SamBeckett

Okay, maybe the number of Walkers have decreased (though there's no proof of that, but you would think that given what we know about body decomposition). Conversely, given human nature at its rawest and finest (said jokingly), is a cruel species, there are a lot of bad hombres out there, roaming, and killing, and pillaging. Which leads to my question: Do you find some walls to live behind . . . or stay in the open woods, with little to no defenses??? Anyone? Would any Whisperer like to defend their position on this point and if so, please speak up because I cannot hear your damn whispers?!?

One really important question: Do you think there was ever a time Alpha accidentally sat on her sawed-off shotgun? Okay, one more really important question: Do you think people in the ZA go into a clothing store with something particular in mind? For instance, did Gaberial duck into a hat store one day, saying, “I want a hat that will make me look like Billy Bad-ass, even though I am a minister?” Quick follow-up question: Did he succeed?

I wonder if it’s difficult to shamble and whisper at the same time?

This is stupider than even I thought possible.

When did this show become a soap opera?

Damn it!!! Kenny was my favorite. He's the one with the glasses, and the bow, and the sword, and the baseball bat, right? See, I have a handle on this show. But seriously, what happens if a Whisperer sneezes or farts? I guess Alpha Centauri just stands back and lets him/her get eaten, huh? And if anyone has to take a piss, how does that work? Do the Whisperers have hand signals to let the others know what they're doing? And I guess absent-mindedly whistling is a no-no? And at night—how do the Whisperers go to bed? If I were asked to join the Whisperers, these are the things I'd want to know. It's called planning, people!

Yeah, I guess it hasn’t been vocalized, but with this show I can only hear about every other sentence. However, at the beginning of this Whisperers’ arc, whenever that was (but it seems like years already), it seems like all of them noticed that (at least) the Walkers were acting differently. Then didn’t Rosita and Eugene heard them speaking. But again, it was never openly discussed because — hey — why let everyone in on the potential new danger.

Daryl may think that ... but has he forgotten that it’s not just the Whisperers they will be fighting, but a herd of Walkers too? I realize this is just fiction (juvenile at that), but a swarm of Walkers can be a ... um, problematic. Seems like a plan would have been helpful. Oh wait, this is TWD, a place where logic and plans are unheard of because then people wouldn’t do stupid things and without that what kind of juvenile show would we have? Oh, is that mean?

Okay, so Daryl didn’t keep Lydia because Luke and the other guy would have been killed. But when Daryl “steals” Lydia back, her mother will go nuts and kill OTHERS. So, Hilltop is better off ... why? And what did Daryl say when Alpha asked for their names? Something like, “This is bullshit. We don’t need names. Get on with it.” What was it? Leave it to Daryl to inject humor when needed.

Daryl is the less-pretty Sundance Kid to Rick's Butch Cassidy. I can hear Sundance/Daryl right. He and Butch/Rick are watching a herd that's been following them for days. The herd is closing in. Sundance/Daryl mutters (something Daryl is good at): "Who are these guys?"

Of course, on TV shows you never really know how much times passes in any episode. Here, it seems as though the trial was over and done in a few days, which we know is impossible. Which leads to my point: Bull was putting his firm and his own ass on the line by not stepping up and addressing the lawyer’s “issues.” Yes, within his firm he did. Yes, he moved Benny to the lawyer’s table. But here’s the thing — if they had lost, and the girl (or especially her mother) found out Bull knew (or even suspected) about the lawyer’s condition and didn’t act, Bull and his company would have been sued. And they no doubt would lose. Yes, this is TV, and yes that would have changed the plot dramatically. And, frankly, it would have required more time to tell that story. But to me this is a thing I can’t handwave away.

I think the problem is — and I hope I explain this right — is that with evil, you lose something when you try to explain it. It then becomes more human, or more sympathetic (ie., Oh those poor dears! They went through so much. Let's give them some soup!), and in the process less frightening. (I think Stephen King, or someone else, said something like that). It's best just to let it remain the image, such as the first couple fo times we saw the Whisperers. We knew they were somehow different from true Walkers, but we didn't know how. (Well, those who were spoiled knew.) But the first time we saw them, they were creepy!!! No doubt about it. But now we're going to learn about them, and their history, their story, their explanation. (Hopefully, we won't learn their dick-size!) Couple that with the scene last week when Daryl deliberately hit the Whisperer in his leg with an arrow. Daryl has already figured out how to deal with the Whisperers. (Sure, that won't work if you get swarmed.) Thing is, in my mind, the Whisperers are already losing some of their spookiness. And the more we find out them — their family life, for Pete's sake?!? — the less inclined I will be scared by them. To me, the Wolves (remember them?) were the best villain (though there was a little explanation). They were in and out and super-violent, and seemed to be purely evil ... and random.

Hey, a good thing. Since Alpha is, well, a woman under all the dirt and stinky skins, we won’t have to hear any more about whose dick is bigger!!! So there’s that. And that’s about it as far as I can see.

I have a Samsung Smart TV, too. So you think it’s the TV that causes the night scenes to be nearly unseeable? I realize you’re not Mr. Samsung, but why make a TV like that? Is there anything we poor Samsung owners can do? And to keep this on topic, I liked the show. I normally don’t like episodes where things are slowed down to give us history. But I liked getting to new the new “good guys) (I’m still learning their names. Another season or two, I’ll have them down. Of course, by then they’ll be killed.) As to the Whisperers, okay, we now know Alpha, and maybe with her history we can see how the Whisperers came about. Maybe I missed it, but I still don’t know what their plan is. Sure, I get “surviving.” I get using the skins as a way to avoid detection. But c’mon people — you’re among the Walking Dead 24/7. What happens if you sneeze? Or fart? You’d be dead — just because you farted. There’s not enough Xanax in the world that would calm me enough to live among the dead. And where do the Whisperers sleep at night? Do they work in shifts? When do they eat? Go to the bathroom? Tell dirty jokes?

