As a warning, Walking Dead reviews will contain spoilers for the current episode and all episodes prior. There will be no comic spoilers as per what is still to come, and such talk will be in a separate section at the bottom.
The episode begins with narration from Michonne as she talks aloud to Rick. This plays over a montage of what our central players are up to on that day. Michonne finds a car overtaken with vegetation, which effectively shows the passage of time, where she discovers a gunslinger figurine. Daryl, a veritable hermit in the woods, catches a fish with a spear only to lose his lunch as a bloated walker rises out of the river. A long-haired Carol awakes to a Kingdom that is falling apart at the seams with age. This all really well-filmed. The tree walker was great, and I loved the dichotomy of the dead feeding the living when the bird pulls a worm out of the walker and Daryl watches it feed her babies. We see a grand reveal of Alexandria, the new church, the crops, the windmill, the new houses they’ve build seemingly pushing the original houses out of the way. The Bridge plot was an ingenious method for them to focus the story away from the communities, and only show them in narrow glimpses, so the scope of the set evolution could be saved for this episode. I also liked seeing that The Bridge was destroyed and, as Negan remarked to Rick, remains a 'monument to the dead'. And as we see, the communities aren't exactly together, as Rick intended to do with the bridge. It's all great symbolism is a little overt, but it's not hammy or overstated to the point it loses efficacy. Well done.
The new group we met at the end of 905 arrives in Alexandria, and people seem taken aback. Michonne returns and is not happy to see new people and the breach of security protocols. This welcome is different from the welcoming approach in the comics. Michonne pats down Magna, and then at a town hall meeting, where the new group is under inquisition, she reveals Magna is concealing a prison tattoo and has a hidden blade in her belt buckle. At said town hall meeting, we learn more about these people, and what they’ve been through, which is pretty standard for the zombie apocalypse, but it’s performed well enough (especially by Luke, played by Dan Fogler) to give it just enough weight. Later in the episode Michonne wakes up and puts on Rick’s shirt, revealing a massive scar in the shape of an X on her lower back. So why exactly are the people of Alexandria so paranoid to have instituted such stringent security protocols? The Kingdom seems as it always was. There are hints of people seeming good yet not being good spoken in dialogue. So what happened at Alexandria in the past six years? Did they let in some people who turned out to be bad? Was there just another group they had conflict with? I do want to hear stories about the past six years to make it feel lived. It makes sense they would have run-ins and tragedies and triumphs considering what everyone went through in the first three years of the apocalypse.
As long expected on the comic-remix front, Henry is taking over comic Carl’s story now that he’s dead. We see Henry wishing to go to The Hilltop to learn to blacksmith so he can contribute necessary skills to help fix The Kingdom because duct tape only holds so long. Ezekiel is fearful and frustrated with Henry's desires and that comes out as anger, but he acquiesces and lets him go, so Carol and Henry take off to The Hilltop. On the way, Henry rushes off to help someone cring out only to be ambushed by the remnants of The Saviors. We learn the sanctuary fell. Most of The Saviors, it seems, joined the other communities (we see Laura on the Alexandria Council), but these Saviors chose the life of raiders. Their leader, Jed, matchstick in mouth, agrees to spare Carol’s life for sparing his, but he takes her wedding ring. Henry takes him down like he did on the bridge. Henry is upset at Carol for not doing anything. Little does he know she sneaks out in the night, pours gasoline around The Saviors while they sleep, and then burned them alive with the matchstick in Jed’s mouth. Granted, the CGI was a little poor in this scene, but it is otherwise effective. It also brings Carol full-circle as we see what is essentially the end of The Saviors. In season 6’s “The Same Boat” (my favourite episode), her and Maggie were held captive by a few Saviors, Carol lured some Saviors in and burnt them alive. This was the episode where all the lives Carol had taken had caught up with her and she suffered full-blown PTSD. Carol killed freely during All Out War, but didn’t during the mini bridge arc. Just as it seemed Carol had gone soft, we find Carol not only hasn’t gone soft, but she’s as cold and efficient a killer as ever.
