Amy and Jocelyn come to stay,
and I get my sweetest baby in the world fix!
Previously: Review: 11x14 The Rotten Core
- S 11 x 15 TRUST -
Directed by Lily Mariye
Written by Kevin Deiboldt
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| I just love this picture of Ezekiel |
I would love to be the person who designs Lance Hornsby's wardrobe - that waistcoat has to be the worst yet. Also, isn't Gabriel getting more badass (and more handsome) with every episode? 'We're not going to take the fall for this' - ice cold!
Of course Cheesy Video Guy guessed exactly what went on at Riverbend, especially after finding Hershel's cap and seeing the tyre marks, but our crew are far too clever to allow him to prove it.
When Lance pounced on Maggie's truck at Hilltop, so sure it would spring into action, I must say I wondered why Maggie didn't point out that her property is nothing to do with him and that the Commonwealth's laws don't mean sh*t at Hilltop - but yeah, I suppose better to let him look around, knowing that he wouldn't find anything, than to act like she has something she doesn't want him to know about.
As for the location of Negan's group, I wonder if they've hidden down that tunnel at Hilltop that Sasha made in Season 7 (to hide from ... Negan).
And I don't imagine for one moment that Hershel would have been Lanced into giving anything up - he's much too sharp.
On the way there, when Lance demanded that Aaron, Gabriel and Daryl got rid of the Walker herd in their path - seeing as they know how to handle themselves - the look in his eyes was an interesting one. Not irritated (like when the truck wouldn't start) or in awe about how efficiently they dispatched them, but gleeful; I suspect he was thinking 'that's my crack team of soldiers right there' - given that his opening line to the Wicked Witch of the East (Leah) was to offer her a job, I wonder if this will be the case.
At last we saw exactly what the 'Six Months Later' thing from 11x9 No Other Way was all about, anyway - and why Gabriel was standing with a load of Commonwealth soldiers in a blood stained t-shirt - I've been wondering about that since I first saw a picture of it, weeks back.
Lance appears to think he's more clever than anyone, that he's so above them all that he doesn't even care if they don't trust him, so sure is he that he will always get what he wants. But he gives himself away, without realising; that psycho look in his eyes when he said 'Shame we couldn't be friends', to Maggie, and the way in which, once more, he unwittingly echoed Gregory: 'I'm a nice guy'.
Sad bit: Hershel crouching by Glenn's grave (another reason why Maggie is determined to stay there, I am sure...). Then walking away, to show us all the other graves, too.
*
Dialogue award of the week goes to Ezekiel: 'Darkness is heavy. Some of us carry more than others because we're strong enough to take the weight. But we make the light. You make the light, Carol.'
No, I don't think they'll get back together again ('cause, you know, New Mexico won't explore itself!), however much he wants them to, but I am sure they will remain very dear friends; that was a beautiful scene in the veterinary centre, when they sat by the wall in the dark.
That appendectomy scenario I thought was a bit peculiar, though - were we supposed to know who it was, or was that not relevant? Seemed a bit hurried through as a plot line, and ditto the sudden appearance of the veterinary medical centre that for some reason Carol hadn't seen yet.
Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, the founders of the Resistance are coming together - when Eugene asked Max to find 'secret files', it occurred to me that life and the years have made our people fearless, determined to get to the bottom of what's going on and make it right, whatever the risk. Like they don't even consider that something might be dangerous, if it's got to be done.
... then we have Daryl, Gabriel, Aaron, Mercer, Princess, Max, Ezekiel, Tomi, all acting against the rules of the regime - will this bring Yumiko in, too, as she is in a position of some power? Or has she, like Luke, Scott, Kal and Eduardo, fallen into the TWD Black Hole? She hasn't been seen in 11B yet, and Magna's only had one small scene. I wonder if they were not popular characters so have been removed from centre stage?
When Ezekiel said this to Carol: 'You'd think being here would make life easier, huh? Feels like there's a lot more grey instead.' I thought, it's not only because of the corruption - it's because they've been out there for too long. As I mentioned in my review of 11x10 New Haunts, you can't just go back to pre-Fall life and (click fingers) adapt - maybe they could have if they'd found the Commonwealth say, after the prison, but since then there have been years and years of Alexandria, Kingdom, Hilltop, and independence from the corruption and general BS of totalitarian regimes, which it is fast becoming clear that the Commonwealth is.
📚📚📚
'Drink deep from the cup of knowledge and listen to your teachers'
I did love seeing Carol delivering Judith and RJ to school, though, and meeting up with a nice man with an umbrella (clip below). Though I wish Judith would put the hat back on, to go with the Rick-style cowboy boots she wears!
☔☔☔
I thought the scenes with Princess and Mercer were most interesting - we saw yet more sides to him. All the doubt that comes with his inner conflict about having killed Sebastian minions Alves and Castle, and generally what is the right thing to do; should he turn a blind eye to the corruption to keep himself and Max (and Princess) safe, or be a force for change?
