosita at Hilltop. Tara is fussing at Jesus for being away to long and not living up to what was promised to Maggie. She's leaving to look for Eugene in the morning. Daryl has two X's on his back like the one that Michonne has. One in the exact spot that Michonne has hers. Henry wants him to come back with them not just for him but for Carol. Luke reveals that the violin was a Stradivarius. He has been traveling through the apocalypse to help connect. 

Siddiq is trying to convince Michonne to go with them. She is concerned about seeing Maggie and how Maggie will react. Siddiq tells her that Maggie and Hershel are gone. but before he can explain how he knows walkers have surrounded them. DJ is finally allowed to give them their weapons. Kelly and Connie are proficient with the sling shot. They see their friend Bernard as a Walker, and Magna is devastated as he walks towards them. Michonne puts him down.

Daryl has decided to join Carol and Henry. Siddiq apologizes for not telling her about Maggie. A couple of Sentries (one of them was C. Thomas Howell) tells Michonne about Rosita. Connie sees something in the woods; someone is watching them. Daryl, Henry, and Carol have made it to Hilltop; Aaron, Jesus, and Daryl go out to find Eugene. Next week, mid-season Finale!!! I'm a little uneasy going into next week. See y'all, next week!!!

Dead Viewing: Season 9, Episode 6: "Who are You Now?"

***WARNING***

***You may want to stop here.***

***There will be spoilers.***

***This is not a review. It is just my thoughts as I'm watching the show.***

***I update during commercials.***
Remember, I'm just writing what I see and reacting.

Welcome back, everyone!!! I hope everyone has recovered from last week's final Rick Grimes episode. Last week's episode was perfect to me. Here's why: I would have been fine with Rick dying in that matter, because he was sacrificing himself for those he loves, plus it was such a boss way to go, but I'm glad he did not, because there is going to be an awesome reunion to come in the future. Now, I do not like the idea of Rick being away from his family for this long.  

Michonne opening, she's talking to Rick. Daryl is fishing and kills a walker. Carol's hair is longer (I don't know how I feel about that), and she and Ezekiel are definitely a couple waking up together. She wakes up looking out over the Kingdom. Michonne finds a van with a cigar box with children's toys, one of which is a cowboy that looks like Rick; she takes it with her. Daryl comes across a bird that is feeding its babies. Carol sees a flower growing out of concrete. Michonne finishes her monologue which is simply telling Rick that she has has not given up, and she never will. We also see that they have decided not to rebuild the burned out bridge. I like the images of Michonne, Daryl, and Carol over the monologue, because it shows some of the last members of the last of the core. 

Eugene, Rosita, Aaron, and one of the saviors run into the new comers looking for Judith (who apparently has a lot of Carl in her disappearing). Jerry calls Carol his queen. She has married Ezekiel and adopted Henry. Henry said that they need better tools. While Ezekiel appreciates Henry's passion he does not like the teen's tone. Apparently, Henry wants to train at Hilltop, but Ezekiel is reluctant to let him go becasue he feels that Hilltop has become distant since Rick. The newcomers have arrived at Alexandria and they cannot believe what they are seeing. I can't believe that Aaron has a reasonable facsimile of an arm, and he has been raising Gracie as his own. Michonne arrives in time to see the new ones. Judith tells Michonne that she decided. Michonne accidently dropped the little cowboy and Judith found it. Michonne does not seem to be very receptive to the new people. Gabriel suggests that they hold them until morning and let the council vote. So, Alexandria has established some rules and regulations since Rick's death. It also looks like a utopian western town. Now the downside of having satellite. Weather has stop my viewing.

Okay, it rained all night. It wasn't easy, but I've managed to be spoiler free all day!!! Not an easy task when you work with teenagers. It's 6:14 p.m. Monday, November 12th, and I'm picking up where I left off. 

So, Ezekiel is allowing Henry to go to Hilltop. Ezekiel wants to get the communities back together, so they have splintered since the death of Rick. Now, to Alexandria and the council vote. So, they lost Bernie yesterday. Fantastic Beasts is telling how they all came together. How much time has passed? They ask the new comers who they were and who they are. What did they do to survive? One of them is deaf. I'm surprised she survived. Michonne is a councilperson and head of security. One of the new comers is a former prisoner. Magna, the apparent leader had the prison tattoo, and she was wearing a knife as a belt buckle. Well, I didn't see that coming. She asks can she ask Michonne a question, which Michonne refuses. Michonne is acting much like Maggie did after Glenn. She's not wanting to take in newcomers, which is funny considering she was wounded and carrying a katana when Rick met her. 

