Category Archives: science fiction

Nov15

November 14, 2021 – Dwight Rides a Dark Horse, Lyla Weaves a Tangled Web & Sweet

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

A Stalker pushes a cart down the road, and whistles. Another comes out of a nearby building. Stalker 1 says, look what I got. It’s clean. He checked it. Stalker 2, aka Eli, asks what it is, and the other says, they call it dragon fruit because of the thick and spiky skin. He thinks it looks like a strawberry pear. The fruit is shot out of his hand, and they see two people on horseback. Stalker 1 says, who is that? and the other says, they’re the Dark Horses. (For simplicities sake, it’s Dwight and Sherry, which isn’t revealed until the end of the scene, since they’re wearing masks.) Stalker 1 says, they don’t want any trouble, and Sherry says, then why are they stealing sh*t? Stalker 1 says, they’ve got to eat, and Dwight says, so do the guys that he stole it from. Stalker 1 says, all this for a piece of fruit? and Dwight says, it’s the principle. Sherry says, they’ve got a code, and Stalker 1 says, if he returns it, they’ll leave him alone? Sherry says, right again, and Stalker 1 says, screw their code. If you play with fire, you get burned. The Stalkers try to fight, but it’s a losing battle, and Stalker 1 takes off, but Dwight shoots him. Some zombies come out of the woods, no doubt drawn by the sound, and while the Dwight and Sherry deal with them, Eli takes off. Sherry takes off her mask, and so does Dwight. She asks if he’s okay, and he says he didn’t want to kill anybody, but she says, anyone who will kill over fruit deserves what they get, and the more people hear about what they do… He says, he knows, the fewer people they’ll have to go to. He calls their horses, and Sherry says, they stuck to the code. The kill was clean. He says he doesn’t know what he’d do without her, and they kiss. She says she hopes neither one of them has to find out again.

They go back to the cellar, Sherry shows the Larsons the fruit they were given for returning what was stolen to the owner, and Dwight gives Briga a Gameboy to pass the time. She hugs Dwight, and thanks him. Sherry says, she’s been listening to the radio all day, but there’s been nothing about Padre. Dwight tells her, keep listening, and they’ll keep looking, and eventually they’ll find it. Kim suggests Briga go play while they catch up with  Dwight and Sherry. Kevin tells them, there’s no easy way to say it, but they can’t wait anymore. Sherry asks, for what? and Kim says, this place is falling apart, and they’re running out of food. Kevin says Dwight and Sherry can use the cellar as long as they like, but they have other things to consider. They have to find someplace else. Dwight says they wouldn’t be there doing what they’re doing if the Larsons hadn’t opened their doors, but they’ve got to find Padre. Kim says they don’t even know what Padre is; it’s just rumors on the radio. Kevin asks how they know they’ll find it, and Dwight says, they keep hearing about it. If they keep doing what they’re doing, they’ll find it. It’s only a matter of time. Kim and Kevin can trust them. Kevin says he reckons they can wait a bit longer.

The credits reveal Lennie James (Morgan) directed the episode.

Back on their horses, Dwight says, is Sherry sure this is the spot? and she says, these are the coordinates. Dwight says he doesn’t know how long they can keep this up, looking for Padre. Promising something they can’t deliver on. Sherry says, it will be a new base for them to keep doing what they’re doing, a new place for Briga to grow up in. They just need to keep doing what they’re doing. Someone yells, over here; they need help. They were attacked. Sherry and Dwight run over to where there are two guys in protective gear, one slumped against a tree, and the other tending to him. Dwight asks, what happened? and the man in front steps aside, both of them drawing guns. Others come out, including Howard, who says, they’re the ones who call themselves the dark horses? Lose the mask. The readings are clear there, and if they’d wanted them dead, it would have been done already. Their reputation is the reason he was asked to find them. Sherry says, asked by who? and a hood is put over her head.

Victor sends a golf ball off the roof, and his assistant places another on the tee. Howard comes out with Sherry and Dwight, and says, the dark horses, per his request. Victor laughs, and says, so they’re the outlaws he’s heard so much about? What delicious irony. Howard asks how they know each other, and Victor says, they go way back. Sherry says, they would have come if he’d just asked, and Dwight asks, what the hell is this place, and what’s that sound? Victor says, ambiance… apologies. They’re particular about who they let into their sanctuary. Had he known it was them, he would have used gentler tactics. Dwight asks why brought them there, and he says he has a proposal. Sherry asks, what kind of proposal? and Victor says, right down to business, but don’t deny him the pleasure of showing them around. Dwight asks what business he’s talking about.

Inside, Victor says, people look at the dark horses as peace officers of modern frontier. Sherry asks how many people are there, and Victor says, two hundred, but they estimate they can hold two thousand. Dwight asks if they go out and find people, but Victor says, it’s a bit more complicated than that. June is there, and Wendall, and John’s father. Dwight asks if Morgan is there, and Victor says, they’ve crossed paths. Grace and Sarah too. Dwight asks if they’re there, and Victor says, not exactly. Dwight asks, why not? and Victor says, they’re particular about who they take in, which brings him to Mickey, one of their denizens. Dwight says, if he didn’t open the door to Morgan, Victor can shove it up his ass, and Victor says, Mickey was starving and delirious when they found her, and made an extraordinary recovery, but she’s fixated on finding her husband when his fate seemed obvious to everyone but her. Sherry says, so she went to look for him. Why does Victor care? Victor says he invests in his people in the tower, and can’t sit idly by while Mickey puts her life in danger for a place that doesn’t exist, a transmission she heard. Dwight asks what place, and how does he know it doesn’t exist? Victor says the only inhabitable place within miles is where they’re standing, and Dwight asks what he needs them for. Victor says, they know where Mickey is holed up, but anyone who goes there comes back bruised and tattered, if they come back at all. He thought the Dark Horses would have success where they failed. Sherry says, it sounds like she doesn’t want to come back, and he says, sometimes people don’t know what’s good for them. If they bring Mickey back, they can have residency there. Dwight says, they already have a place, and Victor asks how that’s working out. Dwight says, they’re getting by, and Victor says he’d think they want more than just getting by. Sherry says, calling the tower a sanctuary makes her think it’s anything but. They see the photos on the wall, and Victor says, it’s their way of keeping track of the dead. He begs them to help him save Micky from this fate. Sherry thanks him for the tour, but says, they have to pass. He asks, why? and she says, they have a code of honor. He asks what that entails, and she says, keeping people safe from a-holes like him. He laughs, and says, it’s a new world now; they know, they’ve been out there. To use their parlance, it’s a-holes like him who are keeping people safe. Should they change their mind or require his assistance, they know where to find him.

Howard brings Dwight and Sherry back to where they were, and removes their hoods. Dwight asks how he finds them. Howard says, the horses are theirs to keep. Consider it a down payment in hopes they reconsider. Sherry says, he didn’t answer the question, and Howard says, he won’t. It’s to keep the place safe. Don’t follow them. They leave, and Dwight says, they were supposed to keep Kevin and Kim safe, keep Briga safe, but they’re not safe. Victor’s tower would be a sure thing. Sherry says, they know nothing worth having is a sure thing, and he says, so what do they do? She says, help find Micky and her husband. They can all go Padre together.

Mickey puts together makeshift armor. A zombie sticks it’s arm through the window, and she asks if it wants to test it out. She stabs it in the throat, and hears someone human outside. Sherry asks if anyone is there, and Mickey says, go away. Tell Victor she’s not coming back. Dwight says he just wants to talk, and comes in, hands raised. She asks if he wants to put his gun down, and he puts it on the table. She holsters her knife, and twists Dwight’s arm behind his back. She asks how they knew where she was and what her name is, and he says, it’s not what she thinks. They’re not here to help Victor. Sherry comes in the back way, holding a gun, and says, they can help Mickey find her husband. Now how about letting go of hers?

Sherry, Dwight, and Mickey are having a beer, and Mickey asks what else Victor said. Sherry says, he told them that he’s worried about her, but Mickey says, she doesn’t think so. They only thing Victor is worrying about is how she got out. Victor and his men have their own way, but for the rest of them, the only way out is to walk through the dead. Why do they think Victor wants her brought back? Sherry says, so no one knows how she escaped, and Mickey says, she’s got it. Sherry says, Mickey made the suit, and Micky says, every night when the guards weren’t looking. Dwight asks if she’s sure they don’t know each other, and she says, no offense, but she wouldn’t forget a face like that. He says, Dearly Beloved. She’s the bride. He tells Sherry, Micky was amazing. What’s that special move she had? Sherry asks what he’s talking about, and he says, Micky and her husband were one of the best tag teams in wrestling. He was there when she won the belt in ’05. His dad took him when he was a kid. That’s her, right? Mickey says, people stopped recognizing her before the world went to sh*t, and Dwight says, one of her fans is still here. What happened? She says she stopped touring, and they opened a gym. When the bomb went off, Victor found her and took her in. She’s been trying to get back to the gym. Dwight asks what stopped her, and she says her suit couldn’t handle a herd of that size. Sherry says, they can help her, and Mickey asks, why? Dwight says, they’re a tag team themselves, and Mickey says, what kind? He says, the kind that protects people from people like Victor. Sherry says, they spent a lot of time crisscrossing the country, and they found each other, and Dwight says, if they did that, they can find Padre. Mickey asks if they know where it is, and he says, they’ve heard messages, and can work together to find it. Sherry says, they can make stops along the way for weapons and supplies, not to mention the people they can bring in when they find it. 

Mickey rides with them, and asks, how much further? Dwight says, they should be there before dark. Micky needs to show him that move she made. She says she can’t do it without her husband, and Sherry says she’ll be with him soon enough. They stop, and see smoke coming from the cellar door. Dwight and Sherry run down, and see Kim and Kevin are dead, shot through the head, and Briga is a zombie, leashed to the wall. Dwight takes her arm, and takes out a knife.

In the woods, they bury everyone. Micky says she’s so sorry, but they shouldn’t stay there long. Whoever did this might come back. Dwight leans on his shovel, and says, if you play with fire, you’ll get burned. They wanted to leave. Sherry says, it’s not their fault, but Dwight says, they stayed because they thought they’d be going to a better place. She says, they stayed to the code and helped people, but he says, maybe that’s not enough; maybe Victor is right. This is a new world, and maybe the sure thing isn’t Padre. He calls to Micky, and says, they tried to help, and they were doing the opposite. He doesn’t want that to happen to her. She says she doesn’t understand, and he says, odds are, they can’t find Padre, but Mickey says, they found each other. He says, they may not get so lucky again. He thinks Victor’s tower it the best place for her. She calls them chicken sh*ts, and Dwight says, the people they were trying save got killed. Victor will give her a second chance. She says, Victor will lock her up and throw away the key. There’s no way she’s going back. Don’t do this. Dwight says, she’s going to die, but she says she’s made it this far on her own. Sherry says, Mickey’s not doing this alone; she’s coming. She tells Dwight that it’s not right. They can’t hand over Mickey to Victor. She thought they agreed they have a code for a  reason. He’s saying it’s for Mickey, but she thinks it would really be for them. She tells him, the old bar; go back there. She’s going to help Micky get Cliff, then she’ll come back to him, and they’ll figure out what’s next. He calls after her, but she and Micky ride off .

Micky says, they’re almost there; Sherry can make it back to the bar before nightfall. Sherry says she’s not leaving until they find Cliff, and Micky says, she used to do the same thing when she had an argument with Cliff. Take walk, and let him cool down. She thinks she and Sherry are a lot alike. Sherry says she doesn’t know what got into him, thinking taking her back to Victor would be keeping her safe. Mickey says she doesn’t know why they didn’t take Victor’s deal, but Sherry says, they made a bargain with a guy like Victor before, and it nearly tore them apart. Mickey says, they got separated and found each other. Whatever this is, sounds like nothing. Sherry says, she’d given up before, and told Dwight to stop looking for her in a letter, but he found her. Mickey asks why she told him to stop, and Sherry says she didn’t want him getting killed doing it. Mickey tells her, Cliff said the same thing to her, and Sherry says she thought she and Cliff were meeting at the gym. Mickey says she just told them that so they’d be more inclined to help. He may or may not be there, but it was the last place she thought to look. Sherry says, Mickey can’t do what Cliff said. Maybe she and Dwight are alike. They come to a ramshackle building with a sign that says The Grapple Chapel, and Mickey says, this is their humble abode. There are zombies gathered outside, and Sherry stabs one that went rogue. She asks how long Mickey thinks her suit will hold up, and Mickey says, not as long as last time. Escaping the moat did a lot of damage. Sherry says she has an idea.

Dwight sees his horse, and says he’d thought he’d lost him. There’s the sound of a gun cocking, and Eli says, you did. Turn around, hands up, nothing stupid. Take his mask off or he’ll take off for him. He found Dwight, which means Dwight is his now, and Dwight knows what happens when someone tries to take back what’s his. Dwight says, the people in the cellar were good people, and Eli says, so was his friend, but that didn’t stop Dwight from killing him. At least he got something besides a horse. He holds up the Gameboy, and Dwight lunges at him, but Eli throws Dwight to the ground, saying, he told Dwight, nothing stupid. He’d rather not waste a bullet if he doesn’t have to. Dwight makes a kissy sound, and the horse kicks Eli, who goes flying. I literally LOL. Eli is hurt, and can’t get up. Polaroids have fallen out of his gear, and Dwight looks through them. Seeing a picture of Kevin, he says, Victor put Eli up to it, didn’t he? and Eli says, he doesn’t know his name. Dwight kicks him, and asks what Victor offered him. he says, a place in his settlement if he took those people out. He got what he wanted, and got to screw Dwight over. Zombies are headed their way, and Dwight takes Eli’s gun. The zombies descend on him, and he says he thought Dwight had a code. Dwight rides off.  

Sherry covers Micky in zombie guts, and Micky asks if she’s sure it will work. Sherry says, it has in the past. She’ll get used to the smell. If anything goes wrong, she’s got Micky’s back. Micky asks how Sherry is going to get inside, but Sherry says, they’ll worry about her first. Micky thanks her, and puts on a helmet. She walks through the crowd to the door, but it’s chained from the other side. She starts to walk back, and a zombie tries to bite her. She falls, and Sherry shoots the one closest to Micky and says, over here a-holes. Micky starts stabbing at them, but ends up with one on each arm, biting at her pseudo armor. Sherry shoots the glass in the door, and tells her, go, but Micky says she’s not going without Sherry. Sherry runs through the zombies, stabbing them. She gets to the door, shoots one of zombies that has Micky, and runs out of bullets. Micky gets to the door, and says she’s out too. Sherry says, now what? and Mickey says, they made it. Now they have to figure out how to keep them out.

They block the door by bracing themselves against punching bags, but arms are still getting through. They talk about where Cliff might have gone, and Micky says, maybe he found Padre. Sherry tells Micky that they’ll find him, and Sherry wonders if they get to the boxing ring, can they pick them off one by one. Sherry runs to the ring, and gets up on it. Micky starts to follow, but when she gets to the ring, she finds her husband, who is now a zombie. Micky goes to him, taking his head in her hands, and he snaps at her. Sherry reaches down, and stabs him in the head, telling Micky, keep moving. She pulls Micky up into the ring, and hugs her. Micky cries, and says, it’s over. Sherry tells her, Cliff said if they split up, he’d want her to keep going, and Micky says, for what? Sherry says, she’ll find something. It might not be what she sought, but something. The ring suddenly collapses, making them even with the floor. Sherry says she’s calling Victor. Maybe he’s right. The world different now, and this is how it has to be. Dwight stands at the door, and asks who she’s calling. She says, Victor, and he says, don’t do it. He hired Eli to kill Kim and Keven. Sherry asks, why? and he says, maybe to make them see that his way is the only way, but it’s not. He’d rather die fighting with her, than live fighting for Victor. He tosses them guns, and the three of them shoot zombies. As the crowd thins, Sherry goes down to the floor, and she and Dwight stab them. Micky shows Dwight her wrestling skills using a zombie, and cool Reggae music plays. There’s one left, and Dwight calls to Micky. She gets above the zombie, and jumps down with the knife pointing down, and spearing it in the head, obviously pleased with herself.

Sherry walks over to sit on the bleachers with Micky, stabbing a leftover zombie on her way there. She tells Micky that she’s so sorry, and Dwight joins them. He says he cleaned Cliff up as best as he could, if she wants to say a final goodbye. He also found this. He hands her a note in an envelope, and she reads: Micky, if you’re reading this, it means I didn’t make it. He looked everywhere, and hoped she’d find him. There are maps in the desk that can help her know where not to look. Don’t give up, baby. Keep going. Find it. And don’t stay sad for too long. Find someone else to stand in her corner like he did. Don’t do it alone. Til death do us part. She says she waited too long to get started. She’s got to find Padre for him. Dwight says, they will. And she has him and Sherry standing in her corner. Micky goes out to say her goodbye, and Sherry says she’s sorry for ditching him. He says he’s sorry for being a d*ck, and she says she gets why he wanted to take Victor’s offer; it would have been happier for them. He says, it’s not about that, and she asks what it is about. He says he doesn’t know if it’s because he was thinking about his dad, or what happened to Britta; maybe both. He realized something he’s been thinking about a long time. He wants them to have a family. She asks why he didn’t tell her, and he says, he didn’t know it was what wanted. The life they’re living is good for them, but he didn’t see room for a family. Looking at the Larsons, he thought the only way to do it would be to go with Victor. She says if they did, they couldn’t face each other, but there’s room. Look at Mickey. You don’t have to wait until everything is perfect. They’ll just let life happen. She kisses him, and on Sherry’s radio, a voice says, he heard they’re the Dark Horses, and Sherry says, they heard right.

Mickey, Dwight, and Sherry ride down the road, and Mickey asks how this works. Sherry says, they find a-holes, and Dwight says, and give them hell. Mickey says she can do that, and he says he knows she can. They see a man in protective gear, who says, so you’re the Dark Horses? They get down, guns drawn, and Dwight asks if he thinks he’s the first person to ambush them. The guy says, it’s not an ambush. Other men come out, dressed the same, and the guy says, it’s an invitation to work together. Word is, they know how retrieve people and things. Dwight asks what they want found, and the guy says, not what, where. They want to find Padre, and the Dark Horses are going to help them.

Next time, Al tells Morgan, the reclamation team has one mission: to destroy evidence that they were there, meaning them; and Morgan says, they have company.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

Lyla flashed back to telling her assistant they’d check the test subject’s bloodwork for abnormalities. I thought the test subject was Percy, and it’s not, but it’s weird how eerily alike they look. Lyla told the assistant they’d start at dawn; she was having dinner with Leo and his family. She remembered the dinner with Leo, Iris, and Hope, and the power going out. At dawn, the test subject asked the assistant if she had family. He did too, and maybe they were dead already, but this plan was bullsh*t. Maybe what he did was bullsh*t, and it’s all he’d ever be, but they spilled blood and lies. The assistant spoke into a recorder, giving test subject 8481’s vitals, and said she was standing by to proceed with exposure. Iris and Hope watched as Leo concocted something, and he told them that this was how they killed that many people. The gas bonded to the lung tissue, and allowed the victim to choke until they drowned from inside out. Hope said they couldn’t get away with this, but Iris said they already had unless they stopped them. Hope said the liquid should be colorless, and Leo said they did something to it. At the secret lab, Lyla’s test subject died, and she repeated to herself, this is how we have tomorrow. A guard came in, and said he was afraid they had a problem.

Jadis came in to question Silas, and commented on his big feet. She asks if they told him why they took his boots, and he said, so he wouldn’t run. She said she bet he could; he could skip through a rockpile with those feet. She introduced herself, and said he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He said he was lost, and she asked if he liked where he was. He said he did, but it was kind of like living in a junkyard, and she told him, he said that like it was a bad thing, which was funny, considering where she came from. He said, it wasn’t bad, just different. She said he was different, and so was she. What was he doing there without clearance? He told her again that he was lost, and didn’t want to ask directions. She said if he had, he’d still be in there. Dennis came in, and said Jadis was sh*tting him, but she said, I sh*t you not. He said it had been a long time, and she said she heard he made soldiers. Did he think he could make Silas one? Silas said he was lost, and trying to decide if he should ask directions. Did Dennis believe it? He told Silas, come on, and Jadis asked him again. He said, maybe, and she told Silas that she had a feeling. Make her regret it, and he’d regret it more. So would Dennis. He was being given another chance. Don’t get lost again.

Hope just got done hiding the vial in a stereo speaker, when Mason found her. He said he heard about her sister, and her yeast theory had sparked something. That was huge. She asked if he wanted to hang later. Leo looked at a book containing information on chemical warfare, when Lyla came by. She said they didn’t have a lot of time. They were coming to take Leo in for questioning. She knew he took a vial from her lab, and brought her in. The vault where the vials were stored had security sensors, and they knew when one was missing. She said she’d told them she’d misplaced it, and if he gave it back, he and his daughters wouldn’t be in danger. She left, and a guard pounded on the door. He had a team with him, and said Leo needed to come with them.

Iris asked Percy if he was okay, and he said it still hurt, but it was better when she was there. She looked out the window to see Leo being taken for questioning. Felix came out, and said he was Leo’s security detail, and nobody was taking Leo anywhere without him. The head guard said, have it his way. Iris came outside, and Felix told her that he had her dad; find her sister. Percy told her to find Hope, and he’d find Huck. Iris found Hope with Lyla, who wanted to make them an offer. She knew they had no reason to trust her, but she’d show them what she was doing. They needed to give vial, and had to decide now. Their father’s life depended on it.

Huck asked Jadis what was going on, and Jadis said she’d sent an agent to get Huck because sh*t was going down. There had been a security breach regarding sensitive research material. Huck might help her see things she missed. Something valuable was missing, and they needed to know if someone took it. They needed it back, and she needed to know if Huck could help her with that. She took Huck the room where Leo was being held.

Lyla brought Iris and Hope to her super-secret lab, and said the stolen vial’s contents had been developed there. No one was supposed to know about it, including their dad. Hope told her, they never said they took it, and Iris asked what happened there. Lyla said they studied regeneration, but she needed to observe what happened when the subject was dying. Iris said, they killed people for research? but Lyla said most of the subjects were found bitten in the wild, and would have died in vain, instead of passing on a gift to science and tomorrow. Hope said Lyla told them most of the subjects were from the outside, and Lyla showed them a webcam of a fresh zombie chasing a rat. Lyla said, eventually the rat would get tired, but the dead won’t, not ever. They were perpetually in motion, and none of them would be safe as long as that existed in the world. Hope asked how this tied into Omaha, and Lyla said they were investigating delaying the time between death and reanimation. She’d been told about secret military operation where tens of thousands of people were to die, but it was critical to their survival. It gave them their chance to test their theories out in the field. Dr. Abbot had threatened to tell people outside the walls what the military was doing. Iris asked, why so many people? and Lyla said she’d asked that, but was told not to ask again. Hope said Lyla was putting her own safety first, but Lyla said she could have ended up dead for something she couldn’t stop, instead of turning it into something that will save humanity. Hope asked if it was to find answers, and Lyla said, it was about data. Telling the truth about the vial would save their father. She told them that she’d misplaced it. Showing them she has it will take the suspicion off of Leo, and save him. Iris said Lyla wanted to save herself by pretending she cared about Leo. Lyla said she did care about him, and it could keep the both of them alive; maybe all of them. Hope told her it was in the stereo speaker, and Lyla told them to wait there for a few minutes after she left. They shouldn’t take the risk of being seen together more than they had already. When she left, Hope told Iris that she had no choice, and Iris asked if she actually trusted Lyla. Hope said, of course not, but they came there to keep their dad safe. The zombie was now eating the rat, and looked at the camera.

Dennis told Silas that he was on guard duty; they had a supply drop coming in. Silas said he wasn’t lost, and Dennis said he knew that. Silas was trying to find his friends again. Silas wondered why Dennis had backed him up, and Dennis said he didn’t know what would happen to Silas if he didn’t. Silas asked what if the CRM wasn’t what Dennis thought, and Dennis wondered why Silas would ask that. He said Silas was a good kid, and he didn’t want to see him screw up. Silas said he thought Dennis was one of the good soldiers, and Dennis said Silas could be too, but he had some sh*t to get rid of.

Jadis said Leo had violated a bunch of rules, and Leo said he wanted Felix with him. That was a hard no, and Jadis asked where he was last night. Huck said he had a relationship with Lyla, and asked if he was with her. He said he’d invited Lyla to meet Hope and Iris, and Felix was with Huck on security patrol. Lyla got caught up at work, and showed up an hour late. Hope told Iris that she thought Lyla really cared about Leo, and Iris said, an entire city was dead because Lyla let it happen. Hope shouldn’t have made the decision without her. Hope said like Iris did when their mom died? They saw soldiers outside the door on the security camera. Huck said, after ten years of being a single father, why did Leo choose Lyla? He said she was special. She was kind and smart, and laughed at his jokes. He could tell her stories about his family, and she absorbed the details like she was there; like she wanted to be part of the family, so he wanted her to be. Huck said it sounded like he loved her, and he said, maybe he did. Afterward, Jadis asked Huck if it sounded like Leo had fallen out of love with Lyla, and Huck said she thought he used to love Lyla, but not anymore. Jadis asked why they would share the lie, and Huck said Lyla still cared about Leo and was covering for him. Jadis told the head guard to find Lyla. They’d found their conspirators. Down in the lab, Hope told Iris to run.

Hope and Iris hid where the test subjects were, and dodged the guards, who were looking around. Jadis told Huck that Leo claimed he wasn’t working with Lyla, but Huck helped her see it. Iris and Hope continued to sneak around and evade the guards, getting a little too close for comfort to the test subjects. Jadis told Huck that Lyla had suspected Leo took the vial, and went straight to Elizabeth. She radioed the guards that the suspects had been located, and the guards left the lab. Lyla was brought in, and she told Jadis that she’d found the missing vial. Jadis asked, where? and Lyla said, to be honest, Leo had stolen it with his daughters’ help. They’d been suspicious that she was involved in classified experiments, and took it from her freezer. She told Leo that she was sorry, but no more lies or deceit. She thought she could manage it to everyone’s benefit, but they can’t hurt Leo; he was too valuable, and she needed his help with Project Lotus. She explained to Leo that she used live test subjects, and through their deaths was able to further her research on their animation. Now he knew the truth, and they should let him go. Jadis asked, why? and Lyla said she thought she was on the verge of a breakthrough. They’d been able to delay reanimation for eight hours. It could be a step forward if she had Leo’s help, and he could openly pass on his knowledge to Hope. Think of the progress they could make. Jadis said she believed Lyla, and Lyla said, if Leo walked away, could he refocus his efforts on their priority? Leo said they had a deal, and Lyla asked if he could move past this. It was life versus death, but it didn’t mean some wouldn’t die along the way. Jadis brought Huck along to visit Lyla’s lab, and wondered if Huck’s mom knew about it. The test subject was officially zombiefied, and Jadis said Lyla hadn’t broken eight hours, and Leo wasn’t going to be helping her. It was Jadis’s job to eliminate security threats, and Lyla had already handed the baton to her successor. Leo was easy to control when his family was threatened. Jadis cut the test subjects restraint straps, and she and Huck left Lyla in the room. Jadis said, the rat eventually gets tired, but the dead won’t, She couldn’t have put it better herself. Lyla banged on the window, and after a half-hearted attempt at evading him, he grabbed her, and bit her neck. Blood spattered all over the window, and I thought, if she’d been smart, she would have looked to see if there was anything she could use for a weapon. As I always say, being a New Yorker is always knowing where the nearest weapon is. Jadis told Huck, another tragic accident; these things happen. If Huck’s mother doubted her allegiance, she could now verify it. They’d used her to being in Leo, and it was a productive day. Huck asked if the Campus Colony and Omaha were part of a tactical op, and Jadis said what they were doing would confirm the future for years to come.

