Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 8, Ep 1)

Episode 1: Mercy

Hi zombie friends! I’m so excited to back in action with our intrepid heroes fighting for their freedom in the post-apocalyptic landscape! Let’s get into it!

Why not open with a rousing speech to inspire the troops? Maggie, Rick, and Ezekiel are the dream team of the new world order. And of course we get a little peek at Shiva, resident tiger. Hey, girl!

So this is interesting, we keep getting these flash-forwards of Rick and his family enjoying the good life in Alexandria. Rick has a white beard that any elder wizard would be proud of. Are these visions of the future? Or just Rick’s dreams?

Rick & The Gang have spent the off season planning and training up their troops. And planning. And more planning. Because MASSIVELY big things are in the works. They’re starting this war and bringing it to Negan. Good thing we still have charred man on the inside, Dwight! Dwight and Daryl pass battle scheme notes via firing cross bows at one another. Adorbs.

Eww, Carl really needs a new patch. This one is looking haggard. A haircut is also a good idea. A stranger at the gas station hides in fear from Carl and Rick and asks for food. He quotes from the Quran, “My Mercy prevails over my wrath.” Rick shoots at the guy (warning shots!), Carl is a grump.

The party splits up. I’d want to go with Daryl, Tara, Carol, and Morgan. AKA The Cool Kids Club. They’re working on herding large numbers of walkers toward the Sanctuary. Obviously, this is gonna take a while.

I’m sad Morgan is not a pacifist anymore. He’s sad too. We’re all sad.

An electrocuted, puffy, half melted walker is tonight’s grossly awesome find!

Rick wants to retire after the war and let Maggie take over ruling the land.  I say Long Live the Queen. Rick and Maggie take their soldiers over to Negan’s house and lure the villain out with some witty banter. Oh, Gregory is there. The disgraced former leader of The Hilltop. Rick’s side drive an RV turned BOMB into the building and start shooting. Chaos ensues!

Father Gabriel being the kindly soul he is, stops to help stupid asshole Gregory to safety. Surprising no one, Gregory betrays and leaves the pastor to hide in a storage container. Stranded, with Negan. Outside is swarming with walkers. Yikes.

But let’s not end on a negative note! Let us hear another inspiring speech!

Thoughts? Feelings? Emotional outbursts? I’m happy with this season opened. I’m not thrilled. But I like that a tone has been set. And what is up with bearded Rick and his delusions/glimpses into the future?

Twitter: @LilMsMnstr
Instagram: @littlemsmonster

---

Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 7, Ep 16)

Episode 16: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Okay, time to stop prolonging the inevitable and get down to it. The Walking Dead is gone until October, and life is now officially hard for us fans. However, I am really happy with how things wrapped up. So let’s get down to it. First off, Negan is not dead. This makes me really happy because I am not ready to be done with this character and any plot surrounding him. He’s just too juicy to only give us one season of story! I was obviously happy with The Walking Dead before he came along, but he definitely brought a new energy into the mix that has changed things up for the better. We did have a pretty good battle at the end of this finale, and clearly the war is coming. I loved how even in the middle of this guns-blazing showdown, Negan still had time to make quips! He is truly unhinged and it’s wonderful.

It looks like Dwight is truly on the side of Rick & the Gang. He was only being “Negan” to keep his wife alive. And now that she’s escaped, he wants to kill his former Dictator. Not to mention, he’s got some pretty solid plans on how to help out. He even apologized! And admitted he wasn’t aiming for Tara’s girlfriend when HE SHOT HER THROUGH THE EYE and killed her that one time! Dwight is part of the team for now, but Daryl and Tara are probably gonna whack him before long.

In a heartbreaking flashback, we see Sasha and Abraham’s last conversation before he met with the wrong end of Lucille. Sasha had a dream that he died, and didn’t want him to go on the ill-fated mission to get pregnant Maggie to Hilltop! After some beautiful dialogue, Abraham reminded her that this is what they do as good people. They fight the good fight and are willing to die for it. ☹

How cool was it to see Carol as the new leader of King Ezekiel’s knights?! Go, girl! The Kingdom is officially in with Alexandria. The handsome monarch we all love, reminds Morgan that this is not a mission of vengeance, and to not lose all of his former peaceful, compassionate self in the process. We all know I’m obsessed with Morgan, so I’m hoping he doesn’t have another complete mental breakdown and go feral again.

Here’s where things got really fucked up. Negan and The Saviors are supposed to show up in Alexandria, and the exact reason why isn’t known to Rick/Gang. We as the audience know that he is bringing Sasha along as a bargaining chip. His mole, Gregory, has told him everything. Negan likes teaching lessons to his puppet people when they stray, so Sasha negotiates to only have one person die for the crime. More on that in a minute.

Jadis and her super cool trash people show up in Alexandria in DUMP trucks to help kill The Saviors. For a cost, remember. In an epic twist I 100% did not see coming, The Scavengers double cross the Alexandrite’s and turn their weapons on them! Jadis shrugs off the betrayal, Negan offered a better deal. I can’t even be too mad at her. She’s doing all this to keep her clan alive. They’re still a badass matriarchy and I’m here for it.

Sasha spent the ride to Alexandria in a coffin, symbolic of Rick having to choose between her and another member of the fam needing to die for his rebellion. Sasha flips the script and takes Eugene’s suicide pills on the drive over; so when Negan pops open the casket, her killer undead self shambles out and attacks! Surprise, bitches! Mayhem breaks out, Rick gets shot (he’s ok), and before you know it, Negan has Rick and Carl (haven’t seen him in a while), kneeling before him. Carl is going to die, and Rick is going to be tortured. Before Lucille can be fed, Shiva the tiger comes to the rescue!! I cheered, almost cried, to be honest. I’m a cat person, so I love it when a cat saves the damn day. Obviously The Kingdom storms in followed by Maggie leading The Hilltop! Rosita gets shot, but Tara drags her to safety because she’s awesome like that. Much firing of guns ensues. The Scavengers bust out smoke bombs and Ninja-vanish along with The Saviors. Michonne got the stuffing beat out of her by a Trash person, but it looks like she and Rosita will both pull through. The season ends with both sides addressing their troops to prep for war.

I’m sorry this was a long wrap up, but there was some serious stuff to unpack here.

Top 4 Moments of the Night:

1. Um...all of it. But let’s start with saying goodbye to Sasha. We knew it was going to happen, but it still sucked. This woman is amazing & will be missed. It was kinda awesome to see her in Walker makeup, though.
2. The Scavenger’s betrayal! Before they turned on them, Jadis asked Michonne if Rick was her man. She then announced that after the fight she would be taking him as a sexual prize. God, I love that lady.
3. Shiva the Tiger. I think she actually killed two people. Good kitty.
4. Maggie as the new leader of The Hilltop. Like, officially. It was awesome to see her standing there with Ezekiel & Rick at the end.