TWD 6x09 "No Way Out" episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[MinionZombie]

Please keep all talk of episode 6x09 "No Way Out" specifically inside this thread. If you have a theory for a following episode, please use the "spoiler tags" (visit the HPOTD FAQ to find out how to use them if you don't already know). Similarly, if you're going to discuss plot points from the comic book, please use "spoiler tags" - not everyone is up-to-date on them, and some people don't read them at all. Enjoy! Directed by: Greg Nicotero Written by: Seth Hoffman The back half of Season 6! Here's some of what Greg Nicotero and Andrew Lincoln have to say about 6x09 and the back half: http://dailydead.com/greg-nicotero-t...on-6-premiere/ "And episode 9, basically, takes all of these various storylines and slams everything together in an epic man against the undead battle that is unprecedented in the history of The Walking Dead." "The record that we had established in episode 1 of season 6 will already be broken in this episode in regards to the number of walkers and the number of kills. It’s the action movie version of The Walking Dead. With reshoots and with additional photography and things, I think we were over 1,300 walkers for [the] episode." "When you spend eight episodes of the show seeing the walkers advancing on Alexandria in broad daylight, I felt that it was very important to introduce a bit of the genre element of the spooky, nighttime, boogeyman-coming-out-of-the-dark, Night-of-the-Living-Dead sort of vibe and feeling. So we had to make a lot of concessions because lighting big zombie crowd scenes at night — those kinds of scenarios are difficult and expensive. So I basically gave up a day of shooting to guarantee that we would have our money in the budget to shoot at night." http://dailydead.com/andrew-lincoln-...s-second-half/ "I will say that five of my favorite episodes in a long time — and very different episodes — are in this back eight." "[Showrunner Scott M. Gimple] and the writers have done a very smart thing in that they’ve thrown a lot of propositions and questions and challenges to Rick and the family and the community, and you will quickly realize they are answered in a very shocking, brilliant, terrifying, epic way. All I will say is this is our Magnificent Seven, this episode." Very Mild Spoiler, more a story/structure bit of news:   "Rick’s strength is seeing that we can fortify this place [Alexandria]. A lot of these concerns and questions get answered relatively quickly in the first two or three episodes of this back eight. There is a time jump, I will say, at some point. And you will see why we stay in Alexandria." "I think you’ll see there’s a marked change in Rick as a result of what happens in episode 9. It’s one of those watershed moments that happens. And as a result he learns something vital about being a leader. And yet again, he changes. And he develops a new way of leading. And that could be said for the back 8, in that it turns very dark. Now, we’re looking to the horizon. In one direction you see good, and in the other direction, you see very, very bad. But the world is suddenly growing."

[Neil]

...looking forward to this second half of the season!

[MinionZombie]

...looking forward to this second half of the season! Innit!!! *rubs hands with glee*

[facestabber]

I knew some things that would happen but damnit I was on the edge of my seat. Hats off to Nicotero for a damn good entry into this universe. Jesse was gorgeous. Gonna miss her. Kudos to the poster here that called her hair change on TTD and predicted her demise. I have to come back so much to digest

[zomtom]

One of THE best episodes of the entire series, by far!! I had read it was supposed to be a great episode but I wasn't counting on it, as my hopes have been dashed in the past. The folks at TWD did not disappoint. It was one of the most satisfying episodes to date. It had a little bit of everything. It's great to have the group back together! The people who got killed didn't devastate me. There was plenty of action and great reunions. I did have an idea of what was ahead for Carl as I saw a promotional poster from Russia online a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to re-watch it in a couple of minutes to make sure I didn't miss anything. It's been some time since I have been this excited over an episode.

[JDP]

Glenn must be the luckiest dude left on the planet. Once again he managed to avoid being killed by a drove of zombies. Maybe he won't be so lucky the next time (not that I want him to die or anything, it's just that his remarkable good luck seems a bit odd.)

[Moon Knight]

F*ck yes! They did "No Wat Out" right. What an episode! The quick slaughter montage was excellent; I was so pumped during that. Everything tied in perfectly and I loved how so many characters stepped up to the plate finally, including Gabriel. I'll have more to say about this later for sure lol. Welcome back.