Huck went back to her room to find Percy sitting there with a big knife. He said Iris thought she was going to help her dad, not be the one to interrogate him. She reached for her gun, but he was faster, and she said if he was to kill her, do it. She deserved it. That was the  pistol she shot him and his uncle with. Or don’t shoot her, since it would be doing her a favor, but either way he wasn’t leaving the building. Leo, Hope, Iris, and Felix gathered in Leo’s room. Iris said Percy had gone to talk to Huck, and she hadn’t seen him since. What the CRM was doing was too big to stop. Percy returned, looking upset, and Huck went to see Dennis. Percy told the group that the CRM was going to light up Portland, and Huck explained to Dennis how they wiped out Omaha and the Campus Colony. They planned to kill 87,000 people, and there was no way to warn them without getting intercepted. They weren’t going to know what hit them. Iris suggested destroying the gas, and Hope said they’d have to destroy the whole place, with them in it. They needed to get the scientists out, along with their research. She wondered how they could do it. Huck told Dennis she wasn’t sure how they’d work it exactly. Iris said, someone might talk, and scientists weren’t fighters. Alone with Iris, Percy told her that he’d wanted to kill Huck, but didn’t because of her. He wanted to see her again. They got busy.

Hope had a beer with Mason, who said, sometimes it felt normal there, and sometimes like a prison. His dad was probably disappointed that he wasn’t in the military. His dad was Major General Beale. Silas saw Huck kiss Dennis, and no doubt got the wrong impression. Huck turned around to see him standing there with his zombie pokey stick in his hand.

Next time, Leo says they need to save themselves, Iris says they’ll do what they have to in order to make sure they win, and Jadis orders a facility lockdown.

😴 Please Send Sleep Immediately…

It’s time to put this baby (and me) to bed, so Dead news tomorrow, along with soap and what’s on Deck. Until then, stay safe, stay spicing your life with variety, and stay just letting life happen.You don’t have to wait until everything is perfect.

Nov8

November 7, 2021 – Morgan Visits Victor, Blackout At the CRM, Pollyanna’s Return, Valuable, Now They Did It, Pup Parade & Way

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

A zombie trips over a fallen warhead sticking out of the ground. Sarah opens her eyes, not sure of where she is. She goes downstairs and says, hello? She looks around at what seems to be a castle, and checks herself out in a mirror. A zombie wanders in, and she quicky grabs a rifle, but can’t get it to work. She says, hell, as the zombie gets closer, but a shot is heard and it drops. Al says, she’s awake, and Daniel, Luci, Charlie, and Wes come out. Luci says, welcome back, and Sarah asks how long she’s been out. Luci says, two days, and Wes and Charlie check the radioactivity coming from the zombie. Wes says, it’s off the charts. He wonders how it got there, and asks if Sarah brought any in with her. She says, no, and Charlie says, the zombies shouldn’t be able to go past the gate. She asks if Daniel closed it, and he says he did. She asks if he’s sure, but he says, no. Luci tells him not to worry, and Sarah asks where they are. Al says, Fort San Vincent, or it used to be before a rich guy bought it in the 60s and turned it into a bed and breakfast. Sarah wonders how she got there. She remembers the bombs going kablooey, and her engine overheated. What the hell was that? Al says, it’s better she doesn’t know, and Daniel says, she’s not only one Al isn’t telling what happened. Wes says, Sarah had a rough landing, and was knocked unconscious. Luci says, there are so many dead, and Al says, they took turns, but mostly Jacob was keeping an eye on her. He’s out working the east boundary, but he’ll be glad to see her back on her feet. Sarah asks if Wendell made it there, but Al shakes her head. Luci says they haven’t heard from him, and Charlie said when they went searching for him, the only thing they found was this. She hands Wendell’s cap to Sarah, and Sarah asks what they’re sitting there for. They have to find him. She starts to leave, but Luci stops her, and says, it’s not safe. Sarah tells her to step aside if she wants to keep her teeth, and Al says if Sarah goes past the safe zone, she’ll end up like that corpse. Luci says, if they go out, they’ll die, but Sarah says, however hard they think they looked, she’ll look harder. He’s alive, and she’ll find him.

Sarah sits on a hill with the radio, and some supplies, and asks if Wendell hears her. She’s trying every channel on this damn radio. She looks around with binoculars, and tries the radio again. She keeps repeating the pattern. She says, if you can hear me, give me a sign. If he’s out there, she wants him to know she’s still looking. She looks at a map, and says she’ll be riding the airwaves again tomorrow; over and out. She packs up. and a voice comes over the radio, asking if somebody is there. She says, Wendell? and Morgan says, is that her? She says, Momo? and he says, that’s what they call the baby. She says, whose baby? and he says, it’s a long story. She says, hearing his voice is music to her ears, and he says, it’s good to hear hers too. She says she thought he was dead, but he says he’s all right; Grace too. She asks if he’s seen Wendell, but he says, no. He’s holed up at the Pennsylvania. She says, she’s holed up with Al and the others; Al saved their keisters. She’s at a place called Fort San Vincent. Things look good in the immediate vicinity, but she thinks there’s a warhead dud somewhere near there. The radio goes dead, and she asks if he’s there. Morgan? She tries to charge the radio, but it’s not working. She says, sh*t in a sandbox, and throws it in her bag. She sees an SUV down on the road, and says, who might you be?

Sarah looks around the truck, and asks if someone is there. She looks inside, and a dog barks. She says, Rufus, and asks how he got there. Where’s MoMo? She lets Rufus out, and looks in the car. She sees the box with Emile’s head in it, and hears a gun cock. Josiah tells her, step away from my brother, and she asks, who the are hell you, and what’s your brother’s head doing in a box with my friend’s name on it? He says, his name is Emile. Her friend’s head is supposed to be in the box, not his brother. Mr. Jones killed him. She says, another psychopath who wants to try and kill Morgan. What’s his beef have to do with her? He says he wants her help finding Morgan, and she says, that’s kind of hard to do when she doesn’t know where he is. He says he heard her on the radio, and Morgan said he was in the Pennsylvania. What is that? A hotel? A restaurant? Wherever he is, she’s going to take him there. A zombie pops out, and Emile kills it. Sarah says she doesn’t rat out her friends, but he says he thinks she should reconsider. He’s the only hope she’s got of finding her brother. She asks how he knew about Wendell, and he tells her that he heard what she said on the radio. He suggests she accept his offer, unless she wants her brother to end up like this. He gestures toward the downed zombie, and holds out his hand. She gets up without taking it, and says, he can find Wendell? He says he and Emile share more than blood. When he needs to find somebody, he’ll stop at nothing, and he does mean nothing. Morgan in exchange for her brother. Tell him to meet her outside of the rest stop on 7489 at dawn. He holds out the car radio, and she says, find Wen first. He says that’s what he intends to do. He works fast. She asks, what’s going to happen to Morgan? and he tells her that she’s asking the wrong question. She should be asking, what will happen to Wendell if she doesn’t accept his terms? She takes the radio, and asks if Morgan copies.

Josiah stops by the side of the road, and he gets out of the car, along with Sarah and Rufus. He asks what makes Sarah so sure Wendell went this way, and she says, it’s the only place she hasn’t checked. He says, if he gets exposed, she has to give him the pills; the same for Rufus. She says she only swiped enough for her and her brother, and he says he agreed to help her look for her brother, not die for him. She asks what his name is, and he says, Josiah. She says, she’s Sarah Rabinowitz, and he says, well, Sarah, time to get to work. He dances through the air with a battleax, downing two zombies. He starts digging inside one, and Sarah says she doesn’t think he’s going to find Wendell in there, but he says, he will if they ate him. How long has he been missing? She says, 78 days, and he says she still thinks he’s alive? She says, he’s a fighter, and he says he’s warning her, if her brother is dead, they might not find him. Zombies can travel a mile and a half to 36 miles in a day; he’s a dead man walking. She says, he’d love that. He hasn’t taken a step in 40 years. He’s been in a wheelchair since he was a kid. Josiah asks if she has anything that belongs to him, and she gives him the cap. He whistles for Rufus, saying, Rufus is a cadaver dog; he can smell the living and the dead. Rufus sniffs the cap, and Josiah says, go find. Sarah asks if they should follow, but he says they need to give these two a proper rest first.

Josiah is tamping down the dirt over a grave, and Sarah says, things would go quicker if they didn’t have to bury every skinbag they came across. He tells her, the dead deserve respect, and she says, if he respected the dead, he wouldn’t be toting around his brother’s head like a pet rock. He says, it makes him remember what he promised his brother, but she says she doesn’t think his brother would hold him to it. He’s so full of sh*t. All he wants to do is kill, and he’s using Rufus to help him. She knows a psychopath when she sees one. He says she doesn’t know anything about him, and she’s got the nerve to call him crazy. She asks what makes him think he can do what his brother couldn’t? and he says, when you’ve been through what he’s been through, it makes you capable of doing things you never thought possible.

Rufus barks incessantly at a Stalker herding the dead toward a wagon drawn by horses. Josiah tells him, don’t move, and the Stalker says, he didn’t do nothin’, but Josiah says the guy put his dog in danger. He should kill him. The Stalker says Rufus came to him, and Josiah says he intends to find out why. He tells the Stalker to take his mask off, and the Stalker says his readings are clean, but Josiah says, that’s not what he’s asking. What’s he got in there; more like them? He looks in the back of the wagon, where there are a bunch of naked zombies. Josiah asks Sarah if any of them are Wendell, and she shakes her head. He asks the Stalker what the hell he’s doing. What happened to their clothes? He thinks the guy is hiding something, and tells him to take off his clothes. Sarah protests, but Josiah asks if she wants to find her brother or not. He tells the guy, strip now, and the Stalker takes his clothes off and stands there. Rufus smells the pile of clothes, and shows a particular interest in a red bandana. Josiah pulls it out, and asks if Sarah recognizes it. She nods, and takes it. Josiah tells the Stalker to show them where he found it.

They go to a barn where livestock were kept, and now zombies are in the stalls. Josiah says, this is what he does? Strip them and take their possessions? The Stalker says, something like that, and Sarah says, you’re a real twisted POS, know that? She says, Wendell’s not there, then looks hard at something. Josiah says, what? and she looks closer. She sees a wheelchair all mangled up and disgusting with guts, and says, that’s his chair. She asks the Stalker, where is he? The man in the chair. He asks if she means the skinbag tangled up in it? He had no use for him. He’s probably crawling around somewhere. She lunges at him, and he swings one of the gates open, letting loose a bunch of zombies. He takes off, and Josiah and Sarah run after him, but he’s way ahead. Josiah says they have to get out of there, and Sarah runs to the car and starts it up. She hears Morgan on the radio, saying he’s on the way to the rendezvous. Tell what this is about; is she okay? Does she copy? Please tell him what the hell is going on. She takes off just as Josiah gets to the car, but he jumps in. He asks if she’s lost her mind. He kept his end of the deal. She says Wendell isn’t dead, and pushes the passenger door open, tying to shove him out, but he hangs on. They crash through fence and over a cliff. Oddly enough, they land right side up.

They sit in the car for a moment. Josiah tries his door, but it’s not opening. Sarah says, sh*t, and he says, what? She says, it’s a goddam warhead. They’ve got to get out of there. Her door won’t budge, and she wonders where the hell her bat is. He asks if she’s injured, or punctured anything, but she says she didn’t puncture sh*t. She’s hyperventilating, and Josiah tells her, there’s no use having a panic attack over a warhead; her brother died. Zombies are starting to gather, and he says, they’ve got to get out. He promises, it’s what he does. He was a park ranger; search and rescue for fifteen years. It was only a matter of time. She’s got to call Morgan. She asks if he can’t call somebody, and he says he only had to be rescued once himself. He was searching for hikers trapped in a fire, and twisted his ankle. He didn’t think he’d get out alive. Emile wanted to look for him, but the other rangers said it was too dangerous; it was too late. Emile wouldn’t listen. Sarah asks how Emile found him, and he says, Emile didn’t; Rufus did. Later, his brother told him that he could feel Josiah’s heartbeat all the way across the woods. He thought it was bullsh*t until the day he felt his heart stop, and knew Emile was gone. He didn’t need to see it; he just knew. Maybe it sounds crazy, but that’s how he knows Sarah wouldn’t be looking if her brother was dead. She’d feel it; she’d know it. They can still find him. She radios Morgan, and says she’s in a little bit of trouble, a mile south from their rendezvous. Josiah tells her, be ready to honor their deal, and she says, they’re going to keep looking for Wen, and he’s not going to kill Morgan. He asks, why is that? and she says, he’s not a killer. He’s just mixed up because of his brother, like she was when she saw that chair. That wasn’t her back there, and this ain’t him. She tries the radio again, asking if Morgan heard her, but Josiah tells her, it’s safe to say the radio ain’t working no more. Zombies are starting to collect outside the truck, and he says, it’s time they take their chances. He gets out through the back, and does some slicing and dicing. Sarah jumps out, smashing heads with a shovel. They kill a dozen or so zombies. Sarah stands on truck, and puts the bandana over her nose and mouth. Josiah goes after a zombie, and realizes it’s Morgan.

Morgan and Josiah fight. Still standing on the truck, Sarah yells at them to stop. After a good headbutt, Josiah gets Morgan on the ground. Morgan punches him, but Josiah still has the upper hand. Sarah tells him that he’s not a killer, and he says, he’s not going to kill Morgan; his brother is. He takes out the head, saying, he made Emile a promise, and he’s going to keep it. He puts the head near Morgan’s face, but Morgan pushes him off, and the head goes flying. Rufus goes to investigate, and the effing head bites him. Now they did it. They touched the dog. Josiah says, what has he done? and cradles Rufus. Bastard. I hate him now. Sarah goes over to Emile’s head, and smashes it in two. Good.

Sarah and Morgan join Josiah at the campfire, and Morgan asks how Rufus is doing. Josiah says, he’s hurting pretty bad. Beans are his favorite, and Josiah thought they would bring him peace. Morgan says he’s sorry, but Josiah says Morgan didn’t do anything; he did. Morgan says he shouldn’t have to suffer, and offers to put Rufus down, but Josiah says he’s the one who has to do it. Rufus saved his life twice. He thought he was doing the right thing, keeping a promise. He thought it was about Emile the whole time, but it was about him. He didn’t want to let Emile go. Sarah says, she gets it. She and Wendell aren’t twins in conventional terms, but she was born prematurely. Her mom died, and she was in the neonatal unit. Every time they took the tubes out, she stopped sucking in air. When they put her next to a baby born on the same day, she started to breathe. She took her cue to breathe from Wendell. She knows why Josiah didn’t want to let him go. Every moment without Wendell, she can’t catch her breath.

Mercifully they don’t show us Rufus’s passing, and Josiah is tamping the dirt down on Rufus’s grave. He puts a bean can upside down on top of it. The three of them stand in front of one of the most incredible silhouettes of trees I’ve ever seen. Morgan says, sorry about Josiah’s brother, and Josiah says, he’s not like that. Morgan says, none of them were, and Sarah asks where Josiah is headed. Morgan says, Wendell needs a chair to get around; he needs help. He might know who would be helping him. Victor is collecting people because he wants to prove something to Morgan. If they leave now, they could make it by dawn. Josiah says he’d like to come. He can still hold up his end of the deal, and make sure Sarah sees her brother. Sarah asks if it’s okay with Momo, and Morgan says, yeah. Where they’re going, they’re going to need all the help they can get.

Standing on a wall outside Victor’s city, they look down to the zombie laden parking lot, then at Victor’s building. Sarah says, that it? and Morgan says, yep. On the wall, there’s a semi-enclosed guard post with a phone, and a sign that says,  history begins with a single step, will you take it? Sarah suggests Victor enjoys the smell of his own farts. Morgan says he’s got June and John’s dad, and Sarah says, let’s see if he has Wendell. She picks up the phone, and Howard comes up with a female guard. He asks why they’re here, and Sarah hangs up the phone. Morgan asks if Victor is too much of a coward to come himself. Victor comes up the stairs, and tells Howard, it’s okay. He’d rather have a face-to-face conversion to dispel any misconceptions. They were seen from miles away. He guesses Morgan came to see what Victor has that he doesn’t, but Morgan says, it’s not about him, and Sarah asks if her brother is in Victor’s town. Victor asks why she assumes he’s there, and Morgan tells him, because of what Victor said he was going to do, and Victor says, their instincts are correct; Wendell is there. Sarah asks if he’s okay, and Victor says, more than okay; he’s thriving. He has a knack for supply logistics management . He imagines it’s from his days of keeping Sarah on the road. She says she needs to see him, and Victor says, he remembers who stood by him when it mattered. She wasn’t among them. Josiah says, Sarah went through hell, and nearly died trying to find her brother, but Victor says, she’s not going in; none of them are, but Wendell can come out. However, it’s not a revolving door. If he comes out, he can’t come back in.

Victor asks if they think Wendell will make it out there, and Morgan says, they’ll manage. Victor says, like Morgan? Or didn’t he tell them? He, Grace, and the baby are barely scraping by. Howard says, it’s true. He saw it for himself. Sarah asks what he’s talking about, and Victor says, this new world is punishing. Does she really want what’s better for Wendell? He can protect Wendell from it. Sarah looks at the building for a moment, and says, don’t tell him she was there. If he knew, he’d come looking for her. Having been ignored since the beginning of the scene, Howard says, she’s in no position to be making… and Sarah says, please promise her that. Victor says, agreed, and leaves. Sarah starts to cry, and drops to her knees. Josiah tells her to breathe with him, and she says she didn’t want to let him go. Josiah says, she did the right thing. She did what he couldn’t do, and she’s still breathing. She says, yes, she is, and thanks him. He says, no, thank you; the both of them. She asks where he’s going, but he says he doesn’t completely know. There’s got to be other places. Morgan suggests Josiah come back with him; both of them can. What Victor said was right. They’re stretched thin, but they won’t always be. Josiah says he was exposed to the warhead for too long. They don’t want a sick man on their hands. Sarah says, he’s not getting sick, and gives him some medication, saying, she’d been saving it for Wendell, but she knows he’s save. Josiah says he still needs time before he’s ready, and she tells him, if he changes his mind, he knows how to reach them. He and Morgan nod to each other, and Josiah leaves. Sarah says she’d better get back to the fort, or they’ll wonder what happened to her. Morgan says, not for long. It can’t be safe there with the open warhead nearby. They need to keep everybody safe, and get ready for what happens next. Morgan goes down the stairs, and Sarah takes a last look at Victor’s building, then follows.

The Stalker with the wagon meets another Stalker on the road, who tells him, good job. The wagon Stalker says, they need to show Donald. He’s going to want to see this himself. The other Stalker says, what is it? and the wagon Stalker says, it’s the thing that’s going to get them exactly what they want. We see the warhead in the back of the wagon.

Next time, Victor says it’s a new world now, and wants to show everyone around; Teddi says, they’ve got to find Padre; and a boxing ring.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

Leo remembered trekking through the woods with Lyla, and other researchers, in his early CRM days. The guards with them were about to shoot a zombie, but Lyla said it was one of theirs, and it was corralled instead. Lyla told Leo, their geo-tracker was misfiring. She asked what Leo thought of research facility, and he said it was more than he imagined. In the present, Leo and the others looked at the paperwork Huck found, and Leo said it documented a large scale chemical event. They wondered if the CRM was covering up a chemical weapon, and Leo said, whatever it was, it was real, which sounds like something a genius researcher would say not at all. Felix said they had to make a decision or it would be made for them. Hope said they had to stay, and figure out what it meant. Iris said they’d told Silas not to wait for them if they didn’t show, and agreed Hope was right. They needed answers, and needed to make sure the CRM didn’t get away with it.

Huck said she was trying to find out if the research was part of something else, and admitted that her mother had overseen the Campus Colony and Omaha. Only Major General Beale could take on something that big, but her mother had to sign off on it. She explained that everything was kept in balance, and something must have jeopardized what the CRM had built. They must have thought Omaha and the Campus colony were a threat to the balance (sounds like Snowpiercer.) Leo told Huck that he needed more time, and the papers had to stay with Him. Huck told them it was smart having Indira turn them in, and they knew where to find her. Iris went off to send a message to Will.

Jadis ran into Huck, and said she was there doing a security audit. She took great satisfaction in investigating corruption and betrayal. She said Huck had been the one who trained her, and she hoped they could catch up. She saw Huck as her mentor, and the most dedicated soldier, who would slash her face and break her limbs for a cause. She asked Huck to come by for some rum later. She had weak links to find.

Percy helped Iris smuggle out a message to Elton. Lyla went to Leo’s lab, with some clothes for the Iris, Felix, and Elton aka Percy. They made plans for dinner, and when the tote bag holding the clothes fell off the table, Leo remembered Lyla dropping papers in the woods way back when. Papers just like the ones Huck swiped. The message was delivered to Elton, which he had to decode. Elton said the group wasn’t leaving the CRM, and Barca wondered what else they’d be doing. Will grabbed the note and instead of just saying their departure had been postponed, Iris said they were going to stop the CRM and burn this place to the ground. Indira said they were going to start a war.  

Leo met with Iris, Hope and Felix, and told them that he needed to know just how much Lyla knew. If she was there for dinner, she wouldn’t be in her lab, which was a broad hint that they should break in and look around. Felix went to Huck, who said it was way too dangerous, but he said she didn’t get to drop the problem in someone else’s lap, then walk away. In the middle of Huck trying to transfer Lyla’s information to her own keycard so they could get in her office, Felix wondered, what if what they were looking for wasn’t in her office? Huck looked on the computer, tracking where Lyla had been, and they determined her research was in a subbasement. Ah, the old using the subbasement that no one has access to as a hiding place trick.

Brody was not thrilled with Iris’s note, and said they had to take action. They should turn in the remaining two – i.e. Elton and Will – and warn the CRM, who had been their allies. Indira said she’d given her word to keep Elton and Will safe, but Brody said she’d given their word to keep the town safe. Indira said they’d been living with the CRM’s boots on their necks, and Brody said they needed to pick a side. He had no choice, but to vote no confidence in their chairperson. Outside, Will paced, and Elton said it was even worse than the note. Indira was sick, and needed dialysis and blood thinner to keep her alive. She got them from the research facility, and if they were planning on burning it down, they would destroy what she needed to live. Asha came out, and said they could stay for now, with zero explanation as to how that decision was made, since Brody was just saying Indira was incompetent. Will said, thanks, but no thanks. HE needed to get back inside the facility.

Felix said it seemed like Huck had done this before, and she told him about her husband making a mistake on the job training recruits because he’d been drinking. He promised to clean up his act, so she made the camera footage used to document the exercise he’d messed up couldn’t be used as evidence. Felix asked why, and she said she loved him; maybe she still did. She told Felix, once the power was cut, he’d only have two minutes inside. He wondered why he wasn’t the one cutting the power, and she said she knew where everything was, and could cover her tracks. What the CRM did wasn’t her, but there was nothing they could do to bring them back.

At dinner, Iris asked Lyla what she did before working there, and Lyla said she worked in Big Pharma. She’d worked on a variety of diseases, and Iris questioned her about animal testing, obviously being against it. Lyla asked if sacrificing a few mice wasn’t worth saving lives, and Iris asked, what if what they were doing was worse than the disease. In the end, it came down to how much of your own humanity and soul you were willing to sacrifice for the greater good. It was just life. Iris said it wasn’t just life; you always had a choice, and saying you didn’t was just an excuse, Hope suggested they go check on Felix, and Leo seconded that. Lyla wanted to jet, but Leo asked her to please stay.  

Iris walked outside, and Hope followed her, saying, Iris was supposed to stop her from doing stupid things, not the other way around. Iris said she didn’t know how Hope could stand it, but Hope said there were good people in there, helping with a breakthrough. It didn’t change what was done, but those people weren’t them. Iris told Hope that she’d killed a soldier because he was the enemy, and she’d do it again because that’s what they are. Everyone was ready on the outside. She told Hope what she’d written to Elton, that they were going to find out what the CRM was up to, stop them from doing it again, and then burn this place to the ground.

Huck radioed Felix from the roof, asking if he was ready, and told him that he had two minutes until the generator kicked in. She messed with the power supply, and it shorted out. Everything went dark, and Huck told Felix, go now. He went inside, and saw the zombie test subjects with patches of skin their missing, and the areas labeled in felt-tip pen. He went into another room, and found a cabinet with vials in it. He took one, and went into the next room. He radioed Huck, and said, whatever was used to take out Omaha, there’s more of it. He saw he had one minute and twenty-nine seconds, and heard an alarm. He ran to the door, but it had automatically locked. He frantically radioed Huck, but got no response.  

Will went over a map with Barca and Asha. He told them that when he got in, he’d let Iris know about their mom, and not to jeopardize her medicine. He owed Indira this. Asha asked him to take her and Elton, but he said if it went sideways, he needed them safe. Instead of Indira taking care of everyone else, someone was taking care of her for a change. Barca told Asha that he was sorry he broke his promise by telling their mom’s secret, but she said she was worried about her mom too. That was the thing about secrets, they didn’t stay secrets. She told Elton that she was going to pray, and he asked if he could come. The last time people left him who he cared about, they never came back, and he didn’t want be alone.

Lyla wanted to check on her lab, but Leo convinced her to stay, since the labs would be run by back-up generators. She said tonight brought up some things for her. There was something she hadn’t been honest with him about, but it was better if she showed him. He followed her out, taking the knife from the cheese board as he went past it. Just in case.

Felix kept trying to radio Huck, and said she couldn’t walk away from him, or what they did. Lyla brought Leo outside to a bench, and said he’d asked if she had a family before all this, and she should tell him what happened to them. At the start, she had a daughter, Mia, who was six. She was bitten by a zombie who’d gotten into the backyard. Her husband Kevin slept with Mia in her bed – she’d gotten so sick so fast, and he loved her so much. She went to check on them in the morning, and Kevin was on the floor, bleeding out, his neck almost chewed through. Mia… she’d changed. She wasn’t Lyla’s little girl anymore. A few hours later, Kevin wasn’t her husband. The phones had stopped working, most of the neighbors were gone, so she just kept them there. One day, she heard a crash, and found them pinned under a bookcase. That’s when she knew what she needed to do. She rigged up some extension cords and belts, so they couldn’t attack her, and found her medical kit. She did everything she could to fix them. She did things to them, horrible things; whatever she could think of to bring them back, but she couldn’t. She’d spent her life looking for cures for diseases, but couldn’t cure her family. They’re the reason she’s here doing this work. She couldn’t fix her family, but maybe someday she could fix the world.

