The Walking Dead - Season 9 - SPOILERS!

[RJDiogenes]

This is it! Season 9 begins tonight!

According to Wiki, we've got a 16-episode season, split into two equal parts. Rick is going to be in eight more episodes, so presumably he will depart, in whatever fashion, in the mid-season finale. Tonight's episode begins eighteen months after last year's climax, with the rebuilding of Alexandria in full swing.

In other Walking Dead-related news, Scott Wilson, who played Hershel, died yesterday.

[scottydog]

I saw that news about Scott Wilson. That makes me very sad. Herschel was one of my all-time favorite TWD characters.

Thanks for setting the scene for this premier episode. I look forward to it.

Yet.... I can't help wondering who will die?

[RJDiogenes]

Good question. We've got several tier-two or tier-three characters that I think are in danger. I'm thinking that they'll probably want to prune things down to the core group for this new-beginning storyline.

[RJDiogenes]

And the answer to "Who will die this week?" is "Gregory."

So we have jumped ahead about eighteen months from the end of last season and things have changed quite a bit. The various communities are rebuilding, setting up wind and solar power, and they've gotten themselves some horses and buggies for transportation. They're finally acknowledging that scavenging gasoline won't work forever and they can only create so much fuel from grain, apparently only enough to run some motorcycles. Unfortunately, as nice as things look in Alexandria and the Hilltop, the situation is not as good for the former Saviors, which is already causing some tension.

The trip into Washington to get some retro supplies from the museum was pretty cool, although they made a few mistakes. Bringing the heavy equipment down over the glass floor inevitably led to near catastrophe. I'm thinking there must have been another way down that they could have used rather than risk that. Also, it might have been a good idea to take the time to clear the floor below of flesh-eating monsters. Safety first, people! But it was sad and disturbing to see the capitol in ruins and overrun with vegetation (and Zombies). Michonne took a moment to stop at a Civil War display, which I'm sure was a bit of foreshadowing.

So I've finally gotten my wish to see the gang start to rebuild civilization, but it hasn't taken long for the usual hallmarks of pretty trying to get along to rear their ugly heads-- including an assassination attempt on Maggie. This was masterminded by Gregory in the wake of him losing the first post-Apocalyptic democratic vote. After all these months, Maggie is still fuming over Rick letting Negan live, so she shows us how she thinks things should be done by executing Gregory in a public hanging. Yep, civilization is back.

In addition to that mistake, Maggie is also playing hardball with Rick over their support of the former Savior community. The leadership skills that she showed last season are eroding under her festering resentment of Negan and his people. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, Michonne wants to propose a proto-Constitution to bring all the communities closer together.

Other than that, the past year and a half has apparently gone pretty well for most of the characters. Everybody who was alive at the end of last season is still alive at the beginning of this one and no more tin Hitlers have made themselves known in the meantime. Rick's kid is now a toddler, speaking and learning to draw, and Maggie's kid must be on the verge of toddling himself (and was named after Hershel). Carol and the King are an item now, and the King wants Carol to be his Queen. Daryl is the boss of the Sanctuary-- he doesn't like it, but I have a feeling those budding leadership skills will come in handy when Rick is gone.

And somewhere in the background, Negan is still waiting and biding his time....

[scottydog]

My daughter is visiting and so it will be challenging watching this 1st episode of the season, at least for a few days. But I WILL get there, at which time I'll read your post above!

[RJDiogenes]

Just binge watch two episodes next Sunday.

[scottydog]

Just watched the season premier episode. Wow. It was good. The best episode of TWD I've seen in years. They're back on track!!

So much to comment on, plus I want to respond to your comments, RJ. But I don't have time at the moment, as my daughter and her bf are here and I must attend to them. But they're leaving soon and I'll be back here to offer my 2 cents.

[RJDiogenes]

Can't wait to hear what you have to say. Sounds like you really liked it.

[scottydog]

Yes, I loved it. It looked like they put some thought into this episode and made many adjustments to move the story forward in a way we've never seen before. The series had moved at glacial speed the past couple of seasons. I blame Negan

Plus we have the clever idea of raiding a museum to help the group leap into the 19th century So with the solar energy panels, we have this fascinating mix of old technology and modern technology. I love it. Just watching them finally, and I mean FINALLY, move forward and rebuild society was wonderful and rewarding. There is hope for humanity even in the most dire of circumstances.

The museum shots were very good. I loved the evolution of man diagram, showing apes evolving to man and then man evolving to zombies. Very clever.

It's also good for the series to finally acknowledge that cars and gasoline are now un-usable. It was silly seeing people hot-wire cars many years after the apocalypse. We needed a more realistic appraisal of the long-term conditions of the apocalypse and we now have it finally.

Gregory still being alive didn't make any sense. That little weasel should never have survived the Negan era. In a morbid way, perhaps we needed to see him pay for his weaselicity. Imagine the fuss Morgan would have made over the execution.

