The Walking Dead – Evolution

By: Kelly Kearney

The Season 9 mid-season finale was chocked full of shocking surprises, new villains and the worst jail cell guards a single inmate could ever hope for. There were epic fight scenes, contentious vibes between former family members, whispering walkers and a slow-motion death that would make any Kung Fu fan salivate. So far, Season 9 has managed to do what the last four seasons failed to accomplish. It made the viewers care about the relationships between the characters while ending on a hauntingly terrifying cliffhanger that, unlike previous finale’s, was more substance than cheap ratings ploy.

“That’s not normal.”

Evolution begins with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Jesus (Tom Payne), Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Dog scoping out a herd of walkers who’ve interrupted their search for Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Hiding behind some brush at a safe distance, the men notice the herd wandering around in circles like some slow moving mosh pit of the dead. Jesus states the obvious, that their behavior is uncharacteristically bizarre even for flesh eating zombies and Daryl agrees. Before they can get a handle on why these walkers seem so different, we cut to Alexandria and everyone’s favorite shade slinging jail bird Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The ex-bat wielding psycho is having a blast bouncing a tennis ball off the cell bars as he reminisces with Father Gabe (Seth Gilliam) over his love of TV before the end of the world. Now, Negan’s only entertainment is eavesdropping through his cell block window and tormenting the preacher who tries but fails to counsel him once a week. Gabe’s been searching for some substance in between the litany of off-color remarks Negan is known for, but winds up leaving the jail cell in a huff after Negan brings up a conversation that he overheard that involved Rosita (Christian Serratos). It’s a sore spot for the preacher, who’s missing his girlfriend, but stuck doing Negan duty. There’s just no use in trying to convince Negan that life should have substance and the Preacher is just about done trying to. Outside the jail, Gabe spots a messenger who has news about an injured Rosita at Hilltop. The man looks devastated and would rather be with Rosita then babysitting Negan.

Over at Hilltop, Michonne (Danai Gurira), Siddiq (Avi Nash) and the newbies manage to make it to their destination, but Hilltop isn’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat. The guards at the gate demand to know why they are there and won’t permit anyone inside until they abandon their weapons. Magna (Nadia Hilker) worries about the new community accepting them but Luke (Dan Fogler), who seems to be the voice of reason, asks, “What’s not to like about us? We’re a solid group.” Once they ditch the weapons, Michonne and Siddiq escort them inside where they’re met by Tara (Alanna Masterson) who has some interesting news for Michonne. It seems the head of Alexandria’s security had no idea her people had been fraternizing with the enemy, a/k/a Hilltoppers, and when Tara fills her in about a missing Eugene it’s clear, Michonne was in the dark about more than Maggie (Lauren Cohan) leaving. While Michonne is processing the news that she seems to be the last to find out everything, Tara tells the newcomers that they can stay but it will be up to Jesus to decide for how long and they’ll have to earn their keep.

While Magna and her crew get comfortable in their new surroundings, Michonne spots Carol (Melissa McBride) in the distance, but instead of some friendly greeting Carol turns and goes back inside the main house. Something is off between these two but until we find out what happened during the six-year time jump, their tension will remain a mystery.

A Whole lot of Broken World

After she gets the cold shoulder from the Kingdom’s Queen, Michonne confronts Siddiq over keeping her in the dark about opening the lines of communication between the communities. The doctor tries to calm her nerves by saying, “It’s a good thing we’re here,” but her response is cut short by Carol who runs up to offer Siddiq a hug. Glaringly obvious is the fact Carol didn’t offer any hugs to Michonne. The two women engage in friendly but tensely weighted small talk about their kids until Carol brings up the fair. She tries convincing Michonne to send a delegation from Alexandria, hoping this fair could help fix her crumbling Kingdom. Michonne shoots Carol down by saying Ezekiel asked the same of her but she’s declining. Carol doesn’t appear to be shocked by Michonne’s cold demeaner and reminds her that at one time they were family. Michonne says they still are but, “Alexandria is Alexandria. Hilltop is here, and Kingdom is there.”  Carol acts like she’s been through this before with Michonne and reminds her that they have all lost big, but coming together would go a long way to healing what’s been broken. Michonne responds with, “There’s a whole lot of broken world between the communities. …We’ve gotta take care of our own now.”

Taking care of their own is what Aaron tries convincing Jesus to do back at Hilltop. If Jesus would just lead, like his community wants him to and quit running off to fight, Aaron thinks he would make Hilltop and Maggie proud. Jesus doesn’t get much of a chance to respond because the walker herd is coming and it seems to be following them, which is odd for a brain-dead pack of zombies. Not only that, but the herd has picked up a few more members and that has Daryl concerned. These are not your usual walkers.