Now freezing, Felix tried again to radio Huck, asking if she was okay. He needed her to say something. The door suddenly opened, and Huck said, let’s go. He asked, what hell happened? and she said, the back-up generator came on early. She needed to reprogram the card to open door. Now she had to wipe the access log, or she’d have a repeat of two years ago, but it would be worse. He handed her the vile, and told her, whatever it was, there was more of it. She said she’d give it to Leo, and to keep her posted. However it ended or whatever happened to her, she was with him.

Huck went to see Jadis, who said she’d been worried when Huck didn’t respond, and poured her a hefty drink. They sat down, and Jadis said she’d never talked about what she did get into the CRM. She’d been living by her wits in the wilderness, and had created a society. She told Huck, give them their own language, and give them theater, and it will bond them and separate them from everyone else. She loved her people, but lost them because she made the wrong alliances. Afterward, she had the opportunity to give the CRM something valuable, and got a new life. She felt she had safety, but her purpose was gone, then she realized it wasn’t; she’d just expanded her purpose. It was still to survive. Huck said Jadis was an ambitions survivor, and moving up. Jadis said her purpose was to create a new era. She said Huck’s mother had told her to keep an eye on Huck. She wondered if Elizabeth thought Huck had been out there too long and formed bonds. Before the world ended, she wasn’t Jadis, but the identity had helped her to live, so it’s who she is. Huck was stronger than most, and it was understandable if her mom was worried. Help her prove that her mother didn’t need to worry. Huck asked if she was under investigation, and Jadis said she could prove Huck was still herself, and Huck could talk her up to the people who mattered. She needed a promotion by the end of the year. Huck said she’d done everything to prove what she made of, and Jadis said Huck had done a lot, but there was always more.

Why anyone would slow walk through zombie laden woods at night, I don’t know, but Asha and Elton did. They fought off some zombies, and afterward, Asha explained her flower thing to Elton, saying it was to free their souls and hope their energy found its way back to creation. She had Elton place the flowers on their eyes, and they held hands to pray. Then there was an artistic shot of the moon…

Barca led Will on a path outside the Perimeter, saying, he knew the place from sneaking out. Will said he owed them everything, and Barca gave Will a gun that belonged to his dad. He told Will that his mom didn’t know the gun existed, and he’d never used it. Barca was suddenly shot from behind, and Will grabbed the gun and ran. Some guys on all terrain vehicles shot at Will.  

Next time, Silas claims he was lost, Iris asks why Hope is willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and Jadis says, something valuable is missing and they need it back.

🗣 Jadis Speaks…

The comeback of the season.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-jadis-return-pollyanna-mcintosh-rick-grimes-movies-interview-season-2-episode-6/

💰 The Value Of Rick…

What Jadis gave the CRM.

https://screenrant.com/walking-dead-world-beyond-crm-rick-fate-jadis-valuable/

🐶 They Touched the Dog…

Farewell Rufus. We barely knew ye.

https://undeadwalking.com/2021/11/07/fear-walking-dead-another-first-death/

🐕 And To Recover…

Some very cute doggos.

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/photos-all-best-costumes-tompkins-square-halloween-dog-parade-2021

🎃 Turning Into a Pumpkin…

See you tomorrow for soap and the one and only Stud of the Sea. Until then, stay safe, stay wishing on stars, and stay never carrying around a zombie head. No good will ever come of it.

Nov1

October 31, 2021 – Living Six Feet Under, Plan Fail, Brothers, Stop the Music, New Old Face, Still Busting Ghosts & Halloween

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

John Sr. and June listen to A Hazy Shade of Winter on the phonograph They have dinner, and John uses an exercise bike. He uses the radio, asking if anybody is out there. He polishes his gun. He and June play board games. There’s a chalk board where it says, Day 26; Days until opening 339. John gets on the radio, and says, they’re six feet under, but very much alive. They have plenty of food. They don’t know their exact location, but doesn’t think far from the coast. They play games and drink. John uses the radio again, saying they leave it on in the daylight; or what they think is daylight. If anybody is out there, give them a holler. Because it’s not too late. It’s never too late. He and June clink cups. The days change to 69 there, and 296 until opening.

John wakes, hearing a rumble. Everything shakes, and a bookcase holding battles falls. Behind it, there’s a hole in the wall. June runs out, and they both looks at it, wondering what it is. John looks deeper, and she asks if he sees anything. He says, it’s another room. He breaks the wall open, and goes inside. He opens a gate, and goes into a room where there’s an examining table with straps, and tubes going into jars. There’s blood on the table. He and June look around with flashlights, and June asks, what is this place? They see blood all over, and John says, it’s where Teddy killed all those women. This is where it all started. They could never find it, and it was under their feet the whole time. June says, Teddy can’t hurt anyone again. Forget the room, and pretend it doesn’t exist. He says, it’s not too late. It’s never too late.

June suggests they close the room up, but John says, no; leave it open for now. He has questions. He’s been looking for 40 years. Teddy confessed to 23 women, and kept doing the same thing since he went to prison, embalming them, so they’d never have a new beginning. She says, they stopped him, but he says, only for a spell. June says, going over it isn’t going to help anyone, but he says, it might. He didn’t find them all. He knew Teddy killed 23, but they only found 22 bodies. Teddy finally admitted he killed the last victim. That’s what cracked the whole thing open, but they never found the body. He looked her mama in the eye, and said he’d find and bury her baby. He couldn’t keep his promise then, but maybe he can now. June says, even if he figures it out, he can’t leave. Some plaster comes down from the ceiling, and he says they may not have a choice. He asks how the suits are coming, and she says she’s still making them airtight. They need a go-between; not just to protect them out there, but so they don’t drag anything back in. He asks why they’d come back, and she says they don’t know what kind of radiation is out there. He tells her to keep working, and he’ll buy time in case they can’t go out. He saw some 2x4s. He’s sorry. He knows he’s not the Dorie she thought she’d be spending her days with. She says she’s happy to be where she is, and hopes he feels the same, and he says he’s a guy who was alone for decades. He gets the wood, but stops by the room. He looks at the instruments, and sees a notebook. He nails up the boards to the ceiling, and says, that should do it. She says, lights out? and he says, yeah; another one off the board. He asks, where’s the hooch? and she says, it got smashed along with the preserves, but there’s plenty of Tang left. He says, that’s all right, as we all would, and she tells him, goodnight. She pulls the divider curtain over, and he says, goodnight.

John lies awake, listening to the groaning of the structure. He turns away from the hole in the wall, but then sits up and goes inside. He reaches for a box, hesitating to open it. He finds a news clipping inside, with a necklace attached. He says he’ll keep his promise. He calls to June, but she’s sleeping. He wakes her, and goes to where the access to the outside is. He goes up the ladder stairs, and bangs on the door, asking if anyone is up there. There’s silence, but then a voice startles him and he falls back to the floor. He sees the suits and masks, and puts one on. He goes out, and sees a wasteland. He pulls himself out, looks around. He asks if anybody is out there, and sees a skeleton. He wonders if this is the beginning Teddy had in mind. He sees a zombie, and picks up a knife, and says, Dakota, you poor girl, and stabs its head. He sees a woman, and says she shouldn’t be out there with no protection. She disappears, and he turns to find her right behind him, her mouth stitched shut. She struggles to speak, finally breaking the stitches apart. She grabs him, but a shot rings out, and she falls. June is halfway out of the hatch holding a gun, and asks, what’s going on? He says June shot her, and June says, who? What is he talking about? He looks on the ground, and only sees a zombie. He sees two more on their way, and June says, get inside. He also sees three people in protective gear with guns.

June tells John that she needs to check him over. It’s not just about him or the contaminant or whatever is out there. he could have been bit. He says he wasn’t, and she looks, saying, it was just a scratch. Why was he out there by himself? He says he heard her, and she asks, who? He says, the girl he never found. She says she doesn’t understand, and he says she was calling to him. He heard a voice, so he went up, and there she was, plain as day. June asks if he’s sure he didn’t hit his head, and he says he knows what he saw, dammit. He put Dakota out of her torment. What Teddy did to the state of the state ain’t pretty. She says, if they go out, they need to make the trip together out there. He promises he won’t do it again, and looks around the kitchen area. She asks what he’s looking for, and he says she thinks a drink might take the edge off. She says, they lost all the whiskey, and he tells her that Teddy stashed liquor around the place. Teddy liked to have a good time when he wasn’t causing a bad one for someone else. June asks if he’s been drinking without her knowing, and asks how much? He says he wasn’t keeping track, and she asks if he was drinking before. He says, he was alone a lot, and she says he needs to tell her exactly how much he was drinking. He says, a half a bottle a day of whatever he could find. She asks what about down there? and he says, here and there. He thought there was enough to get them through. She says, he’s shaking. When was the last time he had a drink? He says, the day before last, before the ceiling collapsed. There’s more banging, and dust comes down. He says, it’s a helluva time to go cold turkey, and wonders if it’s the masked folks; they don’t sound dead. She says, this is why she didn’t want him on the radio. He doesn’t know who’s listening. A voice on the radio says, open the door, and let them in. They know they’re in there. John says, they can’t just ignore it, but June says, he’s in no position to fight them, and it’s only going to get worse; fever, sweats, and he might see more than he did up there.

June hammers at the entrance, and John hears A Hazy Shade of Winter coming from the secret room. He turns on the light, and goes in. He sees the woman on the table. She tells him, please, he’s going come back, and he asks, is it now? She says, he’s here, and he takes her hand. He asks what he has to do for her to leave him alone, and she says, keep your promise. Find me. June says, John? and he quicky turns, drawing his gun. She asks what he’s doing in there, and he sees an empty table. He says he couldn’t sleep because of the hammering, and she asks why he’s in there. It can’t be helping. He says he needs something to occupy his mind. He didn’t solve it before, but maybe he can now. She asks if he’s still seeing things, and they hear pounding from outside. He asks if she’s checked the radio, and she tells him, it’ll hold. He says, no one was meant to be down there. She says, he saw up there. Getting through the fallout is not an easy journey, and with his condition, they might not make it far. Even if they did, the radiation would kill them. She tells him that some people find detoxing easer if they go through it under sedation. He asks if it will put him to sleep, and she says, for a couple of days; through the worst of it. He says he’s sure he’ll be fine, and she says she knows it’s hard being down there; being reminded of what Teddy did. He says, that’s not what this is, and she asks, then why does he want to run out to a world that’s going to kill him ten different ways? She knows he thinks he saw her, but June doesn’t think she’s the one who’s not at peace; he’s the one not at peace. He’s not going to fix it by leaving. He says, she’s right, and she says she thinks she knows something else that might help.  

She hammers over the hole, and tells him, go to sleep. He says, that’s a tall order, and she changes the days on the blackboard. She shuts off the lights, and John tosses and turns. He sees dust coming down from the ceiling, and the woman is there. She says, look what he’s doing to her, and John says, stop. He looks at the hold, and she says, find me. She disappears, and he sits up. June is sleeping, but hears him ripping the boards down, and tells him, don’t do that. He says he has to, and she says, he’ll bring the whole place down. He says he has to get her to stop. The answer is in there. Then he’ll be able to think straight. He pulls all the boards off, and she stabs him with a syringe. He asks what she’s doing, and she says, what she should have done. Part of the room collapses on the both of them.

A voice on the radio says, that place ain’t going to hold up. He know they’re listening. It’s their final warning. John calls to June, and sees the syringe in his arm. The woman says, June is still breathing; she’s not. It’s not about June; it’s about what Teddy did to her. He says he’s not going to leave June, and the woman says, no one is going to get in. Teddy built this place to withstand a nuclear blast. Teddy said, that’s why no one would hear her scream. She says, Help me, then help her, and he looks through the clippings in the box. He asks where Teddy took her from, and she says she doesn’t know. He asks if he took her from the diner parking lot after her shift? They turned the place over, but if he took her from somewhere else, that’s where her body would have been. June calls to John, and he says, she’s awake. The woman says, June can take care of herself; she can’t. He asks if she was wearing this necklace, showing her the necklace attached to the newspaper clipping. She says she only wore it when she saw her boyfriend; she told him that she was on her way. John wonders if that’s where Teddy nabbed her, and she says, maybe. He says, then maybe that’s where he dumped her. He looks at a map on the wall, and says, her boyfriend lived here; across from this abandoned lot. He remembers going there to talk to him. She says, then that’s where she is. She tells him, if people out there are still alive, maybe it’s not as dangerous as June says it is. He questions June, asking if it’s really as dangerous out there as she says, and she says, she doesn’t know. He asks what she means. Where did the numbers come from? He thought she said she got them out of a book. She says she did what she had to, and the woman says, June is lying. He asks if June found them in there or not? and she says she was being safe; cut her lose. He says, not until she tells him the truth. She says she made them up, and he says, why? She says she doesn’t want go out, and he shouldn’t either. She was lying to him, but not about the radiation. She knows what it’s supposed to look like in there, but not what it’s supposed to look like out there. She doesn’t know what anything looks like. He says, none of them do. He has to leave. She doesn’t have to. She asks where he’s going, and he says to keep a promise. She says, do not go out there, but he says he knows where Teddy dumped her. He can put her to rest. She says, there’s nothing left up there, but the woman says, she’s out there. Find me. John says he’ll come back for June. Just let him free her; then he’ll free June. She says he almost died last time. If the people on the radio don’t kill him, the dead will. He says, they’re already living six feet underground. He’s not sure what the difference is.

Outside, John sees nothing but desolation. He looks at the map. He says, which way? Where are you when I need you? He keeps walking.

Inside, June hears banging from outside, and dust comes down.

John hears banging, and sees people trying to get into the entrance to the hideout. He hides behind a car, and the woman asks what he’s doing. He says she’s not real, and she asks how he knows they are. He says, June is real, and he can’t leave her. She says they’ll come after him, and he says, June is still alive; he can save her. The woman says he can’t even save himself. He shoots at them, and they run for cover. He hits one, and they shoot back. His hand is shaking badly, but he steadies it. One of the men reloads, and John shoots again. It’s quiet, but then he sees one of them trying to get in the hideout, and says, no. June hears someone coming in, and sees the guy in the gear. Outside, John trips on his way to the entrance, and sees the women Teddy killed walking toward him. He asks the woman why she’s doing this. They didn’t stop Teddy; he still destroyed everything. The woman says he has to help her or he’ll just be another dead body in the ground, and she’ll be just like them. He says she’s not real. He sees how the women were when they were alive, and sees himself looking at the clippings. The women walk toward him, and turn into zombies.

Inside, the dude in protective gear sees June. She grabs a board. Outside, John slumps, and grabs a knife he sees on the ground. He closes his eyes, and says, they’re not real. When he opens them, he sees a group of full-on zombies coming toward him. He gets up, and gets to work stabbing heads.    

The intruder points his gun at June, and cocks it, but he’s shot in the back. He falls, and John is there. He asks if June is okay, and she says, yeah. Him? He says, yeah. She’s right. There’s nothing much up there. He frees her from the rubble, and sees an arm. It’s the woman’s body, and he says, Teddy must have still had her there, got too spooked, and buried her in the wall. June says, he kept his promise. She’s at rest. He says, not yet, and puts the necklace on her.

John and June are dressed in their June-made gear, and John says he knows June doesn’t want to go up. She says she’s afraid there’s not much choice. He says they’ll help each other see which way is up, and she nods. They go to the stairs, and suddenly a ton of dirt falls in on them.  

John opens his eyes, and June says, he’s awake. He’s been out for days. He collapsed, and had the DTs. She was afraid he wasn’t going to wake up. He asks where they are, and she says, not underground. She opens the blinds to let the light in, and he asks, how? She says, someone heard his radio messages. They only survived because they had masks on when the dirt collapsed on them. The only reason she’s alive is he talked her into leaving. He says he wanted to help her see which way was up, and she says, it’s pretty clear it’s not what they thought it would be. She opens the door, and Victor comes in. He says, good morning, and she says, Victor wanted to know as soon as John was up. John asks how Victor survived, and Victor says, better than him, but that will change now that they’re here. John says, does Victor think they’re going to join him after what he did to Morgan at the sub? Victor says, he did what he did, but he’s here, and Morgan is out there. John says, that doesn’t make it right, and Victor says, it does make staying here they’re only choice. June says he’s right. John can’t go out in his condition; in the condition anything is. He asks if Victor has any idea who the people in the masks are, and Victor says he’s been asking  himself the same question. They can answer it together, providing John’s sense of direction is good. He pours the three of them a shot, and says, to new beginnings; to doing whatever’s next. John hands it back, and says, no thanks. He’s off the sauce right now. Victor says, maybe later. He assumes John has many questions, but for now, rest. The grand tour is still to come. He leaves, and John tells June, they can’t stay. He’d rather face whatever’s out there. John joins June at the window, and they look down to the horde of zombies in the parking lot. She says, leaving’s not an option, and John says, he should have taken that drink.  

A man in protective gear stabs a zombie in the head. He’s at the entrance to the underground hideout, and digs at the opening. We see it’s Morgan, and he calls to June. He says he heard them on the radio, and needs them to tell him if they’re down there. On the radio, Victor says, they’re not, and Morgan says, where are they? Victor says, they’re with him, and they’re safe, which is more than Morgan had to offer. Morgan says, listen to him. Victor needs to tell him where they are. Victor says, he’s such a bore. How about if they do this every night, and it will put him to sleep? He’s done listening to Morgan; everybody is. Everybody tried it Morgan’s way, and look what happened; death and destruction. Face the truth. He failed. He’s a failure. Morgan says, they’re here because of what Victor did, but Victor says he doesn’t see it that way. Now it’s his turn to do what Morgan couldn’t. He’s going to rebuild the world, and help everyone who Morgan let down. The ones he sees fit anyway. All while Morgan watches from the outside. Morgan says he hopes Victor does, and Victor says he didn’t think Morgan would give up that easy, but Morgan says he’s not finished; he’s not going to stop. Victor should rebuild the world and help people, but if Morgan hears that’s not what he’s doing, if Victor hurts anybody Morgan cares about, he swears to god… Victor says, what? and Morgan says he’ll come for Victor, and do what Victor tried to do to him on that submarine. Only he won’t miss. Victor looks at the radio, and nods, and Morgan travels on with his super pokey stick.

Next time, Emile’s head in a box, Josiah wants Sarah to help him find Morgan, and Sarah drives her car off a cliff.   

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

Iris, Percy, Will, Felix, and Elton were traveling together on a path through the woods. Iris told Elton, by this time tomorrow, they’d be talking to Hope. Will said he thought they were close, and Elton said it wouldn’t be long before the music flooded the area with zombies. Will said they needed an exit strategy, and Felix suggested he stay back, but Will wasn’t leaving him alone. Percy said, they’d go in, make contact, and get out. If it looked dicey, they’d just split. Felix told them to stay low, and keep to the shadows. He and Will stayed behind while Iris, Percy, and Elton ran for the decontamination site where Silas was working.  

They followed the music until they saw Silas. Elton went on ahead, and Percy told Iris to wait, but she didn’t listen. All three of them approached Silas, who was startled to see them, and wondered what they were doing there. Elton said he was glad Silas was okay, and tried to give him a bro hug, but it ended up being kind of half-assed. Percy said it was good to see Silas, and Iris just smiled.

After hearing what happened at the Campus Colony, Silas asked if they were all dead. Iris said they were, and they took Hope. Percy said the CRM had been playing them the whole time. Silas was sure Hope was safe. They treated him okay there, so maybe Hope and Leo were okay. Iris said, if they were right, it was genocide. If they were right, the CRM was guilty, and they weren’t wrong; not this time. Percy brought out a map, showing Silas a terminal on the outskirts of the CRM that was used for biohazard waste. They made a plan where Silas would ask to use Dennis’s car and card to get into the CRM, and open a door at 2 pm. Iris and Felix would talk Leo and Hope into coming with them, and all of them would head for the a CRM affiliated facility in Portland. Silas said, what if he couldn’t do it? They’d just starting trusting him. Iris said it was the only chance they had, and she thought Dennis would help. Percy said Dennis was one of them, but Silas said Dennis wasn’t like Huck, but he didn’t think Dennis would be okay with it. Percy said the CRM was the reason the only family Silas had was dead, and Iris said they couldn’t do it without him.  

Huck looked at a newspaper article titled, CRM Requests Emergency Delay of Civilian Oversight, where apparently the military was being slow to hand over governmental power as was promised. Dennis brought Huck coffee, and she thanked him for trusting her. He said they were still married, and he used to know what she  was thinking, but now he just had to trust her. Huck said everything was different now after Omaha; they were back to square one. He said there was and always would be friction between the military and politicians. She told him they’d bought into what the CRM was doing.

Iris wondered if Silas would help them, since they’d exiled him, but Elton said he exiled himself, and he’d come around. Silas told Iris, it was a lot, and she said they had to get Hope and her dad out of there; Silas too. They needed him. She begged him to help, and he agreed. He’d be at the terminal at 2 pm. Iris said, if anything happened to her and Felix, just go. Don’t worry about them; take care of himself. Iris gave him drawing of the four of them; him, her, Hope, and Elton.

Leo told Hope that raising hell had finally paid off, and he was going to look for Iris and Felix. CRM guards shot him in the back, and we saw it was just a dream. Hope hunted Leo down at a meeting with some professors, and Lila said they’d been discussing Hope’s yeast theory. She introduced leading researcher Amanda Segal, who said they’d ID’d three strains that might speed up the necrotic condition. She thought it would lead to neutralizing the dead. Hope remembered her dream, and pulled her dad aside. She told Leo about seeing Iris.  

Iris and company told Indira and Asha about her and Felix’s plan to turn themselves in and rescue Hope and Leo. Asha suggested Indira turning them in, and Indira said it would look less suspicious when they escaped. She thought it was dangerous though, since Hope hadn’t seemed eager to leave, but Will said that was before she knew the truth. They had a plan to head west when things blew over. Indira told them things didn’t blow over with the CRM, and asked if Felix was sure he wanted to do this, since he had so much to lose. Felix said it was the CRM’s turn to lose, and he was going to make damn sure they did. Percy wanted to go with them, but Iris said he couldn’t risk it. She’d see him on the other side. Percy asked Elton what was up with Asha, but Elton said there was no point in anything since they were moving on.

Indira drove the group in a wagon, but found Percy following them on horseback, wearing Elton’s jacket. He said he could pick pockets or locks, and begged to come. Iris wondered if it was about helping them or killing Huck, but Percy insisted that he didn’t want Huck dead if it meant putting others at risk. Whatever he had to do, he’d do it to get her out safe. It was a hard no from Felix, who said they couldn’t risk it. Indira said it was too late; they were coming. We saw headlights behind them.

Huck went through stuff in Elizabeth’s office, and found data sheets that she didn’t look too happy about. She left the office, and Elizabeth’s assistant said Huck’s mother was looking for her. Iris, Felix, and Percy (now Elton) were being contained, and Elizabeth stopped by to visit. Iris was indignant that they were being kept there, and said she wanted to see her father. Elizabeth said it was a process. Afterwards, she met with Huck, and asked if Huck still didn’t consider Iris and Felix a threat. Huck said they wouldn’t be happy to find out who she is, but when they realized Hope was there and they had no home to go back to, it would put things in perspective. Elizabeth told Huck to keep a close eye on them; trust needed to be earned. She said she knew Huck had been nosing around her office, and Huck said she was trying to find out Elizabeth’s dinner plans.

Leo told Hope that the CRM wasn’t a prison, and Hope said, it was, but it was also a future. Not the CRM itself, but the researchers and research. Hope and Leo were brought to see Iris and the others.  

Silas explained to Dennis that there were some empties he wanted to clear out. He asked if he could borrow Dennis’s truck to take them to the dumpsite, and Dennis gave him the keys, telling Silas that he’d been doing good work. It was going to be tougher when the rain came in come summer and new recruits were there, but it would all be old hat by then.   

Huck told Elizabeth that she was exhausted from the weight of everything, and was sorry she’d questioned her. Being undercover had taken more out of her than she thought; lying to everyone, all day, every day. Elizabeth said she could only imagine. She knew she favored the tough side of tough love, but when Huck had her own child, she’d want to make them stronger so they could do the hard things. She talked about summers pre-apocalypse when Huck was a kid, but Huck didn’t remember them. Elizabeth said Huck was so gentle and trusting, she couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else destroying that in her.

Felix and iris told Leo and Hope the plan, and Percy said if anyone noticed, he’d hang back and cover them. Leo said they could all be killed, but Felix said the CRM wanted Hope and Leo working for the future. If they were caught, they could use it as leverage for their safety. Iris said it was their best and only chance to be family again on their terms. Hope said it was about making choices, and right now it was the only chance they had. Leo said he wanted to say goodbye to Lila. Maybe she’d want to come; she was the only persona outside of them who he could trust. He had to talk to her first.   

Asha told Elton that her mom wasn’t thrilled about Percy coming along, and Elton said he wasn’t thrilled about it either. Asha admitted that it was Indira, not her, who was sick; she’d lied to him. It wouldn’t be good if people knew Indira was ill. There were people who had different ideas about how the Perimeter should be run, and if Brody, or anyone, found out about Indira’s private agreement with the CRM, they could use it against her. Elton asked if Indira was going to be okay, and Asha said, as long as she got what she needed. Maybe there was no avoiding it being a mess. She said, it was nice meeting him, and he said, likewise.

Silas drove Dennis’s truck into the facility, while idiot Leo was on his way to talk to Lila. Huck stopped him, saying she needed to talk to him; it was a matter of life or death. Silas went to waste processing, and saw the clock said 1:46. Leo told Huck that she had one minute, and she showed him copies of the data sheets she’d found. She said the military had brought the zombies to the Campus Colony. She didn’t know how it fit in in; she knew they’d been used for research. They needed to find out what was going on and who was involved, so they could stop it.    

Iris, Felix, and Percy got ready to make a break for it. Elton and Will waited in the woods. Suddenly, Silas was surrounded by guards, telling him to get out of the truck. He stands there with his hands up, the guards pointing their guns at him.

Next time, Jadis and Huck meet not for the first time, Iris says they have to find out what the CRM is up to, stop them from doing it again, and burn the place to the ground.

BONUS ROUND: After the preview, we saw Lila with her newest test subject – Percy. Lila was impressed that he was a soldier, and said they had to keep him sedated while she established his vitals. She knew it was her last chance to get this right. Jadis came in Elizabeth was called away on urgent business, and they’d be answer to her in the meantime.    

👬🏽 Quit While You’re Ahead…

It’s the old twin brother soap opera trick.

https://screenrant.com/fear-walking-dead-emile-josiah-laroux-bounty-hunter-mistake/

🎶 Turn It Off…

Grace had her reasons.

https://screenrant.com/fear-walking-dead-grace-song-not-listen-reason/

🚁 A Little Bit Of Jadis In Your Life…

So is Rick still single?

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-jadis-returns-world-beyond-easter-egg-new-name-father-gabriel-stokes/

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-jadis-returns-crossover-twd-world-beyond-season-2-episode-5-spoilers/

👻 Then and Tomorrow…

Who you gonna call?

https://parade.com/1284860/maramovies/ghostbusters-movie-cast-then-and-now/

🎃 Happy Halloween…

Whatever your Halloween proclivities, even if none at all, I hope it was a happy and safe one. See you tomorrow for some soap and OG Deck. Until then, stay safe, stay keeping the hootch in a safe place if you’re underground, and stay not stealing all the good stuff out of your kids’ trick-or-treat bag.