All in all very much 'the calm before the storm' as all good Episode 15s should be (preferably without too many heads on spikes) - next week looks like all out war - with the Wicked Witch of the East on the opposing side with plenty of weaponry. Guess she hasn't forgiven Maggie for killing her chums...
Previously: Review: 11 x 13 Warlords
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| 'I mean, I liked 'em before.' |
- S 11 x 14 THE ROTTEN CORE -
Directed by Marcus Stokes
Written by Jim Barnes and Erik Mountain
In TWD world every scene, every piece of dialogue is relevant, and Daryl and Carol arranging to meet up for lunch so that Carol could tell him more about her 'side thing' was no different - thank goodness she was waiting in the diner wondering why he didn't turn up, eh?
Still can't get used to Daryl and Rosita being dutiful Commonwealth cops, but of course it puts them in a good place to find out what's going on - though when Colonel Vickers walked past and ticked Daryl off for being late, I silently shouted out, 'You don't speak to Daryl Dixon, Slayer of Whisperers, Master of Dog and Protector of Children, in that way!'
The Daryl-doughnut-cop-stereotype scene will be included in many a 'Best of Daryl Dixon' article in months to come, I am sure. Classic moment. Want to see it again? His face... 😂😂
=
...Sebastian totally missing that at this stage in the zombie apocalypse world, dealing with Walkers is just part of a day's work, and anyone who can't do the head-knife thing at a moment's notice is already dead - unless they've been completely shielded from the monsters by Mummy.
His plan in which Rosita and Daryl must risk their lives was so sick, in a world where, Commonwealth apart, bank notes have become just pieces of useless paper. Something of no intrinsic value at all - like how Slimeball Sebastian views people's lives. I hope Pamela will soon find out what he's been doing, and what became of poor April, whose last moment of hope before the needless snuffing out of her life was a few exchanges with Rosita in the dark.
Not to mention how he waved away the deaths of others he sent to do the same job, like they were just collateral damage. Pamela seems fairly decent - I hope I'm not wrong.
(Incidentally, I love Rosita's Spanish lilt when she says her own name :)
So Carol and Mercer arrive to save the day after the malfunctioning alarm alerts the Walkers, and the party has to 'gut up and go' (love that!) once again...
... though this time it is not to reach a van to get them and their friends out of the city in which they're trapped, or to save themselves and those they love from the herd in Alexandria...
...but to collect a bag of old bank notes so that Sebastian Milton can live in luxury. Mercer was top stuff again in this, and now he's fully aware of the rotten core, surely he will take an active part in cutting it out - eventually. I was surprised when he took out Alves and Castle, though. Seemed like it was a heat of the moment decision, born of utter disgust and fury.
Back at the Commonwealth when counting up his spoils, the faces of Daryl, Rosita and Mercer said more than any words - Seb's not very good at reading the room, is he? Or maybe he just doesn't care; he considers himself above everyone else, after all.
While this was happening, Carol was busy doing one of the many things she does best, i.e., being her sweet self in order to find out information, such as whether or not Hornsby was involved in Seb's plan ... that one word, 'Finally', when she revealed that they'd retrieved the cash, gave away his involvement in the scheme.
Meanwhile, back at Riverbend, Toby Carlson's insane rampage continues, as he and his men kill anyone who won't give up the location of the weapons they haven't got.
Lots of good Negan moments - that nice little 'Hey kiddo', when he saw Lydia again, the revelation of his new relationship status, and the scenes with Hershel. That conversation between the two of them, when Hershel asked him if he was a bad man and he said that he used to be - there's always remained the question of whether or not he really is a reformed character, but maybe it's been answered now.
Many of us have thought that Negan would, at some point, save Hershel's life, but I didn't expect it to happen this early (though indeed there are only 10 episodes left!) - I wonder if he will do it again, more dramatically, in such a way that Maggie and Hershel will (sort of) forgive him. There's a way to go with that, yet.
The conversation with Maggie and Annie was an important one, what with Annie being pregnant - I wonder if it will go some way to help Maggie move past you-know-what.
Every episode there is one important, profound and sometimes prescient piece of dialogue, and this week it came from Lydia, when Gabriel told Negan that where they live now is different.
'No it isn't. They just want to swallow up other communities. They're like the Whisperers. They just wear different masks.'
*
As for Carlson, there's nothing like seeing a loathsome worm get the death he deserves, though I was surprised to see him leave us so soon. A refreshing surprise to see that it was Aaron the Idealist who took the shot, without any hesitation whatsoever. Worth another watch!
As they know Riverbend is no longer safe, I imagine they will gather their supplies and go off to Hilltop with Maggie - including Negan and Annie? I can see her and Maggie becoming friends ('we bonded over how to raise a child in a devastated post-apocalyptic world - Negan Junior was brought up on mashed turnips'), though I wonder, somehow, if Annie will last the course. Don't know why, just a feeling. Like losing her would be Negan's final penance.
Next week shows Aaron and Gabriel not being believed about whatever story they cook up between them ... and, finally, we find out what that 'six months later' scene from 11x09 No Other Way is all about.
Looks like Mercer is taking off the pumpkin-coloured spacesuit
- could the rebellion be about to start?
