S09.E13: Chokepoint

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2019.03.10

Quote

Daryl's daring rescue mission forces Alpha to unleash a group of her own to retrieve what belongs to her.  The Kingdom's plans to reunite the communities are put in jeopardy.

MOD REMINDER:

This thread is for discussion of the episode.  Not spoilers from elsewhere, what happened in the comics, or news of cast comings and going.  If you didn't see it happen in the episode onscreen, it doesn't belong here and will be removed.

[SimoneS]

I loved that episode, what fun! I adore the team of Daryl and Connie. Daryl has finally met his perfect woman. She is tough and sweet all at once. That bump on her shoulder was Daryl's version of a love tap. They have to fall in love and have beautiful babies.

Henry's hormones are ruling his big head, but he and Lydia are kind of sweet. She did go to save him so kudos to her.

Daryl's fight with Beta was well done. He got lucky. That guy is so much bigger and stronger than him. Next time shoot him with an arrow, Daryl!

Carol bribing the Highwaymen with a movie was unexpected and funny as hell as was Jerry asking for his sword back. I liked the Highwaymen guarding the road and coming to Tara's rescue. For once, they have encountered a reasonable new group.

Tammy Lyn was a badass saving her old man from walkers. Loved that!

Edited March 11, 2019 by SimoneS

[Quilty]

How did fat people stay fat during the zombie apocalypse? Food was scarce and there's so much running involved.

[Quilty]

Does Henry die soon? I've never had so much dislike for one character that I don't think I can watch much longer. I miss Coral.

[AngelaHunter]

It's gratifying to see that Daryl has never bought into Rick's peace, love, and benevolence bullshit.  If he had, instead of slaughtering that guy behind the sheet, he would have tried to reason with him,  show him the error of his ways and maybe even broken a few windows.

2 minutes ago, Quilty said:

Does Henry die soon? I've never had so much dislike for one character

Same here! Just looking at him makes me grit my teeth.

[xaxat]

Carol: When was the last time you saw. . . 

Highwaymen: Porn? You've got porn?

Carol: A movie.

Highwaymen: Sure, whatever  you want to call it, we're on board.

[mightysparrow]

I am so excited that Liesl Tommy directed this episode!  It was the best episode in ages!  I saw her production of Danai's play 'Eclipsed'  at the Papp and it was AMAZING!  I wonder if Danai recommended her for the gig!  She's going to be directing the Aretha Franklin biopic and I will be lining up for tickets for that.

More Liesl episodes, PLEASE!!!!

[AngelaHunter]

2 minutes ago, mightysparrow said:

I am so excited that Liesl Tommy directed this episode!  It was the best episode in ages! 

I don't watch the aftershow and don't know who she is, but agree this was probably the best ep since the Saviors came on the scene. Imagine how it would have been even better without the dead air that happened every time Henry appeared?

[mightysparrow]

2 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I don't watch the aftershow and don't know who she is, but agree this was probably the best ep since the Saviors came on the scene. Imagine how it would have been even better without the dead air that happened every time Henry appeared?

Agreed.  She's a good director but she's not a miracle worker!

[AngelaHunter]

1 minute ago, mightysparrow said:

She's a good director but she's not a miracle worker!

True. Is the kid who plays Henry related to one of TPTB? For this - arguably one of the worst, most annoying, useless and boring characters ever on this show -  they ditched Coral? Wow.

[Lady Iris]

I just realized Beta is Opie! Opie is Beta!!! I did not know this.

[AngelaHunter]

12 minutes ago, Butless said:

Having her be such a infallible superhero who is always righteous, is also a problem. It was a problem they made with the Michonne character, too.

I know I've said just that, and more than once, that characters who never make a mistake are one big bore and completely non-credible. It's not just Connie, but when all the millennials arrived, it was impossible to imagine how any of them survived for who knows how long on their own - all well-groomed, well-fed and with perfectly coiffed and clean hair. That makes for good comic book characters, not flesh and blood people. I know it's only a show, but I find that annoying. 

