The Walking Dead: Who Are You Now? (9x06)

I'm conflicted. I'm not sure. I'm willing to see where this goes.

Cons:

There are a few relationships that got some focus here that I am just... not interested in. First of all, we learn that in the six years since we last saw these characters, Rosita and Gabriel have become an item. And Eugene is (still) pining over Rosita. Rosita and Gabriel? That feels almost as random and forced as Sasha and Abraham. What the heck? I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get on board with this one. Also, we see that Carol and Ezekiel got married and are ruling as king and queen. Sort of. I will admit that I liked them a bit more this week than I usually do, but even so, their chemistry just seems nonexistent to me. It doesn't help that in the two seconds we get of Daryl in this episode, I still feel a much greater chemistry and pull between him and Carol than I ever have with Ezekiel. This might be an unfixable problem, unfortunately.

Judith isn't doing it for me. The kid is cute, and it's not the most insufferable child performance I've ever seen, or anything, but it's just a little bit too much. She's a bad-ass, but she's still a kid, and she says all these insightful things that make her seem distinctly unlike an actual human child. There's also Henry, who with the time jump is now a young adult. He's just as bland as he's ever been, and using him as the emotional center of Carol's character just isn't working.

Is Maggie... dead? Or did she leave? I'm annoyed that we don't know yet. I'm annoyed that some of the elements of this world, six years down the line, don't feel different enough. In six years, something strange clearly happened at Hilltop, but things in Alexandria and the Kingdom seem a little bit like business as usual. In all that time, they couldn't have solidified relationships? We get a lot of cryptic talk about how Michonne has been more isolationist since "it" happened. I think we're meant to believe that this is about Rick dying, but doesn't it seem to anybody else like there's another incident somewhere in between? I'm annoyed at the secrecy. Let's just get things going, shall we? So many of the characters seem to be exactly the same as when we left them, and that doesn't make any sense given everything they've been through over the years of the show.

The new batch of characters are... fine, but not gripping enough to justify the time spent on them. Are we going to spend more time with them as we head off to Hilltop? I suppose maybe they could become interesting in time, but thus far I didn't really feel gripped by them. It's cool to have a Deaf character, though.

Pros:

There were some hints of how certain characters have changed over the years, and these small moments were more successful to me than the changing hairstyles or the more obvious transformations in aging up the kiddos. For example, Eugene is executing Walkers left and right now, completely efficient. Gabriel is part of Alexandria's newly established town council, and seems to be doing good as a leader. Aaron is also kicking ass in apocalypse land, and raising his daughter Gracie. I like these little hints, and hope we have more time to flesh some of them out in the next two episodes.

So... I know I said I'd be annoyed if Michonne ended up having Rick's kid, but the time jump actually saved that for me. Although... if it's a six year time jump, shouldn't that kid be about five years old or so? Did he seem younger than that to anybody else? Maybe I'm just bad at guessing ages. Regardless, I don't mind Michonne having two kids in Judith and the new little boy, because we didn't have to watch her be pregnant for like three seasons, like we did with Maggie. Also, I don't mind Carol settling down with Ezekiel, even if I don't sense the chemistry between them. In terms of her character as an individual, it makes perfect sense.

So, let's talk about Carol for a second - she definitely burns a bunch of people alive, and it's really intense. Carol's character has been all over the map for so long that it was nice to get this reminder of how brutal she could be. This was a big part of her character arc - trying to wrestle with the darkness inside. I loved seeing this relapse of sorts, because it was one of the only truly astonishing moments from Carol that we've seen in a very long time.

Daryl has been living as a hermit in the woods, ostensibly since Rick "died," and let me tell ya... I am emotional about it. We haven't had a lot of time to see what he's been up to and how he's coping, but it looks like he and Carol will have some material next week together, and I'm a happy camper.

I've never been a Eugene fan, but I actually really loved him in this episode. He's a lot more put-together here, but he's still the same awkward dude we've known for so long. One of the best parts was when he tries to confess his love to Rosita as they're fleeing from the Walkers, and Rosita just says "don't make this weird" and makes him keep rushing away. Ha!

Michonne has become both a harder and a more compassionate person. She loves her children so much, and I get so emotional hearing Judith refer to Michonne as "mom," let me tell ya. And at the same time, she takes a hard stance against the newcomers, afraid of trusting anyone new. I like that this wasn't a simple yes/no situation. Michonne ends up changing her mind, kind of, but still won't allow the newbies in to Alexandria. She will, however, escort them to Hilltop, so we'll finally get to see what the heck went down over there.

Although Judith is a little too much for me, there are two things I liked about her. I'm kind of all about the weird camaraderie between her and the still-imprisoned Negan. Negan always had a great deal of affection for Carl, and it seems that affection has passed to Judith. I believe in that affection. It's not part of a trick or a trap. I liked Negan asking Judith if she'd ever seen an airplane fly in any direction, at any speed, as a response to a math problem Judith was working on. Also, late in the episode, we have the heartbreaking moment when Judith tells Michonne that Rick and Carl's voices are starting to fade for her, and she hopes that Michonne is still able to hear them. That really worked for me. As in, it devastated me. I hope Judith gets a chance to reunite with her father some day.

I think that's all I've got for now. Honestly, this episode didn't completely "wow" me the way I was kind of hoping it would. Maybe my expectations were just too high? I'm obviously super interested in the Walkers talking, and I can't wait for Eugene and Rosita to run back to the others and tell the horrifying news. But for a "fresh start," this episode didn't totally deliver.

7.5/10