What I Watched Today
(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)
The Walking Dead
Daryl, Lydia, Henry, and Connie run through the forest. Daryl says they’re going back to Hilltop. Lydia says, there are too many of them, and he asks why she told them there weren’t that many. She says they had her locked in cage, and wanted her to betray her own people. He asks if she wants to go back to them, and she says she can’t. He says then she’s coming with them. Henry says they can keep running. If they disappear, Hilltop can’t be blamed. Let him fix this. Daryl says, no way in hell he’s running with Lydia; think of his mom. Connie and Daryl disagree on which direction to go, and everyone follows Connie, even Dog. Daryl has no choice but to follow.
At the camp. Beta stomps around. He sees a Whisperer with a gaping neck wound. The guy says he’s going to be one of them, but Beta says he’ll always be a Whisperer. He tells someone to find the guy’s wife. Tell her the change is coming to him. Well, I guess her too, if they stay married. He asks another Whisperer if Henry and Lydia have been found. She says, no, but they’re on their trail. He says Lydia will walk with them again. They’ll all walk with them.
The Kingdom decorates for the fair. Jerry’s wife, Nabila, tells Carole it’s what they fought so hard for; the chance to be different people. They can’t give up now. Carol says, Jerry is knocking off early, and wonders what happened to his armor. Nabila asks if he’s all right. Dianne says they need to talk to the king.
Jerry says he was bushwhacked. They took all his stuff, and gave him this. It’s a letter that says, we are the Highwaymen. The roads belong to them, and their visitors will be turned away unless they pay the toll. Jerry says they must have heard him talking about the fair. He’s sorry, but Ezekiel says, it’s a trade fair; it’s hardly a secret. They need it, and couldn’t pay the pirates if they wanted to. Dianne wonders if they’re renegade Saviors, but Ezekiel says, they don’t write letters. Jerry says they have to do something to keep the people safe. Carol says the fair could be their last chance. Ezekiel says, gather every fighter they can spare. He tells Carol, it never ends, does it? I know exactly how he feels.
Tara, Magna, and the others come up against some downed trees blocking the road. Tara says they have to clear it before the Whisperers catch up with them. They start moving the blockade. Earl wants to give them a hand, but Tammy says he’s not getting any younger. She’s holding the Whisperer baby, and Earl says the baby deserves better than two old farts. They’ll find him a nice family. Kerry asks if there’s anything she can do, but Yumiko says Connie is okay with Daryl. Magna says they’ll catch up at the fair. They remove the roadblock.
Daryl and the others see a hotel. Connie points. Daryl says, higher ground, and Connie writes, a chokepoint. He says, walkers can’t go up, and they need to separate the living from the dead. They travel in a herd. He asks Lydia if there aren’t five or six traveling within a crowd. Lydia says her mother won’t send an army if she doesn’t have to. She’ll send Beta. Daryl asks if he’s the best, and she nods. Daryl says, good; he’ll kill him first. They go into the hotel.
Jerry looks through binoculars, and tells Dianne there are two guys and they’ve got guns Dianne takes a look. She says they can take them both out before they start shooting. Carol says, it’s like old times. Carol tells Ezekiel that they have guns, He says he had hoped for a better future, but violence seems to be the only currency they understand, same as the old world. Carol says they could try talking to them, and Ezekiel asks if she thinks they’d listen. She says they could have killed Jerry, but they didn’t. They sent a grammatically correct letter. They sounded civil. Jerry says, it was a grammatically correct death threat, but Dianne says, they only said people can’t pass. Ezekiel says they have their knives at the Kingdom’s throat. What if she’s wrong? Carol says, if she is, and they don’t listen, then they’ll kill them.
Daryl and the others investigate the hotel. Connie moves part of floor, and there are supplies underneath. Daryl says, the stairwells are already barricaded. He guesses she already knows that, and she writes they stayed there once. He says there are two ways out, and looks at a map of the place. Connie writes that she wants Lydia to stay, but Daryl says they have to take her back, or his friends die. He writes, friends will die, and Connie writes something back, ripping the page out of her notebook, and shoving it in his hand. He reads, we have friends, she doesn’t.