And Daryl, in all these 10 long years, has never ever been tempted or interested in any woman at all, even when he spent nights alone with two of them. I guess Connie (whose name I didn't even know til last week) might have smitten him with the lightning bolt, I suppose. It does happen, but I'll believe it when I see it, but TPTB do realize Daryl is going to have to get washed first, bringing to mind Tom Hanks cross-tying Hooch to try and clean him up.  "Daryl is Dirty and Sexless"  seems to be some idiotic, unbreakable canon on this show.

[CletusMusashi]

Well, as far as the slingshot thing goes, they can kill and distract zombies just fine without attracting as much attention as guns, plus the various ammo types are easier to find. And there's no reason to assume she hasn't used guns, or spears, or pool cues during her years of survival. But if your main skill is running away and hiding, then you want to travel light, especially if you ran out of pistol ammo a long time ago.

I agree that I don't want to see Connie and Daryl forced together. To her, he's old and stinky. To him, she's sexually irrelevant, because I do not believe that Daryl actually has a sex drive. And while the notes make sense plotwise, they do harm the pacing, especially in badly lit scenes where I can not even read them. It would actually be easier if they resorted to that schtick where she hands him a piece of paper, he reads it out loud, and she scribbles her next note while he responds. 

But as far as her being a scrappy sneaky little survivor, I think they sell that pretty well, slingshot and all.

Edited March 11, 2019 by CletusMusashi

[Butless]

7 minutes ago, CletusMusashi said:

Well, as far as the slingshot thing goes, they can kill and distract zombies just fine without attracting as much attention as guns, plus the various ammo types are easier to find. And there's no reason to assume she hasn't used guns, or spears, or pool cues during her years of survival. But if your main skill is running away and hiding, then you want to travel light, especially if you ran out of pistol ammo a long time ago.

I agree that I don't want to see Connie and Daryl forced together. To her, he's old and stinky. To him, she's sexually irrelevant, because I do not believe that Daryl actually has a sex drive. And while the notes make sense plotwise, they do harm the pacing, especially in badly lit scenes where I can not even read them. It would actually be easier if they resorted to that schtick where she hands him a piece of paper, he reads it out loud, and she scribbles her next note while he responds. 

But as far as her being a scrappy sneaky little survivor, I think they sell that pretty well, slingshot and all.

A slingshot can penetrate bone plate? Not buying that it's a good weapon at all. ecause the brain is covered  pretty well by the skull, unless youre an infallible slingshotter who always gets them in an orifice.    Im sure she is, though, cause why not have her be that, too?

 The problem with the character isn't one thing or the other. It's all the things that make this character a 'badass;' that is a problem.

Also, who a man with as high testosterone as Daryl have no libido? Also not buying that.

[SimoneS]

37 minutes ago, Butless said:

Also I find it gross that Connie has been called a good match for Daryl *because* she is a deaf mute.  As if she was a human equivalent to Dog. 

I find your characterization gross, repulsive and insulting actually. No one has said anything remotely like this about Connie and why she is a good romantic match for Daryl. Most people see a strong survivor when they look at Connie. Clearly, all you see when you look at Connie is someone who is hearing impaired and a burden. 

Edited March 11, 2019 by SimoneS

[CletusMusashi]

I assume Connie carries multiple pens and writing tablets. Which is a habit more people should have. Another good habit would be for the rest of the group to start learning sign language from her and her sister and using it in stealth situations. AMC would need to have subtitles for that built into the broadcast, but it's no more difficult than "Survivor" doing exactly that whenever they have a whisperer, mumbler, or person with heavy accent.

[mightysparrow]

3 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

I find your characterization gross, actually repulsive. No one has said anything remotely like this.  

Thank you.

How is it that Zeke and Carol make sense but Connie and Daryl don't? 

Edited March 11, 2019 by mightysparrow

[AngelaHunter]

8 minutes ago, mightysparrow said:

But Daryl has been a eunuch to appease a certain fanbase, in my opinion. 