The new group in Alexandria struggles with being cast out of this community because it’s what they’ve needed, a sentiment Rick and Co. (Sigh, I guess they need a new name now) once shared. It’s not quite as an effective scene as it is in the comics, though in some respects it’s stronger. It was missing Magna straight up saying what Rick said when Rick and Co. first arrived in Alexandria, about it seeming too good to be true, and that they'll take it if they have to. Of course, that was how an issue ended as a cliffhanger, so I can how it would be less effecive 15 mins into an episode. But Magna decides to sneak out and, I don’t know, intimidate or kill Michonne in the night. Here we get the reveal of Michonne’s son, RJ, aka Rick Jr. Magna now understands Michonne’s apprehension. I guess she didn’t understand that Judith was Michonne’s daughter because Michonne is black and Judith is white…that is racist, Magna, and this is the sound of 2018 pulling you over! They have a pithy heart-to-heart, which changes Michonne’s mind enough to cast them out, except to The Hilltop. Using Magna’s group as a means to re-enter The Hilltop and catch up with the characters there and see the changes there is an organic for the story to flow from one episode to the next without it feeling like ‘oh, it’s time for a Hilltop episode now’ as we’ve gotten in recent years. I’m not opposed to ‘bottle episodes’. I actually enjoy them (did you see what my favourite episode was above?). But most people hate them, so this sort of storytelling will suit them.
The Negan scene stole the episode…until the ending, of course. He had a great, single scene with Judith where she was doing math problems outside Negan’s cell window, establishing they’ve had some form of relationship over the years. The math problem involves planes and Negan remarks, “Do you think you’re ever going to see a plane? So what good is that?” He says math is about solving tangible problems, and planes have no bearing on Judith’s world. In fact, planes must seem like some weird mysticism from another world to Judith, only ten years after the fact. I loved this scene for Negan. Think of the change in his character. From giddily beating in Abe and Glenn and all the layers peeled away until he begged Maggie for death last week, and now we see him, in the sunlight, yakking it up with a kid, seemingly…happy? I’ve told non-comics readers that Negan is such a great character, and a lot of that is everything that comes after he’s locked up. He tells a childhood story about how important it is to know good dogs can really be bad dogs, essentially teaching Judith that part of growing up is learning to judge character beyond what other people project because kids are naturally trusting, especially at Judith’s age, especially of adults.
Judith gets some good development in a moving scene with Michonne when Judith admits that she is forgetting what Carl and Rick sound like, that their voices are fading. It was that word, fading, that struck with me. It’s such a mature way to describe it, and Judith must have such fleeting memories of Rick, and especially Carl, since she’d have been about 3 when he died. I think she’s aware enough to know Michonne isn’t her actual mother, that RJ isn’t her brother (since she’s no doubt Shane’s daughter), and I think some level she doesn’t quite understand yet that she’s more alone than she realizes, that all the people whom bind to her very blood are long gone. That could be why she is attracted to Negan as a companion, because they’re both alone.
And now we’re at the main event. Gabriel is knocking the boots with Rosita! And that makes sense, considering the bond they formed in Season 7 when Gabriel tried to talk her out of going after Negan. That’s Anne and Rosita in 6 episodes…you go Gabe! Having procured the radio set up Gabriel discovered in Season 8 when escaping The Sanctuary with Dr. Carson, Gabriel wants to know what else is out there, and, breaking security protocol, convinces Rosita and Eugene to travel far out and set up a radio amplifier to broadcast further. But on the way, trouble strikes as a herd redirects and swarms the water tower Eugene set the amplifier on, and Eugene hurts his leg getting down. To escape, they slide down a little trench into some muck and cover themselves with it to hide their scent. But then they hear…whispering. The walkers are talking. “Don’t let them get away,” one walker groans out as Rosita and Eugene are terrified. They nailed this scene, which is one of the most iconic scenes in the comics, especially in the second half of the comics. The Whisperer storyline is finally here, after several years of waiting, and I couldn’t be happier.
