User Reviews

Well I certainly didn't expect Michonne to go all Anakin Skywalker on those kids, but she was truly in the unthinkable situation. And really, Danai Gurira showed in this episode why she's such an in demand actress and will eventually leave this show next year. We could easily be talking about her in awards discussions in the future. Whether it was her having the heartbreaking heart to heart with Judith, threatening Negan, or just 1v1 with Daryl, shes one of the best actors working on this show.

Backing this episode with flashbacks as to how Daryl and Michonne ended up with those scars was a nice touch, especially since it almost perfectly mirrors the storyline with the Whisperers now. Alpha and Jocelyn are not all that different. But as I've previously said, I don't care what the story is, I'll take anything that involves a Michonne centric episode.

In what was almost like a True Detective style episode, Walking Dead is once again proving me wrong by showing we don't need Rick to continue this show after all.

8.5/10

To answer my own title -a lot.

Very well written as the mystery behind both the X scars and the rift between the communities are exposed in a series of time jumps.

I feel sorry for anyone who is watching this episode as their first installment of TWD as so much was dependent on what had occurred prior to this pay off.

Trust is as elusive in the ZA as comfortable shoes.

Judith is a risk taker and seems to have a guardian angle watching over her.

Water wheels of progress make for great establishing shots.

Only thing more unnerving than exploding bridges is exploding diapers.

Negan is an expert at mixing sound advice and half truths while subtly advancing his own agenda.

Swing sets are handy when your third trimester prego.

Michonne is better at killing her friends than picking them.

Its OK to kill kids when they are trying to cut your unborn child out of your womb like the Manson family, Carol would have approved.

Is Michonne the ZA Bionic Woman, Please, how do you take that much of a beating, branding and stabbing, and not lose your child?

Nothing says love, like a lil mother daughter bonding after killing a dozen Walkers.

Judith has never stopped loving anyone, but shes still too young to date.

Isolationism is a bitter two edged sword and perhaps is simply not practical.

Vehicles with only 2 horse power are more environmentally friendly.

9.5

This is a heartbreaking episode (that last scene with their hug!!), a proof of Michonne's anger and mistrust during the second part of season 9. Besides being beautifully portrayed by Danai Gurira and Cailey Fleming, the script MAKES SENCE. It gives us an explanation of what really happened during that six years' time jump in episode (9x05) What Comes After, after Rick's exit.

This is what makes TWD a great show, showing extremely hard-to-watch moments...that no other drama on TV will ever show.

This episode had me feeling all of the emotions. It was a very nice stand alone episode. It answered a lot of unanswered questions. Such as where Michonne & Daryl got those X marks on their backs. Why Michonne distanced herself from the other communities. I enjoyed having someone from Michonne's past turning out the way she did. Raising all of these kids to be bad in a way they thought was good. It really shows that no matter who you are, this world can change you in ways you'd never expect. The actress who portrays Judith continues to kill it. She makes everything believable. Judith has become one of my favorites this season. I'm glad that Judith has finally been able to get her mom to reconnect with all of the communities. Finally, the part of the episode that made me feel the most was when Michonne & Daryl were searching for Rick, only to find nothing but his gun. Fantastic episode in a fantastic season!

This so far hands down has to be one of the best episode of the season so far, if not the entire season. Michonne was absolutely amazing. We finally learned about the X scars, one of michonne's friend having a child army. Like i t was just said on talking dead is people don't really see / think of children as a threat. Well they were a big threat this episode.

Then in present day judith runs off to look for daryl and company and michonne goes to of all people Negan looking for answers. Who negan tells michonne that he has been telling judith the truth about whatever she asks, while michonne has been kinda babying her. Which snaps michonne out of it and goes to find judith.

So this episode was amazing, so of course i am giving this episode a 10. Not just because it was an amazing episode but to also piss off the trolls giving it a 1.

This was a well acted and well delivered show with lots of action. Tonight I found out how Michonne and Daryl got the scars on their back, and also how and why their demeanor changed in the time jump.

A common theme in the Walking Dead is how people change over time due to the circumstances of the zombie apocalypse. In a flashback, we discover that Michonne ran across a trusted friend who showed up at Alexandria's gate looking for help. At that point (about 6 years ago), Michonne was still in the trust everyone mode and gladly brought her friend in along with the numerous children her friend adopted, or protected.

Michonne did not understand that her friend had changed over time and had become a very evil person. She used her children as tools to gain trust and deceive and rob other people. Her friend turned into a apocalyptic Fagin (an adult who teaches children crime.) Her friend fooled Michonne as they seemed to be getting along splendidly.