He certainly isn't a eunuch in the Wacky World of Fanfiction. In that world, he doesn't care how or with whom he gets his kicks even if it's with Harry Potter.🤣

But I agree! He's 50 years old! Let him get a little, FFS! This isn't Disney. He needs more than a dog.

[Butless]

18 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I know I've said just that, and more than once, that characters who never make a mistake are one big bore and completely non-credible. It's not just Connie, but when all the millennials arrived, it was impossible to imagine how any of them survived for who knows how long on their own - all well-groomed, well-fed and with perfectly coiffed and clean hair. That makes for good comic book characters, not flesh and blood people. I know it's only a show, but I find that annoying. 

And Daryl, in all these 10 long years, has never ever been tempted or interested in any woman at all, even when he spent nights alone with two of them. I guess Connie (whose name I didn't even know til last week) might have smitten him with the lightning bolt, I suppose. It does happen, but I'll believe it when I see it, but TPTB do realize Daryl is going to have to get washed first, bringing to mind Tom Hanks cross-tying Hooch to try and clean him up.  "Daryl is Dirty and Sexless"  seems to be some idiotic, unbreakable canon on this show.

Supposedly the actor has said this, that he wanted the character to remain sexless. In prior years, I guess.   

In a world where youre constantly on the run from getting turned into meat, by zombies and people, I can believe that you'd lose your libido. Especially if youre a woman, and being pregnant should be a death sentence.  And the lone sane voice on this was Lori, because why would anyone bring a baby into that world? Youd have to be insane.

There is also the problem of pairing Daryl, who had actual chemistry with a woman character the actors true age, with someone 20-30 years younger now. He looks his age.  Its insulting to every woman or girl out there, to do that. It's also insulting to Melissa McBride. Who is actually made up to look much older than her actual age on this show, where there are women in their 20s with their tits out,  makeup on and perfect bailage. 

[CletusMusashi]

2 minutes ago, Butless said:

A slingshot can penetrate bone plate? Not buying that it's a good weapon at all. ecause the brain is covered  pretty well by the skull, unless youre an infallible slingshotter who always gets them in an orifice.    Im sure she is, though, cause why not have her be that, too?

I agree that there are more "realistic" examples of the zombie genre, but the show I'm talking about is "Walking Dead." Where zombie skulls can be destroyed by a firehose or a thunderstom. You can swing a flexible chain through three of them. You can kill two of them bare-handed by ripping one's head and hitting the other with it. You can slowly push a not-particularly-pointed knife straight through them. Honestly, from what we've seen on this show, I think a slingshot might kill them even if you were loading it with tiny little snowballs. Their brain cases seem to be made of paper mache. 

[Butless]

12 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

I find your characterization gross, repulsive and insulting actually. No one has said anything remotely like this about Connie and why she is a good romantic match for Daryl. Most people see a strong survivor when they look at Connie. Clearly, all you see when you look at Connie is someone who is hearing impaired and a burden. 

Yes; they have actually said that; I don't know why you would cast it as a lie.  I didn't say it was said ON HERE.  I know I read it on another review thread. I haven't actually looked around too deeply on here , or I would have quoted it.

"Clearly" I view the character as I explained in my post.  It's a shitty character in a show that has become markedly more shitty.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Butless

[mightysparrow]

Just now, Butless said:

There is also the problem of pairing Daryl, who had actual chemistry with a woman character the actors true age, with someone 20-30 years younger now. He looks his age.  Its insulting to every woman or girl out there, to do that. It's also insulting to Melissa McBride. Who is actually made up to look much older than her actual age on this show, where there are women in their 20s with their tits out,  makeup on and perfect bailage. 

That's funny because I NEVER saw that so-called chemistry.  And I don't see a speck of chemistry with Carol and Zeke either.  It seems that when Carol became some sort of mascot for middle-aged women, she had to have all the men too. 

It's clear that Carol was given a new look to make her more 'feminine' and it ended up making her looking like Granny Clampett.

