Spoilers and Speculation

[peach]

7 minutes ago, Nashville said:

To be fair - Norm’s had a LOT longer time to deal with this sort of fame and it’s ramifications.  TWD’s premiere in 2010 was Andy’s first foray into the realm of superstardom, while Norm has been riding this wave since Boondocks Saints (1999).

Oh, for sure.  At the beginning of TWD, he was still doing cons for Boondock Saints.  A friend of mine sneaked a pic of him while she was at a con, and he was a lower tier $40 photo guy.  A couple years later, he's the VIP guest.  $125 photo op.  And he's going to make the most of it.  And he also wasn't married with a couple little kids for the last 8 years.

It's also easier for him because there's some similarity between Daryl and Norman.  Andrew Clutterbuck is NOT Rick Grimes like at all.  lol  I think Andy doesn't get enough credit for his acting, honestly.

[peach]

2012 

 

[maystone]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

Spoiler tags applied to avoid accidental coronaries:

  Reveal hidden contents

Daryl has apparently washed his hair.  ;>

I actually squeed. Dreams can come true.

[nodorothyparker]

23 minutes ago, peach said:

2012 

 

Sigh.  Back when we did all think maybe the character was a big deal because he was relatively clean and groomed looking, or at least not looking like he'd spent the night in a grease barrel mumbling to the opossums he'd probably be eating later.

[maystone]

5 hours ago, peach said:

Jadis is driving the wagon.  

Oh yeah! I went back for a second look, and it's two different wagons in those shots. One is Jadis and Gabe (rockin' his preacher hat), and the other looks to be Maggie at the reins with Siddiq and whatshername from Seaside. Plus some kids. I laughed at the car coach seat in the second wagon. I live in Mennonite/Amish country, and using old car seats in their wagons is definitely a thing.

8 hours ago, SimoneS said:

@maystone, below is the link to the Just Jared season 9 photos of TWD cast filming. Rick, Michonne, and others are on horseback. Maggie is actually driving the horse carriage. Daryl is on a motorcycle. These photos were taken early May and from the change in the characters' appearances (e.g. hair length), they indicate time jump. 

http://www.justjared.com/2018/05/03/walking-dead-set-photos-show-cast-on-horseback-for-season-9/  

Thanks! So, I may have some bitterness, but I still grinned when I was looking at the pics.

[CrazyDog]

It is nice to see the group together. That was one thing I hated over the last few seasons, how everyone was separated. Hopefully this newfound togetherness is for more than a scene or two.

[GaT]

21 hours ago, jsbt said:

Negan was never good for this show.

I stopped watching the show when he came on it, & I know a lot of other people did too. If they had to bring him on, then it shouldn't have even been for a full season (though I probably would have still stopped watching at the same point). They really lost a lot of viewers over Negan.

[Smad]

Those pictures show exactly how stupid this show is in regards to Daryl. And now he's going to be the new lead? Yeah, nope. They finally use this time skip to get everyone on horses, as they should have been Seasons ago, but separating NR from a bike will never ever happen. If his fans wanna see him on a bike, there is a whole other show for them to watch. On this show it makes no freaking sense. And it just looks ridiculous to have one character continue to drive something that needs gas while EVERYONE else is on horseback.

Edited May 30, 2018 by Smad

[Nashville]

2 minutes ago, Smad said:

On this show it makes no freaking sense. And it just looks ridiculous to have one character continue to drive something that needs gas while EVERYONE else is on horseback.

Actually, I’d have to disagree on that point.  There may still be situations where a group’s survival might depend on having access to the degree of speed you’re only going to get from internal combustion vs. the one-horsepower mode of transport.  And if you’re trying to stretch the meager remaining gasoline resources as far as possible, a light dirt bike getting 50-60 mpg definitely isn’t a bad option.

[Smad]

10 minutes ago, Nashville said:

Actually, I’d have to disagree on that point.  There may still be situations where a group’s survival might depend on having access to the degree of speed you’re only going to get from internal combustion vs. the one-horsepower mode of transport.  And if you’re trying to stretch the meager remaining gasoline resources as far as possible, a light dirt bike getting 50-60 mpg definitely isn’t a bad option.

