S11.E04: Rendition

[raven]

Quote

Daryl and Dog get captured by the Reapers and are taken to the Meridian and reconnect with someone.

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AMC+ airdate: 2021.09.05 AMC airdate: 2021.09.12

Be mindful if you participate in the Live Posting Topic - that topic will follow the show as it airs on AMC, so AMC+ viewers will be one episode ahead.  DO NOT SPOIL those who are watching on AMC.

[Mr. Sparkle]

This is one dark episode. I mean that literally. I can't see shit. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I don' t know where they're going with this Reapers thing, but this episode felt like (Whisperers + Saviors)/Wolves = Reapers.  

[OoohMaggie]

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

This is one dark episode. I mean that literally. I can't see shit. 

My iPad’s brightness levels don’t adjust high enough, it’s worse than last season and thank heavens they lit a fire.

To be honest I didn’t even recognise Daryl’s lost love, the whole surprise element was totally wasted on me. It just felt like yet another filler with nothing being accomplished at all. The huge force of fifteen, or is that fourteen now don’t seem to pose much of a threat to anybody, especially judging by the way they’ve been squandering their members recently.

They are a strange bunch indeed, I can see Pope and Negan getting on, maybe they can sit and discuss the finer points of throwing people onto or into fires 🔥

Who was the guy in the cell opposite Daryl and what was the group response to Pope’s request to “welcome Him”, sounded too much like Valar Morghulis to me, yeah I wish 🙄

[Mr. Sparkle]

I got Kurtz in Apocalypse Now vibes from Pope. 

We know the Reapers will be defeated, the question is if our gang will do it, or the Commonwealth will swoop in. 

[raven]

Ugh, that was terrible.   Boring with bonus new wacky warlord.  Blech.

[BasilSeal]

52 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

Who was the guy in the cell opposite Daryl

that's Elijah, Maggie's impractical mask wearing ninja friend, Daryl drops him the hint that he's trying to infiltrate the group and fortunately for Daryl Elijah goes along with the lie, though he's being tortured and there's always the possibility that he'll crack and tell them the truth about Daryl.

 

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

I don' t know where they're going with this Reapers thing, but this episode felt like (Whisperers + Saviors)/Wolves = Reapers.  

We need the claimers in that equation given that like the claimers they want Daryl to join them, or maybe it' should be the village people, 'we want you, we want you, we want you as a new recruit'. As ever though it seems that TWD's universe is chock full of batshit crazy psychos doing Really bad Things, for some reason. Richie costa has made a career out of this sort of thing and he's very good at it, but once again we've got a charismatic leader telling his followers to do bad things because, er, that's what they do

[Dodginblue]

This kind of thing seems to happen to Daryl a lot.  And all I can think about is not what's happening to him but Dog.  Daryl benefited from the water treatment, that's the cleanest I've seen his face in awhile.

[heisenberg]

1 hour ago, BasilSeal said:

that's Elijah, Maggie's impractical mask wearing ninja friend, Daryl drops him the hint that he's trying to infiltrate the group and fortunately for Daryl Elijah goes along with the lie, though he's being tortured and there's always the possibility that he'll crack and tell them the truth about Daryl.

kudos to you for remembering his name.  I've stopped that for most of them a long time ago.🙂

At one point Daryl was playing bare hands in the guts of a zombie...  Anybody knows why or it was just for fun?🤔

Edited September 6, 2021 by heisenberg

[BasilSeal]

6 hours ago, heisenberg said:

kudos to you for remembering his name.  I've stopped that for most of them a long time ago.🙂

At one point Daryl was playing bare hands in the guts of a zombie...  Anybody knows why or it was just for fun?🤔

It's not really clear, maybe it was the old 'cover yourself in walker guts to pass unnoticed amongst the walkers' trick that they remember about from time to time but forget when using it would mess up the plot, but in this case there isn't a horde of walkers to get through, so maybe it was improvised camouflage for his night time raid on Meridian?

7 hours ago, Dodginblue said:

This kind of thing seems to happen to Daryl a lot.  And all I can think about is not what's happening to him but Dog.  Daryl benefited from the water treatment, that's the cleanest I've seen his face in awhile.

