Spoilers and Speculation

[Smad]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I agree though that he did seem to become more "human," although I'm not sure if Michonne gets full credit for influencing him.  

It seemed like he became a better character the less screen time he had. I think originally they wanted to take Carl in the direction of the comic Carl. But you can't really do that since non-comic characters age due to being played by actors. There was no way to tell the comic Carl stories, as the fact that Carl was so young and stayed young for a lot of the story was important. Unless they constantly switched actors as soon as that actor grew too much but that would have seriously screwed up the story because then you'd have a new face every Season and varying degrees of acting ability capable of pulling off those stories. At the same time I just can't suspend my disbelief that Carl is supposed to be 14 or whatever when he is almost the same height as his father, has a deeper voice than most of the adult males on the show and has stubble on his face. IMO the show was in a lose lose situation with Carl pretty much from the beginning of the show, damn that stupid aging factor.

But yeah I wouldn't give any person in the show any credit for humanizing Carl. He was barely in the last few Seasons that I recall. And daddy and 'mommy' were always elsewhere. He seemed to be mostly raising Judith off screen when he wasn't sneaking out of the house for some nonsense. But it might just be that damn timeline confusion again. Half a Season is weeks for us and actually days for the characters.

And I have no idea where I was going with this, having lost my train of thought. Damn it.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Smad

[Smad]

Does anyone think there is a possibility Andrew Lincoln might not sign beyond S8? S9 is still not confirmed because of contract negotiations, I assume. What happens if AL decides to quit? You guys think they will continue the show anyway? Or are they hoping he won't so their wish comes true and Negan becomes the single main character of the show?

[Nashville]

44 minutes ago, Smad said:

Does anyone think there is a possibility Andrew Lincoln might not sign beyond S8? S9 is still not confirmed because of contract negotiations, I assume. What happens if AL decides to quit? You guys think they will continue the show anyway? Or are they hoping he won't so their wish comes true and Negan becomes the single main character of the show?

Under such circumstances - WHAT show!?!?

[Smad]

3 minutes ago, Nashville said:

Under such circumstances - WHAT show!?!?

Well I'm already asking myself that question right now. There isn't much of a show left. Most of the main characters, aside from maybe Rick, are not given any screen time. They focus on Negan and his guys and secondary characters that people just don't care about. And their utter refusal to kill of Negan makes it plain who they really want as the main character.

But I'm just wondering about where they are at right now. That there hasn't been a peep about S9 yet but they must have started contract negotiations already.

[SnarkyTart]

16 hours ago, Smad said:

Does anyone think there is a possibility Andrew Lincoln might not sign beyond S8? S9 is still not confirmed because of contract negotiations, I assume. What happens if AL decides to quit? You guys think they will continue the show anyway? Or are they hoping he won't so their wish comes true and Negan becomes the single main character of the show?

At the end of season 8 they will merge the two shows, TWD and FtWD.  The only survivors will be Negan, Madison, and Madison's junkie son, Nick, who will have turned, but Maddie will keep him on a leash as a pet.  The new show, a one-hour sitcom, will be called "Walking Dead: The Next Generation".

[Gobi]

1 hour ago, SnarkyTart said:

At the end of season 8 they will merge the two shows, TWD and FtWD.  The only survivors will be Negan, Madison, and Madison's junkie son, Nick, who will have turned, but Maddie will keep him on a leash as a pet.  The new show, a one-hour sitcom, will be called "Walking Dead: The Next Generation".

There will be a spinoff with all the secondary characters that you have come to barely remember, called "Deep Dead Nine".

[Morrigan2575]

17 hours ago, Smad said:

Does anyone think there is a possibility Andrew Lincoln might not sign beyond S8? S9 is still not confirmed because of contract negotiations, I assume. What happens if AL decides to quit? You guys think they will continue the show anyway? Or are they hoping he won't so their wish comes true and Negan becomes the single main character of the show?

I definitely think AMC and the EPs will attempt to continue without Rick, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Michonne, etc. Although, i think there would be issues if all contracts are up at the same time. 

So yeah, if Lincoln left after S8 and they still had a few of the more popular characters for S9 an beyond the show will go on. At least until the ratings are in the toilet.