Gas doesn't last that long (look it up). That's something the comics writers understood. They've had the characters on horses pretty much early on. While the show continued to have them use cars etc. despite the fact that it's totally unbelievable. Now it looks like they finally took that step, except NR can't be separated from a bike which is stupid. Because it has no in-show reason. It never did have an in-show reason as to why he rode a bike. Even back during the S3 Premiere episode when they cleared the house and had to leave it again because the zombies were coming. As they were driving off I could do nothing but groan because of the fact that Daryl was driving that bike. Of course the zombies would descent on the house immediately, that bike was so freaking loud it could be heard for miles. It made no sense in-show for him to drive it.

[rab01]

If he's going to be the lead, they'll probably put him on a horse for some scenes at some point -- there are too many romance book covers where the male character is on horseback with his long hair flowing behind him for them to forego that image for the fans :D 

[Smad]

Daryl can't lead a freaking show. You need leads who can actually talk. I don't see how you can have a lead on a show that can't even talk. Whose vocabulary is limited to grunts and mumbles.

[Gobi]

16 hours ago, Nashville said:

There’s a third, much more prosaic possible reason why Carl was killed off, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Rick or Negan, or any other character in the show - and that includes Carl, if truth be told.  

That reason? Chandler Riggs - or, more specifically, Chandler Riggs turning 18:

1. Chandler was graduating high school, with plans to attend college.  Coordinating shooting of Carl’s scenes around Chandler’s college schedule was probably not a firing issue, but may have been a compounding factor when taken in conjunction with some others.
2. Thanks to the show’s absolutely godforfuckingsaken horrible time pacing (i.e., an entire season/year’s shooting to cover every bit of two days in the show timeline), Chandler’s true chronological age had completely outstripped the age of his character, who should be somewhere around 11-12 in the current story line.  Again - probably not a firing issue, but may have been a compounding factor.
3. Most likely the strongest reason: when Chandler turned 18, he would no longer be subject to child labor law restraints - and the studio couldn’t afford Chandler working full-time adult hours.

I agree. Indeed, I think that new kid was introduced to take over Carl's comic storylines.

[scrb]

Does Daryl have a more prominent role in the comics?

Not that it matters, they can adhere or depart form the comics as much as they want.

Maybe Cohan and Lincoln knew about the deal Reedus was getting and knew they weren't going to get similar deals so they decided to bail.

[nodorothyparker]

I'm not a comic reader but my understanding is that Daryl is a show only creation.

[raven]

6 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

In my case, I am not actively championing for cancellation.  I know that other people still like the show.  But I am definitely at the point where I am either outgrowing it, or it is becoming stale (to me), and it is becoming more of a chore to keep up with than I would like it to be.   In the old days, I would never miss an episode,

This is how I feel.  It doesn't really matter to me if it's cancelled; I know people still like it and that's why they watch.  FTWD breathed new life into itself this season and maybe Rick's departure will do the same for TWD.

After all of the Negan nonsense, to me, it's too much WTF.  I assume we are stuck with Negan because I thought JDM was signed?  And I'm going to beat the dead horse again, but they didn't have to kill Carl.  IF he really wanted to leave (not definite) they could have sent him off somewhere; if it was because he was getting to old looking, they could have time jumped.  The showrunners just seem so damn petty.  He died because of a dumb mistake and now we're supposed to accept the new moppet as his replacement, it's lazy writing and lack of imagination.

I used to avoid spoilers because I really liked the show; now I don't mind if I'm spoiled because the show has gotten so silly. 

[raven]

12 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

I'm not a comic reader but my understanding is that Daryl is a show only creation.

Yes, this is correct; neither Daryl nor Merle are in the comics.

[SnarkyTart]

On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:45 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

With this news - added to the reveal that LC's new show got picked up - I can see this show becoming the "Life and Times of Daryl & Negan", officially starting in S10.

