DJariya

andicus

Well, this episode clearly had a big impact, judging by the plethora of posts.

More, typical Walking dead. Seemed like they spent an awful lot of time on Michonne's dull, day to day, activities.

So, presumably Rick is somehow rescued by the junkyard woman and taken on the helicopter?

After that, we'll find that Michonne is pregnant.

DJariya

11:30pm ET

1 post for the Walking Dead. I don't know if it's sad how bad the show declined in season 8 will no one cares anymore to talk about it the night it airs or just sad how badly this forum has declined in activity.

But, in general, I've noticed that activity in this forum has been pretty horrible this Fall for everything.

(but I'm sure some will attribute Sunday night Football or World Series for no one watching tonight)

JZ1276

This season has been excellent IMO. Too bad it lost so many viewers over the last 2 (shitty) seasons. Looks like it's starting to pick up again.

BTW, anyone else catch Daryl's uncensored F Bomb when he was in the hole with Rick?

Koby

I been so busy running ragged in every direction this season I barely find time to watch any of the shows I'm watching and usually it's 2-4 days after airing. It's a busy time of year but this year has just been extremely busy for me.

sracer

It could be those things. There was an increasing number of us who said we were "done" with the show and meant it. For me, it was Glenn's death-fake that did it. The introduction of Negan simply confirmed the decision for myself (as well as many others I suspect).

So it doesn't matter if the show turned things around and became amazing last season or this. We're not coming back to the show.

I lurk in these threads because I enjoy reading about how others are interpreting the show these days.

DWilson

Just speaking for myself, there have been a lot of changes to Sunday night programming since September, and it's sort of jammed up my DVR queue with Sunday programs I'll get to later.

clckworang

I thought the episode was pretty good, but the show long ago lost most of my emotional investment. Since the show began, I've watched it with friends every Sunday. This season, one of those friends has said he's over the show and we don't need to wait for him to watch, and then last night, another of the friends commented about how she thought she was over it. The show has spun its wheels for so long that it's finally really starting to alienate people. I will likely hate watch to the bitter end, but for the first time in the show's run, I think it won't be much longer that I watch it with other interested people.

VinVega

I thought the Rick-Daryl scene in the hole was pretty cool. I still agree with folks who think Rick will get shipped off somewhere with the possibility of reentering the show at a later date. Somehow I don't see him dying. The producers would want to keep that as a surprise if they killed off as big a character as Rick.

That being said, I've already talked with my wife about just recording the show and watching it whenever. We don't need to watch it the night of the airing. That's usually the first step for me in transitioning out of a show completely. We'll see, maybe I will binge watch it or something, but once Rick is gone, it's pretty pointless for me. It was always about his story, which appears to be coming to a temporary end.

jpcamb

Wow, 9 posts above and most of them discussing the decline of the show and not the actual episode. I stopped watching last season with about 4-5 eps left in the season and finally deleted those a few weeks back as this season started to stack up. I had heard the show turned a corner this season and was watchable again. Wife and i watched the premiere which was predictable but not terrible. We somehow skipped episode 2 and went straight to 3 (figure it out when we deleted ep 3 after watching.) Didnt feel like I missed too much skipping that episode but also left me wondering why I was trying to watch again.

We were both huge fans of the show but neither of us was drawn back in. I believe Rick leaves next episode so we may watch that but it looks like its going to be anti climatic and he won't die so it will be another BS episode like Glen under the dumpster. I feel betrayed by this show at this point...

SmackDaddy

So, how much better is this season so far compared to the trash of the last two seasons? I gave about a couple of episodes in last season. I've got the current season recording, but haven't had the desire to watch it. I didn't want to give up on it but it became such a chore to get through, so I'm hoping that this season rights the ship somewhat.

cdollaz

I still watch it, albeit when it comes out on Blu-Ray. Those who make this show have only themselves to blame as they have been spinning their wheels story-wise for years now, going from local bad-guy group to local bad-guy group. They need to start expanding the scope geographically to include what is going on elsewhere, particularly on the federal government level. Since the president is the most protected person in the country, it makes sense that he was holed up somewhere as soon as this thing started. They need to start exploring that and the ultimate resolution to this whole thing. In that regard, it may be a good thing that Rick is leaving, so they can stop having so much focus on him.

Coral

@ the unlikely dangerous predicaments they put the characters in.

