The Walking Dead Season 9 Premiere Review

The Walking Dead Season 9
A brand new season of The Walking Dead is among us, and there are sure to be significant changes coming.

With Carl gone and Andrew Lincoln set to leave the show, what will keep audiences watching? The show seems to tackle this problem by focusing on rebuilding society to what it once was.

This fresh start gave a new breath of life to the comic book series, so maybe it can do the same to the television show.

A brand new intro is introduced in this episode, and it is a lot different than the other ones. It focuses on growth and rebuilding, and there is now a much fresher and greener logo.

This season starts with a time jump that shows the communities thriving. The communities are bigger in size and a lot better with communication and working with each other.

They even have set paths to different communities with patrolmen guarding the path to ensure that no one is surprised by walkers while traveling.

Rick's group decided to go on a supply hunt for seeds and other farming equipment, and it was a nice change of scenery to see walkers in Washington DC.

Seeing Rick’s group scavenge museums in DC definitely made things more interesting to watch, even if the zombie make-up isn’t as impressive after seeing it for nine seasons. The walker filled with spiders did freak me out, but I’m pretty squeamish when it comes to insects, especially while in a horde coming out of a walker's head.

Little things throughout the raid held my attention, like the “Human Evolution” exhibit inside the museum, with a walker attached to the last section.



I hope they continue to explore Washington D.C. There is a lot of potential with how many famous landmarks there are, and hopefully, it isn’t outside of the show’s budget. I also love the idea of raiding museums to find artifacts that can be used to rebuild their old world. It will certainly help things move along.

While moving back to the community, the group comes across a herd. During their escape, Ken is bitten and kicked by a horse. Maggie properly kills him before he turns into a zombie in what is supposed to be an emotional moment, but there is absolutely no emotional weight to the character.

Ken was just introduced and has less than 20 minutes of screen time. Why should we care if he dies?  If The Walking Dead wants to keep the attention of its viewers, they need to stop spending so much time grieving over characters we just met. 

This was especially disappointing as a season premiere, as it was supposed to be the highlight of the episode. 

However, Ken’s death did serve a more significant purpose. It re-opened a conflict we saw the roots of in the season eight finale. People aren’t happy with the second chance that the Saviors have gotten.

It turns out the Saviors aren’t too happy either. There is a hint of resistance and small support for Negan. Daryl being the leader of the Sanctuary isn’t the best choice, and Daryl realizes this. 

It’s nice to see some conflict between Daryl and Rick that doesn’t result in a big fistfight. The tension between the two is at an all-time high, even though they respect each other.

The two understand each other’s decisions but don’t necessarily agree with them. This was a nice change

I liked Daryl in this episode, and he definitely hasn’t been my favorite character in the past seasons. However, he has a lot of conflicts built up inside of him.

These relationships he had with his friends for nine seasons has grown him as a character, and I feel like he is finally given something to do. Now he has a somewhat interesting character flaw that isn’t just about his inability to trust.

I also liked that Gregory is still in the mix and plotting against Maggie. This was one of my favorite arcs from the comics, and I was worried the writers would drag it out for several episodes to come. 

However, I was very pleasantly surprised! Gregory took action immediately and convinced Ken’s father to attempt to kill Maggie.

Lauren Cohan shines in this episode as Maggie, and it was great seeing her mixed emotions throughout the episode. Whether it be hiding her inner anger and trying to stay cool, her subtle reaction to the news of Glenn’s grave being vandalized, or standing up to the famous Rick Grimes, I always looked forward to seeing more of her.

Cohan especially stood out in the final moments of the episode as she executes Gregory in front of the Hilltop. The episode ends with a hollowing shot of Gregory’s lifeless body swinging from a post.

All in all, I liked this episode of the new season. It certainly felt fresh, but I am not sure how long that will last. After completely losing interest in the show last season, this is a step in the right direction. However, I am still a bit worried about how the show will move forward without Rick, but hopefully, his death has a big enough impact to significantly change the show like it so desperately needs.