LOL!

On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:45 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

.... and you couldn't pay me to even think about watching that big pile of schlockfest.

I may join you in the corner with the people who only read the live threads to laugh and join in the mocking, but never watch the show.

[shanndee]

So. From the photos we are predicting a time jump. Simple (Gimple. My autocorrect decided that Simple was what I meant. Maybe it was right...) is trying to sell us a "quantum leap forward in story telling" suggesting a near reboot. From a production stand point, I guess this makes sense for a show that is hemorrhaging viewers.

But...everyone who was interested in this type of story was already watching. "Rebooting" or, as stated above, becoming its own spin off, will not bring in new viewers. It will only alienate those who are still watching.

How does any of this make any sort of sense to anyone?

[maystone]

4 hours ago, Nashville said:

Actually, I’d have to disagree on that point.  There may still be situations where a group’s survival might depend on having access to the degree of speed you’re only going to get from internal combustion vs. the one-horsepower mode of transport.  And if you’re trying to stretch the meager remaining gasoline resources as far as possible, a light dirt bike getting 50-60 mpg definitely isn’t a bad option.

I'm with you. And we've seen more horses brought down and devoured by walkers than we have motorcycles. Just saying. For what it's worth, I've had luck starting cars and small tractors that had pretty old gas in them, so it's not impossible to imagine in TWD.

You might be able to shed some light on this half-assed theory of mine: Could the survivors start making ethanol to fuel at least Daryl's bike? It's corn based, and if Eugene is still around, he could MacGyver some sort of small-scale production? Maybe?

[scrb]

They don't have to worry about fuel any more than they have to worry about ammo.

[SimoneS]

2 hours ago, shanndee said:

So. From the photos we are predicting a time jump. Simple (Gimple. My autocorrect decided that Simple was what I meant. Maybe it was right...) is trying to sell us a "quantum leap forward in story telling" suggesting a near reboot. From a production stand point, I guess this makes sense for a show that is hemorrhaging viewers.

But...everyone who was interested in this type of story was already watching. "Rebooting" or, as stated above, becoming its own spin off, will not bring in new viewers. It will only alienate those who are still watching.

How does any of this make any sort of sense to anyone?

It isn't a reboot. The time jump is from the comic, simple as that. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by SimoneS

[ShadowHunter]

6 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Sigh.  Back when we did all think maybe the character was a big deal because he was relatively clean and groomed looking, or at least not looking like he'd spent the night in a grease barrel mumbling to the opossums he'd probably be eating later.

I know lol. I think Norman is great and love how he is with the fans but the Daryl hair in his eyes drives me crazy.  Clear vision to look at Walkers buddy!

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

To give an indication about where this show is at with me recently, I'm already over the news about AL leaving.  Its just like "meh, whatever" now.

Even without knowing the real reason for his moving on, I feel like I should be giving the "good for you, in escaping this sinking ship" salutations to AL like I did to CR when we found out about Carl/CR.

[Samsnee]

I know this show will never give the viewers a true happy ending because it means the show will be over. But Glen is gone. Carl, annoying as he was, is gone. Pretty much every character that I’ve enjoyed has died a miserable death. So I can’t imagine them giving Rick a peaceful and heartfelt ending. 

 

I stopped watching after it became the Neegan fireside chats every week. Curiosity will make me watch Rick’s last episode but only on DVR so I can forward through the commercials every 5 minutes even though it will be an “extended” episode. 

[mightysparrow]

AMC is giving Norman Reedus $20 million!  That's the funniest thing I've heard since 'Donald Trump for President'.  Perhaps tptb have forgotten the acting tour de forces that were Daryl's 'bottle' episodes.  Have they forgotten the Daryl and Beth episodes?  For that amount of money, I hope Daryl gets stuck with Jadis AND Negan in some sick 'Three's Company' knock-off.

I'm not surprised AL is heading for the door.  It sounds like he was gutted when Chandler was fired and he probably has the sense to know that this horse has practically been ridden to death.  TWD was the biggest gig of his career but he'll probably be able to get a few gigs on name-recognition.  And there's always the convention circuit which is money in the bank.