[CletusMusashi]

11 minutes ago, Butless said:

Also, who a man with as high testosterone as Daryl have no libido? Also not buying that.

Asexuality is a thing. Wasn't really on my radar, either, until, the topic came up about a character on another show. So I did a little easy google check and said "Huh. Okay."

[CletusMusashi]

15 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

He certainly isn't a eunuch in the Wacky World of Fanfiction. In that world, he doesn't care how or with whom he gets his kicks even if it's with Harry Potter.🤣

But I agree! He's 50 years old! Let him get a little, FFS! This isn't Disney. He needs more than a dog.

Please tell me none of that fanfic you've been... um, researching... involves Dog.

[Butless]

25 minutes ago, mightysparrow said:

I don't know if Lauren was cast in an effort to be 'inclusive'.  She happens to be a VERY accomplished, award-winning actress and TWD is lucky to have her.

As for whether it's believable that a deaf-mute woman would be able to survive in the ZA, I think it's just as believable as a middle-aged woman who was worse than useless when the show started now being a stone-cold killer and 'Queen' of a bunch of cosplayers. 

I've thought from the beginning that it would be interesting to have differently-abled characters.  Would they be able to survive in the ZA?  How do their loved ones respond?

I saw a potential for a Daryl and Connie pairing from the beginning.  I think they would be a great couple.  It would also be nice for Daryl to FINALLY be free of the rotting carcass of the 'Caryl' albatross that has been hanging around his neck for years.  Daryl is a grown man and it's been my experience that grown men are usually sexual creatures.  But Daryl has been a eunuch to appease a certain fanbase, in my opinion.  As you said, EVERYONE is paired up.  Except for Daryl.  I say 'free Daryl' and let him get laid.

I don't think Connie is any more 'righteous' than any other character.  Is it a coincidence that you also have a problem with Michonne?  The character is interesting and the actor is talented.  On a show like TWD, that's a win-win.

Michonne shares the same problem of being infallible, which AHunter pointed out makes her boring. I believe that wholeheartedly, and IIRC, a lot of people had the same feeling, when she came upon the scene. The made her all but speechless and scowling for so many episodes that it was hard to see the character as anything more than a caricature. A bad one.

As for Carol, she's OG, and there was character growth there, over years. It wasn't overnight. It was noted, commented on by other characters; they reacted to the character's growth. Connie's just been pushed onto the screen as-is.

Hershel and the older Hilltop couple are aged. One lasted for a while (one legged), and the other until present, because they weren't on the road.  Dwight's sisterinlaw was diabetic, and she was dying without insulin when they were on the road.  Those are some examples that followed some kind of realistic sense.

[AngelaHunter]

3 minutes ago, CletusMusashi said:

Please tell me none of that fanfic you've been... um, researching... involves Dog.

NO!!😮 I steer clear of outrageous perversion. I sometimes skim a few others for giggles if they have a particularly laughable storyline/obvious self-insert Mary Sue. 

I was referring to Disney-type "A Boy and His Dog" sort of thing, like "Old Yeller" - oh, bad example. 😁

[Butless]

10 minutes ago, CletusMusashi said:

Asexuality is a thing. Wasn't really on my radar, either, until, the topic came up about a character on another show. So I did a little easy google check and said "Huh. Okay."

I am aware that it's a thing. I'm not aware that testosterone is not a factor for plenty, if not all, asexuals. 

[BellyLaughter]

Jeez who would have thought in a world where everyone is up against it and suffering that just talking it out and reasonable negotiation could actually benefit everyone???!!!! 

Revelation....

[CletusMusashi]

I agree, being alive and handicapped in the ZA, unless you're living in a protected community, means you're doing something right. Connie is smart, fast, and knows when to choose between planning and decisiveness. She's not an action hero. She's a scrambler, like early Glenn. And I like that character type.