[Gobi]

Killing off Carl may have been a warning shot to the others. I think the only characters AMC would be wary of eliminating are Rick and Daryl.

[catrox14]

33 minutes ago, Gobi said:

Killing off Carl may have been a warning shot to the others. I think the only characters AMC would be wary of eliminating are Rick and Daryl.

And Negan. I think Daryl would go before Negan. I don't think Rick is really safe either in the end.

[SimoneS]

I don't think that AMC would let Kirkman/Gimple kill off Rick after seeing how FTWD has struggled and I don't see Andy quitting so TWD will trudge on. I honestly don't believe that the show sees Negan as a viable lead. I think that deep down they know that he is a villian who they are desperate to redeem and keep which is why they went big and sacrificed Carl.

Edited January 6, 2018 by SimoneS

[Smad]

4 hours ago, catrox14 said:

And Negan. I think Daryl would go before Negan. I don't think Rick is really safe either in the end.

They sure have been doing whatever they can to get people to hate Daryl. So much so that it seems almost deliberate.

4 hours ago, SimoneS said:

I don't think that AMC would let Kirkman/Gimple kill off Rick after seeing how FTWD has struggled and I don't see Andy quitting so TWD will trudge on. I honestly don't believe that the show sees Negan as a viable lead. I think that deep down they know that he is a villian that they are desperate to redeem and keep which is why they went big and sacrificed Carl.

I think they are totally in love with Negan and crew. It makes no sense that it's been 2+ Seasons when S8 ends and Negan hasn't even suffered so much as a scratch. And not only are all of his right hand men/women still alive, even scum like Jared is still breathing. Meanwhile half the Kingdom is dead, several Alexandrians and a few Hilltoppers are gone. Nevermind Glenn, Sasha, Abe and Morgan after S8. It's war and no one kills Saviors. Rick had so many chances to kill Negan that they might as well have Negan hold up a sign that says 'thickest plot armor of any character' above his head.

[catrox14]

5 hours ago, SimoneS said:

I don't think that AMC would let Kirkman/Gimple kill off Rick after seeing how FTWD has struggled and I don't see Andy quitting so TWD will trudge on. I honestly don't believe that the show sees Negan as a viable lead. I think that deep down they know that he is a villian that they are desperate to redeem and keep which is why they went big and sacrificed Carl.

I dunno. I think Andy may be less interested in staying more than 10 seasons. He didn't seem to happy about Carl's demise

 

20 minutes ago, Smad said:

They sure have been doing whatever they can to get people to hate Daryl. So much so that it seems almost deliberate.

I think they are totally in love with Negan and crew. It makes no sense that it's been 2+ Seasons when S8 ends and Negan hasn't even suffered so much as a scratch. And not only are all of his right hand men/women still alive, even scum like Jared is still breathing. Meanwhile half the Kingdom is dead, several Alexandrians and a few Hilltoppers are gone. Nevermind Glenn, Sasha, Abe and Morgan after S8. It's war and no one kills Saviors. Rick had so many chances to kill Negan that they might as well have Negan hold up a sign that says 'thickest plot armor of any character' above his head.

Isn't Negan Kirkman's favorite character? I swear I read that somewhere. And that he doesn't really like Rick that much. Or am I misremembering.

Edited January 4, 2018 by catrox14

[AngelaHunter]

6 hours ago, Smad said:

Rick had so many chances to kill Negan that they might as well have Negan hold up a sign that says 'thickest plot armor of any character' above his head.

He's a cartoon. No characters in cartoons ever die, no matter the level of violence. Negan's armour would invoke envy in Sir Lancelot.

Rick is also a cartoon. He can take a severe beating with Lucille then jump through a window and remain unharmed. They've turned the leads into the "Roadrunner" characters. All we need are some ACME bombs.

5 hours ago, catrox14 said:

Isn't Negan Kirkman's favorite character?

Yeah, because he IS Kirkman,  in Kirkman's creepy fantasies. I don't know if he likes Rick, but  for awhile now it appears he hates him since Rick has been turned into a joke, a clown.

