TV Review: The Walking Dead (Season 6, Episode 9)

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

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EPISODE 9: No Way Out

THE HOOK: After their escape plan goes south, Rick and the people of Alexandria must make a stand if they hope to survive.

The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS, so I don’t recommend reading this if you haven’t watched this episode

THE LOWDOWN: Nay sayers be damned, The Walking Dead is back, and in good form. My initial reaction to Daryl and crew running into Negan’s boys on the road was ‘c’mon, after all the work Abraham put into getting that damned rocket launcher’. I loved the whole idea behind the road meeting (and of course, the Negan name drop), but the second one of those guys went behind the truck with Daryl, I secretly hoped we’d be seeing a huge fireball of bad guys. Yes, it’s The Walking Dead, but sometimes, just sometimes, we get what we want. That said, Negan’s sure to be in a hell of a bad mood when he finds out.

If I had to complain about one thing tonight, it would be the blatant misleading of the mid-season finale. Are you f*cking kidding me? You’re really going to have Sam yelling ‘mom’ three times, then continue that part of the story as though it never happened? What the hell guys? On the one hand I want to say Rick should have stepped up and made him go with Father Gabriel, but my cynical side isn’t having it. The kid was dead weight, and I’m glad the walkers got him (they can have his creepy ass record collection too), but it was a shame to see his mom dragged down by the whole thing. Poor Rick can’t keep a love interest in this show to save his life. Then there’s Ron. Comic book fans saw this entire thing coming, because, well, it’s nearly lifted frame by frame from the comics. I’ll tell ya though, seeing Carl shot through the eye socket is a hell of a lot more vivid on television. For my money though, I felt they did the scene justice.

Now aside from all the glorious walker effects, the intensity of tonight’s episode was aided by a flawless score that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. It was great, THIS is the kind of episode I can’t get enough of. For me though, I also like it when characters honor the fallen, like Glenn did by mentioning Hershel, Dale and Andrea to Enid. You take small nuances like that, using the guts, and Rick mentioning waking up at the hospital, and for me, it just adds credibility to the show’s legacy. It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘here and now’, but when they mention the past, you can take a step back and appreciate the complete journey.

THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 6’s ninth episode (one small hiccup aside) was damn near perfect. I like that the walker situation was resolved—God knows it could have easily dragged on a couple more episodes. So yeah, ‘hive five’ for not doing that. The rallying of Alexandrians was a sight to behold, but I love how it took Rick losing his shit and going all ‘one man army’ to make it happen. It was great to see Daryl, Sasha and Abraham come rushing in like the Calvary, again, we don’t always get what we want on this show, but I think the group was in desperate need of a win tonight (arguably more of a win for some). I didn’t want anyone else to die, hell, even Father Gabriel and Eugene were making themselves useful. Obviously when the dust settles, there’s bound to be more issues between Morgan and Carol—though they may not come down on him as hard seeing as how Denise is alive and Wolf-dude is toast. Solid episode though, and I can’t wait for next week.

ZOMBIE KILL OF THE WEEK: Jesus, like you could pick just one, zombies be dying by the boatload yo!

BLOOD AND GORE: Like I said, it was a zombie free for all tonight, beheadings, shootings, fire, explosions, they didn’t hold back in that department.

COOLEST SCENE: Negan’s crew getting shot down in a blaze of glory. It don’t get much cooler than that.

FINAL VERDICT:

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