It must have been a relief to Daryl when it looked like Leah was going to wash him but then they just water boarded him instead. If she'd carried on with the bed bath he'd have been singing like a bird in no time.

[cdnalor]

When Leah first unmasked, I thought it was Jenna Elfman from FTWD and I spent a few moments trying to think how her character managed to cross over to this show.  Luckily Dog's behavior with her clued me in.  I swear, I barely pay attention to the details on this show, I'm just along for the ride until it ends.

[OoohMaggie]

22 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

that's Elijah,

It was dark but I’m sure he was white with a beard, can’t remember his name but weren’t there a couple like that in the group? I’ll have to watch it again now 😔

22 hours ago, BasilSeal said:

but once again we've got a charismatic leader telling his followers to do bad things because, er, that's what they do

It’s amazing how many of those followers there are out there, willing to do or stand back and watch the most horrible things, even within a group of Mercs there isn’t at least one person willing to put an end to this guy’s insanity, even the highly trained dumb ass who couldn’t see what was clearly coming his way, he could have struck and made a bid for leadership but no.

Edited September 6, 2021 by OoohMaggie

[OoohMaggie]

6 hours ago, cdnalor said:

When Leah first unmasked, I thought it was Jenna Elfman from FTWD

I admit to doing a double take.

[margol29]

Boring!!  Also, it sounds like the Reapers speak Parseltongue. 

[Iguessnot]

On 9/5/2021 at 8:14 PM, BasilSeal said:

that's Elijah, Maggie's impractical mask wearing ninja friend, Daryl drops him the hint that he's trying to infiltrate the group and fortunately for Daryl Elijah goes along with the lie, though he's being tortured and there's always the possibility that he'll crack and tell them the truth about Daryl.

 

We need the claimers in that equation given that like the claimers they want Daryl to join them, or maybe it' should be the village people, 'we want you, we want you, we want you as a new recruit'. As ever though it seems that TWD's universe is chock full of batshit crazy psychos doing Really bad Things, for some reason. Richie costa has made a career out of this sort of thing and he's very good at it, but once again we've got a charismatic leader telling his followers to do bad things because, er, that's what they do

I didn't know his name but I always thought the ninja guy was a black dude.

I asked in the live posting thread but nobody answered. Were we supposed to know the dead guy the pope was crying over? They kept circling around his head as though that was a big reveal.

[gutbuster]

41 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

I didn't know his name but I always thought the ninja guy was a black dude.

I asked in the live posting thread but nobody answered. Were we supposed to know the dead guy the pope was crying over? They kept circling around his head as though that was a big reveal.

I assumed he was black, too. Can't say why.

I don' think we were supposed to know who the dead guy was. This episode was the first intro to any of the Reapers, unmasked, as far as I know. I think they were trying to showcase the 'tenderness' and reverence they treat their family with in death. Or something.

[Iguessnot]

54 minutes ago, gutbuster said:

I assumed he was black, too. Can't say why.

I don' think we were supposed to know who the dead guy was. This episode was the first intro to any of the Reapers, unmasked, as far as I know. I think they were trying to showcase the 'tenderness' and reverence they treat their family with in death. Or something.

I went back to my recordings. Episode 10:17 Home Sweet Home. The girl who plays Connie's sister gets him to lift the mask and it's the black dude with no eyebrows. So I don't know who was in the prison with Daryl.

[TVMovieBuff]

This is the last season of the main show, and they better get to tying up some loose ends. Just give us something to wow us. . This episode did nothing for me. I don't like Leah, and the new villain is downright unappealing. A villain has to have something compelling, to make you want to watch him. What he is doing, what will happen to him. And why. 

Not some mean old guy. Think about it, Negan is full of personality and contradictions. Even the Governor was kind of sexy at first. 

I want something to really happen. Something big. It's the last season, there is no ruining anything for future seasons, this is it!

[Crashcourse]

I fell asleep before the end of this episode.

[madmax]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:31 AM, cdnalor said:

When Leah first unmasked, I thought it was Jenna Elfman from FTWD and I spent a few moments trying to think how her character managed to cross over to this show. 

Me, too.  I was totally confused, especially since I saw her in the previews for FTWD and didn't think she'd be in both shows.  Then I remembered something I read about Daryl getting some closure and realized it was Leah.  Then Dog,  of course.