Gabriel is working on some type of HAM radio contraption. Rosita tells us that the new people are going to stay until their injured party is well. Gabriel and Eugene want to find people outside of Alexandria. Wait just a pea-picking minute!!! Gabriel and Rosita are together?!!! Wait, what?!! I'm so confused. Michonne is talking to Rick and Judith is spying on her. Judith calls Michonne, Mom. Henry and Carol are not heading to Hilltop? Henry hears a woman crying for help, and so the Saviors have tricked them. Dang it, Henry, and they are lead by the jerk who Carol had to check twice while working on the bridge.

Everybody is driving these makeshift carriages. Eugene is hitting on Rosita as they go to set up the transmitter. They noticed a herd of walkers apparently traveling east while they are traveling west. The newcomers question Siddiq about how he came to be there. The Sanctuary went bust, so their stealing from Carol and Henry. He wants Carol's ring, too, which is too much for Henry who attacks the jerk leader. He is really going to have to die after Carol has spared him twice. Negan is apparently tutoring Judith. She is talking to him about the newcomers. He guesses that she wanted to bring them in. He tells her the story of how he like to bring home strays, and one time the stray he brought home killed the others and took most of him mom's ear. He said that broke him from bring strays. Judith tells him and look how it turned out. She advises him that she only needs him for math because numbers don't care if he's good or bad. Sassy...Eugen and Rosita have just finished with the receiver, when Eugene gets stuck on the water tower and falls hurting his knee as the herd that they thought they had avoided was now headed toward them.

Henry is questioning Carol why she did not stand up to the Saviors. She tells him because of him. She is missing her ring. Magna wants to fight. The others tell her they need to leave Michonne alone. The others do not want to fight. Luke tells Magna to sleep on it. Carol sneaks back and sets the Saviors on fire and walks away like a Boss!!! She tells him that she could forgive the ring, but they took things that belonged to people they had lost. He argues they would disappear, and Carol agrees as she dropped the match he had been sucking on. I love Carol...

Some one is sneaking up to Michonne's house. RJ? Who is this kid? Magna surrenders the knife that Yumiko had around her neck. Brother? Wait, Rick and Michonne have a kid? Judith knows Michonne talks to Carl and Rick. She tells her that she is starting to forget their voices. She hopes that Michonne can remember them. Crap I forgot about Rosita and Eugene. Where are they that it is still daylight, but dark everywhere else. Henry apologizes for what he said to her, but notices she has the ring back, right before they meet Daryl off the road. Why does Michonne have an X on her back? Is she mimicking Rick's injury? We see before she puts on one of his shirts. She gives Judith the Rick toy before telling the newcomers that she is taking them to Hilltop. Eugene and Rosita camo themselves with mud to hide from the herd, that is now talking?  Are these the Whisperers?! More trouble next week!!!!

Vaya Con Dios, Rick Grimes...

Dear Andrew Lincoln,

I want to take this time to say thank you for playing the character of Rick Grimes for the past nine seasons of The Walking Dead. I did not know much about you before you appeared on the screen as our Deputy Rick. Yet, I have become a fan over the last few years. Rick Grimes is one of my favorite The Walking Dead characters, and I will miss the character greatly, as well as, the actor who plays him.

I'm not going to be bitter like many fans, who have declared that they will no longer watch the show when you leave. I'll continue watching as long as the show entertains me, and at this point, it has never ceased to entertain me. I understand your decision. I'm a sports fan. I had to deal with my favorite players leaving the team or being traded from the team. It happens. Life happens. Your life is your life, and I would never ask you to continue to do something you didn't want to do, just because as a fan I still want you to. It's not my place, nor is it the place of the other The Walking Dead fans.

Now, here we are 25 minutes before the beginning of your final episode. I'm a little sad, but I don't like surprises, so I'm glad that I know that this will be the end. That said, I hope they don't kill off the character. I would love a Rick Grimes surprise somewhere down the line (not in flashback form). So, I'm not going to say goodbye, I'm going to say see ya, later. Thank you for making Rick Grimes a real boss character (I'll never forget that throat biting scene). Thank you for helping to make The Walking Dead a great show. Thank you to your family who has had to share you with us all these years. Enjoy your freedom from the dead...

Diana

Dead Viewing: Season 9, Episode 5-"What Comes After"

***WARNING***

***You may want to stop here.***

***There will be spoilers.***

***This is not a review. It is just my thoughts as I'm watching the show.***

***I update during commercials.***
Remember, I'm just writing what I see and reacting.

Welcome back, everyone!!! It's the last The Walking Dead episode with Rick Grimes. Our fearless leader is about to leave us, and while I'm going to miss Rick, and how he says "Carl," I think I'm going to be okay when it is over. We'll see.

