Review #TheWalkingDead Season 11x09 NO OTHER WAY #TWD

Previously: Review 11x08 FOR BLOOD

- S 11 x 09  NO OTHER WAY -

Directed by Jon Amiel

Written by Corey Reed

As far as first-episodes-after-the-break go, I thought this was one of the best ever, to rival the fabulous 6x09 No Way Out.  Wasn't it great?  So the dreaded hwacha only killed Walkers after all, and Queen Leah of the Reapers ended up fleeing with a bullet in her arm.  Well done, Maggie. And well done Daryl for the 'We survived this for what?  To keep killing each other?' speech—and for not doing anything to help Leah apart from letting her live.  Will we see her again?  I wouldn't be surprised...

  

Gabriel and Maggie were the stars of the show this episode, the decisions they made leaving them in a similar place.  Yes, they've done what must be done, but they're both having a hard time reconciling themselves with it. 

Maggie ignoring Daryl to go after Leah and her soldiers and kill Carver was so much the right thing to do.  Not just for the Alexandrians, but for anyone they might meet in the future.  Reminded me of Rick killing Gareth in 5x03 Four Walls and a Roof, when he said, 'Yes, but you'll cross someone else's path, won't you?' (or words to that effect).

It's not just about what they've done.  

It's also about the misery they may cause if left alive.

Negan's expressions were so interesting throughout the whole fabulous scene of Carver's demise and Maggie stalking after Leah—he showed not only a wariness ('so this is what she's capable of'), but also admiration.  And a kind of connection, which is why he understands her; a sense of 'we're the same', uncomfortable though this made him. 

During that scene by Alden's grave when he left, there was so much conflicting emotion on Maggie's face, too - did his words make her think, 'Am I really no different from him?' (as was clearly illustrated in 11x02 Acheron II when she chose not to save Gage)?  'Is this what I am now, a ruthless killer?'

I've never been keen on the character of Maggie, but Lauren Cohan really is outstanding.  She scarcely needs dialogue!

I believe I detected regret, too.  Like she knows there's a connection.  She saw how he protected her and Elijah with the bell and sand ('Well, ding ding!'), and she is beginning to understand his pragmatism, intelligence, and benefit to the group.  In another dimension of the same world, they could even have been a power couple like Rick and Michonne.  

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As for the tragic death of Alden (see end of post) —I so hoped he was going to be just gone, and on his way back to Alexandria, or heading off to join them at Meridian, anything but a Walker.  So, so sad.  And who will look after Adam now?  Another one for Uncle Daryl's nursery?  Aaron, maybe...

...talking of whom, when he dived in to save Judith and Gracie from the water and Walker-filled basement, crashing his mace hand down on a Walker's skull, it occurred to me what a far cry today's Aaron is from Season 5's nice middle-class aid worker who chose his house in Alexandria according to its 'kerb appeal'.  I don't think Rick would have even considered thumping the Season 11 Aaron.

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There must be few things better than standing at the main look-out at Alexandria and seeing those you care about coming down that long road, after you've spent days wondering if you'll ever see them again, terrified you won't, but with a deep down belief that they'll make it through - again.

The reunions can be added to all the greats in the annals of TWD; Daryl and Connie's was particularly joyous, and I loved Carol's face, filled with emotion.  Like fate had forgiven her for the events of 10x09 Squeeze. 

...though both she and Lydia seemed unhappy at the news that Negan had gone.

Alas, there were to be more arrivals at the gate.  When the shout came, Gabriel looked like he was thinking, 'Seriously?  More crap to deal with?'.  

I did NOT expect to see Eugene—and I can't help thinking that there is more to this than meets the eye.  He looked happy, but that could have been that he was just pleased to see his old friends.  When he left Alexandria with Ezekiel and Yumiko, it was before Beta's herd trashed the place, and don't forget last time we saw him he was in a cell, being given ultimatums.  Does he think something might be afoot, and needs Daryl, Rosita and co to help him fight it?

I loved the stony faces of our gang as Cheesy Video Guy gave them the pitch.  Hated the way he talked to them, like he had it all figured out and was the person to rescue them.  I'd like to see him out in the wild for a day or two... 

We know from the ending that most of them decide not dying of starvation is the incentive they need to leave Alexandria, but I hate the thought of them being there under the jackboot of the Commonwealth. That clip of Magna in the 11b trailer when she says, 'This place is like a city from before.  When people who can't fit in get cast out' - I suspect there might be quite a lot of that.  Right from the start.