[UndeadHippo]

couple of minor quibbles in an otherwise excellent episode: 1: no payoff to the big "mom...mom...mom" cliffhanger 2: Just how long were they standing around chatting after Gabriel left with Judith? or does nightfall happen instantly in this world? 3: When the Wolf and Denise are waiting and watching before the run to the tower, it appears that the ground is wet and there is a droplet of rain in the foreground....first, that's the ONLY time there is any moisture on the ground, and second...wouldn't that wash off the stink? 4:Rick, Michonne and even Carl are seasoned zombie killers at this point, but none of them spot the group of ninja-zombies that eat sam? 5: How could you kill off Jessie? there goes the eye-candy! 6: Carl must be used to getting shot and patched up by non-surgeons (a vet and a psychiatrist)...he should have stayed in the house. otherwise, as i said, an excellent episode with some real punch-the-air moments (Darryl's new toy, Eugene and Abraham's last minute intervention spring to mind) I reckon Negan is gonna be pissed when his men don't come back. lucky there's no massive fire or anything to give away the location of Alexandria.... ...oh.

[MinionZombie]

FANGASM OVERLOAD - SPOODGE EVERYWHERE - RANDY MARSH STYLE! Colour me seriously entertained - talk about a payoff to the mid-season tease-a-thon! Totally worth the wait, and my God - it gave me tingles up the wahzoo. Seeing Alexandria swarmed by walkers was amazing - Nicotero & Co knocked it out of the park - Daryl with a flippin' rocket launcher kicked ass (nice to get the payoff to Abraham picking that up, likewise with the fuel truck). It's cool that we can think how these things might payoff, but when it comes to the actual episode things are slightly different (e.g. not blowing up the truck with the RPG, but Daryl solving the tense-as-all-get-out stick up situation, and a lake of ruddy fire!) The opening scene, as I just said, was super tense. I was really beginning to expect Abraham to take a bullet to the brain from that guy on the bike (wonderfully acted and written, that part was - I was convinced he was going to be a new character!). The explosion made me jump - totally didn't see it coming, particularly as I'd forgotten about the RPG they'd found in 6A. Abraham's "WHO'S NEGAN?!" had me lol'ing - it's nice when the writers can add in a little wink to the audience/a popular meme (calling back to the infamous "WHO'S DEANNA?!" ) So much awesome stuff in this episode - Carol nailing The Wolf, doctor lady (her name escapes me right now) taking charge of her situation, Morgan getting some serious lessons, the fall of Sam, Jessie, and that arsehole Ron (dig that he went down much like The Governor - skewered through the heart by Michonne from behind). I was wondering if they'd do the 'shot in the eye' thing - as that will require a make up appliance for every episode from here on out (they avoided lopping off a certain someone's hands, a la the comics, in season three) - but I was so happy, as a reader of the comics, to see that moment (which genuinely dropped my jaw when I flipped the page and saw that stunned splash of Carl with his eye blown out) brought to the screen. Great to see folks working together as a team, nice to catch up with people who couldn't be fit into 6x08, and Rick's full blown Daddy Rampage kicked effin' arse! As some are saying out there, I agree - an all-time great episode. F*ck yes! They did "No Way Out" right. What an episode! The quick slaughter montage was excellent; I was so pumped during that. Everything tied in perfectly and I loved how so many characters stepped up to the plate finally, including Gabriel. I'll have more to say about this later for sure lol. Welcome back. Agreed, that chaotic flurry of characters and walkers on black hacking, slashing, and dying was straight out of the comic book in style - it felt wonderful as a viewer to see that unfold! Likewise, it was good to see Alexandria come together under Rick's leadership - particularly after the fall of Deanna, so with the struggles we've had with Alexandria, it's nice to see that seemingly things have fallen into place at long last and the weaker members have stepped up to the plate. They've been through some shit now - there's much to learn, but they've passed a mighty test. Great to see Gabriel graduate the Ricktatorship School of Dependability, too. I loved the wrenching in Rick's gut - trusting his infact with this man who had only recently left the gate open, and acted in bizarre, petrified, and selfish ways. It was great that he finally got his 'word from God' and stepped up. couple of minor quibbles in an otherwise excellent episode: 1: no payoff to the big "mom...mom...mom" cliffhanger 2: Just how long were they standing around chatting after Gabriel left with Judith? or does nightfall happen instantly in this world? 3: When the Wolf and Denise are waiting and watching before the run to the tower, it appears that the ground is wet and there is a droplet of rain in the foreground....first, that's the ONLY time there is any moisture on the ground, and second...wouldn't that wash off the stink? 4:Rick, Michonne and even Carl are seasoned zombie killers at this point, but none of them spot the group of ninja-zombies that eat sam? 5: How could you kill off Jessie? there goes the eye-candy! 6: Carl must be used to getting shot and patched up by non-surgeons (a vet and a psychiatrist)...he should have stayed in the house. otherwise, as i said, an excellent episode with some real punch-the-air moments (Darryl's new toy, Eugene and Abraham's last minute intervention spring to mind) I reckon Negan is gonna be pissed when his men don't come back. lucky there's no massive fire or anything to give away the location of Alexandria.... ...oh. 1) Yeah, I know what you mean, but then again I suppose that moment was more as a teaser for that whole scenario, rather than a full-on link to the action in general. 2) Yes, night did fall rather suddenly - but then again these things happen all the time in TV and Film, and the zombie action looked great at night (we don't tend to get much night-time walker action). 3) I think it'd be a case of they got a cloud burst when they didn't want it. If they'd wanted rain they would have scripted it in, so this would be a nuisance for the production - but one that they'd just have to barge along with anyway as they wouldn't be able to afford the time to wait. Nicotero said he trimmed the schedule so they could do the night shoots, so they were even more pressed for time. You only see it in some shots, so yeah - a nuisance cloud burst and not enough production time to work around it - they just had to march on. Fair enough. 4) Welllll ... they are surrounded by walkers, side-by-side with them essentially, so there's little they could really do - and it's not like the walkers come from nowhere as they're everywhere. 5) I'm sad to see Jessie go - it'd be nice for Rick to have some love in this show - but it makes the most sense for the scene, and one death impacts the other which impacts the other. It's a chain reaction of death-filled carnage! 6) Yeah! What saves them might very well scupper them, too! ... TWD 6x09 Memes: http://deadshed.blogspot.co.uk/2016/...dead-6x09.html

