The Walking Dead 9x06 Who Are You Now?

Generally, I’m not a big fan of time jumps. I hate the feeling of missing out on potentially important developments concerning my favourite characters or couples (you hear that OUAT season 4? Those six fictional months were really important to me), and it’s even riskier when there’s such a big jump that characters invariably have to be recast with actors who will fit their new ages better. You can tell me that it’s the same character all you want, but if the new actors’s not good enough, I simply won’t feel about them the same way ever again. On the other hand, I will admit that sometimes it’s worth to have a time jump for all the new mysteries such a big change could bring (wait, when did that happen? Why are they not talking to each other? Oooh something BIG must have went down, I can’t wait to find out what!)… except when you have insufferable showrunners who handwave it all away with „oh you know, time has passed, people change, you’ll get used to it”… and then that’s another whole new kind of feeling fucked over. So with all that said, I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed The Walking Dead’s first post-time jump episode! By jumping forward a whopping six years, I was spared from having my heart broken from watching Michonne’s fresh grief over Rick’s „death”, which I appreciate a lot. Moreover, the only character who had to be recast was Judith, and her new version is wonderful so far, and there was even a little bit of mystery peppered in, although this is not necessarily the kind of show where I expect that sort of thing. So it was great! Overall I’m still surprised by how much I’m loving this season, and I’m a bit sad we only have two more episodes to go before the winter break.

The Walking Dead 9x05 What Comes After

 

Well that was… an episode. I’m not sure what I expected since it’s been known for a while that it would be a kind of flashback/hallucination episode leading up to Rick’s departure, but was it wrong of me to want a little more out of it? Not more action, necessarily… in fact, I’m kinda loving how lowkey and subdued this season has been so far. It’s been nine years, I don’t crave outrageously gory zombie slaughter every second episode anymore. I like heartfelt conversations and small but meaningful character moments just as much. So was that the problem? That Rick spent his last remaining moments on the show conversing with dead people, instead of getting some closure with his loved ones? Nope. For me, the problem lies in the very fact that this was Rick’s last episode, or more accurately, the fact that I knew this was his last episode. How am I expected to enjoy anything about it when I know that whatever happens, by the end of it Rick will be gone? I guess I could say props to everyone involved for still managing to make it somewhat suspenseful, but that’s hardly consoling. Like, can you imagine the absolute gut-punch this episode could have been if they had kept Rick’s exit a secret? I know I complained about this before but it’s something that’s on my mind a lot, and not just regarding TWD. Generally, I would prefer never to know when an actor is about to leave a show. I want to be surprised and outraged, dammit, not just mildly sad when it finally happens after half a year of knowing it would.

The Walking Dead 9x03 Warning Signs

Going into the new season of a beloved TV show knowing that not only one, but two of your favourite characters will be gone by the end is tough. If it was up to me, I would forbid actors and writers to spoil things like this beforehand, because really, what’s the point? Don’t you want your audience to be surprised and outraged when it happens? That’s like the best part of watching any TV show: the fucking plot twists. And while killing off Rick Grimes might not have been such a big twist four seasons ago, it damn well it is NOW. For my part I always thought Rick would die eventually and Carl would take over his legacy, but now that Carl is dead, Rick might as well be invincible… and THAT’S why it would have been the mother of all surprises if he just… died. And then Andrew Lincoln would have been like „Guess what my dudes, I knew this would happen a year ago when I quit my job, but I kept it a secret for all these months because I didn’t want to spoil it for you”. Wouldn’t that have been neat? I can’t believe they cheated me out of it.