I just wish they'd streamline the note-passing scenes. After commercials, the show's only like half an hour long, so scene length matters. You don't need to talk, though, to do a compelling scene. Rick spent a good chunk of the pilot episode with nobody to talk to, and it was riveting. Enid rolling bottles around to make the zombies move and help Glenn? I like those quiet, simple, easy to see in broad daylight activity moments. And they'd be a good use for the silent character.

Edited March 11, 2019 by CletusMusashi

[Butless]

35 minutes ago, Quilty said:

I agree with all of this! I was thinking to myself while watching, what if Connie drops her pen? Will they all go try to find it? I just don't buy her being the badass they want us to think she is. I hated the Glen&Maggie hookup. I can honestly say for the first time since I started watching the first season I watch it now to see who dies. I don't care about or even really like any character.

As if there are never any miscommunications, or other characters are always going to be close enough or positioned the right way to read everything she writes. As if they would always have the time to read what she writes in a jam, etc. 

Yeah; pretty much have it on to glance up at character deaths. I never understood people who hate watched, before.

[Butless]

24 minutes ago, mightysparrow said:

That's funny because I NEVER saw that so-called chemistry.  And I don't see a speck of chemistry with Carol and Zeke either.  It seems that when Carol became some sort of mascot for middle-aged women, she had to have all the men too. 

It's clear that Carol was given a new look to make her more 'feminine' and it ended up making her looking like Granny Clampett.

You might be in the minority then, because a lot of viewers saw the chemistry. I never stanned for them, or like the Daryl actor.

Do you honestly believe that the main audience of this show is made up of middleaged women? Because I gotta believe that Carol is loved on a much larger audience base. The character went from abused to stronger and stronger. It was seen, commented and reacted to by the other OG characters.  The audience had an underdog to root for. Who cant identify with a character like that? SHe didn't become infallible until the last few years; a victim of bad writing, because the actress has already shown she's better than that.

I will never understand the horrible wigs on this show. They have the budget for the best, but pinch every penny that they can.

[mightysparrow]

22 minutes ago, Butless said:

As for Carol, she's OG,

Do you mean, 'old girl'?

[Butless]

1 minute ago, mightysparrow said:

Do you mean, 'old girl'?

No; that's Brett Butler.

[mightysparrow]

8 minutes ago, Butless said:

No; that's Brett Butler.

They're practically twins.

[mightysparrow]

I think that Daryl recognized a kindred spirit when he saw Connie rescuing that baby.  It's something he would have done.  It seems that he admires her resourcefulness and her fighting spirit.  I think it was the same with Michonne when they were out hunting down the Governor and discovering moonshine shacks.  That was shut down with a quickness once the rumbling started.  Poor Daryl hasn't even been allowed to have female FRIENDS.

As soon as I called the Connie-Daryl 'ship', I predicted that the knives would be out, just like they were for Andrea/Lori, Michonne/Danai and Beth/whatever her name is.  I wonder if the actress is getting death threats yet.

Edited March 11, 2019 by mightysparrow

[tennisgurl]

I was tickled to see that the Kingdom has a statue of Shiva, the shows true hero, up on top of a building. RIP. 

[diebartdie]

2 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

True. Is the kid who plays Henry related to one of TPTB?

He is the older brother to the kid that played younger Henry and to the other kid that played Carol's daughter, Sophia.

[pezgirl7]

I liked that Daryl has never had a love interest, because I hate when shows feel the need to pair people up. I never saw romantic chemistry between him and Carol. I liked that they could have such a close platonic relationship, with out it having to turn into something else. But saying that... at this point in the show, I wouldn't mind if Daryl and Connie become a thing. I don't get the conversations about their ages. The actress is going to be 41 next month. She's hardly a young millenial. She's smart and brave and strong-willed. Hopefully she teaches Daryl some ASL. The note writing does slow things down a bit.

[Cotypubby]

Can Henry please get eaten sooner rather than later? Pretty please? I can’t think of a more useless waste of space character. Anyone who gets killed this season is directly because of him. 