Ezekiel, Carol, and Jerry go into a basement. Oh great, there are mannequins stored there. A dude in a cowboy hat (I find out later his name is Ozzy, which isn’t mentioned, but we’ll call him that for clarity’s sake), says they were meeting with the king alone. Ezekiel says, the king and queen rule together. Ozzy says, that’s not the deal, but Carol says they didn’t have a deal. Are they doing business or not? Ozzy says they were supposed to bring something, but Carol says they’re not paying a toll. Ezekiel says they’ve brought alternative solutions. Ozzy says, how about this for an alternative solution? Some of the mannequins turn out to be Ozzy’s men, and they cock their guns. Ozzy says maybe they’ll pay for Ezekiel, but Ezekiel says they can’t pay with what they don’t have. Ozzy says they have food and clean water. They’ll take what Ezekiel’s got. Ezekiel says they got need what they’ve got, and Ozzy says, so do they. Ezekiel’s people step out of the shadows, backing him up, and get the best of the Highwaymen. Ezekiel says what they’re doing threatens the future of his community, and they’ll fight to stop them from taking it. Ozzy says he’s listening, and Ezekiel wants to offer him a job. Carol says they need help keeping the grounds clear. Instead of threatening the people on the roads, they’ll keep them safe. Jerry whispers something to Ezekiel, who says Jerry would like his sword back. Ozzy asks what they get in return, and Ezekiel says they’ll be granted access to the Kingdom and fair. Ozzy laughs, and asks if that’s joke. Carol says it’s a trade market, and Ezekiel asks what good are the things they steal, if they if can’t trade them for what they need? Ozzy holds out Jerry’s sword, and says they’ll have to do better than that. Carol asks when was the last time any of them saw a movie? Ezekiel is like, wha…? and Ozzy says, seriously? She smiles, and Ezekiel smiles.
Lydia hammers boards over a window. Henry brings her a pokey stick that he’s carved special for her. He doesn’t need a point, but thought a spear would be easier for her. She says, these are her people. They looked out for her most of her life. She can’t do it. He tells her that he’ll save it. He says he’ll try not to kill any of her people. She asks why he’s doing this. He says she didn’t want to go back, but she says that’s no reason to risk his life. He says he’s not letting them take her. She says they made her mother look weak, and Alpha can’t let it go. He says then they’ll run, but she says there’s no place to go where she can’t find them. Henry is sure there is; there’s a whole world out there. Lydia asks if he’d really go with her. He moves closer to her, and she asks why he came for her. He says because he cares about her. She kisses him, and killjoy Daryl is suddenly there. He says, come on; they have to keep watch. He’s like somebody’s dad right now.
Magna tells Tara, they’re headed his way; maybe ten. Tara gives instructions to everyone, and tells Earl to get the horses. The zombies (or not) toddle out of the woods. The group dispatches them one by one. Earl is trying to untie the wagon, when a zombie comes up behind him, and he gets knocked down. Tammy puts the baby in a trunk, as the zombies start to clamor at the wagon. A zombie is on top of Earl, and he struggles with it. Tammy comes flying off the wagon, stabs one on her way to Earl, and whacks the zombie off of him. They see a group on horses riding toward them. It’s Ozzy and the Highwaymen (sounds like a band). Tara asks who the hell they are, and Ozzy says, their escorts to the fair, at her service. She’s like, wtf?
Henry looks out from a balcony. Lydia stands on the other end, silent and watching. She smiles at him, and he he smiles back. Lydia sees the zombies (and not) walking toward the hotel, and says, they’re coming.
Beta says, spread out. Daryl aims his crossbow, and takes a zombie and/or Whisperer out. Beta looks up. Daryl says, they’re here; let’s go. The mob busts right into the place, and start to tromp through the first floor. Beta says, the stairwell, and tells one of the others to lead them up. Daryl says Lydia is coming with him. She kisses Henry before she goes. Connie and Henry bolster the windows.
Beta heads upstairs. Zombies cluster in the staircase, and Beta realizes it’s a trap. Daryl takes Lydia to a closet and tells her, get in. Lydia wants to help, but he says she can’t help if she won’t fight. He leaves Dog with her, saying, if anyone comes through, Dog will take them down. If it happens, she should run. She thanks him, and he locks her in.
Henry hears them coming. The door handle jiggles, and it opens. Two Whisperers with knives come in. Henry jumps out, surprising them, and kills one. The other tries to shoot an arrow at him, but Connie gets him with a slingshot from behind.
