The Walking Dead: Warning Signs

October 24, 2018 1:47 PM - Season 9, Episode 3

Rick’s vision for the future is threatened by a mysterious disappearance that divides the work camp where the communities are building a bridge.

Rick tries to get a day off, but tensions at the bridge boil over when Justin turns up with a suspicious hole in him. The folks from Sanctuary working on the bridge are unhappy about the disappearances and start to cause trouble.

Unhappy about being a suspect in Justin's murder, Anne returns to the garbage dump and uses a radio to talk to whoever it is behind the mysterious helicopter. It turns out that Anne still has more than a bit of Judis in her, and she winds up knocking out Gabriel and appears ready to turn him over to her helicopter friends.

Maggie and Darryl eventually catch up with the people putting holes in former Saviors: it's Cyndie and the crew from Oceanside, who decided that Maggie's execution of Gregory gave them the green light to administer their own justice.

Maggie, in turn, gets the idea that maybe now is the time for her to revisit the Negan issue and heads to Alexandria with Darryl.

Reminder: information from the preview of upcoming episodes is generally considered off-limits, so be cool.

posted by jimw (3 comments total)

I've watched this show since the beginning, stuck with it even when it has been a slog, and stuck with it further when it seemed like a masochistic chore, because there have always been glimmers of a great show shining through. That said, I'm excited for how things are going now. As Laura Bogart writes at the AV Club:

The Oceanside women say that they thought they had to live under Rick’s rules, but Maggie showed them another way. Now, Maggie and Daryl are fully embracing that other way, the way of reckoning. They’re going to see Negan, bearing weapons and a jug full of gasoline.

This collision between philosophies is some of the richest, most nuanced and compelling storytelling the show has done in years. The struggle here isn’t between our heroes and some special guest star who will inevitably be defeated—it’s between characters we’ve come to know over the years, even if we’ve mostly kept the show on in the background. For the first time in a long time, I’m riveted. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

We're now past the post-apocalypse and well into the post-post-apocalypse. The conflict isn't going to arise from some grinning evildoer like Negan or the Governor, but from the different protagonists' beliefs as to how to shape this burgeoning new world. When the Saviors started disappearing I assumed it heralded the arrival of the long-rumored Whisperers (I haven't read the books but I've heard the rumors), and that we would fall back into a storyline of a battle against depraved outsiders. When it turned out to be the Oceanside survivors exacting justice/vengeance with completely understandable justification, things got way more interesting.

And now I'm going to apparently completely reverse what I just said: I'm also excited for the upcoming helicopter walkie-talkie people to reveal themselves. Because whoever they are, based on the brief conversation we heard with Anne (and my fervid hopes), I imagine that this will be a story of an established society (one established enough to maintain and fuel helicopters while engaging in human trafficking with outposts) encountering a society just finding its legs, rather than a charismatic strongman clashing personally with Rick. It helps that we know Rick is leaving the show somehow, and other characters are being elevated to lead the various communities. (I actually look forward to a scene where a council votes to ratify Michonne's new constitution.)

Also, Anne/Jadis is my favorite character and I'm happy for a storyline that puts her front and center.

Speaking of Michonne, I agree with Rob Bricken of io9 that I hope she doesn't wind up pregnant with the next generation of Ricks. She's positioned to be the next leader of Alexandria, let's not sideline her with the narrative requirements of post-post-apocalyptic pregnancy.
posted by ejs at 10:06 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thanks for linking to the av club review! I really enjoyed reading it. I loved this episode and I'm tentatively excited to see what they come up with in terms of 'what is justice' what is redemption - who is worthy and how a society should be constructed. These are really tough questions that I think about a lot, and I'm worried that I will be disappointed in how they handle all of this. But until then I will enjoy my never-ending zombie movie with a twist.
posted by goneill at 11:48 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed this episode, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say for some time. I really hope they don’t have another pregnancy story line.
posted by gryphonlover at 7:47 PM on October 26, 2018