Rating: A
Final Thoughts
- I’ve read some complaining about Henry and Judith that their actors are annoying and stupid. Sometimes I think people just have this innate hate for kid actors and ignore anything positive about them. The great thing about child actors is the only have to be so good because they’re playing kids who have to be enough to play kids. I thought both actors were fine in this episode.
- No sight of Tara. Money is on her being at Oceanside. We might not even see her for a few episodes.
- Are The Saviors entirely gone? Are there several groups of them out there? Or did Carol finally end it?
- Lauren Cohen made her exit for the season between episodes 905 and 906. I assume we will hear what happened to her, or where she went. She probably went with to meet Georgie, but she could’ve left five or six years ago, or last week.
- Aaron’s metal hand is awesome. Reminds me of a Ash’s hand from Army of Darkness.
-The photography was really on point for parts of this episode. While the photography wasn’t all bad in the past few seasons, there is a marked improvement all throughout the episodes, instead of just shining at parts.
- I wonder if Michonne will ever tell Judith about Shane.
Comics Addendum
This is the section for comics discussion in terms of what is happening on the show. And we are getting quite the remix! It’s insane to think the season started with The Savior conflict, which actually happens after The Whisperer storyline in the around issue #167, as well as Gregory being hung, which was issue #141. And now we get Magna’s group from issue #127, the radio plotline, which I believe started somewhere in the mid 130s has started, and we also get the first glimpse of The Whisperers as seen in issue #130. Who knows what from where we might see next, and how different it is. It’s quite an exciting time to be a comics fan watching the series, especially since season 7 and 8 were so predictably remixed.
Henry is definitely taking comic Carl’s story, and I’m okay with that. I do think though that Kang and the writers are going to need to focus a lot on Henry over the next 10 episodes so that the audience not only connects with him as a character in his own right, but connects with his budding relationship with Lydia so that when things start popping off they feel organic and earned.
I also like the strategy of moving Magna’s group to The Hilltop. I’m not sure if this is permanent or if something will happen to prevent it from happening, but it would help develop The Hilltop more. With Maggie gone and Gregory dead, that community is now essentially Jesus, Enid, and Alden, so Magna’s group would be a bolstering addition to that community.
The remix with Gabriel being the focus of Eugene’s radio should prove helpful to give Gabriel’s character something to do. It is possible Eugene and Gabriel will share this plotline that will slowburn into next season and beyond. With the stricter security in Alexandria in the show, it gives greater reason for the radio and making contact would be something hidden away from leadership until it needs to be.
There are a few things I am sad that we haven’t gotten yet and probably won’t. Magna’s Group’s entrance was smaller. I liked seeing them slink around Alexandria in the night, investigating, especially the rumblings of the prisoner. One of my favourite scenes with Prisoner Negan is when Magna’s group goes to get the low-down on the Alexandrians from Negan, who tells them Rick and Co are crazy and they have to break him out and save him. They don’t believe him, and Negan says “You can’t blame a guy for trying”. There was also the great bit where they hold Andrea hostage, which they kind of distilled into the Michonne and Magna heart-to-heart.
Poor Siddiq. Because it’s remixed with Rosita and Gabriel, we won’t later discover he was knocking the boots with Rosita and knocked her up. And I am kind of sad we probably won’t be getting the Eugene and Rosita dynamic, where they are together because they’re the last of their original group, but also because of their shared mourning over Abraham, not to mention Rosita pitied Eugene, and Eugene knew it. I liked that dynamic a lot, because Eugene is definitely a bit of a cuck.
All in all, episode 906 established almost every major plot thread that will run through The Whisperer arc…the radio, Henry/Carl going to Hilltop and what comes from that, the debut of The Whisperers, and 906 was a success from this comic fan's perspective.