This is what, the third or fourth time some bad guys capture Daryl and want him to join their merry band?  Would have worked better with another character.  Gabriel, perhaps?  

Daryl should be waterboarded regularly if that's the only way he can get clean.  Next time, throw some shampoo in there for his greasy hair.

This just felt like filler for me.  There shouldn't be filler in the final season.

 

[OoohMaggie]

14 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

I went back to my recordings. Episode 10:17 Home Sweet Home. The girl who plays Connie's sister gets him to lift the mask and it's the black dude with no eyebrows. So I don't know who was in the prison with Daryl.

The guy in the cell is Frost, who apart from Elijah is the only other thought to be surviving Warden.

 

15 hours ago, gutbuster said:

I don' think we were supposed to know who the dead guy was

He’s Nicholls, the one Father PP dispatched leaning against the fallen tree.

Edited September 13, 2021 by OoohMaggie

[BasilSeal]

2 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

The guy in the cell is Frost, who apart from Elijah is the only other surviving Warden.

correct, i literally just came her to post that after i looked it up. i assumed it was Elijah because we see him lassoed by the reapers in the fight, and i'd clean forgotten about Frost, and it was dark, and dog ate my homework, etc......

Which begs the question, where is Elijah? 

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 minutes ago, BasilSeal said:

Which begs the question, where is Elijah? 

If I recall correctly, he was taken out early in the fight, while trying to help Maggie. Since we haven't seen a corpse or a walker yet, I have to assume he's not gone just yet. 

[BasilSeal]

Just now, Superclam said:

If I recall correctly, he was taken out early in the fight, while trying to help Maggie. Since we haven't seen a corpse or a walker yet, I have to assume he's not gone just yet. 

yes, we didn't see him die so first rule of the apocalypse applies there, guess he must have got away.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Just now, BasilSeal said:

yes, we didn't see him die so first rule of the apocalypse applies there, guess he must have got away.

In total speculation: Elijah wears a mask and is a skilled fighter. Was he a Reaper at some point? 

[BasilSeal]

1 minute ago, Superclam said:

In total speculation: Elijah wears a mask and is a skilled fighter. Was he a Reaper at some point? 

Yes, that would have some logic to it, when i watched one of the youtube trailers posted on here one of the suggested videos that came up after was one with the title 'Elijah is a reaper', but it was by a guy called George Drake and i've watched a few of his videos in the past and he was literally wrong about everything he predicted, so i dismissed it.

But actually, it might make sense, and would explain why they lassoed him rather than stabbed him like they did the others.

[iMonrey]

Another psycho bad guy. Yawn. If this is the best they can come up with for the final season - just rehashing a tired trope they trot out every other damn season - it does not bode well for how the show will end. Why do they even need this? Shouldn't the focus be on the Commonwealth? We don't need another ragtag bunch of baddies on top of that. 

Pope was the name of the psycho bad guy in Falling Skies and is also a psycho bad guy on Animal Kingdom. Not sure what's going on with that name. Apparently TV writers en masse have decided bad guys are named Pope.

And clearly I'm not the only one who didn't recognize Leah. Or remember her name. Or what happened to her. I can barely recall the specifics of any of those so-called "bonus" episodes that aired after Season 10. Any impact they expected from the big reveal was totally lost on me.

As was the opening scene. It was so dark I couldn't tell what the hell was going on. Daryl was fighting one guy and that guy fell backwards - or something- and fell onto something? Sounded like he yelled or something? And then the dog screamed and Daryl yelled "No!" and I thought the guy he was fighting went over a cliff with the dog. Or something. I honestly have no idea what happened. Why do they shoot these things so dark? How many people have these giant 4K 80" TV screens that can actually see this shit?

Edited September 13, 2021 by iMonrey

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Another psycho bad guy. Yawn. If this is the best they can come up with for the final season - just rehashing a tired trope they trot out every other damn season - it does not bode well for how the show will end. Why do they even need this? Shouldn't the focus be on the Commonwealth? We don't need another ragtag bunch of baddies on top of that. 

I agree, I'd much rather see the focus on the Commonwealth, at least they're something different.  I've had it up to here with these groups of weirdo wacko bad people who are evil, just because.  Wow, Daryl sure can choose some dysfunctional girlfriends.