6/10





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chandler Riggs and His Father Comment On Carl's Death On The Walking Dead

Image
During The Walking Dead 's mid-season finale, audiences were shocked to discover Carl Grimes had been bitten by a walker. Carl, played by Chandler Riggs, has been part of the show since its first season in 2011 when Riggs was only 11 years old. Audiences across the world got to watch Riggs grow up as both Carl Grimes and Chandler Riggs. It really sucks to see him go and it will definitely affect the rest of the series.  Carl's death shocked both audiences and fellow cast members. "I always thought Carl was going to be the one who led the show forward," Andrew Lincoln told  The Hollywood Reporter , "that Rick would hand over his boots and revolver when he walked off into the sunset in season 28." Unfortunately, that dream will never come true.  Rumor's of Carl's death on the show have been around for years. When the rumors resurfaced, I thought nothing of them, even though they were a bit more convincing this time. The rumors i
Read more

The Walking Dead Universe Crossover Confirmed

Image
After over two years of saying it would never happen, we are finally getting a  Walking Dead  and  Fear the Walking Dead  crossover! Ever since Fear the Walking Dead premiered in August of 2015, creators of both shows stated several times that the two shows would never cross over. However, Robert Kirkman, creator of  The Walking Dead , has now said otherwise! The news was confirmed this weekend at The Walking Dead's panel at the New York Comic Con.  "I think that we've finally gotten to a place with Fear the Walking dead where it has its own identity," Kirkman said. "there are two  Walking Dead  shows, I'm not going to name them, but there are two...There is one character that is going to go from one show that will go from one show and appear in the other show, that I will not name." Although fans don't know what character will be part of the crossover, they sure have something to look forward to. It will be a challenge since  T
Read more

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked

Image
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the world's biggest franchises and shows no signs of slowing down. What sets the MCU apart from different franchises is its continuity and the ability to have amazing characters come together in different ways. I'm a huge fan of Marvel Studios, so I decided to compile a list of my top MCU movies, TV shows, and more.  41. Inhumans Inhumans is one of the worst shows I've seen, everything about it is just awful. The acting, the writing, the designs, the special effects, the choreography, the editing. In every episode, I was able to point out major issues with the production of the show. It didn't help that this mess of a show debuted on IMAX so that audiences everywhere could see the dreadful special effects on a huge screen. Looking back, I can only think of a single thing this show did right and that was a 5-second special effect of Blackbolt flipping a car with just a whisper. Everything else was terribly lazy an
Read more

Walking Dead Season 7 Finale Review: Beginning of All Out War

Image
This episode starts off with Dwight talking to Rick and his group. He says he wants to stop Negan but they need to do it correctly or someone else will rise up and take his place. Dwight explains he only has been working for Negan to keep his wife safe, but now that she has escaped he is ready to fight against Negan. After seeing Dwight's heartbreaking scene in his home in a previous episode I am convinced he wants Negan dead. After all, Negan did melt half of his face off.  Meanwhile, Sasha is being held captive and Negan her he knows Rick is trying to rebel. As a result, he says someone needs to die. Afterwards Sasha convinces Eugene to give her something sharp so she can kill herself so she isn’t used against Alexandria. However, her real plan is to kill Negan when he least expects it. Eugene agrees to help but instead of giving her a knife he gives her two pills that will kill her if she takes them. Sasha and Eugene walk out to leave for Alexandria and Eugene tri
Read more

Andrew Lincoln to Leave The Walking Dead After Season 9

Image
No one is safe in AMC's The Walking Dead , not even Rick Grimes himself. According to Collider , Andrew Lincoln is set to leave The Walking Dead after season 9. Lincoln, who plays the series main character Rick Grimes, has been apart of the show since its beginning in 2010. However, it looks as though Rick isn't going to survive much longer. There was an update from   comicbook.com  saying they have confirmed the news from multiple independent sources. They also say that AMC will announce Lincoln's departure before it happens on the show. Not only that, but it is also reported that Rick Grimes will only be in six episodes of season 9. As to how the famous Rick Grimes will be killed off, that remains a mystery. It is sure to cause an uproar in the fanbase. After killing fan-favorite Carl Grimes, played by Chandler Riggs, many fans began to lose faith in the show and its quality. There were even co-workers of Riggs who expressed their disapproval of the creativ
Read more