We also know from the OMG WTF six month time jump ending that Maggie, Elijah and others choose not to go, but to return to Hilltop.  I think I might have gone with her to Hilltop, rather than head for the Commonwealth; how can they go back to living according to someone else's rules, after all this time?  It's like giving up and going backwards - though of course not dying from starvation is indeed a great motivator!  

Original Hilltop inhabitants like Bertie, Eduardo and Kai have not been seen since Season 10; maybe, if they're still alive but out of view, she'll have got them to go with her.

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So much to look forward to, not least of all seeing RJ, Judith, Hershel and Gracie having their first taste of ice cream, but also finding out about Rick - see the trailer breakdown further down.  I wonder if the big reveal about where Rick and Michonne are will come during the finale of 11b... 

Other stuff I liked:

• Gabriel's observation: 'Doubt's important but it doesn't make you wrong'.  I was of the opinion that Mancea was delusional in thinking that he could hear the voice of God.  That, or it was the devil in God's clothing....

• That Maggie saw Negan saving Elijah—unlike us, she has never seen 'good Negan'.

• Negan's face when Gabriel started shooting from the roof—was like he thought 'so Gabey the creepy-ass priest came good' !!

• Echoes of Season 3: when Daryl was fighting Reaper Austin in the schoolroom/nursery - the stuff on the walls reminded me of when Daryl and Maggie went to look for formula for the newborn Judith in 3x05 Say The Word.  

• ...and that amazing music when Maggie surged forth to kill Leah and her companions. It gave me goosepimples, and reminded me of the end of 3x13 Arrow on the Doorpost (music: Warm Shadow by Fink) when both the prison and Woodbury are getting ready for war.

Not the tune itself but the mood/tone of it.  

🌟 Good Trailer breakdown for next week, especially for those of us who bow in servitude to Queen Carol - because isn't it ALWAYS Carol?!):

 Alden death scene:

~ RIP Alden ~

and thank you, Callan McAuliffe ❤

and if you'd like some more, here's an excellent 15 minute video:

The story of Alden

A Few Gif Posts:

Should have stayed - Glad they're gone 

The Story of Daryl and Carol 

Dinner Time 

A Thank You Letter From Judith Grimes 

Girl Power 

Days Gone Bye: A Tribute to Rick Grimes 

They Turned.... 

TWD Animals 😸

Review: #TheWalkingDead S11 x 07 PROMISES BROKEN

 Previously: Review: 11x06 On The Inside

- S 11 x 07  PROMISES BROKEN - 

Directed by Sharat Raju

Written by Julia Ruchman

One of those lovely moving-all-the-storylines-along-nicely episodes, with loads of stuff to mull over!  A friend on Twitter told me that some viewers are getting frustrated with the pace of the Maggie-Negan thing, but I think it's a necessarily slow development; the resolution will mean much more if the suspense/path has been gradual.  As for the Reapers, as soon as we saw their faces they became less frightening, but that's the nature of the beast—the unknown is always more terrifying.  It will all pan out beautifully and the story arc will work its own magic, I am sure, because the writers and story editors of TWD are just the best.  Ditto the Carol and Daryl thing that so many are waiting for - a journey, not a destination!

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Promises Broken ... some in the Commonwealth, Daryl's to Leah, Leah's to Pope, but I believe the most important was that made by Gabriel to Maggie, i.e., that if he saw any Reapers on his scouting mission he would kill them.  That he was unable to kill a fellow man of the cloth will, I think, have dire repercussions somewhere down the line.  Something about the way in which Mancea asked God to guide him, then said 'Thank you' as he looked in Gabriel's direction.  Did he see him?

Then there's the promise that Maggie and Negan shook on, but she hasn't broken that one yet.  When Elijah asked her if Negan has changed, it seemed like she thought he had, but made a cautious reply to keep herself on guard.  Maybe also because she needs to maintain her hatred of him or she would feel she'd betrayed her son, and Glenn's memory.

The trailer for this episode implied that they might be about to reach a new understanding, but this is TWD and this is Negan—nothing is ever going to be as you think.  