Oct25

October 24, 2021 – Grace Gets An Offer From Victor, Percy Tries To Kill Huck, Head In a Box, What Teddy Did, Easter Eggs, Credits & Well

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

Morgan runs with a Baby Moe, and tells Grace, go. In the submarine, Moe is crying, and Morgan turns on the light. He gets up, goes to the Moe, and picks her up. Grace comes in, and he says he thinks the baby is hungry.

We see The end is the beginning scratched in the side of the sub. Grace comes out in a mask and protective gear. She walks into the red dust, as a zombie claws at the ground. She keeps walking and goes into a store that rats are now populating. She calls out, asking if anyone is there, and sees blood on the wall; it’s still wet. She asks again if anyone is there. The stores shelves have almost nothing on them, but she finds a can of baby formula. She’s about to use her Geiger counter on it, when she hears someone coming. She gets on a shelf, but the shelf above it falls, making a lot of racket. Someone comes in with a flashlight, and says, over here. Grace uses the rogue shelf to hide herself, and kicks out a rat. A woman squeals, and a guy says, rats. Grace watches as much as she can. When it seems they’re gone, she slips out of the shelf, and uses counter on the food. It goes crazy, and she says, dammit. She throws the can, and says she’s right here. She goes outside and yells, asking if anyone can hear her. She screams that they can take everything from Her. She screams and cries in frustration, and says she doesn’t want to be there anymore. She passes the clawing zombie who reaches for her as she goes past.

When Grace gets back to the sub, Morgan looks like has headache. He says, his turn to go out. Maybe he’ll have better luck. She tells him, she’ll go again, but he says, there’s a reason why they limit exposure time. She was exposed before the fallout, and the weather patterns have changed the readings. She’d said six hours was the longest either of them could be out. It’s his turn. He’ll be back when the clock hits zero. He leaves, and she walks with Moe, who continues to cry. She watches the clock, and says, just for a minute. She puts the swaddled baby in a bed, and says she knows. It’s not fair. Moe didn’t ask to be there, and neither did she. She knows what Morgan said, but she can’t sing to the baby. She runs out, and gets a tape player, putting some music on, and the baby quiets down. I think, why didn’t she try this two hours ago?

Grace is sleeping. The clock says zero, and Morgan turns it off. He tells her, it’s okay; it’s just him. She says, he was right. Moe likes music. Did he find anything? He says, no, but to be honest, he didn’t look. He was working on something else. She asks, what? They go outside, Grace carrying Moe, and there’s a car, a luggage rack on top loaded with stuff. He says, it’s their way out of here. It’s safe. He made sure they’re protected from radiation. He puts Moe in the hatchback, and he says, the air in there is as clean as it is in the submarine. They should get in. Inside, he shows Grace a map, and points out how the warheads spread out. He says they can make it out, but she says, they don’t know what it’s like out there. Why is he doing this? He asks if it’s not what she wanted, and she says, it’s no place for a baby. He says they should go. They can build something someplace else that will actually last. She says he’s doing this for her? He says, and Moe. She can even pick the music. He hands her a cassette, and says, it’s a road trip, and it will keep Moe asleep. She puts in the tape, and they pull out.

Morgan drives, and Grace looks out the window. She says, the bombs detonated from the ground. Just because they can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Morgan wonders if they’re headed in the right direction; that’s what matters. She says, she’s trying to tell him that he doesn’t know that, and he says, after everything they’ve been through, they deserve a break. The Geiger counter goes off, and he asks if she’s okay. Is she sure it’s the right road? She says, yeah.   

They drive through a messed up town, and Morgan says, things are gonna get worse before they get better. Grace wonders what happens when they get to where they get. She fiddles with the tape, not wanting to hear the song, and Baby Moe starts to cry. Grace gets upset, and Morgan swerves to avoid a truck, and they run off the road. Moe cries, the song keeps playing, and Grace tells him, make it stop. They get out, and Morgan looks at the back tire. He says, it’s flat; they can’t drive on it. He thought he saw a body shop, and asks her how much time they can spare. She says, thirty minutes, and he says, they’ve got to move. She walks off, and he asks what she’s doing. She takes off her mask, and says, the car will be lighter. He’ll get further, and the rations will last longer. He tells her to put her mask back on. There’s no time to argue. He says, he needs her, but she says, that’s not true. He’s been doing the heavy lifting on his own already. He says, she’ll die, and she says she knows; she’s okay with that. They didn’t want any of this, and she knew what it was going be like; how hard it would be. It will take longer and be more painful with the three of them. He says, they have to take care of Moe, but she says, he decided that, and she says, she doesn’t have to. She’s sorry, but she can’t. She doesn’t have it in her. They hear a gun cock, and a man says, sorry to interrupt their argument, but he doesn’t have time for this sh*t. A fire has started near the car, and a bunch of people come out. Morgan tells them to stay away from the baby. Take the car, but their little baby Moe is inside. They just want to take her someplace safe. A woman says, her name isn’t Moe, it’s Emma, and the man says she’s not their baby. The baby is his and the woman’s. The woman looks in the car.   

Moe cries, and the woman insists Moe is her baby. Grace looks at the clock, and whispers to Morgan. Morgan asks about their bandages; were they close to the blast? It doesn’t matter whose kid Moe is; they have to protect her. He’s hearing the clicking from the counter, and it wasn’t as fast before they showed up. They guy tells him, if he wants to help, just fix the damn tire, and Morgan tells Grace that he’ll get them out. He’s worried about Moe being exposed, Grace says she’s more worried about the time running out. Moe can survive this, but she can’t survive that. He says, they’ll get what they need out of car, and move; it won’t take long. Grace tells him that she won’t give up now, not when she knows he and Moe could end up dead too. She’s still here, and with the one she wants to be with. Morgan says he’s never apologizing again for giving her and the baby another day, and she says, they won’t be the same family with Moe, but he says they’ll be something different. Zombies scrabble at the garage door, and the man says, the baby has to keep quiet. Morgan says he’s going as fast as he can, and the man tells the woman to shut Moe up. She says she’s trying, and the man says, remember what happened last time. Morgan tells Grace to get the tape. The man goes over to the door, and Morgan asks, what happened to the zombies? The man says, they fell in the crater, and the woman says, be careful. They fall apart, and you don’t want them falling apart near you. Grace gives the woman the tape, and Moe settles down as soon as the music plays. Morgan doesn’t think the door is going to hold, but the man says, it will as long as more don’t show up. Grace says she helped the woman, didn’t she? What’s her name? The woman says, her name is Bee. Grace introduces herself and Morgan, and Bee says her husband is Fred. Fred says, it’s not a potluck in the church basement, and Grace asks if they lived there. Bee says, across the street, and Grace asks about the others. Bee says, they were people who lived in the buildings in town, and the man tells Bee to wrap it up. The others aren’t known for their patience, and Bee says they have to leave. It’s not safe here. Grace says, they weren’t lying when they said they know what’s best for Moe. They can all fit in the car, and leave together. Morgan says, he knows a safe path, and Bee says, they know about Padre? Grace asks, what’s that? and Fred tells Bee, be quiet. Morgan says his daughter might be out there, and need help. The car is ready to go. The man throws a duffel bag in the car, and tells Morgan and Grace, against the wall. He’ll never forget how they helped his family. Morgan says, at least let them get their stuff, and as Fred reaches into the car, Morgan grabs the gun, and shoots Fred. Fred and Bee take off in the car, driving right through the garage door. Grace wants to get Moe someplace safe, but Morgan says, it’s not about Moe, it’s about Grace, because she’s scared. He shoots the car window out, and Grace says, she lost child too, and he says that’s why he has to do this. He shoots again, and the car stops. He opens door and drags Fred out, tossing him aside. Bee jumps on Morgan’s back, while Grace takes out Moe, and runs back with her. Morgan throws Bee to the ground, and sees she has a messed up face. She says she’s not one of them yet, and he says he’s going to keep it that way, and drags her back up.

Morgan boards the door as best he can, and asks where Bee and Fred were when the blast happened. She says, a few miles away, and he asks if that’s how they got the burns. She says, no. When the bombs went off they were under cover; they got this later. She knows there’s not much time. Morgan says Moe isn’t her child, and Bee says she’s not his either. He says, not by blood, but he promised her father that he’d take her to a better world; at least someplace where that’s possible. Bee asks where they’re taking her, and Morgan says, outside the fallout. Fred says, after the bombs went off, a storm pushed it toward Louisiana. They scrounged enough gas to make the trip. At least they thought it would be enough. Bee tells them, keep driving that way, and  they’ll end up like her and Fred. Morgan asks where they were trying to take Moe just now. Fred says he’ll show Morgan, and points on map. He says, they know it’s safe. They know it’s better than here from the people on the radio. Morgan asks if Fred is sure where it is. Fred hesitates, and Morgan says, if Fred doesn’t tell him, he can’t help. Fred says he knows where it’s not, and there’s only one direction left. Grace says he’ll get himself killed that way, and he says, it’s too late for that, and she says, he’ll get Bee killed. She and Morgan have a place. It’s not much, but they’re protected. They left because they didn’t have enough food. If Fred and Bee come back with them, and bring their supplies, they can buy time. They hear a gunshot or an explosion or something, and Grace says, they can’t stay here much longer. Morgan says, he’ll get back to the car, fix the tire, and they can get back on the road. Moe starts crying, and Fred says she’s going to draw attention. Grace says, they need to get in the car now. They open the door and punch out some zombies and shoot others.  

Back in at the car, Morgan asks how they’re doing, and Grace says, they need to go back. It’s the only way make sure Moe stays safe.  Morgan asks, what is Padre? and Grace says, he told her that she was scared , he was right. She is, but she’s not the only one. He says he’s doing the only thing he can, and she says, that’s because he’s scared too. What he wants might not be possible. He says it’s close to what he once had. It’s not even much. He just wants to be sitting at the table with the woman he loves, sharing a meal, angry at their kid because he’s reading comic books and not talking to them. She says, she’s telling him, that might not be possible, and he says he doesn’t know what she wants him to do. She thinks they need to go back, and they hear something. Headlights come toward them, and Bee asks, who the hell is that? Morgan says, let’s not find out right now, and a spotlight shines on them.

Morgan tells everyone, take cover, and they get in the car. Grace goes back to the garage with Fred, and tells him to get in the back, and keep Moe quiet. Someone gets out of the mystery car, and stands in front of it. Morgan gets ready to shoot, while Bee cowers in the front seat. Morgan says, take another step, and he’ll shoot, but they keep walking. He shoots, and they keep coming, so he shoots again twice, and they fall. In the garage, Grace tries to keep the zombies from getting through where the glass is missing, and Fred paces as Moe cries. Bee says they have to get back to Emma, and Morgan asks if she hears something. He looks in the back, and sees the duffel bag move. He asks what really happened her baby. In the garage, Fred is getting frustrated, and Bee yells, no, no, no! Morgan shoots the bag, and says he’s sorry. She was already gone. Bee says, she wasn’t gone, and Morgan tells her that she has to admit it. That’s how you start saying goodbye, and stop repeating the same mistakes over and over. Bee says, Emma wasn’t doing well. She’s a baby, and woudn’t stop crying. Inside, Moe cries, and Morgan asks what Bee is saying. Bee says she didn’t want to see Emma suffer. Morgan calls to Grace, then yells into a tin can being used to communicate. He asks if she can hear him. She responds, and in the back, Fred tells Moe, it will be better this way. He moves to smother the baby, and Grace shoots him in the back. Grace paces with crying Moe, as the zombies stick their hands through the boards, and one pokes its head in. Grace remembers Athena, and rocks Moe, singing to her. Moe gets quiet. Grace hears a car horn, and looks out. Morgan drives into the building, and smiles, but behind him, there are headlights down the road.   

Morgan says, it doesn’t feel right, leaving Bee behind, and Grace says, she gets it. Bee wants to spend the time she has left with her husband and child. Morgan says he’s sorry, and she tells him that he doesn’t have to say it. He saved her chasing after what had should have listened wanted to give Grace and Moe what he had. She says he didn’t fail Moe or her, and he says she’d still rather die than live with him, and she says, not because of anything he did. He says, maybe they’re trying too hard. They’re trying hard to fix themselves, when it might be all right to be just a little bit broken. They’re not replacing Athena. He says she knows he’s right, and she puts her head on his shoulder. She says she knows, and he drives into the darkness.

Grace and Morgan got back to the sub, but just as they’re about to settle back in with Moe, they’re confronted with men in masks and protective gear, brandishing guns. Morgan says he doesn’t want any trouble, and the head guy removes his mask, and says, that makes two of us. Morgan says, it’s their sub, and the man says, the last time he checked, the USS Pennsylvania belonged to the Pacific Fleet. Morgan asks if they’ve been following him and Grace; were they the ones who came at them on the road. The man says he told Morgan that he doesn’t want trouble, and that sounds like trouble. Morgan says, they just thought they’d steal from them, and the man says, Morgan Jones? Morgan asks how the man knows his name, and the man says, Victor told them all about him. Morgan says, Victor’s alive? and the man says, very much so. And here they thought this scout was going to be a bust. He says, she must be Grace. Victor told them all about her too. How would she like to secure herself a place in the tower? Morgan says, the tower? and the man says, sorry. Morgan didn’t make cut. It’s safe, Victor has built an ark to carry them into the future. Morgan says, it’s actually safe? and the man says, Victor is doing what Morgan couldn’t do. They have food, water, and security. What does she say? They could use someone with her expertise. She says she knows what Victor did to Morgan. She’s not interested in what he has to offer. Morgan says she should think about it, but she says, it’s what she wants. The man says Victor is going to be disappointed, and tells his crew, let’s go. Morgan says, wait, and the man says, he already told Morgan that he’s not welcome, but Morgan says, what about the baby? The man says, Morgan would give her up? and Morgan says, she could use a good home. If Victor is building a place for the future, he’s going to need people to live in it. Grace says, Moe wouldn’t have what they can give her, and the man says, she’d have better. It’s the only chance for Grace and the baby. Grace says she’s staying there, and the man says, suit yourself.

The men leave, and Morgan asks if they raided the pantry, but Grace says, there was nothing left to take. She wonders if those guys didn’t run them off the road, who came after them? He says he’s not sure, but they have more immediate problems. Moe’s going to be hungry again soon. Moe crawls across the floor, and Grace gets excited, saying, she’s crawling. Morgan says, they’re going to have to baby proof a whole submarine, and she says, great job, Moe. She notices something with the flooring, and pulls up a corner. She tells him, look. There’s something under here. They find a trap door where tons of cans are stored. She says, it’s enough for months. Morgan laughs and says, powdered milk.

A dog eats out of can by a campfire. A guy sits down with a box in front of him that says Morgan Jones on it. He opens it, and takes out a zombie head. He tells the head, sorry. Mr. Jones got the best of him today, but there’s always tomorrow. The head gnashes its teeth.    

Next time, Day 69, June doesn’t know how dangerous it is, and Morgan says he’s coming for Victor.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

Huck flashed back to washing up on a dock in Omaha with a broken arm.

Iris and Hope were all happy to see each other. Felix and Will were headed back to town, when they saw Huck and Hope. Felix told Will to stay out of sight while he went back. He gave Hope a hug, and Huck said it was just like old times. Elton was hiding on the back porch, and Asha asked him why he wasn’t out there with his friends, but he said he didn’t know. Indira asked if Huck’s mother knew she was there, and Huck said, she doesn’t and she won’t. Indira reminded Huck that the Perimeter had not seen bloodshed since its founding, and she’d like to keep it that way. Felix asked what she wanted, calling Huck Jennifer, and Hope said they wanted Felix and Iris to come back with them

Silas and co-workers Webb, Tiga, and Grady, went zombie hunting to very loud, but not awful music. Dennis barked orders at them, and Silas noticed a CRM plane overhead. Dennis took this for daydreaming, and told Silas, cut the music and get ready to clean up, unless he wanted to end up at the wrong end of a kill stick. He said Silas was coming with him when he was done.

Iris asked Hope, what about being together, and being kept safe? Hope said their dad was safe, but he was worried, and it could get him hurt or worse. Felix said Huck’s mom had just been there with soldiers. He knew something was up, and wanted to know why Huck was there. He thought she wanted to use Hope to lure them out. Asha asked if Elton was okay, and he said he was afraid Hope sensed he was there. He jetted into the woods, remembering Hope saying she’d killed his mom.

Dennis stitched up a wound on Silas’s palm, and Silas talked about how his dad had been into music. Dennis asked how it happened, and Silas flashed back to helping Elton escape, while he turned himself in. He asked if music ever brought living people there. So I guess Dennis is a good guy? As good as he can be in the situation anyway.   

Huck said Felix would be safe. They just had to pretend they didn’t know she was with the CRM. It was just one lie. Iris said, what about their mom? and asked if that was one lie. Hope says she was going to tell them, and Huck said their mom had been lost with the Campus Colony. Iris said she believed the CRM was behind what happened at the Campus Colony, and Huck said, they were all about bringing the world back. Why would they do that? Iris said she couldn’t prove it, but there was no way in hell she and Felix were going. Hope said it wasn’t about her, but about her dad, and Iris said they’d be idiots to go back without a way out. Felix agreed, and Huck told them Silas was alive, and she’d made sure he was taken care of. They could come and see him. Hope said this was the first she was hearing about Silas, and Iris asked to speak with Hope alone. 

Elton snuck around, finding a bunch of medical supplies in a shed, and Asha startled him. He asked what the place had been, and Asha said it was an old hunting blind. Forget he saw it. He asked if there was a side deal going on there.

Silas’s co-workers saw him outside the Perimeter, and accused him of trying to bail on them.

Hope told Iris that she was starting to understand why their dad was into his research. She also told Iris that their dad had a girlfriend. She mentioned Mason, and Iris said it sounded like Hope was meeting guys. Hope said, if they went to the facility, they could think things through and plan, but Iris said they’d be prisoners. Hope said they were all they had, but Iris said she couldn’t. Hope said Iris could, but she wouldn’t.   

Huck was going for a walk, and Felix followed her. They had some words, and Huck walked away. We heard a zombie, and Felix came up behind Huck and cracked her over the head, which surprised me as much as it surprised her. While she was down on the ground, he grabbed the zombie and held it about six inches from her face, and said he would come looking for her and find her. He wasn’t killing her now, but he wanted her to know what it was going to feel like when he did. He tossed the zombie aside like an old shoe, then smashed its head in. He told Huck to enjoy her walk.

Silas’s co-workers took him to a warehouse, decorated like one part Hot Topic and one part Studio 54. They gave Silas a bat, told him to swing at anything that moves, and disappeared. A bunch of zombies came at Silas, but he held his own, picking them off one by one. Then a new batch replaced them, and Larry, Curly, and Moe Webb, Tiga, and Grady came out too. They told Silas that he’d almost broken the record. It was dine and dash; you dash or they dine. They were ready to jump in, but Silas had handled it. If he had their backs, they could have his. Silas thew the bat down, and walked out.   

Will told Felix that Percy was alive, and after Huck. Felix said he could get them all killed if he was caught, and they went after Percy.   

Dennis explained to Silas that it wasn’t the end. It was them saving themselves from the end. They had to accept basic training, and he needed Silas to step up. Silas said he was looking for his friends. They’d gotten split up, and someone in their group was a killer. The others might not know. Dennis said, maybe his friends could handle it, but Silas said Dennis didn’t know Huck (he does know Huck, but as Jennifer). Dennis said Silas wasn’t allowed to be afraid of someone whose name was Huck. His friends might be stronger than he thinks. Running away was giving up. Dennis told Silas to get some sleep, and gave him some booze to clean his hand <wink-wink>.

Percy aimed at Huck in the woods, but Will provided distraction, popping out when she’d thought he was dead. Elsewhere in the woods, Asha talked to Elton, explaining that she was on dialysis, and that’s what the medical supplies were about. She talked about what happens after death, and returning to the earth, but Elton said, just because our matter lived on, didn’t mean our consciousness did. She said she had faith that it did, and he said he thought she was brave.

Felix joined Huck and Will, and Will said he knew the truth about Omaha, and the CRM was trying to kill him. Huck said they’d keep Will safe, but he called bullsh*t, saying, if they destroyed Omaha, they’d do anything. Felix said Huck’s mother was lying to her. She’d spent her life lying to everyone else. Why would Huck think Elizabeth wouldn’t lie to her? Huck said they had her word that she wouldn’t tell, and like it or not, she was the closest thing to a friend Felix had in the CRM.

Everyone said goodbye, and Hope said that Iris should have told her; it would have changed everything. Iris said she’d wanted to, but didn’t know why she didn’t. She promised to get Hope and their father out of the facility, and wanted Hope to tell their father not to worry. Elton saw that Hope was leaving, but wisely didn’t make himself known.

Felix read Percy the riot act, and Will said he was just going on what Felix had said. Felix said they couldn’t stay there; it wasn’t safe, but Will said, if Huck told the CRM where they were, she risked exposing herself. Felix said he wasn’t losing Will again, and Will said they’d find a way out. Will wondered about Silas, and Felix said Huck claimed he was at an outpost. Will said, if Silas was where Huck said he was, he might know a way to get everyone out.

Percy woke Iris, and told her that he’d never wanted something so bad. She said he wanted justice, and she’d thought her sister was like that too. They kissed, which we all knew was coming.

On TV, we saw Elizabeth honor the fallen city of Omaha, saying the tragedy that befell it’s citizens was an immeasurable loss. It reminds them of how precious life is. She felt the loss personally and deeply, and now was not the time for doubt, and to question their resolve. Indira said they could lose everything if Elizabeth found out that she was the one who was sick, but Asha said she wouldn’t. Elizabeth said, now, more than ever, they had to stand strong and united. The tragedies would serve as a carrier call for the military to stand more firmly, and fight for the survival of humankind, and for the souls they’d lost. She told their allies in Portland to stay strong and vigilant, and in ending, said, God bless us all.

Apparently, Will and Iris had planted a seed of doubt in Huck’s mind, because she asked Elizabeth, how many survived at the Campus Colony? Elizabeth had said they were airlifted out. Elizabeth said it was confidential information. Huck had just gotten back what she’d lost after her horrendous error in judgement, and Elizabeth said she’d hate for someone to think she hadn’t learned her lesson. Huck remembers giving herself a scar, and having her arm broken before going undercover.

Next time, Iris and Felix take to the road together, and Leo isn’t taking no for an answer.

🤹🏽 Running the Show…

The mystery man at the end of FTWD explained.

https://ew.com/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-season-7-episode-2-six-hours-emile-josiah-showrunners-interview/

🔥 Teddy’s Impact…

Trickle down madness.

https://screenrant.com/fear-walking-dead-teddy-nuclear-bomb-impact-area/

🎸 Wait, What…?

I love nerdy stuff. I never would have noticed this.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-beta-easter-egg-first-character-all-three-twd-shows/

⚰️ Nerd Extras…

More details you never knew you needed to know.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-credits-scene-stinger-season-2-episode-5-quatervois/

🧗‍♀️ Starting Again…

Monday’s back. See you on Deck tomorrow, and until then, stay safe, stay not letting the parade pass you by, and stay knowing things might get worse before they get better.

Oct18

October 17, 2021 – Strand Leaves His Tower, Some Friends Are Reunited, Turning Over a Bad Leaf, Finale Talk & Wolf

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

In the aftermath of the bombs, a zombie crawls through the wasteland. A man in protective gear and mask stabs it in the head, and goes through its backpack, taking out some cans of food. He checks for radiation, and it’s off the charts. He considers a dead possum nearby, but decides against it. He looks dejected, but keeps walking. He goes inside a van, turns on a light, takes off his mask, and lies down.

The man gets back in his gear, and comes out of the van. He goes to a swampy area, and puts an X on a paper that has a grid with other Xs on it. He travels through the wasteland, and a few zombies toddle along. He waits as one approaches.

Back at the van. he peeks outside, seeing wandering zombies. Some people run out, and he draws his gun and listens.

He comes out again, and sees more zombies. He seems tired, and draws his knife.

The man walks along a path to a lighthouse, and goes inside. He hears a zombie, and sees it at the top of the stairs by the beacon. He goes up, and puts it out of its misery. He looks around, but there’s nothing worth taking. He goes back out, and back to where he’d seen the dead possum the day before. He roasts the roadkill in the woods, and cries. A zombie comes up behind him, but he does nothing, turning back to the fire. Someone shoots the zombie, and three people ride up on horses. One asks who the hell he is, and he asks if they’re the ones who have been stripping the dead. Another tells him, let’s go, but he runs. They shoot him, but not with a bullet.   

The man wakes, wondering where is, and several people in protective gear and masks strip him and hose him down, scrubbing him with brooms. Dressed again, they take him into an elevator. He asks, what hell is going on? Where are they taking him? He gets silence. The elevator door opens, and he runs, only to find a locked gate. He runs into the art studio Victor found last season, and grabs a sword. Victor says, magnificent, isn’t it? and holds a gun to the man’s head. He says, it belonged to a friend, and dates back to 1812. The man says he doesn’t want any trouble, and Victor laughs. He says, turn around slowly, and takes away the sword. The man asks, who the hell is he? and he says his name is Victor Strand, and who might he be?

A guy – Victor’s valet? – pours drinks, and serves the man a pasta dinner at a formal dining table that has a chandelier hanging above it. Howard has joined them, and Victor tells the man that he’s been given a meal and a drink. He asks, what’s in it for Victor? and Victor says he has some questions. The man dives into his food, and says, what’s that? Victor asks what his name is, and he says, Will. Victor asks what he did before, and Will says, before the dead were walking, or before they blew everything up? Victor says, both, and Will says he was a senator’s aid. Victor asks, which senator? and Will says, Elias Vasquez. Victor asks what Will did for him, and Will says, PR. Victor asks where Will came from, and Will says, originally, Oklahoma, but most recently he was at a settlement where they were protected from the blast. Victor asks who was with him, and Will says, the senator and a few other aids. Victor asked why Will wasn’t with them, and Will says, things went bad, and he wound up outside. Victor says, and the senator? and Will says, he didn’t make it. Victor asks how long Will has been outside, and Will says, 50 days, give or take. Victor asks what Will has seen and who he’s seen, but he says, not much, and Victor says, Will mentioned something about people stripping the dead. Will says he calls them stalkers. He saw them sneaking up on the dead. Victor asks why Will hasn’t figured out who they are, and Will says, there are no faces out there anymore; just masks. When was the last time Victor was outside? Victor says he has everything he needs there. Why should he? Let him show Will.   

Victor takes Will past a putting green, and tells the golfer, nice putt, Toby. Will asks where everything came from, and Victor says, department stores, homes, museums. His rangers scout out anything of value; anything worth preserving is there. They pass a yoga class, and Victor says the people were there before, and he brought them in and let them stay; they’re of value. Will asks what Victor means, and Howard says, Victor is asking the questions. Will looks at a wall of photos with memorial candles in front of it, and Victor says, they’re walkers his rangers encounter.  Even though they’re no longer walking, some have loved ones out there. Will asks if there’s anyone Victor is hoping to find, and Victor says he has everything he needs right there.