 

On 9/5/2021 at 10:04 PM, heisenberg said:

At one point Daryl was playing bare hands in the guts of a zombie...  Anybody knows why or it was just for fun?🤔

Maybe it's part of Daryl's grooming routine to maintain his layered filthy look.

[pezgirl7]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And then the dog screamed and Daryl yelled "No!" and I thought the guy he was fighting went over a cliff with the dog.

To me it just looked like the guy grabbed Dog and threw him, which caused Daryl to yell. I thought Dog was dead, until he showed up later. I thought it was dumb that it took Dog forever to start attacking the guy, and then once he did, Daryl just sat on his ass and watched, instead of getting up and killing the guy. I also don't know why the Reapers are following Pope. Sure, they bonded in Afghanistan, but you'd think by now, after seeing his level of crazy, they would have chosen a new leader. Also, they have yet to explain whey they just go around  sneaking up on people and killing them.

I also hate when the show only focuses on just one group per episode. Maybe it's easier to write an episode that way, but it's a lot less exciting for the viewer, and harder to follow/remember what's happening with the other groups.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Really keep hoping (somehow) that the writers of this show would finish the series up wowing us, instead it's gotten so bad that it's hard to even give a shit about it anymore. Last night's episode just sucked, boring as hell, waste of time.  

 

[Iguessnot]

7 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

The guy in the cell is Frost, who apart from Elijah is the only other thought to be surviving Warden.

 

He’s Nicholls, the one Father PP dispatched leaning against the fallen tree.

I'm sorry, who or what is Warden? I don't even know who Frost is. All these people are faceless red shirts to me. 

When Daryl said the name Leah, I surprised myself by knowing who he was talking about. But at no point before that or even after did I recognize her. Although I liked her in that earlier episode, visually she made no imprint on me. My face blindness is starting to get embarrassing in real life too.

[rmontro]

57 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

When Daryl said the name Leah, I surprised myself by knowing who he was talking about. But at no point before that or even after did I recognize her. 

The only reason I recognized her was because the camera lingered on her face like we were supposed to know who she was.  I admit I was surprised, because for all the talk about a face from Daryl's past, I had forgotten all about her.  And with the episode description about Daryl and Dog reconnecting with someone, it should have been obvious.  But somehow it flew over my head.

Honestly, with the exception of a handful of core cast members, I can't remember half the people's names, or even summon up the will to care.  I think they're trying to stuff too many characters into the show.  In the beginning, when it was at its best, there weren't that many characters to follow.

[Iguessnot]

19 minutes ago, rmontro said:

The only reason I recognized her was because the camera lingered on her face like we were supposed to know who she was.  I admit I was surprised, because for all the talk about a face from Daryl's past, I had forgotten all about her.  And with the episode description about Daryl and Dog reconnecting with someone, it should have been obvious.  But somehow it flew over my head.

Honestly, with the exception of a handful of core cast members, I can't remember half the people's names, or even summon up the will to care.  I think they're trying to stuff too many characters into the show.  In the beginning, when it was at its best, there weren't that many characters to follow.

Twice in this episode they lingered on the faces of people I did not know. Secondly, any of her back story that was told in one prior show appearance has totally escaped my memory so there was no "aha" moment for me. 

[OoohMaggie]

10 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

I'm sorry, who or what is Warden? I don't even know who Frost is. All these people are faceless red shirts to me. 

The Wardens are apparently the group Maggie formed or joined,  that poor doomed bunch had no idea what having Maggie as a leader would entail. I hadn’t heard the name either until I was looking up Frost.

[Iguessnot]

1 hour ago, OoohMaggie said:

The Wardens are apparently the group Maggie formed or joined,  that poor doomed bunch had no idea what having Maggie as a leader would entail. I hadn’t heard the name either until I was looking up Frost.

I guess all the street gangs have to be named.

[Nashville]

49 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

I guess all the street gangs have to be named.

Yeah - like alliances in Big Brother, donchaknow.

[Iguessnot]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

Yeah - like alliances in Big Brother, donchaknow.

The Warriors popped into my mind.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I also hate when the show only focuses on just one group per episode. Maybe it's easier to write an episode that way,

$$$$$ it's cheaper.