I’m already tired of Connie and her notepad of never ending pages. Seriously, you use one 1 page for two words, what’s gonna happen when you run out of pages? Can’t stand her acting all superior. They should have left Lydia alone. Any conflict is of their own making. 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Cotypubby

[mightysparrow]

7 minutes ago, pezgirl7 said:

I liked that Daryl has never had a love interest, because I hate when shows feel the need to pair people up. I never saw romantic chemistry between him and Carol. I liked that they could have such a close platonic relationship, with out it having to turn into something else. But saying that... at this point in the show, I wouldn't mind if Daryl and Connie become a thing. I don't get the conversations about their ages. The actress is going to be 41 next month. She's hardly a young millenial. She's smart and brave and strong-willed. Hopefully she teaches Daryl some ASL. The note writing does slow things down a bit.

I saw the same thing between Daryl and Carol.  They were friends with a bit of maternal/big sister mixed in. 

Daryl and Connie are well-suited.  The fact that she doesn't speak would definitely work for a man of few words.  They have a pretty efficient method of communication already.  The notes are more for the audience than the characters.  Maybe tptb should give their viewers more credit and let the actors ACT instead of using notes that most of us can't see anyway.

[tennisgurl]

I always saw Darryl and Carol as more brother/sister than possible love connection. I mean, they love each other, but it always feels familiar to me. Carol always seemed rather big sister/maternal towards him, not so much with the romantic chemistry. 

I actually liked this episode, I thought most of the stories worked, and while I just cant with Henry, not even he was as annoying as he has been. Maybe my standards on this show are low? I think it helped that we mostly focused on just a few characters, most of whom I actually know and like, instead of countless random new people. 

I like Darryl and Connie, they make a good team. I somehow just never read Darryl as having much interest in romance in general, but if they did decide on pairing them off, I would be alright with it. Connie is a survivor who hasn't given up on her decency, and both works well with a team and on her own, which is just his type of person. Who knows, maybe Connie will be the one to get the guy to take a damn shower?! They were fun together though, and while the constant writing was a lot (and they really need to get her a bigger pad of paper!), they had a cool dynamic. And the fight between Darryl and Beta was good, probably one of the best they've had in awhile. 

I was almost sad not to see Carol kicking ass, but I loved her getting the cowboys to work with them by letting them watch a movie. I mean, that would basically be me in the ZA, just wanting to watch any crappy movie I could get my hands on. And its nice to have them meet a group that, while not exactly benevolent, are basically reasonable and not crazy like the Whispers or evil like the Saviors. At least, for now anyway. 

"It sounds like a grammatically correct death threat yo." Jerry is a national treasure. 

*Jerry whispers to Ezekiel*

"And Jerry would very much like his sword back."

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I threw one of my cat's toys at my tv because it was so fucking DARK. JFC I'm so tired of the darkness. 

[Ailianna]

You can use a sling or slingshot to hunt and kill.  In fact, it was one of the earliest weapons for distance killing that humans invented. It goes back to Neolithic times and is mentioned by Homer. 

[SimoneS]

After 9 years of this show, I would think people would have learned by now that no one survives in the Zombie Apocalypse by themselves. People need each other to watch each other's backs and to not go crazy. So yes, Connie has a disability and by herself, I am sure it would have been difficult for her to survive, but she had a group and like other survivors including our own people, she developed the skills to fight and uses her intelligence and her other senses in dangerous situations. As Lauren pointed out on Talking Dead, the light behind her warned that one of the walkers was coming to her.

On this show, silence is key to survival when outside of the walls. People occasionally whisper, but mostly they communicate with gestures in silence so as not to attract the walkers and this is exactly what Daryl and Connie were doing. So the claim that writing notes slows down the action is false and contradicts everything we saw on the screen. She and Daryl weren't writing notes during the fight scenes. Also, considering that there is paper everywhere even the Highwaymen have enough to write a letter, running out of paper is farfetched. 