I loved the idea of using the zombie as a scarecrow, and I was surprised that Daryl didn't go for it. Why not? A moving zombie will scare more crows than a stationary scarecrow.

Should we be surprised that the Saviours and their support for Negan haven't died out in 18 months? When Dorothy defeated the wicked witch, the witches' henchmen were delighted and shouted, "Hail to Dorothy!" and pledged their allegiance to her. Rick isn't so popular for reasons that you allude to.

And where is Dwight? Was he killed last season and I just forgot?

So for me, the worst thing that can happen to the series is for Negan to slowly regain power. I've had enough of that character. He needs to either die or reform. If he sticks around, let's hope for the latter. To me, it's unacceptable for Negan and Lucy to reunite and terrorize people again.

[RJDiogenes]

Plus we have the clever idea of raiding a museum to help the group leap into the 19th century So with the solar energy panels, we have this fascinating mix of old technology and modern technology.

Yes, indeed. I just hope it doesn't all collapse again with everyone back out on the road again. Whatever happens, I hope this communities endure.

It's also good for the series to finally acknowledge that cars and gasoline are now un-usable. It was silly seeing people hot-wire cars many years after the apocalypse. We needed a more realistic appraisal of the long-term conditions of the apocalypse and we now have it finally.

Actually, I had a theory about that.....

Gregory still being alive didn't make any sense. That little weasel should never have survived the Negan era. In a morbid way, perhaps we needed to see him pay for his weaselicity.

Weasels like Gregory have a way of surviving at someone else's expense.

I loved the idea of using the zombie as a scarecrow, and I was surprised that Daryl didn't go for it. Why not? A moving zombie will scare more crows than a stationary scarecrow.

I guess there's always the danger that it will get loose and start biting people, like happened at Hilltop that time-- although they could have removed its jaw, like Michonne used to do.

Should we be surprised that the Saviours and their support for Negan haven't died out in 18 months? When Dorothy defeated the wicked witch, the witches' henchmen were delighted and shouted, "Hail to Dorothy!" and pledged their allegiance to her. Rick isn't so popular for reasons that you allude to.

A lot of them were better off under Negan. But if it's so hard to grow things at the factory, then they probably should have just shut down that community all together and distributed the people among the other locations.

And where is Dwight? Was he killed last season and I just forgot?

I think that Daryl exiled him, didn't he?

[scottydog]

Actually, I had a theory about that.....

I'm curious to hear your theory.

I think that Daryl exiled him, didn't he?

You may be right. In which case we may hear from Dwight again. Maybe he's attracting a new group of followers who will cause trouble later.

New episode tonight. I wonder who will die?

[RJDiogenes]

I think it would depend on what happened to Dwight once he left. At the time, he was sincere in his intentions to defeat Negan and go over to the Alexandrians.

I'm curious to hear your theory.

Well, my theory is that the Zombie Virus is a military project gone awry. It was their intention to create a super-soldier formula that would make the infected impossible to stop even if killed. But somehow the virus became both deadly and highly contagious (they probably mixed in flu DNA or something) and it escaped the lab and became the Zombie Apocalypse. But whatever is in the Zombie part of the virus also effects other organic elements, in seemingly random ways. This would explain why petroleum products like gasoline and rubber don't go bad. It might also explain why batteries retain a charge longer than normal. Stuff like that. It's mostly hand-waving, of course, but at least it's an explanation. It could also help people (who don't die from the virus itself) survive longer without food and water, which is why Rick did not die during his coma and wasn't completely debilitated when he did wake up.

[scottydog]

^That's a fascinating theory. Although it's a little too 'convenient' for my tastes. But I'm willing to go with it.

This upcoming Negan episode has me uneasy.....

[RJDiogenes]

^That's a fascinating theory. Although it's a little too 'convenient' for my tastes. But I'm willing to go with it.

What do you mean by too convenient?

This upcoming Negan episode has me uneasy.....

I noticed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was still in the main credits last week, so I suspect we're far from done with him.

[scottydog]

What do you mean by too convenient?

Just that your theory conveniently allowed our apocalypse survivors to avoid starvation and drive cars when there should (or could) be much more suffering and more primitive living. The season premier episode did a nice job of showing rusted out cars that revealed their "true" age (in fact, maybe they aged those cars TOO much! They looked like they'd been out in the rain for 50 years. I admit I'm hard to please, lol).

This upcoming Negan episode has me uneasy.....

I noticed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was still in the main credits last week, so I suspect we're far from done with him.

I wonder if I'm one of the few people who simply doesn't like the character of Negan. It's weird, because I liked TWD's other villain characters (e.g., the Governor). I wish Negan would go away because I'm with Maggie in deeming him irredeemable. I suspect the showrunners have him in for the long haul.