The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 6 “Who Are You Now?” Review

Six long years has passed since the disappearance of Rick Grimes as the rest of the characters are moving on. But some of them are still grieving in different ways that I have never thought of. Rick has been the one person to lead the right way for the last few years and it struck me even more when I did not see Andrew Lincoln’s name on the opening opening sequence and we will have to get used to that every week from this point forward. With the end of last week’s episode when we got introduced to Magna’s group and a 10 year old Judith Grimes, it is time to dive deep in “Who Are You Now?”

Michonne visits the area where her and everyone else last seen Rick Grimes as they still think that he is dead. She has a great monologue about how they are pushing forward for the last few years. We are also shown Daryl as he is fishing and living by himself in the woods. Also to add, Carol and Ezekiel are full fledged married and she even has longer hair now. When Michonne leaves the area, she sees the bridge as we found out that it was never rebuilt since the explosion. Michonne is also the new leader of Alexandria as she has toughened up to not let any new survivors in at all. But that will soon change.

Carol has also changed in the last six years as she is much more bold and stronger now than ever and I believe that is what love does for you. She takes Henry (who is now a teenager) to the Hilltop so that he can learn how to craft items as a blacksmith. During the trip, they run into a few Saviors and who would have think that they were still the bad guys six years later. I also wished that there was an explanation on the fallout of the riot before the time jump but that might happen in a few more episodes. Regina and Jed of The Saviors has robbed Carol and Henry and they also took Carol’s wedding ring and Henry was shocked to see that Carol just let them do that. She later tracks down the Savior that took her ring and burned him and the rest alive. That was pretty dark and it reminded me of when Carol burned those Saviors alive way back in Season 6.

There were also scenes of Rosita and Gabriel as Gabriel wants to try to communicate with other survivors via the radio. This was an interesting twist from the comics since Eugene is the one to do that in the comics. When they realize that the signal is very weak, Rosita and Eugene heads to the water tower to place an amplifier to boost the signal. But the trip back will have a shocking discovery with them but more on that towards the end of my review. Also, can we have Gabesita trending because Gabriel and Rosita are now a couple.

Judith Grimes brings Magna and the rest of her group to Alexandria as she also pleads with Michonne to let them stay. Gabriel and the counsel which includes Aaron, Michonne, and others also interviewed all of them and asked them questions about what they were doing before the apocalypse and who they are as a person now. This scene mirrored the one in the comics as Rick Grimes was the one to ask them the questions. Michonne does not fully trust Magna since she lied about her background as she notices a prison tattoo and a knife in her belt (can I also note that Magna has a knife everywhere she goes because she had a few more after this scene). Michonne wants to take them all to the Hilltop. We also find out that Michonne has a son so this must mean that she was pregnant before the time jump. Imagine if Rick comes back from wherever the helicopter took him to find out that he has another son?

We get a nice scene with Negan helping Judith with her homework and he is still in the cell. Negan tried to play a mind game on her to reveal who the new people are but Judith was smart enough to know to not buy into his tricks at all. I would like to see more scenes with these two.

 

The episode ends as Eugene and Rosita tries to camouflage themselves from a zombie herd. But the shocker is straight out of issue #130 of the comics as some of the “zombies” were whispering asking where were the two that they just seen. Eugene and Rosita were shocked to hear this as this is the first appearance of The Whisperers!

This episode moved up the pace from last week’s episode but there are two questions that rings into my head. What was the fallout of that camp riot with The Saviors and where is Maggie and how will her disappearance be explained for the rest of the season? Other than those two questions, this was a great episode that not only dealt with the emotions of the three characters that were tied to Rick Grimes the most, but it gives us more exciting story lines to look forward to especially now since The Whisperers are now here. There are two more episodes left for the first half of Season 9 and we are just getting started.

The Walking Dead premieres live every Sunday at 9pm EST on AMC Network

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The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 4 “The Obliged” Review

There’s no denying The Walking Dead is enjoying a resurgence this season. The Obliged was another fantastic episode.

Michonne was heavily featured tonight as we see her life in Alexandria running everything in Rick’s absence. Michonne is doing a little of everything from settling gardening disputes, playing with Judith, and tending to the sick. And when she’s suffering from some sleepless nights, it’s time to go kill some walkers.

That led to an interesting scene as Michonne spots a black walker hanging from a tree. Now Michonne has a new problem — Negan won’t eat. He’s on a hunger strike as he wants a conversation. He chats Michonne up about his wife dying from cancer, their desire to have a child like Carl and ultimately how her death helped to not make him weak.