The only character I really care about is Michonne and I've found it very difficult to be a Michonne fan for the past few seasons.  I honestly can't think of a reason why Danai would stay beyond this season.  She's a part of the Marvel Universe now which is a galaxy far, far away from doing a show for cable tv.  Add the fact that she's an award-winning playwright and I can't think of anything TWD could offer Danai.  I have to wonder just how many of the actual ACTORS in the cast are going to want to play second fiddle to Norman Reedus/Daryl

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

With AL/Rick gone after next season, that'll leave just Daryl & Carol as the only remaining members of the original "Atlanta group", right?   I guess you could include Judith too, but she was just an embryo then.

Gotta say, for a show that's so based on an original source like this one, gotta feel good for the diehard Daryl fans to see this shake out - considering his character was created just for the show and not an avatar of the comics the show comes from.  Not only the longest running survivor - of the core group - but also will be taking over the reins.

[peach]

1 hour ago, mightysparrow said:

  For that amount of money, I hope Daryl gets stuck with Jadis AND Negan in some sick 'Three's Company' knock-off.

Don't forget Tara!  The writers can't seem to get enough of her.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, mightysparrow said:

AMC is giving Norman Reedus $20 million!  That's the funniest thing I've heard since 'Donald Trump for President'.  Perhaps tptb have forgotten the acting tour de forces that were Daryl's 'bottle' episodes.  Have they forgotten the Daryl and Beth episodes?  For that amount of money, I hope Daryl gets stuck with Jadis AND Negan in some sick 'Three's Company' knock-off.

I'm not surprised AL is heading for the door.  It sounds like he was gutted when Chandler was fired and he probably has the sense to know that this horse has practically been ridden to death.  TWD was the biggest gig of his career but he'll probably be able to get a few gigs on name-recognition.  And there's always the convention circuit which is money in the bank.

The only character I really care about is Michonne and I've found it very difficult to be a Michonne fan for the past few seasons.  I honestly can't think of a reason why Danai would stay beyond this season.  She's a part of the Marvel Universe now which is a galaxy far, far away from doing a show for cable tv.  Add the fact that she's an award-winning playwright and I can't think of anything TWD could offer Danai.  I have to wonder just how many of the actual ACTORS in the cast are going to want to play second fiddle to Norman Reedus/Daryl

Daryl, Jadis and Negan being stuck together and forced to try to communicate with each other for any length of time would be great comic relief.   Negan would be yammering on and on as he delivered various soliloquies.  Jadis would revert to her old ways of talking in bizarre, truncated Yoda-esque patterns.   Daryl would be giving each one of them the death stare.    I kind of hope all of that happens now, just to break up the monotony of the show a bit.  At least give us a few good chuckles out of this next season.

[Nashville]

12 hours ago, Smad said:

Gas doesn't last that long (look it up).

Of course unstabilized gasoline doesn’t last long - in reality.  What’s that got to do with TWD, though?  :D 

In case you haven’t noticed over the course of the past eight years, reality rules don’t apply in TWD’s corner of the omniverse when they get in the way of the writers; Kirkman’s rules do.  And in TWDLand gasoline never goes bad, car batteries never lose their charge, tires don’t go flat or dry rot, and ammunition reproduces like bunnies when you aren’t looking.  :>

 

ETA: @Smad - You may have missed them, but over the course of the years there have been many, many discussions on this forum about TWD’s gasoline and its stubborn refusal to play nice by reality’s rules of chemistry and decomposition.  At last recollection I think everybody just gave up, decided it’s one of those suspension-of-disbelief thingies, and chose to pretend they have Magic Gas® in TWDLand.  :>

Edited May 31, 2018 by Nashville

[Smad]

7 hours ago, mightysparrow said:

AMC is giving Norman Reedus $20 million!  That's the funniest thing I've heard since 'Donald Trump for President'.  Perhaps tptb have forgotten the acting tour de forces that were Daryl's 'bottle' episodes.  Have they forgotten the Daryl and Beth episodes?  For that amount of money, I hope Daryl gets stuck with Jadis AND Negan in some sick 'Three's Company' knock-off.

