Episode 9 - "Rock in the Road"

The long, cold winter is finally over. And with the thaw comes rotted corpses and the grungy humans who kill them. How fitting that we open the mid-season with Father Gabriel standing watch over the flock reading his bible! Awww! Not too surprising, that tender moment turns out to be short lived. Next thing we know it, Padre is stealing weapons, rations, and a car. What the actual fuck is this? After Gabriel was such a team player in recent episodes, and now he and the mysterious stalker in the hoodie are making a break for it. Better have a damn good reason for this Gabriel.

Meanwhile, Rick and the crew are off trying to get Gregory, the lame-o “leader” of Hill Top to join forces against The Saviors. The slimy politician won’t consent, but little Enid rallies the civilians to take action! Huzzah! Apparently Jesus knows everyone, so he takes our heroes on a quest to meet King Ezekiel. We all love Ezekiel, and part of the package deal we get with him is the lovely Tiger, and Jerry the hilarious bodyguard! Neither disappoint. Morgan is such a class act, he doesn’t let the Super Friends know Carol is still hiding out there. Daryl is going to stay at the Kingdom for safe keeping since he’s on the lam from Negan. I’m assuming it won’t be long till Carol and Daryl are reunited...some of the King’s men want to join the fight with Alexandria, but our beloved King isn’t so sure. Remember, the people outside of his Knight’s circle don’t know about The Saviors and their deal. I think we’re gonna need Negan to do something horrible to the Kingdom to get the damn point across. We all can agree it’s just a matter of time till the deal goes south anyway. I’m just hoping Jerry will be safe.

The group now has a long distance radio and some rad explosives! Jesus stole the radio so the gang can listen in on Negan and his shenanigans. They get dynatime, RPG’s, and some other cool junk from a fancy Negan booby-trap. Apparently Rosita is some kind of demolition expert?? I don’t recall this fact, but I’ll allow it. In the process, Michonne and Rick mow down a slew of Walkers with two cars and a glorified clothes line. Frankly…it’s awesome. Back at good ole Alexandria, The Saviors (minus Negan) come looking for Daryl. They don’t find him, but they break people’s housewares and behave like assholes anyway. And what about that ending?? Seems that Father Gabriel may be up to something, but what?! He leaves clues for the group to meet at that boat Rick and Aaron found a while back. Once they arrive, our heroes become surrounded by a whole passel of Hoodie people! What the hell is this about? Obviously the creeper following them around is part of this bigger entity. Who are these crude looking (mostly) women and men?! And more importantly, can we use them to fight The Saviors?

Top 4 Moments of the Episode

It should be fairly obvi, gotta go with Michonne and Rick finding an inventive new way to kill a huge mob of dead people.
Letting Aaron and Eric have a damn moment. I wish these two got more screen time like their hetero counterparts. But I was happy to see them having a good, albeit, short scene together. Eric got the hell beat out of him by The Saviors. He doesn’t think they should go to war. Eric’s also hurt that his husband is keeping secrets and plans from him. Their convo didn’t end well. Looks like there could be some hard choices for Aaron up ahead.
The notable absence of Negan. We hear his voice on the radio, but not a peek at the man himself. Smart decision there. I miss him, and the best way to keep me missing him is to stretch out his return. At least for an episode.
Morgan stuff. He had to admit to Rick that he killed someone, which is something he is against doing. AND he lied to them, saying Carol was gone. That’s another very un-Morgan like thing to do. He isn’t on board with killing Negan, but I’m starting to wonder how long that will last. Especially since they just told him hella people he knew and cared about are dead now (RIP Glen!)