8.12: The Walking Dead - The Key

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Rick and Michonne (Photo by Gene Page/AMC)

Hilltop's leadership faces a difficult dilemma after the arrival of unexpected visitors; Rick comes face to face with an adversary.

 

[REBerg]

What a perfect plot opportunity missed -- Negan bludgeoned to death by his own flaming Lucille, wielded by none other than "get your hands off her" Rick.
But, no. Negan escapes again, only to end up riding captive shotgun with Jadis.
Negan's no doubt enraged reaction to learning of Simon's insubordinate obliteration of the Trash Tribe will probably secure his freedom. Will he be the "savior" of Hilltop by taking Simon out?
A bigger question: Does Negan have a backup Lucille back at headquarters?

 

[ctg]

I don't think I have ever understood Negan's darkness. We have all been thought that the biological warfare is a taboo and it should never be approached, because the trouble you'll get from it is larger than committing to the conventional war. But he doesn't stop there as there are so much more to being post-apocalyptic dictator then there was at the time, when the dead stayed on the ground.

Although the Governor delivered zombie bombs, this coating of weapons with blood and guts is beyond everything else as it gets me frightened for the main characters. There is no doubt in my mind, Negan is totally bonkers and he proves it by talking to Lucielle. Maybe the loss of his family drove him over the edge and when he saw that nobody could stop him, he just kept pushing for more.

I think Simon decided that he wasn't going to follow him into hell, when he decided to wipe the trash tribe off from the weekly schedule. He certainly looked really pleased for Negan getting in trouble with Rick. He told the saviours to stand down even though he should have told them to either chase Rick or spread out to create opportunity to save their mad leader.

The strangest thing is he tried to use lies to recruit Dwight on his side. I would have done the same thing with the truth and then continued making sure that there's a critical mass standing behind me in case Negan didn't survive the crash.

The meeting. This, like Sadiq, came out from blue and possibly at the worst time as even though they seem to be potential allies, only the information in regards of the Saviours and how to beat is valuable to the survivors at the Hilltop. So, I think Maggie made right decision by taking them back then letting them go with the location of Ricknation's finest. They got to see real desperate situation and for them to give out the food and "The Key to the Future," speaks that those people are already doing fine.

The Key also speak volumes as we might get our wish and see Dr Evil getting a punishment for being wicked. Ricknation has enough of people who are smart enough to utilise the information retained in those pages. They don't need Eugene to come back.

Negan bludgeoned to death by his own flaming Lucille, wielded by none other than "get your hands off her" Rick.

What a glorious moment. The fight between those two were brilliant.

A bigger question: Does Negan have a backup Lucille back at headquarters?

Nope. He has his Bowie knife and a retro m16.

 

[nixie]

Who are this new group? Georgie is too good to be true.

Simon isn't clever or strong enough to rule the saviours, when the assault on hilltop fails, which it will they will turn on him.

 

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Who are this new group? Georgie is too good to be true.

I have no idea. I don't know them from the comics, but to my eyes Georgie looks like a former high ranking government employee. I didn't go down the route of the evidence, because I don't think the license plate tracking would work in this case. Their van could be from anywhere, but her escorts glasses, pose and manner of speaking pointed to the Authorities - in my mind.

Simon isn't clever or strong enough to rule the saviours, when the assault on hilltop fails, which it will they will turn on him.

Maybe. He is still the loudest man after Negan and most probably he's used to bully his men in the rank and file. Simon is definitely at top dog in the Saviour category.

 

[svalbard]

Wow! Three enjoyable episodes in a row. The fight scene between Rick and Negan was the highlight of the episode. There must be plenty of fire power behind Georgie otherwise how have they survived. Maybe the helicopter seen a few episodes back(or was that my imagination) belongs to them. It was the correct decision by Maggie as I think she passed some kind of test.

Someone please kill Simon. Strange that he is now the real villain and not Negan.

 

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It was the correct decision by Maggie as I think she passed some kind of test.

Someone please kill Simon. Strange that he is now the real villain and not Negan.

I agree. Maggie passed the test and was handed an important McGuffin, which possibly leads to the one of the dreamworlds becoming reality and Simon needs to go. ASAP.

What happens if Jared gets to him after they arrive at the Hilltop? Will he reveal to Simon that Dwight is a bit dodgy and nobody should really trust him until he has proven himself. I don't think there is a path of redemption for Simon, Jared or Dr Evil. If I would be in Maggie's shoes, I would make sure Jared would go first when the fight breaks out. Those Saviors inside the compound are a threat, because that cage is so flimsy. By simply applying a mass of bodies on that wired wall could make it to fall on the ground and then Ricknation would be in trouble.

 

[Judderman]

I think Simon fits as the villain. He is more ruthless than Negan. I don't think Negan's obsession with the bat makes any sense, as otherwise he seems quite held together. But the fight between Negan and Rick was fun. Though Negan again lucky to survive. Jadis could take Negan to the hilltop but as Rick left her to die too I'm wondering who she would want to negotiate with. Negan's path to redemption is still open! He can be Rick's janitor.

In Rick's absence Ricknation is truly ruled by strong women.