When Maggie was visibly upset (great bit of acting by her) at him saying that if he could go back and do things differently he would have killed them all, you can understand her shock, but I think he was showing respect for her, in a twisted kind of way, by being honest.  Showing himself, cards on the table, no smoke and mirrors, warts and all, because, as he said, that is the only way things will work.  It doesn't mean he's going to kill them all now; Season 7/8 were many years ago and a different world.  Now it's up to Maggie to decide whether or not she can accept his honesty.

I totally love Negan at the moment... great little scene here: 'This is not fun' 'Not with that attitude'.  Then the Whisperer Masterclass.  Every skill comes in useful in the apocalypse, and none more so, at times, than learning how to utilise a herd of Walkers as an effective weapon!

More than ever before, we were shown his side of the age-old rift with this question: 'How did Aaron get Gracie?'.  

Remember Rick killing a man presumed to be Gracie's father in 8x02 The Damned?  Also, as Negan pointed out, the Saviors massacred in their sleep in 6x12 Not Tomorrow Yet had friends, girlfriends, just the same as Glenn, Abraham and everyone else.  Negan wished he'd killed them all so that no more of his people would die.  Same as anyone, about their community.  One thing he's not doing that he should, though—he needs to show Maggie that he understand how she feels.  How he knows what it's like to lose the person you love.  Show just a bit of compassion for the fact that Hershel Jnr will never know his father.

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So to the Commonwealth, and it doesn't look like our four are getting help for Alexandria any time soon.  There is so much afoot that we're not seeing yet—no clues about about what's really going on with the clearly very scared Tomi who insisted that 'you have to know your place' before being hauled off by the white space suit chaps - for what?  The 2 x Stephanie situation is equally as baffling—though Real Stephanie is obviously concerned that Eugene is okay.

I wasn't convinced by Pamela Milton's son Sebastian—I thought his reaction to Eugene and Fake Stephanie made him more like a pantomime character than we usually see on TWD.  Comedy zombie apocalypse.  Twelve or so years in, surely he would have noticed Walkers so close to him (hearing them?  Smelling them?), and been grateful for being saved, and his girlfriend looked like she'd never seen one before, though granted if they've been hidden away somewhere like the place in World Beyond, or wherever Rick is, she might have been sheltered from them.  Sebastian is potentially a great character, but I think he needs making a bit more ... realistic.

As for Eugene in the cell, I don't believe for one minute that he's about to give up Alexandria.  He's way too sharp for that these days; he'll have something up his sleeve.  The cowardly cleverness that persuaded Abraham to act as his protector has evolved, in a good way; now, as was evident in the Season 8 finale, he is capable of working out detailed strategy—patiently, quietly and effectively.  

And I still think he's got the Stephanie thing sussed out.  But it looks like he might need Yumiko to do that favour for Cheesy Video Guy.

It's possible that Ezekiel's got something going on, too—the delight with which he returned from seeing the doctor seemed somehow faked, for the sake of the guards.  Btw, I like the friendship between him and Princess very much.  They seem to gel really well. :)

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Back at Meridian, Daryl is making friends and Leah is pissing off Pope by backing up the inept soldiers, who clearly don't have Daryl's tracking skills.  Pope accused her of doing so to make them like her, but I thought it was solely for Daryl's benefit.  

Though she kind of blew it all later, when she and Daryl were on the hunt and they talked about the Reapers' taking of Meridian; she appeared to think it okay to kill people and steal their home and food.  If Daryl had known she was like that before, I doubt he would have been with her at all, attraction or no attraction.  

In this world, what you will or won't do to keep your people safe and fed is what separates the good guys from the bad guys.  

Later, when she found the family and let the father and son go, then was unable to put the mother out of her misery, I thought that was more because of her memory of the boy she adopted, rather than genuine compassion for the people concerned.

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So the grave wasn't for Alden as I feared last week (phew), and Elijah wants to be the one to kill Pope, no doubt even more so after we saw what was clearly his sister, now a Walker.  Dodgy moment there, followed by a lovely one as Maggie took his hand.  Elijah seems far too switched on to have blown it by letting his emotion ruin the plan, though.

Episode sevens usually do a grand job of setting the scene for the part-season finale, and this was no exception.  The final scene promised great things to come for next week - a bit of déjà vu from 10x15 The Tower, too!

Next week:Various Trailers on Youtube

btw, I was wondering if Elijah's sister was the same Walker as the Michonne lookalike in 4x09 After.  If not, they look very alike.  Look at the cheekbones.

Elijah's sister - what a terribly sad scene.