Norman is only ever as good as the actor with him in the scene. That's what his bottle episodes proved. You can't have someone like that be a show lead. But whatever. I stopped watching mid-S8 and I don't plan to return. Just reading here in the forum for the snark.

[Johnny Dollar]

I know that it’s the only show left on AMC that gets any ratings and that they’re going to ride this dead horse forever, but they should have just ponied up more money to Andy and Lauren for one more final season, with a coherent and satisfying conclusion to the story. But coherent and satisfying were killed off three years ago. There’s really no point in this show continuing. 

BTW - at $20 million a year, Norman may set the record for Most Money Earned Per Word Spoken. 

[Smad]

1 hour ago, Johnny Dollar said:

BTW - at $20 million a year, Norman may set the record for Most Money Earned Per Word Spoken Mumble. 

Fixed that for you. ;)

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

$20 million a year to be a dirty, greasy, mumbler with short scenes of him riding a motorcycle, blowing shit up, or fighting with/pointing a gun (or his bow) at someone while staring through that greasy moppy curtain they call hair.

Dude must have the best agent on the planet to pull that off.

[SnarkyTart]

For those still keeping score, the Spoiling Dead Fans facebook page has two spoilers. 

First, Baby Hershel (spawn of Maggie) will be in episode 9.01 and he will be between 6 mos - 1 yr old.  There will be a 12-18 month time jump. 

Second, also in episode 1, Maggie will have Gregory publicly executed by hanging after he uses alcohol to bribe some alkie named Earl to murder Maggie.  Maggie and Enid will both be injured in the assault, but neither fatally.  Enid will be in a wheelchair, but only temporarily.  

[catrox14]

Thise spoilers sound awful. Maggie didn't name her kid Glenn?

Those spoilers sound awful. Maggie didn't name her kid Glenn?

[nodorothyparker]

I saw those earlier.  I couldn't care less about Enid and I'm actually disappointed Gregory is getting the ax as his craven self-interest has been one of the few consistently entertaining things about the past couple of seasons.  Plus at least the actor can, you know, act.

[peach]

1 hour ago, SnarkyTart said:

For those still keeping score, the Spoiling Dead Fans facebook page has two spoilers. 

First, Baby Hershel (spawn of Maggie) will be in episode 9.01 and he will be between 6 mos - 1 yr old.  There will be a 12-18 month time jump. 

Second, also in episode 1, Maggie will have Gregory publicly executed by hanging after he uses alcohol to bribe some alkie named Earl to murder Maggie.  Maggie and Enid will both be injured in the assault, but neither fatally.  Enid will be in a wheelchair, but only temporarily.  

Let me guess.  They will have an 18 month time jump and then have a day last 8 episodes.

36 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

I saw those earlier.  I couldn't care less about Enid and I'm actually disappointed Gregory is getting the ax as his craven self-interest has been one of the few consistently entertaining things about the past couple of seasons.  Plus at least the actor can, you know, act.

Right?  "This is boring but at least there's Grego---"

[Gobi]

2 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

For those still keeping score, the Spoiling Dead Fans facebook page has two spoilers. 

First, Baby Hershel (spawn of Maggie) will be in episode 9.01 and he will be between 6 mos - 1 yr old.  There will be a 12-18 month time jump. 

Second, also in episode 1, Maggie will have Gregory publicly executed by hanging after he uses alcohol to bribe some alkie named Earl to murder Maggie.  Maggie and Enid will both be injured in the assault, but neither fatally.  Enid will be in a wheelchair, but only temporarily.  

So what about the whole "Let's take down Rick" conspiracy? Was it on hold all that time? Or are we going to get FTWD style flashbacks that end with Rick dying (accidentally or otherwise) as a result of the conspiracy?

[Ohwell]

Damn.  I'm gonna miss weaselly Gregory.  