Daryl and Rick fighting and they just happening to fall into some monster pit.. and of course walkers would have to be falling into it as they're climbing out.
And Rick falls off a horse and just happens to impale himself on a steel rod - but only through a not-so-critical part of his body.

From what we can see, there was a road that wasn't filled with walkers that Rick could've taken. Hell, Rick had a horse - he could've just rode through the grass and dirt. But he had to stick around in confusion long enough for the horse to freak out.

windom

Will he be known as "Rebar Rick" from now on?

DthRdrX

The F bomb sounded slightly stretched via post production. Will probably be fixed on home releases.

The show is MUCH better IMO. Not perfect but not Gimple's train wreck. I just hope Angela Kang doesn't get the blame for the ratings drop when she's trying to clean up his mess. Notice that everytime she is on Talking Dead she makes a point to state how they are interested in moving the storylines forward. They know it's been stagnant.

Last week a fellow member here brought up Michonne having blood on her when she woke up. This episode answered the question. With Gimple, we wouldn't get an answer for two seasons and by then no one would even remember.

The only thing this episode sucked in was Negan. The main criticism of the character was being too cartoony to fit in and they responded ... by having him CRY over a baseball bat.

rw2516

I bet they don't show what happens to him. He'll just be gone. Characters on the show will assume he's dead. He'll pop up in last 10 seconds of season finale.
Next season will tell what happened in flashbacks.
Absolutely nothing about the helicopter(s) will be revealed this season.

It won't be like this, but similar.
Rick miraculously gets out the bind he's in. Lures the herd(s) to the bridge. The weight of the herd collapses the bridge. Rick and the herd fall into the rushing river. Last we see of Rick.
In last seconds of season finale helicopter lands and Rick gets out.
Next season premiere first shot is water logged Rick unconscious in helicopter. Flashback of him struggling in river rapids surrounded by walkers. Helicopter fishes him out.

Abob Teff

Back to black ... I couldn’t see more than half of this episode.

I’m still not sure why everybody is raving about how improved this season is. Granted we haven’t had the chicanery of previous seasons, but so far it has seemed like a whole lot of setup with no payoff in sight.

Jason

He'll be right up there with Dumpster Divin' Glenn.

The obvious ending from the preview is Rick pulls himself off the Rebar (ouchy!) and goes into a fever dream before succumbing. They've laid very little groundwork for these so-called helicopter people to take Rick away.

If they do something stupid like have Rick drag himself from his hospital bed to protect Negan from Maggie, I think the ratings drop will finally put this show out of its misery.

parker63

Watching the previews for next week's episode gave me a strong Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge vibe. Fever dream right before his death.

That whole emphasis on Rick calling Daryl "Brother" makes me wonder if Rick will turn, then Daryl will find him, and be the one who has to put him down, just like his own brother Merle.

Or he can wake up to discover he has been miraculously whisked away at the last moment by the mysterious helicopter people who want to test him for immunity to the Virus.

Whatever...at least I'm genuinely interested in watching next week's episode now

DthRdrX

It's been what 4 or 5 episodes? Set up is fine. The plot is moving forward, finally, something that has been happening at a snail's pace ever since S3 ended.

DthRdrX

Possible ... but Rick Grimes dying because he fell of his horse sounds hilariously bad.

I believe there are four major plot lines in play so far this season.

1. Rick's "demise".
2. Darryl/Maggie's revenge on Negan.
3. Saviors group causing trouble at the camp.
4. Jadis/Ann and the helicopter.

They are spending too much time on #4 for it to be nothing important. We know they have been advertising the Whisperers, most likely for the back 8 episodes. That' is why I believe the helicopter group will find Rick.

Jadis contacted the helicopter group on Gabriel, changed her mind, and then she ran. The helicopter group goes looking for her and finds Rick instead.

windom

Rick has nothing on this guy:

d2cheer

That is one of the dumbest things I have seen on this show and that is saying something.

IF Negan is not dead after this season I don't think I can continue with it (and I am not one that threatens to quit watching all the time). I hate the stupid character that much.

But do agree this season is a slight uptick over previous ones.

hdnmickey

That's the most obvious scenario if they don't kill him off. Seems a very weird way to get there, but in the end it works if they want his character to live on off screen.

d2cheer

^He then can return anytime basically.

Someone posted that in a few threads back and stated in a spoiler that is how he would leave. They seemed to have inside knowledge.