Daryl is at the ready with his crossbow, when the door busts open, and Beta comes in, along with some others. Daryl sees a silhouette of a Whisperer, and cuts him down. In the closet, Lydia hears Henry struggling, and Dog bears his teeth. Lydia looks around for something to pry the door open with, and finds a crowbar. She calls to Henry, and gets the door open. Dog takes a zombie down, as Lydia runs to Henry. Henry finishes the zombie off. Connie is there, and stabs another. Lydia tells Henry that she’s sorry, and he says him too. We see Henry has a wound.
Daryl kills another zombie, grabbing it from behind. Beta flies in, and slams Daryl against the wall. He asks, where is she? Both he and Daryl have knives, and they have a knife fight, like something out of Jackie Chan, but not as funny. Daryl down crawls away, but Beta yanks him up, putting his face near a table buzz saw. He asks again, where is she? This time, Daryl slams Beta – who, BTW, is a humongous dude – and he knocks Daryl to the floor. Daryl sticks a small knife in Beta’s neck, and Beta crashes through the wall like a cartoon character. Beta pulls the knife out, but by the time he returns, Daryl has disappeared. Daryl reveals himself in the floor cubby hole. Beta says Daryl is nothing to him; he’s already dead. All he wants is the girl. Daryl crawls out, and shoves Beta, who stumbles back, and falls down an elevator shaft. Daryl spits on him. Good for Daryl. He also picks up his knife on the way out.
The fair is happening. Ozzy walks through it, tipping his hat to Carol. Everyone is happy for a nanosecond. Tara and the Hilltoppers being in some stuff. Earl and Tammy bring the baby along. Earl tells Nabila, they were hoping to find someone to take the baby in, but Tammy says she’s not letting the baby go. Nabila tells Earl that he baby already has a good home. Carol hugs Tara. Carol asks where Henry is, and Tara asks, what about Daryl. They were meeting them there. Carol wonders where they are.
Connie hits some car windows with the slingshot, smashing them to attract the zombies. They gravitate toward the car.
Lydia wraps Henry’s wound. Daryl says they should go. Henry asks where they’re going, and Daryl tells him, there’s a whole world out there. Are they breaking away from the pack?
They leave. Beta lies at the bottom of the elevator shaft, but as anyone with sense figured, he’s not dead. Just a little stiff. He huffs and puffs, grunts and groans, and gets himself up. He looks up.
Next time, Henry tells Michonne that Lydia is with them, Michonne takes out Rick’s gun, Judith asks Daryl what her dad would say, and Michonne is in trouble.
🚴 On Ride with Norman Reedus, Norman picked up friend Sean Patrick Flanery at his place outside Houston, and they rode to Dallas. Sean is from the Lone Star State, and he and Norman played twin brothers on Boondock Saints. Sean claimed they had actually met before that, but it was not a story for mixed company (i.e. the viewing audience). Hmm…. We learn that eight seconds can make or break a bull rider, and watched some dangerous moves. They made a trip to the Texas Motorway, where they took in some drag racing, and did a little themselves. The insurance people for TWD must hate Norman. They also looked at the bluebonnet flowers, which Norman assured us was different than when Carol said to look at the flowers. They went to visit tattoo artist, Oliver Peck, at Deep Ellum in Dallas. Having met Norman at a charity event ages ago, they became fast friends. When Norman gifted Oliver with a knife, Oliver insisted on giving Norman five bucks. We learned it’s bad luck to take a free knife, so that might be something you want to write down. Oliver also hosted an old-fashioned barbecue, and showed off the massive warehouse where he lives with his wife. Daryl and Sean autographed a poster from Boondock Saints that was hanging up. After lunch, there was a lively armadillo race. Daryl discovered that Texas encourages you to be bold, take chances, and be whoever you want to be. I still can’t believe I like this show as much as I do. Never say never. I didn’t think Game of Thrones was my cup of tea either, but not only have I screamed at the TV over a CGI dragon’s demise, I scream at George RR Martin to write faster.
💰 Rich People Problems…
Some amusing soundbites overheard on NYC’s Upper West Side.
😟 The Real Jeremy…
Both interesting an sad that Pearl Jam thought it better to make up the story, than intrude on the real family. News flash. The real family isn’t happy with that.
⛅ How Did It Get Here So Fast?
Oh, that’s right. We lost an hour.
What I Watched - TV With Theresa 