I hope Enid falls out of the wheelchair and hits her head on a rock.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the people who watch TWD but don't keep up with everything about it or spoilers.

I can just imagine the surprise when they're watching 9.1 and seeing Maggie with her kid, considering there was never any baby bump, no matter how slight.  "What??  She was pregnant!?"

But I guess that's feasible, when the last two seasons covered about 3 or 4 days of "universe" time.

[SimoneS]

Norman Reedus published the photo below on his Instagram.

[DearEvette]

On 5/29/2018 at 8:35 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

We've seen the guy bite & tear a throat out, hack up people to pieces with a hatchet, murdered countless 'victims', survive gun fights with nary a scratch, survive serious hits & walker-gore infection attempts and has taken on hordes of walkers almost singlehandedly.  How much can there be left, in terms of obstacles, put in his path to truly earn a "hero's death"?

And yet, I am cynical enough about this show to believe they will truly fuck it up somehow.

[rab01]

49 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

And yet, I am cynical enough about this show to believe they will truly fuck it up somehow.

He dies by accident while protecting Negan in his jail cell from a lynching by Maggie's group and then, out of guilt, they let Negan live.  

Could there be a more perfectly Gimple/TWD exit than that?

[jenrising]

7 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Norman Reedus published the photo below on his Instagram.

Norman should give Andy half that $20 million for even touching that grease slick of a head. 

[nodorothyparker]

8 hours ago, rab01 said:

9 hours ago, DearEvette said:

And yet, I am cynical enough about this show to believe they will truly fuck it up somehow.

He dies by accident while protecting Negan in his jail cell from a lynching by Maggie's group and then, out of guilt, they let Negan live.  

Could there be a more perfectly Gimple/TWD exit than that?

I'm cynical enough to not put it past them to have Rick and Maggie unintentionally take each other out, orphaning both their children and leaving Daryl and Negan to end up in some convoluted hatesex mumbling monologuing partnership while Jadis/Ann fills all the surviving communities with junk sculptures.  Hey, these are the same people that gave us not one but multiple rounds of Rick vs. garbage walkers.

[Gobi]

7 hours ago, rab01 said:

He dies by accident while protecting Negan in his jail cell from a lynching by Maggie's group and then, out of guilt, they let Negan live.  

Could there be a more perfectly Gimple/TWD exit than that?

And a fully reformed Negan becomes the new lead.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

12 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Norman Reedus published the photo below on his Instagram.

I would speculate that is either their last filmed scene together, or it indicates that Rick is just leaving and not dying.

But then I realized that was from a past episode, because Rick's hair is much too 'shaggy' to be in the new season  (going by the released shots of 9.1).
 

5 hours ago, jenrising said:

Norman should give Andy half that $20 million for even touching that grease slick of a head. 

AL:  Dude, uh, maybe you got a new cologne, but you smell like the Exxon Valdez.  OH, and why is my gun prop wedged in your butt crack??

Edited June 1, 2018 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[peach]

14 hours ago, SimoneS said:

Norman Reedus published the photo below on his Instagram.

Aw, man.  I can't believe how emotionally invested I am in these characters.  :/

Also:  See how good Norman is at social media.  $$$

[Anela]

I have been so sick for the past two weeks, I felt like one of the walking dead. I haven't been that sick in a while. I avoided getting sick all winter, so something took me down a week before the holiday weekend I was looking forward to.

Anyway, I wasn't surprised to hear that he's leaving. I almost (almost) feel sorry for Gimple, being the one to make such a huge and stupid decision, that would obviously lead to this, and others leaving. The show had already tanked. I still don't understand how he thought killing the kid would be this amazing thing. 

Apparently, all of the people who love Negan, are on instagram. I made the mistake of commenting there, before the finale, and got jumped on. A handful of people agreed with what I'd posted, though. It was anti-Negan. It is seriously a joke now. Even a friend of mine who loves Negan, has said he got too invested, and that it's done now (now that AL is leaving). Before, he was saying that the show would be fine without Coral.