The helicopter belonging to the new (and slightly annoying) characters makes sense. They could have had some observation of the Hilltop though noone has mentioned seeing the Helicopter directly flying over the settlement. The provision of food and plans seems rather convenient at this time..

 

[ctg]

They could have had some observation of the Hilltop though noone has mentioned seeing the Helicopter directly flying over the settlement.

I have to admit that I completely missed that helicopter scene in the previous episodes.

 

[Judderman]

I wonder if there will be a Negan flashback episode soon. It is a long time since they have had an episode focused on someone's past. Though it would disrupt the flow again to have one now.

 

[ctg]

I wonder if there will be a Negan flashback episode soon.

Like the Governor's one? I think people hate Negan so much that they would be upset if that happened.

 

[Judderman]

With any luck they could make it a good episode to turn opinion around. Granted it would be a risk this season.

 

[svalbard]

I have to admit that I completely missed that helicopter scene in the previous episodes.

So did most of the cast by the looks of it.
.

 

[Judderman]

Cue Jadis shouting "Get in the Chopper!" to Negan as the helicopter lands on the helipad behind the garbage dump.

 

[Dave]

Wow! Three enjoyable episodes in a row.

I have to agree that this second half of the season is 100% better than the first half.

Maggie passed the test and was handed an important McGuffin, which possibly leads to the one of the dreamworlds becoming reality...

I still don't buy into the idea that the woman in coiffured hair, smart suit and pearl earrings has been surviving all this time by flogging copies of her self-published book, despite whether she had a helicopter or not!

Although the Governor delivered zombie bombs, this coating of weapons with blood and guts is beyond everything else as it gets me frightened for the main characters.

Okay, it's nitpicking time again. Until recently, everyone avoided the attention of the Zombies... ah! I mean, "walking dead", by splashing blood and guts on themselves like it was after-shave. In Fear the Walking Dead, Nick virtually covered himself in entrails. But now, we learn that the slightest shaving cut in which contaminated blood gets will be fatal. So, how did Michonne survive alone for months covered in gore to ward off her two pets? Are you telling me her sword didn't slip just the once, or that she never fell in some brambles, or slipped on some mossy rocks and cut her knee. Totally unbelievable! Sorry!

 

[ctg]

I still don't buy into the idea that the woman in coiffured hair, smart suit and pearl earrings has been surviving all this time by flogging copies of her self-published book, despite whether she had a helicopter or not!

To me she looked just like a governmental official, who has crawled out from their secure bunker and their act is to save everyone. I use that same thing in book 2 and 3, but instead of playing the act, I broke it and wrote another explanation. I guess it makes the end of necromorphosis trilogy a bit different then the normal stuff we have seen in the small screen or read in the books.

If she's one of them, then she's part of a new group and Georgie has nothing to do with the rumoured Commonwealth. I don't know what it is about as I haven't read that far, I just know it's a thing. Also if she's part of the hidden authorities then it also mean that AMC is reading this board, but they haven't ever bothered saying anything.

Okay, it's nitpicking time again. Until recently, everyone avoided the attention of the Zombies... ah! I mean, "walking dead", by splashing blood and guts on themselves like it was after-shave. In Fear the Walking Dead, Nick virtually covered himself in entrails. But now, we learn that the slightest shaving cut in which contaminated blood gets will be fatal. So, how did Michonne survive alone for months covered in gore to ward off her two pets? Are you telling me her sword didn't slip just the once, or that she never fell in some brambles, or slipped on some mossy rocks and cut her knee. Totally unbelievable! Sorry!

I know it's a big problem and I don't know how they are going to solve it. Either the logic works or its fantasy. To be honest, they haven't addressed this but, instead they've done all sorts of things that are beyond normality. I think when they showed that first time in the comic the implication was there and it truly frightened me as a reader, because I cared for those characters. So, from the very beginning TWD has been flawed series, just like Game of Thrones. Therefore we either have to suspend our disbelief and grumble here about it, or AMC has to correct some of the flaws in both series. The thing that scared me most in the Fear was Nick chewing on those harvest adrenaline glands.

If they grimy stuff doesn't turn you, it certainly should make you very ill because of the blood contamination.

 

[Judderman]

Eating zombie (or soon to be) meat (a leg) has been suggested as a problem before. Though it wasn't proved.
Infected blood would make sense as dangerous, but as said above not so much when people keep risking soaking themselves in guts!

 

[REBerg]

I have to admit that I completely missed that helicopter scene in the previous episodes.

Rick was the sole observer, although Rick seems prone to hallucinations. I don't recall if he mentioned it to anyone else.

 

[ctg]

Rick was the sole observer, although Rick seems prone to hallucinations. I don't recall if he mentioned it to anyone else.

Yeah, I must have missed that completely. I often write the review while I watch the episode. Not afterwards and since it didn't made a huge impact, I think I mostly missed it. Also in London we often get Police flying above us, so it's like normal mundane thing. But, if that helicopter belongs to Georgie's group then it's very likely that the underground base would be real. They were made back in the cold war era, and therefore most likely has been stocked with that era things. Otherwise I would have expect Kiowa warrior instead of HU-1.

 

[REBerg]

I'm keeping all my old LPs to be used in the post-apocalyptic barter economy, which may be just around the corner.