Edited March 11, 2019 by SimoneS

[jackjill89]

When the Highwaymen were giving their whole holding the road for ransom shtick I was so ticked off because it was Saviors 2.0 -- so honestly, the whole movie thing was such a welcome comic relief. We don't need anymore bad guys. I kinda loved the whole thing. It was ridiculous, but in a good way.

[theredhead77]

I know I'm one of the few who watch TWD for enjoyment instead of hate watching and I loved this episode. I don't read comics and stay out of spoilers except to make sure Dog doesn't die (CTRL F dog does wonders in the spoiler thread) so I sure hope the Highwaymen aren't going to double cross the Kingdom or any of the communities. The vibe I get is they are doing what they do to survive the Saviors and those sorts of groups. We've only seen the groups in the area this crew is at. Maybe they came from Texas or TN or somewhere else and encountered other gangs along the way.

I can totally see Darryl remaining single by choice. He had a horrible childhood it seemed his early adult years started off rough too. Some people are just better off single. Men and women can be friends without a brother /sister relationship. They can just!be!friends!, period. Connie would be a good match for Darryl. She's strong, independant and doesn't take his shit. If you go by the actors age she is age appropriate - there is a 9 year gap between their ages. At 40 dating someone who is 50 isn't that big of a deal, especially after you spent the last 10 years in the ZA and pop culture, etc... no longer matters.

[theredhead77]

45 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

As Lauren pointed out on Talking Dead, the light behind her warned that one of the walker was coming.

Yes! I wasn't sure if I remembered seeing that correctly. Connie's other senses are on point. 

*weird, I was expecting my posts to merge, not create a new reply.**

Edited March 11, 2019 by theredhead77

[SamBeckett]

I wonder if Rick knew that instead of going to all the trouble of ripping out Joe’s throat, and getting bloody and everything, he could have simply invited him over for a movie.

Then we’d still have Joe on the show. And he seemed fun. Actually, speaking of movies, the lead Highwayman seems a little like Joe (but he still has his throat).

Edited March 11, 2019 by SamBeckett

[nodorothyparker]

I have no idea if the show is planning on a Daryl-Connie pairing or if people are seeing what they want to see, which is how a lot of ships are born.  I know the actor has been vocal over the years about not wanting Daryl paired off and playing the character almost asexually, something I've found amusing given how the show has promoted him as the least sexy "sex symbol" ever with his sleeveless leather vests and series of implausibly gassed up bad boy motorcycles.  While I don't really care one way or the other because I really don't have any vested interest in any possible romantic inclinations of a guy who has been living in a tent in the woods the past six years, I concede it's been something of a novelty watching one of the bigger stars of such a long running show never show the slightest undisputed inkling of an interest in that direction toward anyone.   I am curious to see whether the show continues down that road with him now that's he's the top billed "lead character."

Teen drippiness aside, this was a well paced rather entertaining episode.  The Big Fight was actually tense and well choreographed and for once for this show it actually lived up to its promised hype..  I'm probably giddier than I should be that after all of our joking about the time jump giving us some sort of LOTR-Old West mashup, that's exactly what we got when our standing Ren Faire group met a steampunk cowboy group and reached an accord over watching movies.  I'd say you can't make that kind of thing up, but they just did and I'm here for it.

[OoohMaggie]

That’s the second show in a row that I’ve enjoyed, a little bit of Jerry humour, a little bit of action, the story moving along albeit slowly, it’s making me feel hopeful for the future.

It’s also the second show in a row that has been spoiled by the ever present ‘ridiculous’ scene. Last week it was the unit of stealthy, silent commandos Daryl managed to round up to hit the Whisperer camp, this time, probably the most awful scene that I’ve ever watched on the show, the introduction to Black Bart and his gang of desperados.

 I think he summed the whole thing up perfectly with his response to Carol “seriously”?

Just because they didn’t kill Jerry or Diane they’re trusted enough to walk around the community, I don’t know if this bunch are in the comics but I wonder if Bart is going to become Kingdom’s ‘loveable rogue’, or whether theyve been brought in to provide some red shirts for Elpha & Co.