[SimoneS]

7 hours ago, Smad said:

I think they are totally in love with Negan and crew. It makes no sense that it's been 2+ Seasons when S8 ends and Negan hasn't even suffered so much as a scratch. And not only are all of his right hand men/women still alive, even scum like Jared is still breathing. Meanwhile half the Kingdom is dead, several Alexandrians and a few Hilltoppers are gone. Nevermind Glenn, Sasha, Abe and Morgan after S8. It's war and no one kills Saviors. Rick had so many chances to kill Negan that they might as well have Negan hold up a sign that says 'thickest plot armor of any character' above his head.

None of this contradicts my belief that AMC will not let Kirkman/Gimple kill off Rick. Yes, they are doing whatever they can to make Negan a long lived villain because they love him, but if AMC (not Kirkman/Gimple) really thought that he was a viable lead, they would have killed Rick not Carl. 

[CrazyDog]

Agreed. If what Chandler Riggs said in his note was true about the series being in it's last few years is true, I think AL will ride out the story, though I think he might want out if it were to go much longer than that. I don't see even Gimple thinking Negan could actually carry the show, no matter how much they like him as the main villain. I can definitely see them keeping him alive though, so they can pop out his dick-related words of wisdom here and there.

Edited January 4, 2018 by CrazyDog

[jls1792]

Some pics from the MSP/8B released

http://ew.com/tv/the-walking-dead-photos-season-8-carl/

 

Here are a couple:

Edited January 12, 2018 by jls1792

[SimoneS]

No doubt it will be soppy, but I am still glad that Michonne and Rick got a chance to say goodbye to Carl.

[Nashville]

Yup - looks like Carl is being prepped for his "Bye Bob" scene....

[Gobi]

The Entertainment Weekly article said that Carl's final words will change the direction of  the series. I fear that all but confirms that Negan is going to live on and monologue. 

[nodorothyparker]

I'm guessing by what we've already seen that Carl's final words in his Bye Bob scene (thanks Nashville) will be something about mercy and extending it to people who've gone above and beyond showing they don't deserve it.  And thus we're stuck with Negan forever.

It's rather impressive anything is left standing in Alexandria to firebomb by now.  Just how many houses are there and how many times has the town been set on fire in Rick's tenure?

[Smad]

1 hour ago, Gobi said:

The Entertainment Weekly article said that Carl's final words will change the direction of  the series. I fear that all but confirms that Negan is going to live on and monologue. 

I thought that was already clear what with the 'picking strawberries with Negan' flashback we had in 8x08 and Carl's speech to Negan. I don't need to hear any more words or speeches to understand that. But since this is Gimple (who doesn't think the audience has a brain) I guess they have to hammer it home even more.

[DearEvette]

That Entertainment Weekly article is infuriating because it is the same old shit.  Kirkman saying the audience anger is something they cultivated "by design" and we are supposed to be upset because we care about these characters.  And then saying we'll all be "at peace" with their decision to kill off Carl when we watch the premiere.  Or assuring us the that the S8 finale is going to be "epic."   This is just all the same twaddle.  They are going to make Rick be "merciful" rather than "wrathful" and the audience is going to get no payoff for two seasons of torture.

Edited January 13, 2018 by DearEvette

[Anela]

I've just seen that Gimple is being promoted to head all of the walking dead shows, and that a woman - Angela Kang? - is taking over as show runner. 

[rab01]

9 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

I'm guessing by what we've already seen that Carl's final words in his Bye Bob scene (thanks Nashville) will be something about mercy and extending it to people who've gone above and beyond showing they don't deserve it.  And thus we're stuck with Negan forever.

Yup. 

Chandler Riggs told us in his Hollywood Reporter  exit interview that they are killing Carl to justify saving Negan. Unless the fan outcry gets too loud to ignore, we're stuck with Negan forever.

[catrox14]

2 minutes ago, rab01 said:

Yup. 

Chandler Riggs told us in his Hollywood Reporter  exit interview that they are killing Carl to justify saving Negan. Unless the fan outcry gets too loud to ignore, we're stuck with Negan forever.