And so it begins...

The blackbird flock opens with current Rick telling old coma Rick to wake-up. The birds turn into helicopters. Morgan's voice asking him what is his wound. Coma, Rick telling him to wake up. Rick wakes up and pulls himself off the rebar using his belt as a lever. He's made it back to his horse, but he is bleeding badly.

The smoking RV driven by Anne's RV has run out of gas. Her walkie talkie asks for her location and her A. She lies about her A. Rick is delirious trying to lead the Walkers away, but he is in pain. It moves to Diane and Maggie who confront a Walker. Maggie kills it with the crowbar from last week. Back to Rick, and he is losing a lot of blood. He sees a mailbox and follows a trail a cabin with a message on the door "Come face me a**holes." He finds a tablecloth and uses it to try to stop the blood before he looks around the cabin and sees the dead former residents of this cabin. Then, he passes out.

Flashback to Rick riding into Atlanta. Lori asking what is his wound. There is Shane. Rick says he's looking for his family. Shane tells him sure it isn't his family. Then, points out that Judith is his. Shane is telling him about all the things that he did that is a reflection of Shane. Shane is telling him to dig deep. He apologizes for killing Shane, who tells him to forget it and wake up right before walkers almost overtake him. Judith and Michonne are talking about shells when Scott comes in to tell her that Maggie is there. She gets there in time to stop Maggie. Maggie says that Negan should have died under the tree. Michonne tells her that Glenn nor Hershel would want her to do this. Michonne asks can she live with what comes after. She says that she cant live with it now. Michonne gives her the keys to the cell. Negan tells Maggie that Michonne has the blade, but she has the fire. Negan says that she took a long time to get there. He tells her that he enjoyed killing Glenn. He tells her not to punk out like Rick. He is begging Maggie to kill him, so he can be with Lucille. HE can't kill himself, so she has to kill him. He wants her kill him. She came to kill Negan, but she says that he is worse than dead, and puts him back into his cell. Negan appears to be broken, but I don't trust him. I do not trust him at all.

Michonne seems relieved that Maggie did not kill Negan, but Diane arrives telling them that there is something wrong at the camp. Rick is delirious. Flashing back. Awwww, Hershel...Rick apologizes for Hershel, Beth, and Glenn. Man, I'm crying...Rick tells him he needs to find his family. Hershel tells him they will get there. Hershel tells him to wake up. He does briefly before he finds himself in the hospital going through the don't open dead inside door, and he finds himself standing among the dead. All with faces of people he has known. Sasha rises from among them. He says they are all dead. She tells him that it is okay because he did his part. They gave strength from those who died, and he will strength others. She tells him that he is not going to find his family because they are not lost and neither is he. She tells him he needs to wake up. Rick has fallen from his horse and appears to wake up at the camp, and there seems to have been slaughter there.  

Rick takes down two Walkers, but the others are coming through the camp. He's leading them away from the camp. Honestly, most people would have been dead of this injury by now. Rick has made it to the bridge with the Walkers behind him. Daryl and the rest have arrived. Michonne tells him that him that they don't die. She tells him to fight for her and fight for all of us. He has found his family. Wait, I think he is hallucinating. She tell him to wake up. So he was, but Rick is at the bridge. He is going to sacrifice the bridge to save his family. But the bridge is holding, and Daryl is keeping the walkers away from Rick. Rick tells them not to save him. His friends are trying to turn the herd to save him, but it's too many. Rick sees dynamite and blows up the bridge. H sacrifices himself to save the others. Not Daryl and Michonne crying. I'm not going to make it guys. Daryl just walks away, and Maggie and Carol are trying to comfort Michonne. Rick's last words were, "I found them." He found his family, and he saves them one last time. This is the second time this week that I have ugly cried at something I watched on the screen. Daryl just broke me, man...

I don't even care about Jadis/Anne and the helicopter. Wait!!!! Rick is still alive. She says she has a b, not an A. The Helicopter people pick up both Rick and Anne. Where the hell are they going?  Rick Grimes lives!!!!!!!! Where are they taking him though? Who are these people? I see the chubby dued from Fantastic Beasts. Who is the little girl voice? What the What? Did we have a flash-foward? Judith? With Rick's hat, a gun, and her own sword? I don't know what is going on?! Wow, so much to unpack for next week!!! We basically get a whole new show next week, and I can't wait!!!!