[tennisgurl]

Oh good, we get another allegedly charismatic cult leader who easily gets a bunch of morons to do all kinds of crazy and evil things and stay loyal to him even as he murders them for stupid things, another follow up to some random minor character I have long since forgotten about, and some new batch of psychos who want to recruit Daryl to join their team, rinse and repeat. I think one of the reasons I have so preferred the Commonwealth plot so much this season is that at least the Commonwealth is something different. They're not the same old antagonists over and over but with different names like the Reapers are. The Reapers are just a variation on the Saviors or the Whispers or the Wolves or a more aggressive version of the Garbage Pail Kids, its all just so boring at this point. Come on show, its the last season of an eleven season run! Give us something to wow us, something that shows we are finally moving towards the climax of this decade long story, not to bore us by repeating the same plots over and over again. 

I am glad that I wasn't the only person who was confused by who the "reveal" was, Dog had to let me know who this was and why I should supposedly care.

Waterboarding is bad and all, but considering that's probably the first time Darryl has been near anything close to a bath in about ten years, I cant be too mad. I know that Darryl will be fine, but I am very concerned about Dog.

[Nashville]

These descriptions make the Unfair Wolves seem epic in comparison.

[Mr. Sparkle]

They were supposed to face off against the dreaded Ladies Who Lunch in Season 12, featuring their charismatic, epic leader Karen, but it got scrapped. 😥

[heisenberg]

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

They were supposed to face off against the dreaded Ladies Who Lunch in Season 12, featuring their epic leader Karen, but it got scrapped. 😥

They have been "Canceled"?🙂

[rmontro]

7 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Come on show, its the last season of an eleven season run! Give us something to wow us, something that shows we are finally moving towards the climax of this decade long story, not to bore us by repeating the same plots over and over again. 

I don't think the people running things see this as an ending or climax at all.  For them, this is just one step toward all the rest of the specials and spinoffs we're going to be seeing indefinitely.

[Nashville]

2 hours ago, rmontro said:

I don't think the people running things see this as an ending or climax at all.  For them, this is just one step toward all the rest of the specials and spinoffs we're going to be seeing indefinitely.

Guess they’ve been working on THIS show for so long, the idea of letting something that’s run its course die a natural death just seems… unnatural to them.

[Mr. Sparkle]

9 hours ago, rmontro said:

I don't think the people running things see this as an ending or climax at all.  For them, this is just one step toward all the rest of the specials and spinoffs we're going to be seeing indefinitely.

Oh, how I wish I thought you were wrong. 

[meep.meep]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:24 AM, Superclam said:

If I recall correctly, he was taken out early in the fight, while trying to help Maggie. Since we haven't seen a corpse or a walker yet, I have to assume he's not gone just yet. 

Can we just call that "under the dumpster" ?

Replace Negan's harem with the girlfriend and this is literally Darryl captured by the Saviors.  Except this time with a super diminished lighting budget.  Do we have to have reduxes in the last season?

Having a well trained dog in the zombie times could be a real advantage.  Having a poorly trained dog makes everything worse.

[heisenberg]

On 9/15/2021 at 2:23 PM, meep.meep said:

Replace Negan's harem with the girlfriend and this is literally Darryl captured by the Saviors.  Except this time with a super diminished lighting budget.  Do we have to have reduxes in the last season?

And they also replaced Negan's furnace by a campfire.🔥🤔

[heisenberg]

Wrong episode

Edited September 17, 2021 by heisenberg
wrong episode

[meep.meep]

On 9/14/2021 at 9:12 AM, iMonrey said:

$$$$$ it's cheaper.

It's also logistically easier and during COVID I think we have to spot them that.

Besides, focusing on a single group at a time has been their modus operandi all along.

[candall]

I only caught the last twenty minutes or so of this episode, but I am completely bumfuzzled.  There's a bald guy with the most ridiculously inconsistent accent I've ever heard on this show--which is saying quite a lot, with Maggie once agin runnin' 'round askin' "Whaaay?"

 

I can't tell if this new leader guy is trying to do Maggie's fucked up Suthin', or stiff upper lip British, or rolling rrrr's Scottish, or mainline lockjaw Philadelphia.

 

.