JFC WHY???? I love me some JDM but Negan is the worst

[Smad]

Now that I've seen all the pictures posted on Skybound, the Morgan/Carol picture was the one that hit me the most. That's what the two should have been back in S6, a kickass duo. Instead of this 'all life is precious' crap that indirectly caused all the deaths in S6 from the Wolves and walker herd. And is then used to make Carol crack to sideline her (AGAIN) and two fighters are off the chess board for the then upcoming Negan fight. Urgh, Gimple.

[AngelaHunter]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 11:01 AM, Smad said:

. But since this is Gimple (who doesn't think the audience has a brain) I guess they have to hammer it home even more.

I really have to wonder if Gimple has a brain. I'm trying to picture the brainstorming:

 

Gimple: "Ok, guys - how about this? There's this bunch of people, see, who live in a heap of garbage! They've forgotten how to speak in the last few years and communicate by hand signals, a few Yoda-like words, and interpretive dance! They do arts and crafts, naked, but with strategically placed aprons and stuff to hide the no-no parts. Okay, so Rick, looking and sounding brain-dead, goes to them alone to beg and plead for their help. Why? Yeah, I know they've tried to kill him before, but... Well, we can figure that out later. So they grab Rick, strip him to his boxer shorts, take pictures of him and hold some kind of freaky, underwear Gladiator shit. What do you think? Good idea?"

Ass-kissing Toady: "Oh, dude! Yr a genius! That is so, like, freakin' COOL! Let's do it!"

[Smad]

So who else of the originals is going to bite it next? Maybe even this Season or early in the next one. IMO it has to be Carol. They still haven't payed off her 1 1/2 Seasons arc that went from 6B all the way through S7. Right now that arc seems to have no point other than plot. Not that they are not known for doing that (hello Season 4) but Carol stated outright that if she had to kill again there wouldn't be anything left of her after. So once the war is over, they have to pay that off. Otherwise that whole arc really had no point for the character, only the plot. And I still don't even really know what that plot was.

I think Rick and Maggie are safe as they are leaders. Michonne is safe too I think (unless DG gets so many movies she has to quit TWD) because they just killed off Carl. And Daryl still seems to be the cashcow though I have no idea why.

I wish they would get rid of Tara or maybe even Rosita instead and the whole lot of the Saviors and Garbage Waste. Tara and Rosita had no character development that is worth mentioning considering the mountain of screentime they have been getting for Seasons now. They are just...there. But they seem safer than even Carol to me. Hell even Eugene is hanging around like the pest that he is and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

[Nashville]

11 hours ago, Smad said:

Hell even Eugene is hanging around like the pest that he is and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

I... dunno.  Given (a) Eugene’s current character positioning and (b) the lack of imaginative writing to which we’ve been subjected lately, I can easily see Eugene perishing in a redemptive arc - doing a 180 on his most cherished concepts of self-preservation and sacrificing himself in a foolhardy (and adequately heroic) manner to save one or more members of CDB.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Nashville
Punctuation

[rab01]

I don't count on Rick being so safe. Andrew Lincoln is talking about an ending to the story he's playing.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-carls-fate-andrew-lincoln-ricks-future-his-contract-season-8-midseason-finale-explained-1066032

Quote

Your contract is up this season. The show has yet to be renewed for season nine, despite being the biggest hit on television. Do you see an end in sight for your time in The Walking Dead universe.

Yeah, I think so. I've said to you before and I really feel that the fans — and also for my own satisfaction — that there deserves to be an end point. There needs to be an end game and that is something that is definitely being talked about. (Laughs.) I can't get into all of that. But all of that will be answered. As I've said to you before — and I will continue to say — my relationship with Rick Grimes is far from over.

Do you see an end to Rick's journey coming sooner, rather than later — especially given Carl's impending death?

That's a question I'm not at liberty to answer. It's such an extraordinary story and in my heart, it deserves some resolution.

I discounted some of the stories earlier but they read differently after knowing that Chandler Riggs was fired - especially the ones where Lincoln, Gimple and Kirkman all say that the Walking Dead can outlast Rick Grimes.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, rab01 said:

I don't count on Rick being so safe. Andrew Lincoln is talking about an ending to the story he's playing.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-carls-fate-andrew-lincoln-ricks-future-his-contract-season-8-midseason-finale-explained-1066032

Quote

Do you see an end to Rick's journey coming sooner, rather than later — especially given Carl's impending death?