[JDP]

I reckon Negan is gonna be pissed when his men don't come back. lucky there's no massive fire or anything to give away the location of Alexandria.... ...oh. Maybe he and his men are also strangely attracted to fire, like moths, and will jump into the lake of fire and kill themselves off, saving everyone some trouble. Did anyone notice how the zombies are so attracted to fire, and I mean quite beyond mere curiosity, that they will stop whatever they are doing, or wherever they are going, to follow it and suicidally plunge into it, yet when Hershel's barn was engulfed in a blazing fire none of the zombies were the least bit attracted to it and kept on doing their thing?

[MinionZombie]

Did anyone notice how the zombies are so attracted to fire, and I mean quite beyond mere curiosity, that they will stop whatever they are doing, or wherever they are going, to follow it and suicidally plunge into it, yet when Hershel's barn was engulfed in a blazing fire none of the zombies were the least bit attracted to it and kept on doing their thing? Well, the difference is that with Hershel's barn is that it went up and continued to burn during the resultant chaos - which involved cars yomping about the place, motorbikes roaring, shotguns blaring, people screaming etc. My point being is that the zombies were distracted from the fire by other stimuli - the lake of fire was the big distraction to draw them away, allowing Rick & Co to snuff them out from behind quietly as the walkers were drawn to fire. If another explosion had happened elsewhere, or a truck came smashing through the fence, or someone got munched on walkers behind, that would have peeled off some of the herd - but that didn't happen - so there was nothing much to draw their attention away from the giant, bright flames soaring into the air. The lake of fire was a huge distraction - the barn fire was during the ensuing chaos, which drew walkers in all directions with a shitload of ear-splitting gunfire and revving engines.

[JDP]

Well, the difference is that with Hershel's barn is that it went up and continued to burn during the resultant chaos - which involved cars yomping about the place, motorbikes roaring, shotguns blaring, people screaming etc. My point being is that the zombies were distracted from the fire by other stimuli - the lake of fire was the big distraction to draw them away, allowing Rick & Co to snuff them out from behind quietly as the walkers were drawn to fire. If another explosion had happened elsewhere, or a truck came smashing through the fence, or someone got munched on walkers behind, that would have peeled off some of the herd - but that didn't happen - so there was nothing much to draw their attention away from the giant, bright flames soaring into the air. The lake of fire was a huge distraction - the barn fire was during the ensuing chaos, which drew walkers in all directions with a shitload of ear-splitting gunfire and revving engines. The streets of Alexandria also had plenty of noise from the people there fighting the zombies in close quarters. Hershel's barn continues to be engulfed in a blazing inferno, way larger than that lake of fire, after the survivors are already gone, yet the zombies pay no attention to it and continue wandering around quite content.

[Neil]

Really enjoyed it, but did feel that the group somehow wiping out the entire horde felt a bit too unlikely? P

[facestabber]

Really enjoyed it, but did feel that the group somehow wiping out the entire horde felt a bit too unlikely? P This show certainly asks us to suspend belief from time to time. But I think they were implying that fire lake finishes off a substantial amount. One of my favorite moments was Glenn's homage to Dale Hershel Tyrese and Andrea. And him saying Dale first made me happy to hear. paying respect to the past is a nice touch to remind the fans they haven't forgotten that we cared about these people. Well except for Lori. Hahaha.

[kidgloves]

Enjoyed it for the most part. Is no one else bothered by the glaring continuity issues? Light to dark instantly in the next scene is a bit jarring. Still a fun show though