Back at Hilltop, Carol says a teary goodbye to Henry (Matt Lintz), who hands his mother a few boxes of nails that he managed get from Earl as an early advance in his pay. The Kingdom is desperate for supplies and the nails will come in handy. Carol is beside herself and kisses her son goodbye, telling him to be good and stay out of trouble – something the boy misses when he notices his crush Enid (Katelyn Nacon) kissing Alden (Callan McAuliffe). There’s definitely young love drama brewing and that’s why Earl (John Finn) invites Henry to hang with him for dinner. Henry agrees but after meeting some of the other kids in the community, he bails on his plans with his boss for some Gen-Z bonding and moonshine. Later, we find out the young Hilltoppers Gage (Jackson Pace), Addy (Kelley Mack) and Rodney (Joe Ando-Hirsh) plan to sneak out and play with a walker they trapped in a dirt hole. The drunk boys push the equally wasted Henry into the walker pit. Addy walks off because she has no interest in their walker games just as Henry does what Morgan (Lennie James) taught him and puts the zombie down. His new friends get mad since that walker was their only form of entertainment and Henry just killed their buzz. Rodney and Gage bail and leave Henry to wander back to Hilltop on his own. Later, Henry ends up behind bars at Hilltop for disorderly conduct, namely vomiting on a pig and Tara’s favorite boots. Earl manages to talk some sense into the boy since he’s been in his shoes. The elder blacksmith promises to talk to Jesus about going light on Henry’s punishment.

Over in Alexandria. Negan is in rare form and trolling Gabe as he empties out the jail bird’s bed pan. He must be bored because he’s grosser than usual and Gabe can’t take it. The preacher goes off on a rant about how it’s bad enough he is hands deep in the man’s filth, but he shouldn’t have to listen to it, too. Irate, Gabe storms out of the cell before he can lock the door! It’s not long before Negan spots the open door and waltzes right out of the cell that held him captive for seven and a half years. Now, Negan is on the loose!

“You are where you do not belong.”

Back at Hilltop Siddiq and Michonne talk while they’re waiting for Rosita to wake up. The doctor apologizes for keeping Michonne in the dark and she admits she knew coming to Hilltop would be difficult. The people are still angry with her for refusing to mend fences between Alexandria and the other communities. An unpopular choice, she points out, but they’re still alive to hate her so it must’ve been the right one. At that point Rosita comes to and immediately jumps out of bed to find Eugene. Siddiq tries to calm her by saying Daryl and the others are searching for him, but Rosita can’t calm down. She says, “They have no idea what they’re dealing with.”

When the men finally find Eugene, he all but tells them the same; these walkers are not your average zombie herd. While he was hiding out in the barn, the herd circled back around like they were searching for him. Daryl laughs that off like it’s impossible, but Eugene insists the walkers are evolving. They might be dead, but their brains seem to be alive and if they can think and talk then they can hunt. The men rush out of the barn with Eugene hobbling around on his dislocated knee. The walkers gain ground and Daryl orders Jesus and Aaron to get Eugene to safety while he and Dog distract the herd with firecrackers. The crack of the explosives does nothing for the herd and they continue on in the direction of Jesus, Aaron and Eugene. Daryl and Dog take off to help their friends who wind up trapped in a foggy graveyard thanks to an old rusted gate that will not open. Eugene tries to force the gate as his friends fight off the herd, but the sounds of whispering walkers are all around them and the scene is turning chaotic. All of a sudden, Michonne and Magna (she’s earning her keep) show up to help Eugene with the gate. The women manage to pry it open a smidge allowing all but Jesus through the rusty bars. Jesus stays back to fight off walkers and give his friends a chance to run in a scene that is slow motion perfection. Flying through the air like some kind of round house kicking God, the long-haired leader strikes down walker after walker until there’s only one left. With primal force he attacks the walker, but the dead man dodges Jesus’ advances and shanks him in the back with a hidden blade! As the walker twists the knife he whispers to Jesus, “You are where you do not belong.” Jesus falls to the ground dead as Aaron screams from behind the gate and Daryl launches an arrow into the stabby walker. The entire group raises their weapons and rushes to take on another herd.

After making quick work of the dead, Aaron gets emotional over the body of their fallen friend. That’s when Daryl notices something off with the walker that killed Jesus. He spots what looks like stitches on the back of the zombie’s head. Like some kind of Scooby-Doo plot twist, the archer pulls out his knife and snips the threads until he can rip off the skin mask to reveal a human face! Eugene was right… sort of. Their brains are alive because they are alive! Whoever these zombie cosplayers are they are definitely not dead. The episode ends with a hair-raising realization that an enemy that cannot be seen is an enemy they cannot beat. In the foggy distance, the group hears the sounds of whispering and there is no telling how close are these new big bads. A new villain is on the scene and nobody is safe. It looks like Michonne might have to mend those fences if she wants her people to survive!