One morning Michonne awoke to find Judith missing, and some other children were missing as well! Her friend from bygone days ran off with Judith obviously going to train her in her quest to rob, steal, and plunder.

Even in a very pregnant condition, Michonne took off in search of those who were taken. When she and Daryl found them, that is when we discovered the true nature of her friend. After she tied Michonne and Daryl up, she had her children brand them to teach her children to be tough and to have discipline. She said the weak did not survive (a common mantra from many in TWD).

Michonne and Daryl were tied up securely, but when the children and Michonne's Judas friend were away, they escaped.

Michone faced her friend and the other children and tried to talk the situation down, but to no avail. She was forced to kill the other children, and her friend, in self-defense. Her duty was to Judith.

So...Michonne was protective of Alexandria because she was betrayed by a person from her past she used to call friend. The trauma of the event changed Michonne to what we see today. However, I do believe her talk with Judith today helped to heal some of the former scars.

OK so here's the scenario. A small group shows up.The Adult women ends up being an old acquaintance of Michonnes. Michonne looks likes she's about to drop a 15 pounder BTW. Even before what happens, Michonne is so preggo she's having a hard time getting around. They take a group of 5 members to go get the other members of this group. The two women do some catching up and its very emotional. Everybody seems happy they've rescued this large group of kids.

They are suddenly betrayed by the newcomers and they also take all the kids from Alexandria. What we see next is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen!

It's just really preggo Michonne and Daryle tracking the kids. Those other Alexandria kids have parents! Who the hell thought it was rational that these people would accept just Michonne and Dayrl going after them? Those persons need to be escorted off the set! WTF people. They sent at least 5 to find the group of kids in the first place, they're not going to send 10-20 to rescue their own kids?

Like I said Michonne was grabbing her belly the whole time up to this like she blow any second. The people of Alexandria were going to accept her waddling off to find their kids? When it was her friend that stole them?

And look at all these simpletons thinking that's a 10/10 show! Don't procreate, OK. You're polluting the gene pool! Let me explain how something this bizarre happens.

The people who are dreaming this stuff up are thinking way too much about the payoff scenes they can do with the fake branding Iron, and the pregnant Michonne that they don't bother to think the plot through! Really do you think there's any possible reason that the other people in Alexandria would just let her waddle off with Daryl? Later on Gail Hurd tried to explain why they branded Daryl and her and it sounded ridiculous, you can't see the brands unless they aren't wearing shirts! They should have branded their foreheads if they were looking to mark them so it showed all the time. This and the other show do this more and more, they think about the big special effects, and not how to get there logically.

If they weren't such lazy writers they'd have a posse of Alexandrians go after them, but Daryl and Michonne got captured ...PROBLEM SOLVED. That wasn't that hard, was it? Then they get to do their big scenes with just those two actors.

But the way they did it? Just mind blowing ridiculous!~

This is a very good filling episode explaining more of the time jump like how daryl and michoone got their scars and michoone worries about Judith and the importance of the grimes family !

The Walking Dead has made a miraculous comeback during Season 9 easily making it one of my top 3 favorite seasons. This episode however, slammed the brakes on the momentum. The idea is unique and dark and I get what they were going for but I feel like they had an outline of what they wanted to happen and then filled in the rest with ideas that weren't though through enough. Michonne's old world friend betrayed her? That's crazy and would be sad. Michonne has to kill a bunch of kids? That's super dark and sad and is very interesting. Michonne and Daryl get scars from these people so they'll never remember what happened? Yeah that's pretty cool. Those are all great things but the stuff that happened in between those didn't join together quite as naturally as they should have. We were seeing a lot of the Whisperers and Daryl and this episode took all the buildup and just kinda put a hold on it. It was a good episode that wasn't executed the best

It was clear pretty quickly that this was just a filler episode. I usually don't mind filler episodes at all if they are good as a stand alone episode but this is probably the worst episode in all 9 seasons. The way they just introduce the new Jocelyn character and then kill her off 30 minutes later is just lazy and I'm sorry to say but the lady who had that role was just bad. The whole setup with the kids and Jocelyn as the leader who somehow apparently brainwashed the kids or something to make them do whatever she says was just very unbelievable. It almost felt like I was watching a DC evil villain story. Also in a way I get that they don't want to show that Michonne kills all those kids but come on please don't do the "cut away just before the action happens" in an R rated horror.

And to add to all of this there is absolutely no tention at any part of the flashback story because you know nothing mojor will happen to them from the start because you already saw them in the present time. Time jumps like this just never work.

Have a nice day, I'm done ranting.