Review #TheWalkingDead S9:13 CHOKEPOINT

Review: S9:12 GUARDIANS


Great episode - three cheers for Daryl, Connie and the ever-brilliant Carol!   Big thanks to Liesl Tommy, Eddie Guzelian and David Johnson McGoldrick for another great episode :)

The menace of the Whisperers is building in such a tantalising fashion, with all their scary weirdness; these are no Governor or Saviors, no normal human beings with whom you may, at some point, be able to reason.  Their symbiotic relationship with the Walkers is so spookily clever, too; 'I'm going to be one of them', says an injured Whisperer, and you get the feeling that Beta doesn't think this will be too tragic; 'the change is coming'

And so Daryl, Connie, Lydia and the ever-petulant Henry embark on a hair-raising journey, because Henry 'didn't know what he was getting his ass into'.  No surprises there, then.  Love how Daryl has no time for adolescent daftness; Henry and Lydia do not, somehow, inspire that same 'ahhh' feeling that Carl and Enid did - not that I think they're meant to.  I'm sure Henry is going to get someone killed, sooner or later....

Talking of fledgling romances, Daryl seems to communicate with Connie more directly and than he does with others (he touched her on the shoulder, too!) - maybe only because she has to be able to lip-read?  Come on, writers, make it happen...!

And so to the fair - at the Kingdom, when Nabila commented to Carol about them being different people now, not warriors, I thought, 'good luck with that, then' - such words so often need to be said with fingers crossed! 

Ezekiel's idealism when dealing with Ozzy and his Highwaymen's grammatically correct death threat was no match for clever Carol's sussing out, immediately, what would bring them on board.... 

 Ozzy trying not to look to excited about movie night

...and I liked how Jerry, Diane and co suggested that they could have been ambushed by Jed's gang of renegade Saviors, but Carol knew better....!

Back on the road to the fair, Tara and the Hilltop gang find a big log obstructing their way, and try to chop it up in a laborious fashion instead of lifting it 😶😏 😂, leaving plenty of time for those guardians to come calling...

...which was a fairly obvious excuse for a good Walker despatching scene, and the introduction of the Highwaymen as not so bad guys after all, but I liked the Tammy Rose and Earl scenes.  Love those two - I like that there are still some older survivors, as well.

The idea of the Highwaymen is a good one, in principle - another example of how the collapse in civilisation has made the world echo more lawless times of hundreds of years ago.

Meanwhile, back at Connie's chokepoint plan, Henry offers Lydia one of his big sticks.  I was worried when Daryl made clear that he wanted to finish off the Whisperers there and then, because he was 'sick of running' - his conviction that they could be overcome by just the three of them (that's him, Connie and Dog!) reminded me of how he was so sure they could beat the Saviors, not having a clue what they were up against; remember 'the boogeyman, he ain't shit', before he promised to despatch them for Hilltop in return for food?  

Daryl, Daryl, you must know it's never going to end quickly, and is set to get a lot worse.... he knows, though, that they can't stay at Alexandria or Hilltop, because that would endanger everyone else.  In that 'whole world out there', where are they going to go?

I notice that he's is assuming leadership so readily now, much more so than when Rick was in charge - Rick being gone has brought out another side of him.  He's come a long way from being 'some redneck asshole'... 

The conflict in the building was all absolutely gripping, from the hope that Henry might have been fatally wounded, to Connie despatching Whisperers via catapult and filing cabinet - and who needs Shiva when you've got Dog?! 😃🐕  

Daryl and Beta's fight was thrilling, so convincing, and yes, I loved Daryl's nonchalant saunter away, picking up Beta's knife.  As for the end ... well, you don't throw Opie Beta down a lift shaft and expect to get away with it....

...Where is she....

As for next week - in Episode 14, Scars, we're going to find out what happened during the time jump AT LAST, and see Michonne pregnant with RJ - can't wait!
More about it here!