Humble Negan is a far more interesting character this season. Season 8 Negan never had to resort to mind games like this strike to learn Lucille’s location. Negan tried to find some common ground with his dead wife and Michonne’s dead children, but Michonne wasn’t biting. Still, Michonne’s growing unease whenever she sees a bat is telling.

There really wasn’t enough time to spend on Gabriel and Anne this week and their subplot felt very under served. Anne seemed to consider giving Gabriel the old tie ’em down and let a walker devour them trick she pulled on Negan, but had a change of heart. She knocked him out just long enough to roll out. Gabriel broke down presumably at the thought of no more sweet, sweet junker loving.

While last week made it appear as if Maggie and Daryl were heading to kill Negan immediately, she went back to Hilltop to get supplies while Daryl returned to the camp. But now it’s payback time.

Jesus seems torn on his loyalty. He accuses Rick of making a bad call in keeping Negan alive, yet sends a warning to Rick that Maggie is headed to Alexandria. Pick a side dude!

Rick’s got enough problems as Eugene tells him the bridge is a wash. A new storm is coming to basically wipe it out. I’m wondering if the plan is to give Rick a death like Madison from Fear the Walking Dead where he gets washed away, but with no body there’s some chance he’s still alive. That would give Judith a reason to stay with everyone at least.

The only problem with Rick’s pending departure is it’s placing the burden of his focal storyline — that the Saviors can be redeemed — onto other characters. Carol basically told Rick she wasn’t interested in being the Saviors’ keeper any longer and they were going to have to fend for themselves. These conversations are really starting to feel like goodbyes for Rick. He left both Carol and Eugene with a comforting pep talk and encouragement.

Upon learning the news of Maggie’s march, Rick sets out for Alexandria, but Daryl offers him a ride. Rick quickly realizes something is up when Daryl misses the turn. They get into a tussle and fall into a conveniently placed cliff. Hard not to agree with Rick and wonder if Daryl set it up.

One huge improvement this season has been the writing and this pit conversation was a highlight of the night. Daryl called Rick out for not avenging Glenn, but saying he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him. Rick countered reminding Daryl that he spared Dwight, but Daryl dropped the Oceanside bombshell.

Rick explains that if Negan dies, he becomes a martyr and all those people will have died for nothing. Daryl says Rick doesn’t have enough faith in their crew and that he’s chasing something for Carl that isn’t meant to be. Daryl has a point. The strength of the writing is that neither guy comes off like an idiot and they both have viable points. However, we got the first live F-bomb on The Walking Dead and it came out of nowhere!

They don’t fully hash things out before another fracas breaks out at the camp. Jed and the Saviors have somehow figured out Oceanside killed their crew. That’s some impressive powers of deduction. Carol’s Kingdom troops get ready for a brawl and enough shots ring out to attract one of the two nearby walker hordes. This is not good news.

But for those of us who love creative walker death traps, The Obliged delivered again. Rick and Daryl trying to climb out of the pit while walkers slide down was pretty ingenious. The walkers always come off so much more dangerous when they’re a menacing obstacle capable of wrecking any great plan with their overwhelming numbers. Rick pulls Daryl up after telling his ‘brother’ to take his hand. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m going to miss the Rick and Daryl brotherhood immensely the rest of the series.

With the horde closing in, Rick spots a horse and uses it to lead the horde away from the camp. Daryl thinks now is the time to blow up the bridge, but Rick isn’t having it. Daryl seems to understand Rick’s grand purpose for the bridge, which is still escaping me.

In a nice callback to the first episode, Rick’s horse gets spooked by the walkers and he gets thrown off onto a cement block. Maybe he avoided a broken neck, but he’s impaled. As both hordes slowly converge, this definitely looks like the last stand for Rick Grimes.

The Obliged set up a strong Michonne/Negan conflict, let Rick and Daryl reaffirm their brotherhood and set the final steps in motion for Rick’s death/departure resulting in another strong episode.

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McFarlane Toys-AMC’s The Walking Dead Negan Resin Statue

This fall, we will see the release of a new statue from McFarlane Toys and this time, it is Negan from AMC’s The Walking Dead. There is already a statue of him, but this time it is the first time they are releasing the television version of the same character and they have used the likeness of Jeffrey Dean Morgan to bring this statue to life. It features Negan bashing a walker in the head with his barbed-wired baseball bat Lucille along with two other walkers trying to attack him. This will be a must own for collectors but it will come with a price but here is the information below:

“One of the most iconic villains in television history brings a menacing  demeanor with a weapon to match. Negan, the leader of The Saviors carries his trusted weapon of choice, Lucille, a baseball bat adorned in barbed wire. No matter what Rick Grimes and his crew do, no one is safe when Negan comes around wielding Lucille.”