Victor says, everything Will sees there came after the destruction. The world gave them fire, ash, and devastation, but there they were given growth, vitality, and a new dawn. Everything he needed was there when he arrived, except Howard. They watched as the world was destroyed, and they thought it was the end. When the dust settled, they were still standing, as well as this place. Howard says, the weather patten took the fallout away from them, and Victor says, it’s the only inhabitable place for miles. They’re laying the foundation for a new civilization. Will asks, how? and Victor says, the same way he ended up there; instinct. He tells one of his people to bring Will’s things, and Will says, Victor is kicking him out? He answered Victor’s questions. Victor says Will’s not quite what he’s looking for. Take care, and good luck out there. Will’s things are thrown in front of him, and he says, please don’t do this. He won’t make it alone. Victor says, sorry, not sorry, and Will asks why Victor gave him the tour. Why go through the trouble? Victor says he wanted to share his vision. Will says he found this out there. It’s meant to help people carry heavy burdens. Victor needs it more than he does. He tosses Victor the St. Christopher medal Victor gave Alicia, and Howard says, let’s go. Victor says, stop. Where did he find this? He says he found it on one of the dead, and Victor says, don’t lie. Will says he’s not. He thought it would bring him good luck. Howard says, so much for that, and Victor tells Will to take him to where he found it. Maybe they can make a deal. Take him to where he found it, and help him find the owner. He can spare her the horrors of life out there, and he’ll let Will move in to his humble abode. Deal? Will nods, and Victor says, good. Give him his sword.

In the woods, Will says, the levels are low; they can take their masks off. Don’t worry. Almost all the zombies not killed in the blast, died from radiation. It’s not dangerous. Victor says, it’s not his first rodeo, and Will says he thought Victor hadn’t been out before this nightmare. Victor says, not this one. How much further? Will says, about a mile. Victor says he can see why Will had resistance to coming out, and Will says, it’s not spaghetti and scotch. Victor asks why Will didn’t return to the settlement, and Will says, Victor’s tower isn’t the only place he’s not welcome. His exit wasn’t by choice. He’s been trying to find a way to make it up ever since. Victor tells him, success is the best revenge. Don’t spend a moment trying to make it right. Focus on showing them how wrong they were. That’s how you win, and procure your place in the tower. He won’t remember his past. History is written by victims to assure them success. It begins to rain, and Will tells them to put their masks back on. He says, they won’t make it back to the tower, and Victor says, follow him, and they ride.    

They go to the underpass where Will’s van is, and Victor asks, what is this place? Will says, it’s been home for the last 50 days, and Victor says, cozy. One of his men takes pictures of the dead, and Victor looks at another body. Will asks what they’re really doing out here. Whoever the medal belongs to, Victor must know them. Victor asks what difference it makes, and Will says, Victor told him that he had everything he needed at the tower. Victor says he does, and Will asks why he’s out there looking for her. Victor says, he never told Will that he was looking for a woman. He believes they’ve been lured there under false pretenses. He suggests Will start talking, and asks, where is she? Will says, who? and Victor says, answer him. All of a sudden, some men start shooting at them, and Will says, stalkers. They duck for cover, and Will is hit. Victor grabs him, and pulls him behind Will’s van. He shoves Will into the van, and gets in the driver’s seat. Zombies have joined the fray, but the shooting continues. The zombies take the stalkers down, as Will watches. Victor tells Will to answer his question; where is Alicia? Will says he doesn’t know, and Victor pushes on his wound. He says he doesn’t know where Teddy took her. Teddy said she had to make the journey by herself. He wants to make things right with her, but why did Victor risk coming out to find her? Victor jumps out of the van, and closes the door. Zombies scrabble at the van.   

Victor rides to the lighthouse, lights a lantern, and goes upstairs. He looks at the double-dead zombie near the beacon, and picks up a map. He says, bingo, and goes back out. The fog is so dense, he can’t see, but he hears footsteps. It’s Will, who says, hold it, and trains his gun on Victor. Victor asks how Will found the place, and Will says, there are only so many places to hole up out here. Now Victor will answer his questions; sit. Victor sits, and laughs. Will says Victor tried to kill him twice today. He left the comfort of his humble abode, and sacrificed his guards to find Alicia to tell her that he was grateful. Victor says, Will knew who he was, yet lied; why? Will tells him, because Alicia said Victor wasn’t trustworthy. He was biding his time, testing Victor, to see if he was worth saving. What makes Victor think he can change Will’s opinion? Victor says, the tower succeeds because of him and his choices, all the people living there. Will says, they might give a damn about Victor, but them being afraid of what to do isn’t leadership. Victor asks if Will thinks he’s an authority because he worked for the senator, and Will laughs. He says he learned from the senator, but learned more about it from Alicia. Alicia didn’t want to be in the bunker, and locked up, while that psycho dropped bombs, so she could become a cynical a-hole like Victor. You can’t lead alone. If you want people to believe in you, you have to believe in them. Victor asks why Will isn’t with Alicia, and asks if Victor still has the medallion. Victor holds it up, and Will snatches it back, saying, he needs it as much as Victor does. She asked him to do something, but he couldn’t do it. Victor asks what it was, but Will says, it doesn’t matter. Victor asks why Will didn’t do it, and Will says, because it would have protected everyone there except her. Victor says, it must have been bad if they cast Will out, and Will says he’s been looking for a way back every day since. He thought he found it when he woke up at the tower. Maybe he could have brought Victor to her, but after what he’s seen today, he doubts she’d recognize Victor. Victor says he doesn’t think she would. He doesn’t know if Alicia told Will, but he was the one who gave her the medal. Will says, she did; she knew it would get Victor’s attention. Victor says, he gave it to her to remember who she was. He didn’t think he would see it for himself. He guesses they both held up their end of the bargain. May he? Will leans in to give him the medal, and Victor grabs him, slamming him against the wall. Will drops his gun, and they struggle. Will manages to get his gun back, and says, that’s three times now. He thought if he took Victor there, it would bring them together, but he’s better off without Victor. Victor says, everyone is, and opens the door. There are loads of dead outside, and they get close. Will is mesmerized, and Victor says, get inside, and shuts the door. He asks Will, what the hell was that? and Will says, he knows them from the bunker. Victor says, Alicia.   

The zombies scrape at the door, and Will says, it wasn’t passable. They had enough food for 10 years, water, a future to outlast all of them. Victor asks if she was gone, but Will says he didn’t see her. He suggests they find out, and they grab things for weapons. Will starts up a generator, and puts the beacon on. He tells Victor, go, and Victor stabs zombies with his sword. Will goes out on the walkway, and looks out, saying, follow the light. Victor continues slicing and dicing, and the generator dies. Victor yells for Will, who’s trying to get the generator going again. He calls to Victor, and goes out with a lantern, stabbing a random zombie in the head. More zombies are coming, and they surround him, but Victor flies out with his sword, doing all kinds of damage. Will lies on the ground, clutching his gun. He asks Victor, was she? and Victor says he didn’t see her. He helps Will up, and Will says, Victor could have walked away, but he stayed. Victor still cares about her. You don’t run into a fog like that because you want to see if someone’s dead; he ran like that because he wanted to save her. Victor says, let’s go.

Victor and Will ride to the bunker, Will riding on the same horse, behind Victor. They go inside, and check the room where the bunks were, but it’s empty. Victor says, it’s a ghost town, and Will says, whatever happened here, happened a while ago. Victor asks how many lived there, and Will says, 128; him, the senator, and some aids. Teddy sent some scouts who killed everyone there, and they stayed in the servants quarters. He yells for Alicia, but gets only silence. They turn on the lights in a conference room, and Will says, it wasn’t the stalkers; nothing was taken. Victor wonders if she panicked, and they see a note taped to the podium that ways, Will. Will looks at it, and says he thinks she did. All is says is, PADRE.

Victor asks, what’s padre? and Will says, it doesn’t matter. It will probably get her killed. Victor asks if it’s a person or place, but Will says he doesn’t know; nobody knows. It might not even exist. He always knew it was a possibility. He thought at first she wouldn’t have to. If anything happens to them, it’s on him. Victor says Will doesn’t know that, and Will says he should have been there and found a way to make things up to her. Victor says, Will loved her, and Will says, it doesn’t matter; it’s all for nothing anyway. Victor says, it wasn’t all for nothing. Will was right. This wasn’t about proving something to her; it was about proving something to himself. Will asks, what? and Victor says, that he didn’t need her, but he does, as does Will. Will says, maybe that’s the point of all of this. Maybe they’re supposed to find her together. Victor says, or perhaps she’ll find them. They walk out, and Victor draws his sword. They leave on the horse, the zombies pulling a wagon behind them with the lighthouse beacon on it. Good idea, putting them to work.

Back at the tower, the beacon has been set up on the roof. Zombies hang around outside, and Victor says, it appears his flame has already drawn moths. Will says, she’ll see it, she’ll follow it, and she’ll find this place. Victor says Alicia is the closest thing he has left to family. Will isn’t the only one who loves her, and he never had a chance to tell her, but would have if he’d found her. Will says, perhaps she would have reminded Victor of the man he was trying to be. She still can. She can help Victor be himself. Victor says, he never should have left. He almost got killed because he didn’t trust his instincts. He can’t let it happen again. It could destroy everything he’s doing. Will says, that’s not true. He’ll make this place even better; they both will together. Victor says, Will told him that he could leave because he woudn’t make it alone, but he was wrong. It’s the only way. Will says, that’s not true, but Victor says, it is. He watched others build things like he has, and they came close, but they fell short, all for the same reason; love. Attachments don’t make you strong; they destroy you. Will says, the light wasn’t to draw Alicia, and Victor says, no. It was to keep her, and everyone else, as far away as possible. Will says, it won’t work. She’ll find this place, and get through to Victor. Victor says, no, she won’t, and pushes Will off the roof, much to all of our surprise. Victor says, she won’t have anything to do with him after this. He and Howard look down, and Howard asks if Victor wants him to send someone down to take a picture for the wall, but Victor says, no. No one here is looking for him. Howard says, someone out there might be. This is going to draw more than the dead. Maybe the people Victor was with before, like Morgan. Victor says, don’t worry about Morgan or anyone else, and Howard asks, why not? Victor says, if anyone tries to get to him, they’re going to have to get through them. They look down at the zombies as they feast on Will, who’s all messy with a smashed in face.

Next time, Morgan says, they’ll build someplace else that will actually last; Morgan tells Grace that she knows why he has to do this; and Morgan rolls the car with Grace in it.

The World Beyond

A woman took the eyeballs out of a zombie corpse and replaced them with flowers.

Elton and Percy trotted down the road on a horse, Elton telling Percy that they could catch up with the others. Percy said, after what Huck did, he thought the odds weren’t good. They spied a young man and woman eating by a campfire in the woods, and remembered they were hungry.

Hope jogged around the CRM facility, checking out all the security. She also practiced some fighting.

Huck and Dennis got busy. She told him, after what he did, people got hurt. She questioned his employment choice, but he said he couldn’t move to active until he worked in decontamination.

Percy and Elton assessed the couple. Percy said there was no sign of guns, and only two sets of tracks; so they’re alone. They camped overnight, so that meant they were far from home. He could tell by the uniform shape of the turnips that they’d been harvested, and Elton suggested they grab a couple of turnips and jet. Percy said they were looking for people who could be anywhere; they might need all the couple’s food. Elton said he thought they were good people (using no reasoning skills whatsoever), but Percy said they’d thought Huck was too. Elton approached them, but the man quickly had Elton at knifepoint, while the woman patted him down. He told them that he had a traveling companion named Percy, and they were looking for their compatriots. Avoiding people was usually the smart move, but their stomachs were calling the shots. They seemed like good people. The man went to look for Percy, but couldn’t find him, and the woman told him, it seemed that Elton just wanted food. She handed Elton a canteen and a few turnips, and introduced herself as Asha and the man as Dev. Percy was caught rifling through their food stash, and Asha asked if they were conmen. Elton said, Percy had been one, but wasn’t anymore, and the two of them took off, leaving everything. The couple ran after them.    

Huck got commended for her work. The casualties had been limited, and she’d furthered the priorities of the CRM. She was cleared to resume active duty. Leo asked her about iris and Felix, and said he thought Huck and Elizabeth were lying. He asked if she’d been manipulating Hope, and she told him that Hope was there now, and Felix and Iris would be too. He said she and Elizabeth had taken their innocence, and they couldn’t get it back. He didn’t give a damn who Huck’s mother was, or what name she was going under. She was using them, and he wanted her to find his daughter.

Percy and Elton jetted through the woods with the couple in hot pursuit. The couple did martial arts moves on some zombies, which Elton and Percy admired for a while before they ran.

At CRM, Hope was in a class, the professor speaking about accelerated decay. He told the students that they should be glad they were studying decay, and not living it. Hope looked out the window, as you do in science class, and remembered good times with Iris and Felix. The professor thought she wasn’t paying attention, but she gave him an incredibly complex answer, adding that she thought making vodka out of the same properties would do more good. Why focus on the negative? This led to a debate between her and Mason, but the professor said Hope was right.  He thought she and her father should put their heads together father working on. After class, Mason asked if Hope was busy later, and did she want to join him and his friends. She declined, but he told her where and when, in case she changed her mind.

While he and Percy were running through the woods, Elton tripped and fell. Percy came back to help him, and zombies started coming up from under the ground, almost like it had been zombie quicksand. Then Percy tripped on one, and it was a losing situation, zombies grabbing at them every which way. Asha and Dev caught up to them, and killed the zombies, once again with impressive moves. Elton was still on the ground, struggling with one who had a grip on him, and he stabbed it in the head. Asha helped him up, but another zombie popped up, grabbed his arm, and bit. Asha grabbed Elton up, and tossed him aside. She was ready to kill him, but Elton told her that his jacket was bite-proof, and showed her his wound-free arm. He said, industrial corduroy. We saw Elton and Percy tied up, and Asha wearing Elton’s jacket. Asha took the eyeballs out of a dead zombie, and replaced them with flowers. She and Dev prayed over the bodies.

Leo discussed yeast in regard to decay with Hope. He thought she was trying to keep him distracted, and she said the whole place was a distraction. They’d agreed there was nothing they could do. They had to just wait and trust. Iris and Felix were okay. Leo said he knew there was something Hope wasn’t telling him. She said she’d talked to Huck, and Leo asked if Huck did something like threaten Hope. Hope asked him to do one thing; trust her. It was hard out there, but it was hard in there too. He said he understood. She hadn’t asked for this, and he wished he could give her a distraction from the distraction.

Mason toasted to those who had perished in Omaha. Hope decided to join the party, and Mason welcomed her to the bunker. He told her normally they were a fun bunch, and gave her the tour. 

Dev drove a wagon with Percy and Elton sitting in the back, their hands tied, Asha on horseback next to them. Percy told Elton that he should have listened. The world is a sh*t show. You’re going to get infected or going to die. That’s just how it is. They stopped at a sign that said, Danger Unseen Something-or-Other (okay, I wasn’t paying attention), and Dev put hoods on Percy and Elton. 

Mason told Hope that he was sorry about what happened to her. He said they’d built everything themselves in the bunker, and introduced Ian, who explained how he devised a game table. Mason said they’d been there three years, and had built a master control panel for all the labs. Everyone who did well on their tests ended up there. Getting to learn from her dad was an honor; he liked it there. She asked if he liked the soldiers, and he said his dad wanted him to go the military route, but it wasn’t for him. He decided to focus science because it would unlock the future.

At the Perimeter, Asha cut Percy and Elton free. Percy wondered how she knew his name, when Dev brought Iris over to them. She hugged them both, and said she’d thought Percy was dead. He said he thought he was too, and Elton said, Asha and Dev knew the entire time? Asha said her mom runs the place. They were going to just get them and bring them back, but when they tried to steal the food, she and Dev thought they’d have some fun. Percy said they had a screwed up way of having fun, and Elton wondered where Hope was.

Actually, Hope was playing Jenga. The blocks had tasks on them, but related to the game, not like the ones on Vanderpump Rules. Hope had to take a block out while blindfolded, which she did with ease. When Mason took his first one out, the whole thing fell. Hope flashed back it Iris saying they’d always protect each other. Hope went to Huck, and insisted Huck take her to Iris and Felix. Now. What had she been doing? Huck said it wasn’t as easy as Hope thought, but Hope didn’t give a sh*t. She needed Huck to take her, or they’ll probably try kill her. Huck said they’d go tomorrow. It was just one day. Hope said, in one day, a city of people got wiped out. If they didn’t go, her dad would start stirring sh*t up.  

Elton wondered how Hope could just be gone. Brody was pissed that Asha brought back more strays. It was putting them in danger with the CRM because of their agreement. Asha said they were there first, and screw the agreement, but he said that wasn’t for her to decide.

Dennis tried to chat up Huck, but she changed into her uniform. She said she’d left because of what he did, and when she was gone, she had to do some things she hated. She wanted to be okay, and maybe that would happen, but she was still figuring it out. She couldn’t be with him right now.  

Huck drove out, showing the guard some papers. Impressed with Huck’s name, the guard said, after Huck left, she’d been transferred there to assume Huck’s responsibilities. Her mother was an inspiration. Huck agreed, and the guard banged on the trunk, startling Hope, who was inside. After a tense moment, the guard told Huck to drive safely.

Asha showed Elton an artwork memorial to everything they’d lost, and said she was sorry for what he’d lost. She wished she’d known. He hoped he and Percy weren’t causing her any trouble, and Asha explained that the CRM supported the town in return for them encouraging people to steer clear. Elton called the zombies empties, but they called them vessels. They were holding souls, and killing them helped the souls move on. He said, and the flowers? and she told him they were her personal touch; a little beauty in the darkness left behind.

Iris tended to Percy’s wound, and needed him to take his shirt off, which I smelled coming. She thanked him for the night he surprised her, and he said, it wasn’t anything, She said he’d cut up his art books; it was. He said he agreed, and wished he could have been there, but she said he was there now. The CRM just kept taking; Hope, her dad, Silas. But he and Elton found them. It was a second chance. They just had to make it count. They heard the tinkling of an alarm.

Elton peeked out, and saw guards walking down the street. Iris saw Hope with them, and Percy had his knife at the ready.

Next time, Silas gets caught outside, Felix asks what Huck wants, and Hope tries to get Iris to come back with her.

😈 New Look…

Both Victor and the scenery got a makeover this season.

https://ew.com/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-season-7-premiere-beacon-strand-will/

https://ew.com/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-season-7-strand-becoming-villain-colman-domingo/

⚰️ Dead Finale…

You want insight, I got insight.

https://ew.com/tv/walking-dead-for-blood-season-11-part-1-finale-leah-daryl-judith-angela-kang/

🛌 Full Sleep Ahead…

We’re another weekend closer to Halloween, otherwise known as Free Candy Night to parents of small children. See you tomorrow for some soap and a finale on Deck. Until then stay safe, stay not comparing yourself to others, and stay knowing success is the best revenge, but attachments won’t necessarily destroy you.

Oct11

October 10, 2021 – Daryl Tells Leah Too Much, Hope Finds Out Her CRM Purpose, Best At the Con & Psycho

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Leah and Daryl join others on a lookout platform, and they see a small horde milling around. Carter wonders why they’re walking around like that, and Pope says, there’s a reason for everything. He asks if Daryl has seen that behavior before, and Daryl says he has, south of there. He suggests he lead the zombies out two miles and double back. Pope says they’ll try it Daryl’s way, but wants to send Wells, who leads the zombies into the woods. Leah radios Wells, saying, hey pied piper, how’s the piping? and he says he’s having a ball. He realizes it’s getting late, and needs to get home, but continues leading the zombies down a path. When he turns around, he sees zombies coming from the other direction. He radios Meridian, and says they have a situation. Pope asks, what kind? and Wells starts killing them, but he’s way outnumbered. They take him down, and one picks up Wells’s radio.

The Alexandrians are holed up in a house, while a storm rages outside. The adults board up the windows, and the kids huddle together. Judith tells them, it’s only thunder; it can’t hurt them. Her mom says that storms are always followed by clear skies. A branch blows through one of the windows, and Judith tells the other kids, stay there. She looks outside, and everything is blowing around. Rosita tells her to back get to the wall.

Leah tries calling Wells, asking if he copies, but only gets silence. She wants to go after him, but Pope tells her, there’s no point. He’s already dead. Leah says she’s seen him kill dozens of zombies, but Pope says, they didn’t kill him. She did. His enemy. She did come back. Leah asks if Pope sent Wells out as bait, and he says, he was a soldier; soldiers sometimes fall. Leah says, Wells was more than a soldier; he was family. Pope says, it’s a sign from God, but Leah says, God didn’t send Wells out there; Pope did. He asks if she disagrees with his decision. She’s had a helluva lot to say as soon as her boyfriend showed up. Is there anything else she wants to share? She says, no, sir, and Pope says, Wells was a son to him. Because of his courage, they now know the enemy is close. He promises they won’t escape this time.

Aaron tells everyone that the wall by the garden center was breached. He hopes it’s just the one. There was also a fire at the windmill, and he wants three teams. He needs one to take on the fire, and Carol says she’ll be on wall detail. Aaron says they’ll also need a team to protect everyone there. He asks for volunteers, and Connie signs that she’ll go, but Magna says she just got back. Connie insists she wants to go with Carol, and Carly says, if she’s up for it, they could use the help. Kelly says, she’s joining them too, and Connie starts to protest, but Kelly says, it’s not up for discussion. Magna says she’ll go with Aaron, and Virgil says he will too. Carol says Virgil can barely stand, and Rosita tells him that she could use help there. Virgil agrees to stay, and Judith volunteers to go, but Carol says she’d prefer if Judith stayed there. Judith says she’s not scared, and Carol tells her that she’d be helping the other kids be less afraid. Aaron says they’ll be back soon. Gracie begs him to stay, and let someone else go, but he says, it’s not fair for him to ask something of someone that he won’t do himself. They groups blow out into the storm.

Daryl tells Pope, the rotters are gone, but he says, she’s not. He asks what Daryl can tell him about Maggie, but Daryl says, not much, and Pope wonders why he’s keeping Daryl around. Daryl says, Pope told him God chose him, and Pope laughs. He says he had this dog he found on the side of the road, starving and half-dead. The thing about some rescues is, sometimes they give you that look, like they’ll lick your hand, then bite it off. Daryl says, don’t worry. He ain’t going to lick Pope. Pope laughs again, and says, there he is. Fair enough. Just don’t try to bite Leah. He’d hate to have to strangle this dog. Leah says, they kept Daryl because he’s an excellent tracker. She’s sure he must have noticed something. Daryl says, she’s a great shot. She has a bullseye lookout. In the trees maybe. Pope says, we’ll see. A guard radios for Pope to go to the lookout.  

They go up to the tower and see a ton of zombies. Pope laughs because everything is funny to him tonight, and he says, somehow she turned the dead against the living. That’s impressive. They won’t get that far. The zombies start to trigger random explosives, and scatter a little.

In Alexandria, Lydia says she needs boards, and they decide to use the furniture. I guess this infiltration was unexpected (as well as the storm), but I’m wondering why some of the windows are wide open. You’d think the first thing they would have done is close them. Or at least close them before they started nailing up boards. Judith tells Gracie, like how you can run faster when you’re scared, you can fight better too. It makes you stronger. Gracie practices, and Virgil tells Judith that her mother would be proud of her. Judith asks if he knows where Michonne went, but he says he’s sorry; he doesn’t. She says she just wishes her mother was here, and Virgil says, she is. He sees her in how Judith holds a sword. How she was ready to run into the storm. In how she talks to the kids. She’s helping them believe in themselves. Her mom can still be with her, and wherever Michonne is, Judith is with her. Gracie practices by one of those open windows, and Judith tells her, be careful. Right on cue, a zombie reaches through, grabbing at Gracie, but Judith cuts its hand off. Rosita and Lydia run back with boards, and start nailing them up. Rosita tells Judith to blow out the candles. More zombies try to get in, since they did such a crap job.

As the zombies set off mines, Pope asks what’s on Leah’s mind. She says, nothing, but he says he knows her better than he knows himself. What? She says she was thinking about the ones they lost, and Pope asks if she blames him. She tells him that she didn’t say that. He says, the black horse of famine rides after us all. In every war there is sacrifice. That’s why they were chosen in the first place; they don’t run from the fire. Wells didn’t die blindly. His sacrifice shows they’re still worth it. That’s why they will prevail. Daryl looks through the binoculars, and sees that some of the zombies aren’t zombies.   

Maggie and Daryl split off, and sneak around outside the walls at Meridian. Daryl comes across the Reaper he shared a cigarette with, and dude says he’s missing the fireworks. Daryl says he was told to walk the perimeter, so he’s walking the perimeter, and asks dude if he wants a smoke. He gives dude a cigarette, and dude says he quit once. He guesses he’ll have to quit again. Daryl asks, why? and drops the matches. When dude bends to pick them up, Daryl stabs him in the throat, and throws him over the wall, where Maggie and Gabriel are waiting. Daryl tells them which way to go, runs to open the door’s padlock, then jets.  

Negan and Elijah get hit with mine blowback, but keep walking. Pope watches, and Leah sees Daryl coming up the stairs. She asks where he’s been, and he says, getting ready, but she says, they won’t need him. The rotters will scatter. He asks if she’s sure about that, and Pope says he’s ready and watching. Daryl asks, what’s happening? and Leah says, this is how they’re going in.

Maggie comes out from under some garbage along with Gabriel. She asks if he remembers, and he says, top floor. She tells him to wait for her signal. They get the food and go home.

The Alexandrians try to hold door shut, and Rosita says she’s going to buy time. On her count, open the door, then close it behind her. She counts to three, and they open the door. She runs at the zombies outside, and Lydia shuts the door. They watch through the windows, as Rosita fights them one by one on the porch. She’s still not done, and goes down the steps. She is not fooling around. Finally finished, she comes back in, drenched.

Gabriel goes into a building, and checks for a secret panel in a closet. He opens it.    

Daryl watches as Leah and another Reaper uncover a whole load of small bombs on a truck platform. Leah tells the Reaper to let her know when he’s ready, and Pope leaves. Daryl says, sorry about Wells, and Leah says he shouldn’t have gone by himself. It was her responsibility. She should have had his back. He always had hers. Her people protect each other. Daryl wonders if he can ask her something. Pope says God chose them. Does she believe him? She asks, why? and he says, just asking. She says she knows how it sounds, but it gives them something to hold onto, after all the lies they’ve believed in. He says, what about now? and she says, it doesn’t matter if she believes him or not; it matters to him. She asks if Daryl ever thinks about what it would have been like if they hadn’t left the cabin, and he says, yeah. She says, it’s hard to watch someone you care about change, and hurting other people you care about. Pope radios her, asking her status, and Leah says they’re ready and standing by. He says, it’s time to do this. He’s on his way. Daryl says he has to tell Leah something. There are people down there, walking with the dead; his people. They’re here for food. They’ll starve without it, and they’re good people and have families. She can’t let them die like this. Leah says he lied to her, and he says, to protect his family. He’s sure she understands. She says Carver told her not to trust him, but she wanted to so badly. What does he think Pope’s going to do when he finds out? He says, Pope doesn’t have to know. She’s got to help him. Pope comes back, and says, it’s time for their enemy to face their reckoning. Oh my, what were Daryl and Leah talking about? Leah says, family, and Pope says, nothing more important. It’s the only thing they’ve got left. Doesn’t Daryl agree? Daryl says, yeah, and Pope says when this is done, he wants Daryl work for him. He’s a good man. Leah looks at Daryl.