That's a question I'm not at liberty to answer. It's such an extraordinary story and in my heart, it deserves some resolution.

 

I’d hazard a guess that might be your answer right there; the absence of any degree of denial, not even a “not to the best of my knowledge” response.

[rab01]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

I’d hazard a guess that might be your answer right there; the absence of any degree of denial, not even a “not to the best of my knowledge” response.

Yup, that and Kirkman saying essentially "Andy's great but we'd still be fine without him."

[AngelaHunter]

1 minute ago, rab01 said:

Yup, that and Kirkman saying essentially "Andy's great but we'd still be fine without him."

Well, sure. I know I'd avidly watch the riveting, continuing adventures of... Tara? Father Pee, maybe? Or perhaps Daryl as a gnarly, dirtier Jeramiah Johnson type, in some mountain shack? Actually, they haven't been "fine" by anyone's definition but theirs WITH Rick for a few seasons now. Or are they thinking of making it "All Negan, All the Time"? Oh, boy. He can keep ironing faces, collecting wives and talking about his dick for years to come.

[tv echo]

I still remember the pilot when Rick woke up from his coma to a brand new, horrifying reality. That's what sucked me into TWD. I really don't think I would continue to watch TWD if they kill off Rick. Without him, you just have another show like FTWD.

Ratings for FTWD's third season averaged 0.88 (demo) and 2.364 (viewers). That's way below ratings for TWD's current season, which are currently averaging 3.79 (demo) and 8.631 (viewers). Cast matters.

Edited January 24, 2018 by tv echo

[festivus]

1 hour ago, AngelaHunter said:

Well, sure. I know I'd avidly watch the riveting, continuing adventures of... Tara? Father Pee, maybe? Or perhaps Daryl as a gnarly, dirtier Jeramiah Johnson type, in some mountain shack?

If they start bumping up Daryl's screen time I think we can assume Rick is a goner. I know Norman has his "we riot" fans, but I don't think he can carry the show. When Rick's gone I think the show won't be far behind (unless they want to adjust to the ratings going down to FTWD standards). I've already stopped watching and I know other people that are done too.

[catrox14]

26 minutes ago, festivus said:

If they start bumping up Daryl's screen time I think we can assume Rick is a goner. I know Norman has his "we riot" fans, but I don't think he can carry the show. When Rick's gone I think the show won't be far behind (unless they want to adjust to the ratings going down to FTWD standards). I've already stopped watching and I know other people that are done too.

or that Daryl is getting a long good bye

[AngelaHunter]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I know Norman has his "we riot" fans, but I don't think he can carry the show.

Even that is slipping, as many of his rabid, hysterical fangirls have moved on to Negan. Really, other than blowing away Morales and halting the unbearable, snooze-inducing monologue, what has he done in the last few seasons that's the least bit interesting or memorable? Does Gimple hate Rick and Daryl? Is he making them silly and ridiculous (at least that's something in which he's succeeding) so no one cares when he kills them off in favor of his Golden Boy, Negan?

[AngelaHunter]

14 hours ago, PoshSprinkles said:

Negan and his monologues, baseball bat, drooping pants, and leather jacket don't hold a candle to the chilling, matter-of-fact way Gareth

He can't even hold a candle to Joe, who I found to be truly intimidating and scary. And yeah, Negan's drooping pants? The most suspenseful moments for me in the last season came as I worried they were going to fall down around his ankles.

As for the Termites: I bet when Rick said "Kill them all" he didn't mean "Let's all go over there, trade speeches and a few insults about comparative dick sizes with them for ten minutes and then shoot out all their damned windows!"

[Smad]

I found Joe and his gang to be the most horrific. They probably would have got along splendidly with the people who took over Terminus and then raped and killed the Termites. Or Randall's group. What made these groups so horrific is the prolonged nightmare you suffer at their hands. At least the Termites made it quick, so to speak. Sure you are in a box car for a while and then above a through for a few minutes. But they didn't torture, beat up or rape anyone.