Product features:

• Showcases Negan in battle with three walkers featuring exploding head walker

• Features alternate interchangeable head

• 12.25 inches tall, 12.5 inches in depth

• Extreme amounts of detail action-packed into one commemorative resin

• Limited Edition, hand painted cold-cast resin statue

• Only 1,000 total statues produced

• Features Magnetic Assembly and a Rotating Base

• Each statue is individually and sequentially numbered

• Includes Certificate of Authenticity hand-signed by Todd McFarlane

The gruesome resin statue will cost you $329.

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McFarlane Toys Upcoming The Walking Dead Line

McFarlane Toys will have a great lineup of AMC’s The Walking Dead line coming up. Here is a preview of what is to come in the coming months

Here is the 10-Inch figure of Negan

Here is the Color Tops of Ezekiel

There is also an Allies Deluxe Set of Rick Grimes, Jesus and Daryl Dixon

Another Ezekiel but this time it is a statue and it features Shiva (This is taken from the comic series)

And finally, Here is Daryl Dixon in his prisoner outfit taken from Season 7, Episode 3 of The Walking Dead

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Exclusive- NYCC 2017 Press Invited The Walking Dead Press Conference (Photos included)

I was invited to cover The Walking Dead press conference right before the panel started at New York Comic Con and i had a blast. The talent that were at the conference were Andrew Lincoln, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Austin Amellio, Norman Reedus, Tom Pane and much more. They all took turns answering questions and talking about how great it felt that the show has made it to 100 episodes.

Austin Amellio and Norman Reedus also gave a slight glimpse on what to expect between their characters (Dwight and Daryl Dixon) in season 8 of the show.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan also reacts to the death of Lucielle during The Whisperer War last year since it was one year ago this week that it has happened in the comic series.

Andrew Lincoln also talks about “Old Man Rick” as it was seen in the trailer that was released back in San Diego Comic Con and how he feels about the future of the series.

Greg Nicotero talks about his passion of directing the show from when he started to now along with the character development of select characters and he is very excited for the upcoming season.

There is many more to discuss but i have recorded the entire thing in audio format and it will be posted once i update the article

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Toy Fair 2017-Mcfarlane Toys line of AMC’s The Walking Dead

Get Ready for a great summer and fall as Mcfarlane Toys’ AMC The Walking Dead merchandise line of figures will be released around that time. I was able to take pictures of the Line and here we have a “taking it like a champ” edition of Lucielle (Negan’s Bat), a deluxe box set featuring Negan and Glenn, a 7 inch figure of Carl from when he got his eye got shot, a new character figure of Dwight (coming out summer 2017) and a 10 inch statue of Negan which looks awesome! 

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My Thoughts for today on The Walking Dead: Cliffhangers

The problem isn’t cliffhangers as cliffhangers. It’s that this particular cliffhanger worked against the scene, rather than for it.

   
Look at the previous major cliffhangers:Rick being told something in secret adds mystery. If I hadn’t gotten into the show after playing the Telltale game, it would have been a really intriguing one.

After the farm falls, Rick has a different view of leadership, we see the prison that may become their new home, and Andrea met some lady with a cape and a freakin’ katana. I couldn’t wait to start season 3!

After the prison falls, they have survived their first major enemy, but their home is lost again and the group has scattered. I really looked forward to seeing how they met back up and how the group would change on this new arc

The group is reunited in the Termites’ prison. It’s their darkest moment, but seeing familiar faces, Rick is thinking “it’s US, of course we’ll make it out of this”. Awesome, pumped for the escape.

Alexandria may be falling, Rick’s group is using good-old zombie guts to escape. Then, the boy gets scared and says “Mommy?” I couldn’t wait to see the panic as the walker herd turned on them while they were surrounded and had nowhere to go. …the payoff was a total cop-out (what, did the walkers just not hear him?), but the cliffhanger itself did its job.

Negan attacking…someone. What I’m excited about in the next arc is seeing Rick dealing with his biggest defeat. They essentially just got conquered. This is the main attraction of the next arc, but the cliffhanger detracts from it in two ways: first, it lessens the impact of Rick’s despair because we don’t see who he lost; second, it puts the main focus of the premier on “who died?” rather than “how will they deal with their new warlord?”

  
If they were worried about the gore, there would have been better ways. They could have shown the first hit, then cut to the reaction of each of the others as we only hear the impact of the bat.

If they were worried about ratings……..they need new marketers.

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