Maggie rifles through a car for the keys, but can’t find any, so she hot wires it. She hears a radio, and ducks down. A Reaper runs past, but Maggie gets the engine to turn over and he hears it. He makes a grab for the passenger door, but she peels out, and he gets thrown. Just before it gets to the wall, she jumps out and lets it crash through the wall. Zombies start to come in, and Pope radios the guard, asking, what the hell’s going on? The enemy is inside their walls. Maggie runs, and a guard stabs at the zombies, but there are too many. Pope tells a guard to get ready, and Leah says, they have people out there. Call them back in. Pope says, and let the enemy know? God will protect them. She says, what if He doesn’t? and he says, then it’s their time to die. She says they can win another way, but he says they’re going to win their way, She says Pope is going to kill them, and he says the Lord speaks through him. Don’t question the Lord; don’t question him. Light it up. A Reaper guard lights the fuse, and Daryl takes out a knife, but Leah stabs Pope. Daryl throws the knife at the guard, nailing him, and cuts the fuse.

Maggie runs, and a guard sees her. They fight, and he knocks her down, but someone shoots him before he can get Maggie. It’s Gabriel with a semiautomatic. He starts shooting at Pope’s men, and Pope starts to drag himself along, but Leah kicks him down, and puts her foot on his back. She finishes him off, and Daryl tells her, come on, but she doesn’t go. Instead, she radios Carter, saying, Pope is dead, and Daryl murdered him. He’s with them. Carter says, they’re on their way, and Daryl asks why she did that. She says, he forgot about what matters. Not war, but people, her people. He’d do anything to protect his family. So would she. Daryl hears them coming, and I think he’s going to kill her for a moment, but he jumps over the wall. Carter and another guy run to look over the wall, and Carter says he should have killed Daryl when he had the chance. She tells him to get the gate closed, and he says, then what? She says, then they’re going to kill everything inside the walls. I’m thinking it’s less love of family, and more like she’s power hungry.

Zombies are still beating at the door, and Rosita tells Judith to take the kids upstairs. They go, and Virgil tells Judith not to worry about him, but she leads him upstairs. Lydia and Rosita are left holding the door. Judith looks for Gracie, but can’t find her, because for some ungodly reason, she went down in the basement. Judith heads downstairs, and sees rain pouring in through the windows. Lydia tells Rosita to go, and holds door alone. Judith asks what Gracie is doing, and Gracie says she wanted a weapon, like Judith. Judith cracks a tool handle so it’s now a pokey stick, and gives it to Gracie. They go upstairs, but come face-to-face with a zombie. Judith tells Gracie to go, and they run back to the basement, slamming the door behind them. The zombie bangs at the door.

Maggie and Negan fight zombies, and Daryl joins them. A guard tells Carter to go back, and Negan, still in his skin mask, tells Maggie, sh*t. They are retreating. She wonders why, and they see Leah, stone-faced, watching them from the lookout. She lights up the rockets, and they shoot off in all directions.

Next time, Daryl asks if their choices even matter, and Gabriel says, it depends on who’s making them; and Pamela Milton is introduced. This was the finale part one, so part two is upcoming on 2/20/22.

The World Beyond

After Iris killed the CRM guard, Felix found her, and helped her drag the body into the woods. Some zombies heard them, and Felix took care of them, but forced Iris to shoot one in the eyeball. The eyeball part was her choice.

Iris and Hope’s dad Leo talked with girlfriend Lyla about Hope’s return. He wondered how much he should tell Hope, but Lila said the fact Hope was there was all that mattered. Iris and Felix would be back and safe. No useful data there went to waste. Leo said he should have known it would be a scientific decision, and Lyla said, it saved his daughter’s lives, which gave him hope. Leo made Hope a birthday breakfast, and thought she’d be hungrier, but she said Felix was a good cook. He’d taken good care of them, although she could go without seeing a can of beans for the rest of her life. He asked if she’d been in any danger, and she flashed back to all the stuff that had happened. She said she didn’t want to talk about it, but honestly, the hardest part about being out there was worrying about him, and not knowing if he was hurt. Now that she saw he was okay, it made everything worth it. She wished she knew if Iris and Felix were okay, but he said he was sure they were. He didn’t want to push her, but he hoped she would choose his path. She said now that she was with him, she was without any choice. She asked if she’d have to go along with it, but he said he didn’t know.   

Felix, iris, and Will scoped out zombies at a lake. Iris freezes when she’s about to kill a zombie, thinking she sees it wearing a CRM helmet, but Felix steps in. Iris told Felix that she thought the CRM was behind the destruction of the campus colony, but Felix said, they were talking about a hundred thousand people. Why would they want them dead if they weren’t a threat? Iris thought maybe it had something to do with them wanting Hope. Felix saw how far they went to take her. Will said he’d be lying if he said it hadn’t crossed his mind. They chose a zombie, tied it’s arms down with rope, and Felix used the end of the rope like a leash. They did not explain whatever plan that was part of.

Silas been kidnapped, and taken on a hooded ride by some a guy named Dennis. The hood taken off, he asked where Dennis was going, but Dennis said Silas had nothing to worry about. He added that if Silas tried to fight or escape, it would mean prison for him. I’d say that might be something to worry about.

Elizabeth met with Leo, who told her that Hope wouldn’t settle in until Iris and Felix were found. He wanted to join the search team, thinking them seeing a familiar face would be helpful, but Elizabeth said that wasn’t possible. He said they were out there unprotected, but she told him that Huck was more than capable. He balked at her sending one soldier, but she said Huck meant more to her than any army because Huck was her daughter. He said he wanted his family there tonight, or he was done working for her, but she said he didn’t work for her. He worked for the Civic Republic. She did too, and her job was to protect the CRM and secure resources, of which his daughter was one. She was brought there on the condition that she change, and needed the experience of getting there to see the world as it is. She knew however angry and betrayed Hope was, she’d still work toward what was most important; building knowledge and research to save humanity. He said there was nothing more important than family, and Elizabeth said, but he left his. He broke their laws, and put them at risk. He’d called it an error in judgment, but a word of advice, don’t make any more.

Hope wandered around, and made notes about the security measures she saw. Lyla came over to introduce herself, saying she recognized Hope from the photo on her dad’s desk. She knew Hope’s dad was going to show her around, but he was waiting on update, so Lyla was happy to give her a tour. Hope eyeballed Lyla’s security badge, which was also a key card, and said to show her everything.  

Dennis took Silas into a warehouse, where there was a zombie in a cage, and had him put on a fireman’s jacket. He told Silas to keep moving, and they went through the building and out the back, Dennis picking up what looked like a weeding tool (the claw thing you twist to pull out weeds) on his way out. Outside, three kids were stacking up zombies and poking them in the head with the weeder. One of them told Dennis that they were right on schedule, and Dennis introduced Webb, Tiga, and Grady, telling them that Silas would be joining them in decontamination. They’d be responsible for training Silas and setting him up. A zombie started to sit up, and Dennis instructed Silas to kill it. Silas did, and looked at Dennis like, was that good? Dennis also wanted some reports on his desk, and I thought, you can’t get away from paperwork, even in an apocalypse.

Hope asked Lyla what the place was before, and Lyla said it was government funded educational research, but before that, it had been an old diamond mine. They’d used the lab for experiments that needed to be shielded from sun radiation. Now they were using the lab to pinpoint why the world turned. Hope asked if they were looking for information to cure it, and Lyla said, that was one part. They also wanted to figure out a way to get rid of the ones who’d turned. If they could discover when kept them going and turn off the triggers that motivated their appetite, they could eliminate the dead as a threat. As Hope researched and investigated, she would pass that knowledge onto the next generation. Hope said at 17, they had her whole life planned, and Lyla said they also planned all meals for Hope’s optimum nutrition, and would match her to an ideal genetic mate. Then she laughed and said she was just kidding, but who knows? Hope asked if she could meet Lyla in her dad’s office, since she’d seen a bathroom, and one with four walls was hard to pass up. When Lyla left, Hope snooped around a door that said Authorized Personnel Only. A young guy startled her, and asked if she was the new girl. He introduced himself as Mason, and said he was sorry about what happened to her mom; it was why they wore black armbands. He said if she was curious, he’d show her, and opened the door, but it was just a supply closet. He said they didn’t want people helping themselves without permission.

At the Perimeter, Brody told Indira that Felix, Will, and Iris couldn’t be trusted. Iris had killed a CRM solider, and Will was wanted by the CRM. Felix said they had a plan, but Brody said it was too dangerous, and they hadn’t been forthcoming. Felix shows Brody a CRM notebook with the locations of supply drops and fuel depots, things the military wanted kept secret. Will said if their plan worked, it would protect all of them. They heard the tinkling of the Perimeter’s makeshift alarm, and trucks came up the road. Indira told them to hide now, and Brody covered up the notebook they stupidly left on the desk. Elizabeth got out of a car at the head of the caravan, and told Indira that she wished it was a social visit, but they were looking into something. A breeze blew off the paper hiding the CRM notebook, as Elizabeth was looking around at Indira’s wall art. She told Indira and Brody that a soldier had gone missing, but Indira said they hadn’t seen any new faces around town. Elizabeth pretended to be examining the tapestry covering the doorway to the room where the trio was hiding, but she was interrupted by her radio. One of her people told her that the soldier had been located, and Elizabeth apologized for the intrusion.

Hope looked around her dad’s lab, and Lyla said she’d hope for Leo to fill Hope in, but she wasn’t sure where he was. She did know that Leo loved Hope very much; he was working hard for their future. She’d met parents who felt helpless and wanted to make their children’s lives better, but didn’t have the knowledge, just the desire. They were relying on people like her father. Could she imagine the pressure? Lyla said, even though Leo wasn’t there, he could still fill her in, and put on a video where Leo updated his progress. After some glitches, they were given the ability to record and transmit the dead’s biological responses to environmental stimuli. Lyla said they’d been trying to do this for years, but Leo had cracked it in two months. They already had a trove of data that would open doors and further the avenues of research as to what was infecting the dead. If they were able to modify it, they could accelerate the rate of decay, eliminating them as a threat.

Elizabeth saw her missing soldier, who was really the leashed zombie, now unleashed and really dead, and wearing Will’s jacked. Elizabeth wanted to limit the knowledge of Will’s death to authorized personnel, since Leo didn’t need any more bad news with his daughter missing.

In her father’s room, Hope looked at his research dedication to her and Iris, and got teary. Leo came back, and said he’d meant to straighten up, but she said, it felt like home with stuff everywhere. He asked what she thought of the place, and she said she thought there would be more guard towers and attack dogs. She asked if Lyla was his girlfriend, and he asked if Lyla told her. She said Lyla didn’t have to. She saw Lyla’s stuff in his bathroom, and she’d called him brilliant 89 times. Hope said Lyla was all right, but she was concerned that Iris and Felix weren’t at the retirement home, and hadn’t been found. Felix had said he could barely walk, but if he felt they should move, he’d move. Leo asked if Hope was leaving something out, and said she needed to be honest. What the hell was going on?

Silas worked at killing the walkers/rotters/empties/zombies. He asked what happened there, and Grady said they lured the zombies in with lights and music a few times a week. They blew them up, then cut them up. Silas asked where the parts went, and Grady said they had trucks to take them off-site. Silas also found out the boys had signed on to be part of something bigger. Dennis threw a sleeping bag at Silas, who wondered about what the others meant about being part of something bigger. Dennis said this had been the first place of its kind. Now there were six others, bigger, and they were all state operated by trained military personnel. If everything went right, they could start bringing back energy, agriculture, and commerce. They were a training ground for that, What they were doing was starting over. Silas asked what Dennis did, and Dennis said he was a mechanic who fixed trucks and choppers. He trained others to fix what was broke. He pointed to a trailer, telling Silas it was his. He’d be back in the morning, and until then, Glenn was in charge. Dennis left, and Silas asked Webb where he was going. Webb said he was dropping off a dead one at CRM’s research facility. That place was going to change everything. Grady said he wanted to work there as a guard one day. They asked if Silas knew someone there, maybe a girlfriend, and Tiga said maybe Silas and Dennis had that in common. Silas watched as a CRM helicopter flew above them. 

Dennis drove with a zombie in the bed of his truck. He pulled down his visor, and looked at a picture of himself and Huck.

Felix asked if Iris was okay; she hadn’t said much. She said she worked it out. She wasn’t worried about getting caught, but she was scared she wouldn’t get the chance to hit back at CRM. Felix asked if she was sure she was ready, and she said when she’d killed the soldier, she’d thought she was numb, but she was angry. This is war, even if they don’t know it yet. Felix agreed, and said until they figured out a way to hit back, they’d lay low.  

Lyla and Elizabeth chatted, while a former colleague, now a zombie, was tied to a gurney and muzzled like Hannibal Lecter. Lyla said she thought Hope was coming around, and they might need her help to bring her father around. He was anxious about his missing daughter, but his enthusiasm for CRM had also eroded. They needed Hope to keep him motivated. Elizabeth thought that was what Lyla was for, and Lyla said she was doing her best. Elizabeth hoped her best was good enough – for Leo’s sake and Lyla’s. Lyla wondered when she was getting her next test subject, since it had been a while since her last premortem. She assumed General Beale’s plans were moving ahead as scheduled. Elizabeth assured Lyla that they were, and Lyla looked at the colleague zombie.

Next time, Huck gets called out, and an underground zombie.

🎭 It’s Back, Baby…

It will take more than a little pandemic to keep a good cosplayer down.

https://nypost.com/2021/10/08/new-york-comic-con-all-the-best-fan-costumes/

📊 Monday, Monday…

Whether you’re back to work, zoom, or just staring blankly at your TV, join me tomorrow for some soap and a walk on Deck. Until then, stay safe, stay expecting good things, and stay never volunteering to be Pied Piper, unless you’ve piped before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmmvtX0IUHU
Oct4

October 3, 2021 – Negan Teaches Maggie To Walk, Huh, Hope Makes a Choice & Stand

Posted on by
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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Maggie says they’re about three miles out, but Negan says Daryl told them to go home. Maggie says, Daryl knows she would never turn back, and Negan asks, with what army? He asks Gabriel to back him up, but Gabriel says his family is starving. Negan says, at least admit they’re walking to their deaths for a sack of beans, and Maggie says Negan has always been more interested in himself than helping the people back home. Go; she doesn’t need him. He says, they both know that’s not true. He wants her to make him a promise in front of the goddam priest that if he sticks around – if he does this for her – he won’t have to keep looking over his shoulder. She says they’ll never be even, and he says, then she’s down a soldier she desperately needs. It’s her call. She says he’d take a promise from her? and he says, yeah, who wouldn’t? Assuming she’s a woman of her word. He’s always been a man of his. He holds out his hand, and she barely shakes it, Gabriel tells them, listen, and they hear the traditional garbled noises of zombies headed their way. One comes closer, and Maggie stabs it in the head. She says, it was Elijah’s sister’s best friend; she was just a kid. They have to get them; all of them. More zombies come toward them.    

Stephanie and Eugene fight with some zombies in an empty building, and Eugene says Stephanie is doing great. She says she’s doing okay, not great. It’s not like riding a bicycle. He says it’s the cerebellum protecting her from unpleasant memories. He has to ask. She’s known Lance a long time… She says, pretty long, and he asks if Lance is capable of taking care of their transgressions. In other words, will their labor truly lead to their freedom? She tells Eugene, if Lance says it will, then it will. He has his own way doing things, but Eugene can trust him. He’ll see.

Ezekiel and Princess work together in another building. Ezekiel insists he’s fine, but Princess doesn’t think so. She tells him that they’ve got to get the space back, and need to clear the bodies. He starts dragging them out, but he’s having a hard time, and she asks if he’s okay. He says he’s fine, and she apologizes for snapping. He says, it’s cool, and starts coughing. She asks what she can do, and he says, it’s dusty. He’s sure that’s it. Eugene and Stephanie join them, and ask if they need help. Princess asks Stephanie, how much longer? and Stephane says she guesses a couple more. Princess says, Ezekiel isn’t going to make a few more days, but Ezekiel assures her that he’s fine. She says he needs to see a doctor, but he says he’s not leaving her to work alone. She tells him not to be stupid; they have real hospitals and sh*t here. She asks if Stephanie can make it happen, and Stephanie said she’ll talk to Lance right now. Eugene says they’re most obliged, but Ezekiel wonders if they’ll incur another debt. Princess says she’s not afraid of hard work, and a couple of guards come by with a young couple who look like Preppies from the 80s. The boy says they’re way too close to where the masses are working. The smell is revolting. Eugene says, who the hell was that?

A man tells Yumiko that the recruiters were impressed with her, and she says she thought they’d found her difficult. He says he expected someone with her pedigree to have high standards. She’ll have no trouble finding a position there. She says she’s happy to work for them, but she’s not staying there permanently, and wants to make that clear. He says, after meeting Ms. Milton, she might reconsider, but she says she’d rather see her friends. Can someone take her to where they’re working? He says, they broke the law, and Lance arranged for them to be released with a fine. They’re clearing the buildings. She says, of what? and he says, the dead. She says, they’ve been assigned to clear the buildings for days, weeks, months? And she’s expected to provide legal services for… He says, Ms. Milton and her cabinet, and she says she’d like to speak with Ms. Milton right away. He says, that would be difficult. Lance’s expectations of the timing were different. She asks if Lance is his supervisor? And he says, no. She says, then she’d like to speak to her right away.

We see a zombie tied to a tree, and Gabriel prays over a grave (we assume Elijah’s sister’s best friend). Maggie says if Elijah’s sister is out there, they’ll find her, and every last one of these murderers. Elijah says, but the one… is his. Maggie tells Gabriel, there are scouts everywhere. If he gets a chance to kill one of them, do it. If they’re alone, he has the advantage. Gabriel says, if he gets a chance to kill one, he will. He leaves, and Nathan asks if Maggie is ready. She says she’s not cutting up anyone she knows, and Negan says they just need two. He kept his mask for practical, sentimental reasons. She says, it’s not fun, and he says, not with that attitude. She tells him, let’s get this over with, and they walk, leaving the tree zombie snapping at the air.

Two soldiers return to the Commonwealth, and tell Pope, they’ve done three sweeps, but there’s no sign anywhere. Pope asks if they checked along the train tracks and the underpass. Come on. There are dozens of those a-holes out there, and their brothers are dead. They’re not ashamed? Leah says, they were following her recommendations. She told them where the team went, and where to go next. If he wants to scream at somebody, scream at her. Daryl watches, and Pope asks if she’s trying to be noble. Get them to like her? Try keeping them alive. She asks if yelling is going to help do that, and Pope tells her, take your boy out there, and find those goddam idiots. She tells Daryl, come on; we have orders. She leaves, and he follows her. Ever notice how no one goes, hang on, I have to go to the bathroom first? Like they would in real life?

Daryl and Leah walk, and he asks if she’s all right. She says she’s fine. He says he’s sure the guys are grateful, and she asks how he knows. He says, he’d be. She says she may have been stupid. Daryl has a good place. If he spends time with these people, she’s sure they have their side. Does he have something to say about it? He says he’s just surprised, and she asks, why? He says, they won. They have walls and food; why keep hunting? She says, they need to make sure they don’t come back. He says he doesn’t understand, and she says, it was easy for him on his own. He only had to worry about himself. They have a whole community to protect. They have structure and a leader, who got them this far. What happened back there isn’t normal. He says he’s met guys like that before, and she says, Pope has puzzles to solve; he’s riled up. How can their people be so hard to find? Daryl asks if Pope is just going to kill everybody, and go back to being a good guy, and she says Pope is like a father to her. He’s made her strong. He believed in her when no one else would, and it made her strong. Daryl says she doesn’t need anyone make her strong.

Maggie walks, wearing the mask, while Elijah watches, and Negan gives her instructions on how to walk. He unties the zombie, who walks up to her and keeps going. Maggie trips, and gasps. The zombie does an about-face, and she tries to get the mask off. It comes toward her, but Elijah gets it back to the tree. She says she hates this sh*t, but Negan says it’s not going to fit perfectly; it’s someone else’s face. This might actually work. If he can do it, she can do it. They’ll fix it, and try again. She did good.

Gabriel watches from the woods, as a guy in an old-fashioned cloak approaches a cemetery at the edge of the forest. He kneels for a moment, takes out a dagger, and gets back up. He  seems to sense Gabriel, and says, help me, father. You who guided me during the darkest of times. I treasure our conversation and the guidance you’ve given me. Is there anything I should know? He listens, and says, thank you, father. Gabriel has his sword ready, but the guy leaves.

Yumiko and Tomi walk into the terminal. She asks how long of a break he has, and he says, just long enough to show her his dorm room. She says she doesn’t understand why he wouldn’t want the life that comes with being a doctor there, and he says he doesn’t want to go back to how it was before. She liked that type of life; he didn’t. Everything moved too fast, and people burned themselves out working until they died or wanted to. He asks her to sit, and says, no one can know he was a doctor. Promise him. She asks what he means, and he tells her, trust him. He likes things the way they are. This place makes sense. She says, okay, fine and tells him that she has a meeting with Pamela Milton later. Is there anything she should know? He says it’s nice for her. Someone like him would never meet her. She asks, why not? and he says, they have to know their place. Some stormtroopers come out of nowhere and grab him, taking him away. He says he did nothing wrong, and Yumiko says she’s his lawyer. He’s entitled to his rights. We hear, the Commonwealth way, over the loudspeaker.

Maggie walks with a few zombies in the woods, as Negan watches. He says he told her that she’d get it right. Congrats and you’re welcome. She takes her mask off Elijah says, he’s changed, but Maggie says, they can’t believe that. He’s helpful, or would be if there’s something in it for him. Elijah says, so her promise? and she says she hopes she can keep it.

Yumiko tells Lance that she needs to talk to him. Where the hell is her brother? He says her brother is fine, and she says, that wasn’t her question. He says she has an appointment with Pamela Milton, even after he told her that he was taking care of things. He needs some time, and she says, for what? He says, it works like this. Her people need help. Her friends broke the law and she wants them free. Those are big asks, and he can deliver, but there needs to be something in it for him. She asks, what? and he says, a friend in a high place. Someday, he might need a favor and she might be favorably inclined. So what does she say to sitting tight a few more hours? She says, a few more hours, and he says, excellent. Lance continues smiling the way he does all the time, and she doesn’t like it.

Leah and Daryl walk. and he points to a cabin. She says, the patrol has been through; they’ve checked miles of trails. It should be cold. He says, it looks like someone’s been through here. They move closer to the house, and Daryl notices something. He says, come out with your hands up, and a guy steps out from behind a bush. He says, don’t shoot; his family needs him. Daryl tells him, stand over there, and Leah says, there are soldiers looking for people like him. How did he avoid them? He says, they don’t know what he’s been through. His wife is hurt, and he can’t care for her and look for food. Let him go. Daryl tells him to show them, or he’ll shoot the guy in front of his family later. The guy says, okay. Please don’t hurt them. Leah radios Pope, saying, they found a man in the woods… She’s not sure if he’s part of their target. He’s taking them to his people, and she’s not sure how Pope wants to engage… He tells her to kill them, and she says, copy that.

With a small bunch of zombies corralled in the woods. Negan and Maggie have something to eat. He says he feels for her in all this. She might think it’s bullsh*t, but it’s true. She says, how’s that? and he says, he’s not a robot. It sucks to see your friends as walkers, and that should be enough, but they’re about to do some crazy sh*t. She’s going to break into the community she built, and lost. He gets it. She says she and Negan lost their communities in different ways, but he asks if she thinks he doesn’t understand the losing side of a massacre. She says, there were no children or families at the Sanctuary, and he asks, where’d Aaron get his crazy from? Does she think he doesn’t know about that? She says, he can debate battle plans if he wants, and he tells her, all he’s saying is that he remembers his home was invaded, and people were killed. The men who were killed had friends, girlfriends, and people who felt a loss that he couldn’t heal. He had to explain why their leader failed to protect them. She says the people he killed had families, and he did it in front of their families, and he says he did, but the world is different now. There are fewer people to fight for, and fewer people to fight with. Hell, there are fewer things to fight over. She asks if he’s saying he’d do things differently if he could do them over, and he nods. He says, yeah. If he had it to do over, he’d have killed every single one of them. She asks why would he say that, and he says, it’s the truth. They’ve got to do what they can to protect their people. That’s why they’re here. That’s why they’re doing this. She asks why he’d say that to her? and he says they had a good day, her and him, and the only way this works is if they’re honest.

Eugene, Princess, and Stephanie pile up bodies, and Princess asks where they bring the dead. Stephanie doesn’t know exactly where, but says, somewhere far from the water supply. Ezekiel comes bouncing back with Lance, and tells Princess, much gratitude. They did the work, and he brought lollypops. He passes them out, and Princess asks if he doesn’t want one. He says he’s had several, and she asks how it was. He says he’s good as new. They gave him antibiotics, painkillers, and IV fluids. I’m thinking he’s had more than that, and wonder what’s in those lollypops. He thanks Lance, who says he was happy to do it. He’s just glad everyone’s okay. Do they feel up to a new assignment? Ezekiel says, bring it on, and Lance tells Eugene and Stephanie to clear out the north fence line; Stephanie can show Eugene where it is. He asks Ezekiel and Princess to come with him, and they follow him.  

Gabriel comes back, and tells Maggie, good news; they’re still there. Maggie asks if he ran into any of them, but he says, no.

The young entitled couple who’d passed by, are now making out in a lean-to by the edge of the forest. Eugene and Stephanie arrive just as a bunch of zombies come out of the woods. Eugene whacks zombies like never before, and Stephanie holds her own. Eugene says, teamwork, and he and Stephanie high-five. The boy asks what the hell that was about. Eugene and Stephanie disrupted their date. Eugene says he and Stephanie saved their lives, and the boy says they have private security for that. Stephanie says, let’s go, and the boy says, that’s the best idea they’ve had yet. Eugene says, there’s no reason to rude, hoss, and the boy says he’s not used to talking to plebians. Eugene says, someone used their dictionary. He and Stephanie have earned either gratitude or an apology. The boy asks who the hell they think they are, and Eugene tells him, hold his horses. The boy asks who Eugene thinks he’s talking to, and Eugene says, a tiny little man. While this is going on, a zombie has come out of the woods, and is almost on top of the girl. Stephanie whacks it down, and the blood spurts onto the girl, who squeals. The boy tells Stephanie, stupid bitch, look what you did to my girlfriend, and Eugene punches him in the face. Stephanie says, what did you do? and Eugene says, he was being an a-hole. Stephanie says she’s so sorry. They’ve been working without a break. Eugene didn’t mean to… Lance and Mercer appear, and Lance asks, what happened? The boy says, these lunatics attacked them. And where was Mercer? He had rotters up his ass, and this dumb sh*t rolled up and attacked them. Eugene says, that’s not the way it went, and Lance asks if it’s not true Eugene hit the boy? Eugene says he did, and Lance asks what he was thinking? Doesn’t Eugene know who this is? Let me just interject here. This obviously wasn’t in the employee citizen handbook, so what the hell? Isn’t that Lance’s fault?