Here’s a thought I have. I think Gibbs gets upset when he looks at Ziva’s desk and sees Ellie. He even said it. So, yes, he misses Ziva (and Kate before her. Both associated with that desk. And both dead.) It’s not that he hates Ellie, or prefers Ziva over Ellie. Honestly, I think he loves Ellie as a father would. That’s the problem. He’s afraid he might lose Ellie (which THAT desk represents) and he couldn’t handle that, not after everything else. So, that’s why he’s adamant “she keep her head in the game.” He knows he might not be able to save her, so he needs her to really, really focus on protecting herself or, in other words, solving the case. I liked the episode. It was different. Yes, there were all kinds of questions. But, I liked it.

I’m not talking real life. I know most of us would die a lot quicker than we would like to think. And I know most animals (except domestic animals) would have a much better chance at survival than humans, even the Dwayne Johnson types. All I’m saying is that — IMO — the use of children and animals in danger is a trite way to enhance suspense.

TPTB allows way too much to pass before we see certain characters. Then, like everyone has said, there are too many new characters, but even they come and go. To me Daryl, Michonne and Carol have become bit players. And as far as the second-string I can't think of one I care about. Maybe Jerry, but other than being funny, I'm not sure why. I certainly don't KNOW Jerry. It's gotten where you can only tell the characters apart by things like: Oh, he's the one with the horse; she's the one who has TWO knives; he's the one that's fat and funny. But what makes them tick — forget about it!!! Now, when you DO come to find out something about them, that's when they get killed.

Talk about a stray rambling, here's one for you! It bugs me, not just with TWD, but in any show or movie about the end of the world (or afterwards) when the script calls for a dog, or horse, or cat (although you rarely see that), or a young kid, to be a part of the "drama." To me that's artificially ramping up the tension. You know they are ill-equipped to fend for themselves, so you sit there fearing and dreading when they're going to killed or hurt. To me, it's cheap and lazy writing. It's a way-to easy way for the writer to create suspense. Yeah, not everyone feels the same way about animals, but many of us do. Many of automatically cringe when we see an animal come loping onto the scene. How many of us are already fearing for Daryl's dog?? And the TWD writers have gone to this well too many times. I think the writers for this show are all hacks and they keep showing the same thing time after time, just in different clothes. Of course, here we are watching!!!!

At the risk of ticking off the anti-Negan (which I feel I'm a part of for obvious reasons), I too thought JDM did a great job the other night. The scene when Judith caught him going over the fence — I mean he could have easily bopped her on the head, or taken her gun. But he didn't . . . and I think it's that he likes her AND didn't want to hurt her. I think you saw the turmoil on his face and even in his movements. Freedom was right there ... but for this little girl. Not that JDM is Laurence Olivier, but when compared with ALL the other actors currently on theis show, he STANDS out. (Except when he goes on one of his 20-minute monologues which seems to be only dick-related. Not exactly Shakesperean!!!)

You know — The Whisperers. Now how does that work? Do you put on the same face-mask every morning, or do you skin a new one every day? And do you mingle with the same herd? Or do you pick a new herd every day? Maybe there's new and better dynamic in the herd today as opposed to the one yesterday. Do you name the herds? How about the people in the herds? Do you try to be buddies with other herd members? Do you exchange vacation pics? And a practical question — What do you do when you have to pee??? How do you extract yourself (pardon the pun) from the herd to do that? Maybe the entire herd goes to the same tree and pees in unison. Nothing says "herd" like peeing together. Then, at the end of the day, do you clock out and leave the herd? Do you go home and pop some popcorn? This is the kind of stuff TPTB needs to give us.

There's something about THIS Walking Dead, I guess because of all the younger actors, that makes we suggest we change the name to The Walkiing Dead 90210. It's almost jarring to see Daryl and Negan (him so for many reasons) and I just can't wait for Carol -- It'll be like an open house at the old folks home, with all the youngsters running around.

Problem is, who is left to take care of Judith?? Yes, I know there are people, but who are THESE people??? Have we ever met them? Nearly all the "leads" are dead or have jumped to other shows, or getting one another knocked up. They'd be better going the original Michonne route and taking out the jaws and cutting off the hands of two Walkers and chaining them to Judith. Two built-in babysitters. She could even name them. Godfrey and Ismarelda.

When did Michonne become Clint Eastwood, in that she mumbles so, so dramatcially? Yeah, she sounds like a bad-ass, but how in the world does anyone understand what she's saying? Could you see her facing down two bad guys in a saloon — they'd constantly be asking her to repeat herself!!! "What's that you're saying? Oh, you're going to kill me. Oh, now I heard you." They only run into a pack of wild dogs when the script calls for it.

Yes to both, with added wild guess that Magnum will end up killing Richard ... but this time for real because, you know, those first deaths don’t always stick.

I noticed that, too. Would like to think that given what recently happened with Weatherly and the actress who received the $9.5 mill settlement (no disrespect meant, but I don't remember her name) this isn't some form of retaliation for her coming out in support of Weatherly!!! That would make CBS ever more stupid than they already were!!! Then again, I don't know if this episode had already been filmed and in the can before the "bad news" had come to light.