Well I guess Negan and crew do love to torture. Or maybe just torture me because the speechifying makes me want to give up all my secrets as long as I'm promised sweet release to never have to hear a word out of their mouths again...

[Nashville]

1 minute ago, Smad said:

I found Joe and his gang to be the most horrific. 

Same here - probably because of all the baddies CDB has encountered, I found Country Joe and the Claimers to be the most realistically likely adversaries you’d encounter in a post-apocalyptic world.

[AngelaHunter]

21 hours ago, Nashville said:

probably because of all the baddies CDB has encountered, I found Country Joe and the Claimers to be the most realistically likely adversaries you’d encounter in a post-apocalyptic world.

True. Really, how likely would you be to happen on an large group who so quickly organized and moved to assembly-line cannibalism, outside a comic book? I didn't find them scary, but Joe is someone I very likely might meet on a road or as I stumble around the woods. Even meeting him before the ZA would have been terrifying.  He wasn't outlandish, hammy or cartoon-y at all, the very qualities that render Negan the most un-scary villain in this show, IMO.

[Smad]

On 25.1.2018 at 9:26 PM, Nashville said:

Same here - probably because of all the baddies CDB has encountered, I found Country Joe and the Claimers to be the most realistically likely adversaries you’d encounter in a post-apocalyptic world.

That's exactly why. Joe and the Claimers had, what I would (sadly) call, 'regular human evil'. That's what made them scary, the kind of human evil you can find every day around you. Someone who beats you up either for fun or to take something you have. Someone who gets pleasure out of taunting you with what they will do to you or your loved ones, preferably right in front of you. Someone who rapes you. I'm sure most of these guys did some of those things even before the ZA. Now that all social constraints are gone along with law, they are having fun. And that's a pretty damn scary prospect.

The Termites and Negan are more outlandish in their evil, so less scary to me. Negan is so comic book-y he's rendered completely unrealistic in live action. The outfit, his language and talking to a bat. Cannibalism, while I'm sure it exists still in some parts of the world, is not something we usually deal with or would deal with even in a post-apocalyptic world. Don't really know how to classify the Gov but scary he was not. I don't even know what kind of evil he was supposed to be because I was never sure the showrunners knew themselves. The Wolves are mental, justifying what they do by adhering to some old story. What they do is crazy, like hacking away at people and scattering body parts or tying people to trees to get eaten alive. I'd probably put them after the Claimers but only because of the crazy things they do to other humans. But I don't find them all that realistic.

[AngelaHunter]

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 9:02 PM, Smad said:

Don't really know how to classify the Gov but scary he was not. I don't even know what kind of evil he was supposed to be because I was never sure the showrunners knew themselves.

He would have been a lot scarier had we not seen right away - or at all - the stupid heads in aquariums. Fine in a comic or fantasy movie, not so in live action with real people because it makes the viewer ponder the logistics, to try to imagine  him having his henchmen scour all the pet stores in the area for bunch of aquariums and filters and air pumps and the whole thing just gets beyond ridiculous. Same for the stupid torture chamber. I don't know what kind of audience they envision they have, but I do not need to be hit repeatedly over the head with a rubber mallet to "get it."

 

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 9:02 PM, Smad said:

The Wolves are mental, justifying what they do by adhering to some old story.

 I still have no idea what that was all about. A bunch of people - how many? We don't know - who all go batshit crazy and murder-happy at the same time and never think or care about anything at all except stabbing people to death, for no reason. All the buildup to that was pointless of course,  like so many other things we saw.

[Smad]

8 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

He would have been a lot scarier had we not seen right away - or at all - the stupid heads in aquariums. Fine in a comic or fantasy movie, not so in live action with real people because it makes the viewer ponder the logistics, to try to imagine  him having his henchmen scour all the pet stores in the area for bunch of aquariums and filters and air pumps and the whole thing just gets beyond ridiculous. Same for the stupid torture chamber. I don't know what kind of audience they envision they have, but I do not need to be hit repeatedly over the head with a rubber mallet to "get it."