Yumiko goes to Ms. Milton’s office, and the receptionist thanks her for being on time; Ms. Milton is fastidious about her schedule. She asks if Yumiko would like something to drink, but Yumiko says she’s all right. The receptionist asks her to have a seat, and Yumiko looks at a coffee table book about Italy. The receptionist says Yumiko is part of the new group who came in. Are they settling in okay? Yumiko says, yeah, but she hasn’t seen her friends in a few days. The receptionist says she’s sorry to hear that. Is everyone okay? The phone rings, and she says, of course. She’ll do it now. Yumiko asks if everything is okay, and the receptionist says, Ms. Milton will have to reschedule. Someone attacked her son.

Eugene sits in a cell, and Lance comes in. He says Eugene was supposed to save and protect the governor’s son. If he’d done that, he’d have been a hero. He could have asked for anything. Eugene and his friends want out, but now the price is higher. He needs the name of Eugene’s town and how to get there. Eugene says he’s been on his own, and Lance says, then welcome. This is home. He and his friends can keep killing walkers, and his people – whoever they are – can figure things out on their own. Eugene says, if he were to disclose the coordinates, what guarantee can Lance provide that his community will be safe? Lance says, look around him. Think of how they’ve been treated, all the chances they’ve gotten. Eugene says, that’s not a direct reply to his query, and Lance says, it’s up to him. Lance starts to leave, and Eugene says, wait. I say, dammit.

Maggie practices walking in the field with a small group of zombies, along with Negan. She and Negan split off, and go over to a building. They take the boards off a door, and open it. Zombies stream outside, and I wonder who was saving them up in there. Everyone wanders around a parking lot.

A storm begins, and the guy leads Daryl and Leah to a house. He moves some vent hoses aside in the basement, and reveals an entryway. He goes in, and a wounded woman sits on the floor with a little boy. He says he told them the truth. Please don’t hurt them. Leah tells him to take his son and run. Don’t come back. The woman tells the boy to go ahead with his father, and don’t be afraid. The guy cries and says he loves her. She says she loves him too. No one cares since we don’t know them. They leave, and the woman says they’re the answer to her prayers. He was never going to leave while she was alive, but it’s dangerous to stay. She’s ready. Please. Leah actually looks like she has an emotion, and the woman closes her eyes. Leah aims her gun, but can’t do it, wiping her tears away. Daryl shoots the woman, and asks if Leah is going to tell Pope. She says, that Daryl killed her? It will look good for him. Daryl retrieves his arrow from the woman’s forehead, and covers her face. He says there’s something he needs to tell Leah, but the radio crackles. Pope tells them to come back, and she says they’ve got to go.  

Maggie, Negan, and Elijah walk with a whole lot of zombies. Maggie sees Elijah’s sister among the dead, and it freaks her out a little. She surreptitiously takes Elijah’s hand, and they continue to walk, tons of zombies now behind them. They head toward Hilltop.

Next time, zombies attack Meridian and Alexandria; Pope says, the end is close, and they will not escape this time; and Virgil talks to Judith about Michonne.   

🔦 News flash: Walking Dead has an official whiskey.

The Walking Dead: The World Beyond

We flashed back to the Republic blowing up the Campus Colony. Elizabeth told Hope that she would be reunited with her father, so Hope got on a helicopter with Elizabeth and Huck. Instead, Elizabeth said, change of plan, and they landed on a rooftop in Albany. Hope asked if Elizabeth had lied about taking her to her father, and Elizabeth said, not yet. She told hope they were heading into new world, where clusters of the dead were roaming around the continent, and as far as they could tell, the world. There were columns of them so big, they’d run right over whole cities. Elizabeth then gave Hope a bullsh*t story about how one giant horde was headed for Omaha, and another to the Campus Colony, and they mashed together. They’d tried to rescue ask many as they could, airlifting out those still alive, but the Colony was gone. Elizabeth brought Hope to Albany because it had been her home. She’d been working in military defense, and realized how quickly any chance for a future could crumble. She asked if Hope still believed a future was possible, and Hope said, she does, she did, she should. Elizabeth said that despite the fallen cities, she was trying to get Hope to think more positively. That’s why she pushed Hope to go on this journey; to see how fragile civilization was. It took everyone coming together to give it a shot. Hope’s father was a genius, and valuable to their research, but he was also a troublemaker. They couldn’t risk bringing in someone who could jeopardize the community. She asked if Hope wanted to work with them. She couldn’t bring Hope in to join her father unless she knew that, despite Hope’s grief and anger, she was committed in being an asset to the future; committed to a life where she’ll consume knowledge to hand to the next generations. Hope needed more time to think, and Elizabeth told her to think about what she truly wanted. She gave Hope a radio, and said she’d need Hope’s answer by dawn. She thought Hope had every reason to walk away, given the extent she and her friends had been manipulated, but she’d be taking her chances alone on her own, and wouldn’t make it out of the city alive. Life was a gift, and Hope could choose to waste it alone or fight for a future with for others, making sure it never happened again. The choice was hers. Hope left, and Huck asked if Elizabeth was really doing this when Hope could die. Elizabeth said, or Hope could join them, but she needed Hope to choose.    

Will told Felix and Iris how he escaped CRM, who wanted him dead, and he would be if they found him. He told the two of them to a place called The Perimeter, where he’d been taken in. It had been an abandoned farm, and before everything fell apart, it was an artists colony. He introduced them to Indira, the head of the council. She told them that she was sorry about their home, but since Will was vouching for the, they had a home there until a more permanent solution presented itself. They could keep their knives, but were she asked that they surrender all other weapons. The council will ask them some questions, but she wants Felix’s leg looked at first. She asks what they have to live for. Living took effort. It took everything, and she needed to know their reasons if they were staying. Felix said, these two, indicating Will and Iris, and a few others. Iris guessed she lived for Hope, and Indira said the world was nothing without hope.

Will and Felix got reacquainted, and Felix had a good cry. Will explained that Indira was risking everything harboring them, and cautioned Felix and Iris against trying to rescue Hope just yet. This was about the long game. Not just how to keep them all safe, but what would happen afterward. One wrong move, and it was over for all of them.

Hope went into a school, and while she was exploring, it didn’t take long for her to run into a zombie and end up rolling down a flight of stairs with it. She managed to kill it for real, but got a nasty head wound bouncing off the wall. Zombies came at her, but she fought them all off. Then she thought she saw Elizabeth, and flashed back to Elizabeth telling her to think about what she truly wants. After killing the last zombie, she saw a poster for a missing woman named Candace Froder. She looked down the hallway to see a hooded figure, and said, hello? 

In the meantime, Elizabeth asked if Huck was thinking about going after Hope. Huck had insisted that Hope was worth the risk of this trip, and that it was the only way to change her. Huck said it had, and Elizabeth said, not enough, but it could still be a win. Elizabeth said she’d only wanted the best for Huck. Hope reminded her of Huck at the same age. She was lost and angry. Elizabeth thought Huck needed Hope to look up to her.

Hope flashed back shooting Elton’s mother.

Elizabeth told Huck that it was easy to form an attachment after being on assignment for an extended period. She wouldn’t stop going after Silas, but after he’d been captured, he was stonewalling. She was still focused on finding the others, but if they continued to be focused on finding Hope’s dad, they’d need to be dealt with. She asked how much Felix and Iris knew, but Huck didn’t say.

Hope ran to another building, trying the doors. After getting inside, and thinking she was alone, she opened a curtain, and someone jumped out, scaring her, me, and probably whoever else was watching. It was the hooded figure Hope had seen, who turned out to be the missing Candace. She fought with Hope, and Hope asked why she was doing this. Candace said she wanted what Hope had. Her group had helicopters, clothes, and food, and whatever they didn’t have, they took. Hope realized it was the same woman from the poster, and said she didn’t want to hurt Candace; she just wanted to go. Candace asked, go where? You didn’t just die. Someone else got your clothes, food, and supplies. What was Hope doing there? Hope said she was just trying to make it. Candace attacked Hope, who pushed her away, into the waiting arms of some zombies who have managed to get their arms, and mouths, outside of a barred gate. Hope sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, and when she opened her eyes, poof! They were gone, and it was all a hallucination. She remembered better times with her dad, and cried. She looked inside a book, and saw one of his secret messages to her. Once again, she recalled Elizabeth asking what she truly wanted.    

Hope called Elizabeth to come back for her, and Elizabeth said she was happy to hear from Hope. Hope said Elizabeth was right. She wasn’t going to make it alone, but she didn’t want this be all there was. She didn’t know if that’s what Elizabeth wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Did she pass? Could she see her dad? Elizabeth said it was okay to hate them; she should. But the bad things they did must be done. They carried the burden so others didn’t have to, so there would be good in the world. Maybe one day, this might not be all there is, but it would be if they didn’t have a world to go back to. She imagined Hope understood that differently now. Huck wondered if Elizabeth had wanted to see if she’d go after Hope, but Hope and the others had changed her. Elizabeth said she was glad she was wrong.  

Huck told Hope that she thought she knew what they could do about Silas. She’d found a settlement, but told her mother that she hadn’t found anything. It guaranteed all of their safety if they had to run. Hope wasn’t having it, and said Huck was just covering her own ass. How about if she told Huck’s mother how badly Huck had screwed up her mission? Since Huck screwed up her life, she’d do the same to Huck. Huck said the only way to stay safe was to lie to her mother. The place was safe, as long as they played by the rules, and didn’t screw sh*t up. Hope said there was no way she was working with Huck.

Iris wondered why the cover-up didn’t make sense, and Felix agreed. The only reason they weren’t dead was because they left. They’d taken a risk. Maybe that’s how they had to keep living. Do what they needed to do, no matter the risk. The council was letting them stay there, and the rules were different. They’d have to change how they played. Iris pondered zombie hordes, then went out sneaking around with a bow and arrow. She saw a CRM guard poking around.  

Hope was led down a long hall like she was going to prison, but she was taken to her father. She hugged him and cried.

A zombie came out of the woods, distracting the guard, and Iris shot the guard. She fought with him, finally knocking him down. She stabbed him, and removed his mask, revealing he was practically a kid, but there was no remorse. She said, it wasn’t the zombies; it was him.    

Kind of a filler episode, eh?

Next time, Elizabeth captures an enemy. Hope’s dad tells her that he’s working to stop the zombies, and Iris says, this is war.

🌬 Gone Like the Wind…

It’s late, but join me tomorrow on Deck and for some soap. In the meantime, stay safe, stay building your character, and stay having a good attitude, even if you have to wear someone else’s face.

Sep27

September 26, 2021 – The Ferals Lay a Trap, Talk Tidbits, Behind the Dead, Next Week’s World, Teasing Fear & Life

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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Connie and Virgil run through the woods, chased by zombies. He says they have to find somewhere to hide, and they keep running until they see a house. There are a few zombies milling around, and a zombie grabs Virgil as Connie is trying to get the front door open. The door finally opens, and three of them – Connie, Virgil, and the zombie – tumble inside. Connie manages to get the door shut before other zombies follow. The zombie has Virgil down, and Connie smashes it in the head, and puts her back to the door.  

Carol tells Aaron and Rosita that she’s going to ride out. Aaron suggests a larger group, but Carol says Connie doesn’t have time to wait. Magna comes by, and asks if they’ve seen Kelly.   

Connie looks through the slats of the wall at the zombies milling around outside. She sees a moose head on the wall and is creeped out, and the house as a whole is tattered and messy. She looks at a small written map, and Virgil quietly goes upstairs, and looks around. He checks one bedroom, then another. He comes back, and tells her that he checked the whole house. They’re okay. Nobody’s there. She looks at the map, and he grabs a book and writes, you need some rest. He tells her that she hasn’t slept in days. He writes, I can keep watch, but she just looks worried. He writes, we will find your home, and says, you sleep. She shakes her head, and writes, unsafe. He tells her, rest, making a gesture meaning sleep. She shakes her head again, and he sits, while she looks out again, remembering the cave. She rouses Virgil, and writes, going to search the house again.  

Frost is tied to a chair, and not looking too good, since he’s been beaten pretty badly. Carver pulls Frost’s fingernails out, and says, tell him where they are. Daryl watches, and Pope asks if it bothers him. Daryl says he’s done worse, and tells Carver that he’s up. Carver says, like hell he is, but Daryl takes his place. He looks at Frost, who asks if they’re just going to stand there, staring dreamily at each other, or are they going to get to it? Daryl grabs him by the neck, and Carver says, if Daryl kills him, the two of them have a problem. Daryl drops Frost, and says he knows what he’s doing. He tells Frost to give them the location where his friends are hiding. If he does that, this all goes away. Frost says, it’s a good offer, or, hear him out, they can all go eat sh*t instead. Daryl cracks him one across the face, and Carver says he’s already gone through these steps. Maybe they should start taking pieces. Pope tells Carver to give him the knife, and Frost tells Daryl, do what he’s got to do. Pope gives Daryl a big knife, and Daryl takes off his vest and throws it down. I guess that means he’s ready to rumble. He says he doesn’t think Frost understands. He’s the best shot Frost’s got. Frost asks, why? Are they friends now? Daryl says, no, it’s not because they’re friends. He’s the one holding the knife. Frost says, Daryl’s buddy is the one holding the gun, and Daryl smacks him again, saying, shut up. Listen to him. Frost is close enough to know where they’re hiding. Daryl grabs one of Frost’s fingers, and says, no one needs to die. Just say the location, so they can all walk away happy. Frost says, go to hell, a-hole, and gets a finger chopped off for his trouble. Daryl says, the location, or he’ll take another one. At first, Frost refuses, but then tells him, yellow house, and gives an address. Daryl asks Pope if that’s good enough, and Leah says she can scout it out. Pope tells her to take a squad, and he wants her, Carver, and Daryl to go. Carver balks at taking Daryl, and Daryl tries to hand back the knife, but Pope shakes his head.

Connie checks some of the rooms, but they’re locked. She sees old-time portrait photos along the walls with the eyes gouged out. Not real promising. She goes into a bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror, telling herself, don’t you look delightful? She looks inside the medicine cabinet, and checks out what’s there. She realizes the back of it is a slatted wall, and suddenly, there’s an eyeball looking back at her from the other side. She runs downstairs, and wakes Virgil. She signs, we’re not alone, and he asks, what happened? She signs, something else is in here with us. He says he doesn’t understand, and she signs, it was behind the wall staring back at me. She grabs the book, starts to write, but gets frustrated, and throws it down. She grabs Virgil’s knife and cuts at a painting. She steps back, and we see she’s written, NOT ALONE. I actually got a chill there.

Leah, Daryl, Carver, and a couple other men find the yellow house. Carver says, it’s quiet… there are two entrances. Leah tells the men to go by twos, and gives them instructions. Carver says, what about d*ckhead? Is he supposed to believe Daryl has his back? She says, that’s her job, and they move toward the house. Daryl hangs back, and pulls on a car windshield wiper. Inside, Maggie sees a clothesline move. The men go inside, yelling, clear! as they go through the house. Carver says Frost jerked them around, but Daryl suggests they check the house first. Leah tells the men to search outside, and she stays to search the house with Daryl and Carver.  

Kelly rides through the woods, and sees a dead horse near an empty campsite. She looks under the tarp, and starts going through the knapsacks there. The last one she opens has Kelly’s notebook, and she flips through it, seeing things like, trapped with the dead and walked with them for days, and asking where Michonne is. She says, Kelly, where are you? and takes the bag with her.

Virgil looks through cabinet to the other room, and tells Connie that he doesn’t see anything. She signs, something was there, and he says he’s sure she saw something, but she hasn’t slept, so maybe it’s… She shakes her head adamantly, and he says, sorry. They’ll give the house another sweep. She says she’s not staying there, and starts to walk toward the front, but a door slams shut behind her, separating her and Virgil. It’s silent because we’re getting Connie’s POV. She slides slowly down the hallway, with her back against the wall. She feels something behind her, and runs. A very creepy human on all fours, moving really fast, chases her, and she slams the door in its face. She looks down into the basement. This thing was so bizarre and scary, like something out of the old Creepy comic books.

Leah feels the sink, and says, it’s still wet, and Daryl says Frost was telling the truth. Coming downstairs, Daryl notices the corner of a trap door, peeking out from under a rug in the living room, but doesn’t say anything. He suggests, maybe they went out back, and Carver asks if Daryl is in a hurry to leave. Underneath the trap door, Negan, Elijah, Gabriel, and Maggie listen. Daryl says he’s just trying to help, and he and Carver argue. Leah tells them to stop, and says, she’ll check the perimeter, and check for possible runners. Carver says he doesn’t have time for this bullsh*t, and she says she understands, but doesn’t need it. Carver says he’ll check again upstairs, and make sure he didn’t miss anything. Leah tells Daryl, either he’s with them or not, and he asks what she wants him to do. She says, for one thing, stop pissing off Carver.

Kelly’s horse won’t budge, and she pulls on the reins. She slips, falling into a large mud puddle. Carol asks if she needs help, and walks into view with Rosita and Magna. Magna asks what Kelly was thinking. She should have told them she was heading out. They help Connie up, and she says she’s fine. She hands Magna the book, and says, it’s Connie’s. She found Connie’s camp. Connie, and some guy she was with, left in a hurry. Something’s not right. Magna looks through the book, and says, she thought they were being followed. Kelly tears up, and says, she’s out there and scared. Connie needs her. If something happened… Carol says, they’ll find her first, and they keep moving.

Connie holds the door shut, and it gets quiet. She slowly goes down the stairs, and when she gets to the bottom, she sees human bones everywhere, picked clean. The stairs shake, and something falls. The feral creature thing starts coming down the stairs on all fours – which is pretty effing creepy – and Connie pulls herself up, and into a vent leading to another room. Some of the walls are weird and made of slats, and she looks through them, seeing another eyeball, but this time, from the cave. She looks again, and sees nothing. Virgil suddenly runs inside the room, slamming the door shut. Connie sees Virgil, and bangs on the wall. He comes toward her, uncertain. She taps out SOS, and he moves closer, and I yell, no! because one of those things is behind him, being all stealthy. Connie tries to warn him, but…   

She watches in horror as this creature pounds on Virgil. She tries to get one of the slats off, while it strangles him, saying, hungry. He fades, and she manages to distract the creature by banging on the wall again. It gets distracted, and Virgil is able to grab his knife, and he stabs it. It crawls off, trailing blood. He struggles to get up, and stabs the knife into the wall (on his side, it’s wallpapered). The knife comes through an inch from Connie’s nose, covered in blood. She pulls frantically at a slat, and gets it off, quickly putting her hand through so that he sees it’s her. He makes a hole big enough for him to help her come through.    

Daryl tells Leah that they ran, and won’t come back; the Reapers hit them hard. The Reapers have twenty people in town, they’ve got weapons, and the balls. They probably saw the Reapers coming miles away, and ran. Carver asks what Daryl’s point is, and Leah says, there’s nothing here. It’s time to go. Carver thinks they’re missing something, and Daryl asks if he wants to waste another hour. Carver says, this dirtbag wants to play, and Daryl says, come on. Leah says, it’s not the time, and it’s not his call. Carver says they both know who Daryl is deep down. He was there, remember? After that, does she think this is going to end different? Leah says, so this is what? Carver looking out for her, and Carver says, she always got him. She says, when Pope locked her in the cabin and lit it up, he must have known. Was he was looking out for her then? He tells her, wake up. Everything is a test. Does she think this guy gives a sh*t about them? They’re going to fail. Daryl says, Carver is right. He doesn’t give a sh*t about any of them, except for Leah. He’s here for her. It’s no secret he’s made mistakes, but he’s here right now. Maybe he’ll do it better this time, if she lets him. Pope scares the sh*t out of him, and he doesn’t want to end up face first in the fire under Pope’s boot. But if Leah says trust him, he’ll trust him. Leah says, they’ve wasted enough time here; it’s time to move on. Carver says, sure. It’s her call. He sees the trap door corner, and says, hold on. He pushes Daryl out of the way, moves the rug, and opens it triumphantly, drawing his gun, but there’s nothing there. Daryl says, told you.    

Negan, Maggie, Gabriel, and Elijah sneak out the root cellar door.

It starts to storm, and Rosita says, which way? Carol wonders if they should split up, check both trails, and double back, but Magna says, a storm is coming. They should stick together. Rosita says, it’s up to Kelly, and Kelly decides to keep going.

Virgil tells Connie that he’s never seen people this far gone… to herd them like prey, but they’re not. He’s getting her out. They’ll make a run for it. He gives her the knife, and says, no matter what happens, she has to keep going, with or without him. Don’t stop. She says, no, and tries give the knife back, but he says, no, just take it. She puts it down on the floor, and signs, if we’re getting out, we’re going together. She’s not letting him give up now. He says he doesn’t have a choice. He lost himself for a long time, off the map, and made choices he can’t unchoose, but Michonne gave him another chance. She pointed him to a road, and that road led to Connie. He has to pass on that chance, or it all means nothing. If she can find her family… He cries, and she signs, we leave here together. He says he needs her to promise to keep going no matter what happens. She puts her hand in his, and locks their fingers. He says, together, and they hear the creatures coming. He says, time’s up. They open the door and go out; her with the knife, and him wielding a table leg. He tries a door, but it’s locked, and the feral creatures appear. Virgil clubs at them, but they get him down. Connie slashes at them with the knife, and they back off. Virgil tells her to get out, but she drags him out with her. The creepiest creature of all comes crawling down the stairs, and Connie shields Virgil. She grabs the zombie they came in with, disembowels him, and covers herself in the guts. She opens the front door, letting in the dead. Very clever. There’s a free-for-all, and the dead feast on the feral creatures. I think leaving now would be a good idea.

Outside, Virgil stumbles, and tells her go. Some of the creatures have escaped, and make a beeline for Virgil, but get a slingshot rock in the head from Kelly. Kelly sees Connie, and starts to cry. They stand looking at each other for a moment, and Kelly says, I’m sorry. Connie begins to cry, and they hug.     

Leah, Daryl, and Carver come back, and Pope asks, what’s the word? Leah says, there were signs they were there, but they slipped away. She’s sorry. Pope laughs, and she says she thought he’d be disappointed. He says, the night was a success. After they left, he continued the discussion with their guest, and he wasn’t too talkative, but Pope got everything he needed out of him. Pope looks at Daryl, who nods, and we see new zombie Frost tied to a tree. Pope and Carver go inside, Pope putting his arm around Carver. Daryl and Leah watch, and Leah looks at Daryl. Yeah, I don’t think this is good.

Next time, Negan says, the world is different – there are fewer people to fight for, and fewer things to fight over; Lance tells Yumiko that he can help her people; Maggie pretends to be a Whisperer; and Gabriel comes across a stranger talking to his spirit guide in the woods.

🎤 A couple of Talking Dead insights. Lauren Ridloff (Connie) was a guest tonight, and said she and Angel Theory (Kelly) were really like sisters. Before filming, they hadn’t seen each other in person since the beginning of the pandemic, and she’d asked that they be kept separated on set until it was time for them to meet in the scene at the end. She thought it would make it more authentic, and I have to agree it was a good choice. When they started crying, it made me want to cry. IMO, this was one of the best episodes ever. And while a great script, great acting, and great direction by Greg Nicolero played a part, it was largely because of those creepy-ass feral creatures. We also learned that some of the portraits were of them during a more civilized time, and the eyes had been scratched out so they weren’t reminded of how they used to be. I love when they get all detailed about a backstory we normally wouldn’t even know about.  

🗣 About Tonight…

Talking with Kelly and Virgil.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/walking-dead-star-lauren-ridloff-020500507.html

https://tylerpaper.com/lifestyle/arts_and_entertainment/the-walking-dead-lauren-ridloff-kevin-carroll-talk-ferals-rick-connections/article_748c9ae8-cdbc-5f14-ae87-7ce4c225cd86.html

🌎 Coming Next Week…

The beginning of the end of The World Beyond.

https://winteriscoming.net/2021/09/25/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-season-2-preview/

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-season-2-what-happened-jadis-rick-grimes-helicopter-six-years-crm/

https://winteriscoming.net/2021/09/24/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-season-2-rick-grimes-secrets-jadis/

⚰️ Sorry Not Sorry…

I love Victor.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/fear-the-walking-dead-season-7-teaser-exclusive

🥿 Shuffling Off Not To Buffalo…

And so another night of zombies concludes another weekend. Join me tomorrow for soap and a Croatian cruise. Until then, stay safe, stay going the extra mile, and stay trusting your gut feeling if you think a place is unsafe. Otherwise, you might end up having to cover yourself in guts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jShMQw2H2cM
Sep20

September 19, 2021 – Aaron Questions a Whisperer, Dead In the Family, Baby Daddy, Unused Ending, Fear Preview, a Look At Beyond, Two Kinds Of Winners & Dance

Posted on by
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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Aaron walks through the woods with Grace. An unmasked Whisperer with a W carved on his forehead asks if they’re lost. Grace says she’s scared, but Aaron says it will be okay, and to stay close. They hear whistling, and another Whisperer comes out with a gun, one more with a knife. A real zombie joins them, and Aaron kills it. He calls for Grace, but she’s gone. He’s surrounded by Whisperers and zombies, and they close in, hacking at him. He wakes, and sees Grace sleeping peacefully.

Jerry quietly steps over some sleeping kids to go to the bathroom. He looks out sees a zombie, and yells, breach inside the wall! Everyone scrambles around, and Aaron tells Grace to head downstairs to the basement and stay there, like they practiced. Does she have her whistle? He leaves.

A zombie is eating a random guy in the street, and everyone is running toward a section of the wall that’s been pushed down. Carol, Aaron, and some others try to put the panel back in place, but the zombies aren’t making it easy. One grabs at Aaron, who’s trying to block what’s left of the opening. Jerry finally whacks it in the head with a hammer. They get the wall back in place and fortified.

At the Commonwealth, Eugene and company watch a welcome video. Director of Ops, Lance Hornsby, says if they’re watching this, they’ve made it through the rigorous screening process, and are on their way to becoming part of the community. He explains they’re under the leadership of Pamela Milton, and they’re 50,000 strong. Each person is assigned a job best suited to their skillset in order to keep the community thriving. This orientation will give them a taste of what’s in store. The future starts here. We see an ice cream truck and a sack race, and Lance says, community. We see some happy old people, and he says, care giving. We see the stormtroopers under a banner that says, Fight the Dead, Save the Living, and he says, security. That’s the Commonwealth way.

Yumiko says, Pamela Milton. Wow. Princess smiles and nods. Am I supposed to know who she is? A man gives each of them an envelope, and Eugene says he’s in the high school teacher pool. Princess takes out her $2 bill, and says it’s a good sign. Eugene asks what this is, and the man says, their job and housing assignments. Eugene says taking up permanent residence wasn’t their intention, but the man says, if there’s a problem, take it up with their case supervisor. Eugene says, they’re not there to work; they came to get help. Princess wonders if they can’t stick around. She got a retail position, and maybe there’s a mall. Ezekiel says, he got animal control, and thinks the positions were based on what they’d done before. Yumiko says, hers isn’t an assignment; more like an invitation. It’s from an Edmund Widgeway, to meet and talk about opportunities in the community. Princess says, sounds fancy; it must be the accent. Eugene they have to leave asap, before these entanglements usurp their Plan A. He’s supposed to meet Stephanie, and Princess says she’ll go with him, since she wants to see more of the city. Ezekiel tells Yumiko, maybe whoever gave her the invite can help. Yumiko goes over the man’s desk, and he tells her to see her case supervisor, but she says she doesn’t have one. She only has this letter. He looks at the letter, and seems impressed. He asks how he can help, and she says she was inquiring about a family member she thinks lives there, but hasn’t heard anything. He says he’d be happy to help with that.

