Saved from theindependent.uk.co with rights to AMC/Gene Bell

Kevin: So, are we doing this Walking Dead column still?

Jeremy: No reason to stop now. Last night was exactly what I thought it was going to be mixed with some actual intrigue.

Kevin: My line came off worse than it needed to. Never bad to have a little dissension in the ranks when it comes to taking on the Saviors. Rick’s plan would still be a bit vague for my liking.

Jeremy: The plan depends on everyone’s involvement. Why give it away if they say no? Makes for a hard sell of course but if they took out some Saviors on their own the numbers game is legit.

Kevin: I know we’ve noted it before, but it’s worth mentioning again. Alexandria & the other groups may have some idea how big of a contingent the Saviors are, but on screen, it’s really tough to judge.

Jeremy: They made a point of showing it again tonight with their base off in the distance and then a bunch of outposts. There was a direct point in making The Kingdom a formidable ally.

Kevin: That part is definitely true since they also made it a point that Hilltop & Alexandria didn’t have enough man or fire power to take on the Saviors on their own.

Jeremy: Also,The Kingdom has guns. Another nice option that Alexandria does not have. I did really enjoy the groups reaction when entering Ezekiels, um, chamber? Imaghine this world and you walk in to a playhouse and the dude has a tiger.

Kevin: I did have to laugh at Jesus’s reaction. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he has a tiger” nonchalantly. Ezekiel’s presentation seemed more theatrical with the whole group than when Carol came in. Maybe it just seemed different since Carol was suppressing a laugh the whole time.

Jeremy: Also this entire group is coming forward and they outnumber you currently. I believe Richard had a gun on him but still. Oh did forget about Shiva so never mind. I also enjoyed Jerry. I mean, he isn’t allowed to die right?

Kevin: See, I got a better idea of how large the Kingdom is from this past episode than I still have any clue on the Saviors. Is Jerry the Court speaker or whatever role that’s supposed to be? Because if that’s who you’re talking about, he has to live but I picture him as a guy the writers will most definitely kill.

Jeremy: Yes, that is Jerry and yes he is going to die. I get the feeling this plays out that Negan comes to the Kingdom when they aren’t supposed to and kill the kid training with Morgan. Setting off Ezekiel.

Kevin: Ezekiel definitely needed more of a push for war. I can understand that because the Saviors don’t seem to push them as hard as Alexandria or Hilltop.

Jeremy: Well they do but it is all off site. And his people do not know so that helps a lot. Also, Morgan is even more annoying now. Negan killed 4 people he knew “Nah, we can still talk to him.”

Kevin: That was by far the most infuriating part of the show. I’m just not sure what makes you think that after all of the events that transpired. But it does go with his character, sort of. I felt like Morgan has backed off the peace stance.

Jeremy: He admitted to killing that Savior but then pulls this garbage. Are they trying to make him like Andrea? At least Carol just wants nothing to do with anything now.  The eventual reunion with her and Daryl should be nice. Especially since Daryl is there to take out Ezekiel if need be. At least this is what I got from Rick’s brief convo when they left him behind.

Kevin: Morgan hasn’t quite reached the level of Andrea yet but he could rocket back up the standings with this line of thinking. It was quite clearly a good plan on Rick’s part to make sure Daryl stayed behind since the Saviors were at the front door when they got back. Speaking of which, why would Simon think Alexandria knows where Daryl is? They’re obviously connected but they escorted Carl out on their own.

Jeremy: True but the events correlate. Also they must think Daryl is stupid? I think it was mean to show Saviors as dicks but also that they underestimate Alexandria. You think Rick wouldn’t have a plan if Daryl had shown up?

Kevin: I thought that aspect was silly too. Let’s just look around town. No there aren’t any woods around Alexandria for Daryl to hide in while we go through the town.

Jeremy: At least it brought them around to seeing Gabrielle took off which seems to be a plan on his part?

Kevin: I’m glad that his “plan” was previewed but it was really strange to have that little information on story line that stared before the opening credits. I had forgotten about it until Simon went through the barren pantry.

Jeremy: So from online pics there was someone else int eh car with him when he left. I am figuring it is the stalker person. Remember when Gabrielle and Spencer had their argument and he got out of the car. It could have been around that area of the boat.

Kevin: That was not something I had thought of but it does make some sense though. Everything is fairly tight geographically. Plus, they need the ladies to help make this plan happen because it’s another group with large numbers of people and guns.

Jeremy: I am thinking this is where Gabrielle ended up? Funny how they made Gabrielle interesting with one story idea. rick smiling at the end was a nice touch since he clearly believes Gabrielle led them there.

Kevin: I was also trying to think if one of the ladies stayed behind when they introduced Seaside in the previous half season because Rick doesn’t react like that just for kicks.

Jeremy: It definitely isn’t Seaside since there are men in that group. They are a new group for the show. They didn’t appear in the comics at all so this is a little different. It was pretty intense and then Rick flashes the smile. Kind of a bad ass moment. But not as bad ass as taking two cars and some heavy wire and slicing up a herd of walkers.

Kevin: Oh, I must have missed the men. Thought that was all ladies. Note to self, don’t watch these episodes after a WWE PPV. TWD does a good job of freshening up ways to kill Walkers. That was among the coolest in the series.

Jeremy: I was lost on the explosion. Why did the remaining explosives go off?

Kevin: I too was confused since Rick had to take his grand old time removing the last set of dynamite before using the cars with Michonne. I know they set down a couple of sticks of dynamite since Rosita didn’t approve but that wasn’t enough for the explosion we all saw.

Jeremy: Well the cars had gas in them so maybe that was part of it? The scene though was pretty awesome. Can’t say I have seen something like that before. I did like Rick’s admission that they pushed it that time.

Kevin: Yes they did, because they drove into the thick part of the herd that was coming. Makes sense the zombies wouldn’t be terribly organized.

Jeremy: Not as disorganized as Hilltop. Their cowardly leader with no support. So why is Gregory the top guy?

Kevin: I was going to make a comment about Gregory earlier when we were talking about Ezekiel needing a push to go to war. If everyone on Hilltop disagrees with Gregory, I have the same question you do.

Jeremy: If anything this episode set up a lot for the remainder of this season. Hopefully this time they don’t drag out the stories like they did with the first half of this season.