For me it wasn't so much the heads in the aquarium. Yes logistically it makes little sense. But I meant the Gov as a person. For me there was a disconnect between what the showrunners wanted to portray and what was actually on screen. I thought they were going for smarmy, charismatic and well spoken/even tempered evil. Which is why so many people fell for his act. But I don't think DM portrayed that really. His smile wasn't a charm smile. And I never got how all the things he did fit into a particular kind of evil. His stuff was all over the place.

8 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

 I still have no idea what that was all about. A bunch of people - how many? We don't know - who all go batshit crazy and murder-happy at the same time and never think or care about anything at all except stabbing people to death, for no reason. All the buildup to that was pointless of course,  like so many other things we saw.

From what I remember they based it on old folk lore or something. The first settlers put bounties on wolves heads, brought the natives into it. So they killed pretty much all the wolves. So the W on their foreheads means they are literally the wolves. Alpha said to Morgan 'they are back now', meaning wolves are back. He also mentioned tribes around that area where they were thought that the first people were wolves transformed into men. So I guess their whacky philosophy is that the wolves are taking their revenge on men. What it doesn't explain is what you mentioned...how do you get that many people to buy into this nonsense? If it had turned out that Alpha Wolf was a cult leader or something along those lines pre-ZA who prayed on the very weak post-ZA, then that might have made sense. But it still doesn't explain living up to that specific philosophy. So they are just a bunch of crazy, mass murdering psychos.

[Nashville]

On 1/31/2018 at 3:03 AM, Smad said:

From what I remember they based it on old folk lore or something. The first settlers put bounties on wolves heads, brought the natives into it. So they killed pretty much all the wolves. So the W on their foreheads means they are literally the wolves. Alpha said to Morgan 'they are back now', meaning wolves are back. He also mentioned tribes around that area where they were thought that the first people were wolves transformed into men. So I guess their whacky philosophy is that the wolves are taking their revenge on men. 

OR... this is some absolute bullshit story some quasi-leader cooked up when they were passing the bong around the THC Tuesday campfire.

Me, I’m gonna go with the cannibis-infused death cult option - with some peyote and/or mescaline thrown in for good measure.

[SimoneS]

Preview of the second half of season 8 from German tv.

[SimoneS]

Second trailer for the second half of season 8.

Edited February 3, 2018 by SimoneS

[SimoneS]

I put this here because it is a potential spoiler. Sounds like Maggie might be on her way out. Good for Lauren demanding parity. I am glad that she is getting offers for pilots. We'll have to see what happens. Danai's contact should be up at the end of next season. She will have to make a similar tough decision.

http://deadline.com/2018/02/lauren-cohan-pilot-offers-the-walking-dead-maggie-1202276937/

Edited February 3, 2018 by SimoneS

[AngelaHunter]

22 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Preview of the second half of season 8 from German tv

In previous seasons, I tried to avoid any and all spoilers and previews. I wanted each episode to be totally fresh. Now? Don't care. So the trailer shows Daryl pointing his bow, Morgan hitting someone with a stick, Carol looking distressed, Maggie striding around with her jaw set, darkness, Negan talking, Rick and Negan once again - for the tenth time? - throwing around empty death threats at each other and oh, no - the Dumpster Diva is still there, sitting ona trash heap. Didn't we already see all this? Well, with the exception of Carl buying the farm and looks like that will be stretched out as long as possible, with many monologues. The only thing missing there is Rick diving out another window. Ho hum.

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 4:03 AM, Smad said:

So I guess their whacky philosophy is that the wolves are taking their revenge on men.

I guess I wasn't paying attention.:p

[loki567]

2 hours ago, SimoneS said:

I put this here because it is a potential spoiler. Sounds like Maggie might be on her way out. Good for Lauren demanding parity. I am glad that she is getting offers for pilots. We'll have to see what happens. Danai's contact should be up at the end of next season. She will have to make a similar tough decision.

http://deadline.com/2018/02/lauren-cohan-pilot-offers-the-walking-dead-maggie-1202276937/

I'm trying to imagine a scenario where both Carl and Maggie are dead by the end of the season and Negan still lives. Not pretty. 

Good for Lauren Cohan though, if she gets her own show. I remember thinking back in the Supernatural days, she's a very charismatic actress.