Zombies gather outside Alexandria. Rosita says, the wall is fragile since it broke, and Aaron says, they need a long term fix using updated tools. Rosita says, they’re back to square one soon with the food, and Aaron says, it’s nasty (if you remember, it’s horse), but it’s going fast. Maybe they should check Hilltop. Carol says they could make a run, and see if there’s any game along the way. I find it difficult to believe there isn’t even a bird or squirrel around. And again, nuts? Berries? Roots? Rosita says, what if there’s nothing left? What if they can’t make it safe? They need to look into other options. Aaron says, this is their home, and he’s not ready to abandon ship. They’re going to try and make it safe first.

Maggie and Negan fight a zombie together in the woods, and bring it down. Negan tells her, the only way this works is if they trust each other. She asks why she’d ever trust him, and he says, he doesn’t know. Maybe she wants to stay alive, the same as him. Maggie says she’ll stay alive in spite of him, not because of him. He says, if that’s how she feels, he doesn’t understand why she hasn’t put him down yet. She flings a knife toward his head, and he ducks. It lodges in the head of a zombie behind him. He says, sh*t, and she says, she asks herself that question nearly every day. She walks past him, and he says, no sh*t. He follows her.   

Aaron, Carly, and Jerry ride to Hilltop, which is a burnt out mess. Aaron says, it’s been picked clean. There are some zombies toddling around, and Jerry says, heads up. Those are our people. A zombie writhes on the ground close by, and Lydia says, that’s Troy. Carol says, let’s just get it done, and Jerry looks sad. They walk around, dispatching the roaming zombies, and Aaron stabs Troy in the head without looking at him.   

Back in Alexandria, Judith teaches the children the art of fighting zombies, using wooden swords. They see some teenage kids teasing a young zombie who’s poking his head through an opening; putting their hands close to his mouth to make him snap, and banging on the wall. Judith strides over, and says they shouldn’t be doing that; it’s dangerous. The tallest kid tells her, calm down. They’re just having fun. Judith says, if they don’t stop it, she’s going to tell Rosita. The boy says, she talks too much. No wonder her mother abandoned her. Judith tells him, what did you say? and he says she’s such a baby. Her mother must have gotten tired of her whining. Judith puts a knife to his throat, and tells him, say it again. I dare you. Grace comes over, and asks her to come away from them. The boy says, stay away, psycho, and Judith walks off with Grace.

On the road, Maggie and Negan walk into a suburban area. They go inside a house, and Negan says, it doesn’t look like anybody’s been here. She says, so they wait, and he asks, how long? She ask how long he’d want someone to wait for him, but he says, the longer they stay, the more likely those lunatics will catch up to them. They should just take the food from there back. It’s not a lot, but it’s something. She says, it’s nothing. They need to feed a whole community. He says, she needs to know when to cut her losses, and she says, those losses are her people. He says, she still has people; she still has Herschel. She asks if he doesn’t know that’s the reason she’s doing this. He says, she can’t. That’s his point. He knows he doesn’t get a vote, but here it is anyway. They should give it until sundown. If they others don’t show by then, they should go.

Yumiko looks in a bakery window. She goes inside, and smiles. A baker comes out and asks how she’s doing. They have a fresh batch of donuts. She says she’s looking for someone, and another baker comes out, carrying a cake. He says, ready, boss, and sees Yumiko. She says, hi, Tomi, and he drops the cake.

Aaron and the others go through Hilltop, and Aaron says, it’s all gone. Jerry says, a lot of them are still standing; remember that. Carol says, it’s war. They need to take care of the stray zombies before they keep searching. They see a group of zombies walking like they’re pushing the wheel in Midnight Express, and Lydia tells them, look at the way they’re moving. They’re being herded. Aaron says, Whisperers, and they run toward the zombies, Aaron using his metal mace arm to smash heads. One falls to the ground, and it’s a Whisperer. Jerry rips its mask off, and Lydia says she knows him.  

And ice cream truck plays music from The Sting, which is better than that crappy music they usually play. Eugene waits by the sidewalk, and Stephanie brings him a cone. He takes a lick and approves. They walk, and he tells her, if she doesn’t mind him saying it, this place has creature comforts he didn’t know he missed. It’s a fine day for him. She says, it’s a fine day for her too. She’s glad he’s here. He sees a woman pushing a stroller, and Stephanie asks where he is. He says, his people. Back where he’s from, there used to be a place like this. He could be content indefinitely, but he wouldn’t be the man he is if he didn’t do what he came there for. He can’t stay. He has to help his friends. Since there’s significant red tape to become a citizen, does she have any advice on how to cut through it? She wishes she did have some, and they sit on a bench. She looks up at the radio tower, and he looks at her. She says she bets he’d feel better if he could talk to his people. It’s not in her realm of responsibility, but she wants to help. Ezekiel and Princess join them, and Ezekiel says, the deputy superintendent said it would take five weeks to see the boss. It might as well be five years. Princess asks if there isn’t an unofficial version, and Eugene hands Princess his ice cream cone. They all walk toward the train station where the tower is, as Mercer watches.

The kids are all running around the house, when Judith comes in. She finds a handprint thing that Carl made for her, and she asks who broke it. She goes up to the bully kid, and asks if it was him, but he says, no. She says, don’t lie, and he tells her not to pull another knife on him. He said he didn’t do it. Grace says she can help fix it. RJ says, he can too, and Herschel says they all will.

Judith sits outside with the broken piece, when Rosita comes by. She says she remembers when they made those. She was so small, and Carl wanted them to have a memory together. Judith says, now it’s broken, and Carl is gone. Everybody is. Rosita says she misses them all too, and Judith asks if it gets easier. Rosita says she’d be lying if she said it did, and Judith says she’s worried she’s going to start forgetting about them. Rosita sits next to her, and says she never really knew her dad, and her mom died when she was a little older than Judith is now. For a long time, it was just the two of them. They moved a lot, from job to job, but her mom always managed to keep them going.  She didn’t know it then, but her mother was teaching her to survive on her own, so Rosita would be okay if she wasn’t there. Carl and Judith’s dad did the same for her. She’ll always be able to get through tough times. Pieces wood are nice, but she doesn’t need that to remember how much they love her. Rosita adds that she’s really good at fixing things.

Aaron asks the Whisperer his name; and no Alpha/Beta garbage. The guy says his name is Keith, and Aaron asks what he’s doing there. He says he’s not hurting anyone. The herd scattered, and those who weren’t killed or burned, they all left. Aaron asks why he’s keeping the walkers, and he says, protection… comfort… old habit. Jerry asks what Aaron thinks, and Aaron says, he’s never met a Whisperer who wasn’t a liar. Lydia says he believed Mary, and Aaron asks how she knows Keith isn’t lying. Why is she so certain? She says he wasn’t part of her mother’s inner circle; he was afraid of her. Aaron says, all that proves is, he’s got eyes, and Keith says, during the long winter, he took care of Lydia. Does she remember? She says she’s not sure, but it doesn’t matter. Aaron says, he’s hiding something, and Carol says, Aaron is right. They need make sure he’s not a threat. Aaron says they’ll put him in the cellar until they decide.

They go down to the old jail cell, and Jerry says, dude… Aaron asks, what is it? and Jerry says, nothing good. Four people are crouched along the wall, and Aaron says, he’s not alone. Let’s see what else he lied about. Aaron digs around the cell, and finds a mask. He asks, how many more? and Keith swears that’s it. Aaron says, Keith just led to him, and Lydia tells Aaron, look at them. They’re scared. They’re just trying to be people again. Aaron asks how they know they’re not a threat; hiding in plain sight before they get ambushed. She says, they weren’t all monsters, and Jerry sees a scarf. He said it belonged to Nabila. They were in Alexandria. They burned down their home. Carol asks Aaron what they’re going to do, when Keith grabs a knife. Lydia yells, look out, and Keith lunges at Aaron, slicing him. The others run out during the distraction, and Aaron says, his turn, and knocks Keith out.

At the Commonwealth, Stephanie leads Eugene into the train station. Remind me not to let these two spy for me. They’re so nervous, it looks obvious they’re up to something. Ezekiel sits in the waiting area, and Eugene and Stephanie go upstairs. Princess watches everything.  

At a sidewalk café, Yumiko tells Tomi that she’s good with a slingshot too. He says, not bad for a barrister. He tells her that she’s changed, and she says so has he. How did he find this place? He says he fled Chicago after it first started going bad. He ran out of gas about 20 miles from there. He was lucky enough to find good people, and they walked there. It was early on, and they had just a few secure blocks when they first started, but they expanded. He almost forgets what’s going on outside the walls. She says, he’s been there the whole time making cakes? and he says he likes baking; it makes him happy. She says, he could save people, and he says she’s still trying to run people’s lives. She says she just wants what’s best for him, and he asks, when was the last time she saw him happy, truly content? She says she can’t remember. Maybe now. He says he likes his life the way it is. It’s the one gift he got out of the world falling apart. Don’t ruin it for him. She says, of course she wouldn’t ruin it, but tell her one thing. Is it as good as it seems? He says, better. She says, if she wanted to get help for her people, could she do that there? He says, anything is possible, as long as she follows the rules. Does she want some cake? She says, hell yeah.   

Princes sees Mercer coming up the steps to the train station, and runs out. She says, fancy meeting him there. She admires his muscles, and says, clearly, they’ve got a gym. He asks her to excuse him; he has business inside. She says she wanted to thank him, and he says, for what? She holds up the $2 bill, and says, for making sure she got this back. He says, no need to thank him. He was returning her property. Is there something else? She says, yeah… He has really beautiful eyelashes.

Keith hangs by his arms, and Aaron says tell him where the others went. He holds a zombie on the end of a stick, close to Keith, and says, how many more? Answer him. He brings the zombie closer, and it bites at Keith’s jacket. Keith yells for Lydia to help him, and Aaron asks, where are they? Keith says, the Alexandrians pretended they were better than the dead, but dead is honest. His friends are better off dead. Aaron lets the zombie bite Keith, and Lydia is clearly disturbed. Aaron says, the clock is ticking. Does he feel better off? He can help Keith by cutting off his hand before the infection spreads, but they don’t have much time. Where are they? Keith says he doesn’t know; he swears. Aaron asks if the Whisperers are still a threat, and Keith says, no, but Aaron says, stop lying. Lydia says, enough, but Aaron says he needs answers. Lydia says Aaron wants something else, and she won’t be there to watch. Jerry, who’s holding Keith’s arms up via a pulley, drops Keith closer to the zombie, and Aaron says, tell the truth. Keith asks what Aaron wants him to say. There were more, but they’re gone. He doesn’t know where. Carol shoots the zombie in the head with an arrow, and Aaron asks, what the hell is she doing? She says, she’s stopping him from doing something, but he says he’s doing what he has to, to keep safe. She, of all people, should understand. She says, not like this, but he says, look around. They’re standing in the ashes of what the Whisperers destroyed. Grace is hungry because of them. There’s a world full of people beyond saving, and he’s not waiting for them to show up on their doorstep. Carol says she knows how it felt after Henry was murdered, when she let it take control of her, and take her down a dark path. Now with everything she does, she carries it with her. It’s a path he doesn’t want to go down. Let him go. Jerry drops Keith, and Aaron says, he can cut Keith’s hand off, or he can do it himself. The choice is his. He drops a knife in front of Keith. Geez, not even an ax.

Rosita fixes the handprint thing, and hears Eugene on the radio. She asks if he’s okay, and says it’s good to hear his voice. He says, they’re all safe, and yes, he’s doing okay. How are things there? Rosita says, the war is over. Alpha and Beta are dead, but Alexandria is trashed. They’re running out of food. He starts to break up, and she asks if he’s still there. Where is he? Judith says, he’s gone.  

Eugene says he lost the feed. Something is haywire. Mercer marches in, and tells him, hands up. He tells some guys to search Eugene, and says Eugene is under arrest for unauthorized use of company property. Eugene is taken away.  

Negan puts stuff in his bag, and Maggie asks what he’s doing. He says he’s leaving, and she says, not with the supplies. Their mission isn’t finished. He says, it is for him, and they struggle over the bag. He tells her, get over it, and she pushes him. They look at each other for a hot minute, and she pushes him again. They hear someone about to come in, and get in position, grabbing weapons. Elijah brings Gabriel in, and Maggie says, he made it. Elijah says the found each other in the woods, and Gabriel says he didn’t know if he’d survive. He knew they would be there, but what about the others? She tells him that Duncan, Cole, and Agatha are dead, and Alden is holed up in a church; she doesn’t know about the rest. Gabriel says, so we wait. Maggie nods, and says, we wait. She looks at Negan, and he sits.

Eugene paces in the office, where Ezekiel and Princess wait with him. He asks, where’s the young woman who was with him at the train station? and a man says they’re being charged with unlawful trespass, reckless endangerment, and illegal communication with a foreign entity, according to article whatever, and section whatsis of the Commonwealth criminal code. They’ll have a hearing before a judge, and if found guilty, they’ll be dropped in a zone far outside the Commonwealth walls, and banished from the community forever. Princess asks if they can’t talk to a lawyer, and the man says, they have an attorney? Ezekiel says, a fancy one. If they like rules so much, they need to have one. The man says, they’re asylum seekers, not citizens, and Eugene asks again about Stephanie. He says, she’ll be charged separately as a citizen, and Eugene says, they weren’t doing anything wrong. He says, tell it to the judge, when Lance walks in with Stephanie. He tells the man, let them go, but tells the group, don’t move. He’s going to find Mercer. He leaves, and Ezekiel says, was that…? Princess says, the video guy. Eugene thanks Stephanie, but she says, she might have stopped them from being banished, but they’ll have to pay in one way or another for what they’ve done.

Keith tells Lydia that he understands. Alpha would have done worse. Carol gives him some mushrooms as sustenance for him and the others, and he thanks her. He tells her that they’re not all like Alpha; some of them just want to survive. Lydia tells him, don’t ever look back. The group loads up their wagon, and Keith says, they don’t think he’s changed. Jerry tells him, that’s not for him to say, and Keith says he can prove it. Jerry asks, how? and Keith says he saw one of their people. She came out of the cave where Alpha kept the horde. The cave collapsed, and she was all alone. She looked hurt, but alive. Carol asks when he last saw her, and he says, in the woods by the screaming cave. Carol asks if Lydia knows where that is, and Lydia says she does. Carol says, they’ve got to go. Connie is alive. Aaron says, it will be dark before they get back. They’ll go at first light. The group heads out, and Aaron looks back. The other four Whisperers come out, and go to Keith.

Next time, Kelly says, something’s not right; and Connie is trapped by someone.   

😱 How Much Is That Zombie In the Window…?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton’s son Gus did a zombie cameo in tonight’s episode. Giving us proof that you can’t escape bullying even when you’re dead.

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-gus-morgan-cameo-season-11-episode-5-jeffrey-dean-morgan-hilarie-burton/

👶 Old News…

Does anybody even care about Shane anymore?

https://www.insider.com/is-judith-ricks-kid-cailey-fleming-response-2021-9

🗯 Everybody Has an Opinion…

Why shouldn’t Rick have his own ending?

https://screenrant.com/walking-dead-show-andrew-lincoln-unused-ending-perfect/

⚰️ Save the Date…

The new season of Fear the Walking Dead begins October 17th.

https://www.tvinsider.com/1008292/fear-the-walking-dead-season-7-apocalypse-survivors-preview/

🌄 And While We’re On the Subject…

Walking Dead: The World Beyond starts it’s second and final season October 3rd.

https://www.tvinsider.com/1008293/the-walking-dead-world-beyond-season-2-preview-rick/

🏆 For the Win…

Tonight’s Emmy winners.

https://ew.com/awards/emmys/emmy-awards-2021-winners-list/

And the most important part – the fashion.

https://www.eonline.com/photos/33272/emmys-2021-red-carpet-fashion

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/emmys-red-carpet-fashion-2021-best-worst-looks-1235016236/

Some of the worst. Although I actually like the thing with the charms hanging from it, and the humongous belt buckle.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10001837/The-worst-dressed-stars-2021-Emmys.html

🍃 Making Like a Tree…

Funny how another Monday happens every week. Or how meaningless the word Monday is to those who have abandoned calendar living altogether. See you for soap and on shenanigans on Deck tomorrow. Until then, stay safe, stay being your bad self in a good way, and stay not letting anything take you down a dark path. Not even a zombie.

Sep13

September 12, 2021 – Daryl Gets a Blast From the Past, Turning Down Glenn, Kang Talks Dead, Spinoff Update & the Twelfth

Posted on by
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What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

The Walking Dead

Daryl and Dog run through the woods. They come to a brick building, and a Reaper comes out, but Daryl throws something to get him to go in the other direction. A Reaper comes out of the woods, and Daryl fights with him. He grabs Dog, and I can’t look.  

It’s daylight now, and Daryl puts guts from a body on his hands. He looks for Dog, who is okay, and sniffing around near the building. Daryl hears Dog bark, and runs to find the Reaper standing with Dog. He says, let him go, and the Reaper takes off their mask. It’s Leah, who says she never thought she’d see him again. He says he felt the same, and she asks what he’s doing there. Is he alone? She saw him with some people; who are they? She points a shotgun at him, and asks if he’s one of them. He says, it’s a small group, and no, he’s not one of them. He travels light, as always. He calls to Dog, but Dog doesn’t budge. He says he knows who she’s fighting, but he’s not part of it. A couple of Reapers come out. WTF?

Daryl is brought into Meridian, hooded and bound. Dog is oblivious, and walks behind with Leah. Well, he was her puppy first. Daryl is brought to an attic room, and left there. Leah comes in, and he says he came back for her. He looked everywhere for her. He’s sorry she ended up with these people. She says, these people are her family. They never stepped looking for her, and when they found her, she came home. He says, his family picked the wrong fight with the wrong people a long time ago. Like he told her, he’s alone. She says he found her, and gets a bucket of water. She wipes his face, then puts the cloth over his nose and mouth.

Two Reapers waterboard Daryl, who is back in the hood. And by that, I mean he’s literally wearing a hood again. Leah tells the guys, up, and Daryl coughs. One of the Reapers says, again, and asks Daryl if the others are still out there. Daryl says he doesn’t know, and the Reaper asks who their leader is. The woman? Daryl says he ain’t one of them, but the Reaper says, bullsh*t, and dumps more water on Daryl’s head. Leah says, enough. She’ll handle it. The Reaper says Daryl will crack. He just needs more time. She says she gave him enough time already. She said, up. The two Reapers leave, and Leah takes off Daryl’s hood. She says she needs him to cooperate, and he says he told them everything. She says, he told them nothing. Talk. He says he traded with the group for food, and knew them less than a week. Go ahead and kill him if she wants. He has nothing else to say. She leaves.

Daryl is is dragged to another room, and put in a cage. The men leave, and Leah looks at Daryl for a moment, then follows.

Daryl seems to be alone, but he hears someone say, sh*t, and some groaning. He sees Frost from Hilltop in an adjacent cage. Frost starts talking about Maggie and company, but Daryl says he doesn’t know who Frost’s friends are, and doesn’t care. Just because they shared a bag of grain doesn’t make him give a sh*t. He wants no part of the beef Frost has with these people. Does Frost hear him? Shut up, and leave him alone. Got it? Frost says, yeah, he’s got it, and calls Daryl an a-hole. Some people come in, and take Frost out. Daryl is alone again.

Leah comes back and shakes her head. She says he’s just as stubborn as ever, and Daryl asks if that’s what she thinks; this is him being stubborn. She says, fine. Hard-headed. He needs to tell her the truth. He says he never lied to her. Never. They have nothing else to talk about. She asks what he knows about the people he was with, but he says he doesn’t know sh*t. He’d help her if he could. Just give him Dog, and let him go. She’ll never see him again. She asks if that’s what he wants, when Frost is drug back in, and he’s not in good shape. One of the Reapers comes back, and says something to Leah, and she asks if it’s about Turner. She and the Reaper leave, and follow the sound of a man moaning in another room. Reaper Bossie is crying, and says he tried. The Reaper he’s talking to says he picked the right family. He brought Turner home. A man, who we come to find is Pope, chants over Turner’s dead body in what looks like a makeshift chapel. Leah is all sad, and Pope says, God is here. God is angry, and he’s angry. Does she feel that? The volume is so low, I think the boom person was on vacation. There’s no problem hearing the commercials though. There never is.

Leah stands in front of Daryl’s cage, then sits next to it on the floor, He asks, what happened? and she says, one of her brothers is dead; Michael Turner. They traveled world together, becoming mercenaries after fighting in the war together, and could actually pay their bills. Daryl is surprised at this information, and she says, Michael was like her, no family. He was the little brother she didn’t have and always wanted. She’s lost a lot of people, but not like this. He was the first person she was close to in a long time. Daryl says she didn’t lose him. He came back and she was gone. She says he left her. She asked what he wanted, and he left. He says he got scared, and she asks, of what? He says, letting go, and she ponders this. She says, it doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t have worked anyway. They couldn’t have been happy in a world like this. He suggests they talk about her family, and she says, don’t tell her that he’s never done things like kill people. She knows what he’s done, and he has no right to judge. This is her; the good and bad, all of it. He says he doesn’t believe her, and she says she can’t help the bad, but she can help him save himself. In spite of everything, she cares about him, and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to him. Just tell her anything. If he keeps silent, she can’t stop them. They’re angry about Turner, and want someone to pay. He says, a woman is the leader, but they spoke in code because he was an outsider. There’s a tall skinny guy who never shuts up, and a priest that carries a shotgun. They have the numbers. One of their soldiers slipped up, and they lost fighters, but they still have more than she has there. He asks when he’s going to meet this Pope.

Pope sits sharpening a knife, and Leah tells him that he was right. Daryl was hard to break, but he told her there are a lot more out there than they thought. She thinks he’ll be good there. They need the manpower, with Turner gone, and the other two missing. She tells him, say something. He knows she hates it when he does this. He says, do what? and she says, freeze her out. He asks if it’s about her and Daryl, and she tells him that she never said it was, but he says, yet here they are. She had to go on a fishing expedition for an old boyfriend. He sits in front of her, and says, go on then; tell him. Did she find what they were looking for? She says she told him Daryl would be useful, and she was right. Carver saw it, and he sees it. He says, he sees a guy who wants to get in her pants; someone who loved her. She says, fine, but she never said Daryl told her that he loved her. Pope says she could have handed Daryl over, but she didn’t; why? She says, at one point, he meant something to her, but that ended the day Pope found her. He showed her the family, and she never regretted her decision. She doesn’t want him to either. Does he? He touches her face, and says he believes in her more than the others. She says she knows.

Daryl sits in a chair in another building, and the two Reapers who waterboarded Daryl are now verbally harassing him. One asks if he has something to say. Come on; don’t be shy. He’s about to be a man. The other says he bets Daryl’s girlfriend wears the pants. Leah walks in, and tells them to knock it off. They leave, and Leah unties Daryl’s hands. She hears the door lock, and runs over to it. She tries the handle, but no luck. The lights go out, and fire comes out from under the door. She throws a chair at the door, and Daryl tells her, stay back. He starts ripping at the boards over a window, then breaks something, making a tool to pry them off. He breaks the window glass, and grabs Leah’s hand. He pushes her out first, and follows. All the dudes in the pack stand there watching, and Leah joins them. They all face Daryl, as the building he and Leah were in collapses. Pope says, forged by fire. Ordained by God. They welcome him. Welcome to fortitudo salutis.

Pope asks if Daryl believes in God, but Daryl says, not anymore. He guesses he only believes in himself now. Pope says, Daryl passed the test, but he’s not God, and pours drinks for himself and Daryl. Daryl asks what else Pope wants from him, and Pope saying he wants Daryl to understand. He gives Daryl the drink, and tells him to sit down. He says, they all met in the Valley of Death, the hills of Afghanistan. They carried their fallen brothers off the field so many times they lost count. Politicians wrote the checks, but they were just props. Today, they talked about God. He thought there ain’t no God; he never saw Its face. But they saw God everywhere; in the blood, horror, and death. God was there, telling them where to go. They didn’t have much else to hold on to in those days. They held on to each other. Pope lights a cigarette, and gives one to Daryl. He says, that war ruined all of them for good. They couldn’t find real jobs. People called them mercenaries. They did the dirty work that no one else wanted to do, and were paid handsomely for it. The real dirty work started after the fall. They’d never been in a war like that; had never seen that kind of chaos. The things they did… All that death, day after day after day. After a while, he started feeling like Daryl, wondering where God was, until He showed his face again. The politicians had one last war to get behind, this time, coming for them. The bombs came, and they lost some of their own. They found a church in a little town, and holed up there. When the chaos died down, he looked at his people, and couldn’t believe it. Not a trace of blood or burn marks; not even a scratch. They were the chosen ones. These men had no power over them. Daryl came out of the fire alive, and look at him now, sitting right there. Is he hurt? Any burns? A scratch? Daryl says he’s been through worse before, and Pope gets up. He asks if Daryl is coming, and Daryl nods.

Everyone is gathered around a campfire, eating, and Daryl joins them. Pope says Leah was right about this one, and she says, of course she was. Pope says, he’s family now. He goes over to Bossie and says, Bossie walked ten miles with his dead brother on his back. The strength that took. Does Daryl have any idea how crazy they are? Turner will have a proper burial. Bossie says he did what any one of them would have done, and Pope asks if he’s still hurt. Bossie shakes his head, and Pope says, he just has one question; something that’s been bothering him. The wounds are on his back. Leah says, it’s been a rough day, and Pope asks Bossie where he was when Turner was being attacked. Bossie says he was right there. Leah says, enough, and Pope ruffles Bossie’s hair. He says, it takes divine strength to face fear head on. They all saw what Daryl did. He got Leah out of the fire first. He kept her safe. Today, God baptized Daryl in that fire, and made him one of them. One thing he forgot to tell Daryl; never turn your back on your brother. God doesn’t only use fire as baptism. It’s also his wrath. He grabs Bossie, and throws him into the fire, holding his face in it until it’s charcoal. Daryl is like, oh, wow, and Pope says, they run into the battle. Into the fire. Always. Daryl looks at Leah.

Next time, Judith teaches the kids of Alexandria how to fight, Eugene says they can’t stay at the Commonwealth, Stephanie wants to help Eugene, and Negan says, the only way it works is if they trust each other.

👎 Turn Down…

I’m sure it’s frustrating, but First World problems.

https://ew.com/tv/steven-yeun-turned-down-roles-after-the-walking-dead-glenn/

🏃🏻‍♀️ Running the Show…

Angela Kang talks TWD; what might have been, what was, and what’s to come.

https://ew.com/tv/walking-dead-rendition-leah-daryl-pope-reapers-angela-kang-showrunner-interview/

🏍 Those Two Crazy Kids…

What’s happening with the Carol and Daryl spinoff.

https://www.eonline.com/news/1299525/the-walking-deads-melissa-mcbride-gives-a-coy-update-on-the-daryl-carol-spinoff

🏇 Leaving the Scene…

Join me tomorrow for a medical drama and a yacht in the Med. Until then, stay safe, stay exercising your mind, and stay not picking the wrong fights with the wrong people.