The Walking Dead Season 9 Midseason Premiere Review: 'Adaptation'

(Photo Credit: AMC)

The Walking Dead

Season 9 Midseason Premiere

By Garrett Yoshitomi

After eleven weeks of winter, Negan emerged from his cell, saw his shadow, and decided winter was over anyway – The Walking Dead returned this Sunday with the second half of its ninth season, ushering in the show’s next big story arc, The Whisperers. The Whisperers are one of the more memorable antagonists from the comics, due to their unique camouflaging technique of wearing walker skins to blend in and travel with herds. We got a small taste of The Whisperers at the end of the midseason finale, and while “Adaptation” might literally rip the mask off of these enigmatic new foes, there is still a lot left to be revealed in the coming episodes.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

Despite enduring some of the leanest ratings in series history, season nine of The Walking Dead paradoxically delivered some of the best storytelling and character development that the show has ever seen. Long-time staff writer turned showrunner, Angela Kang, breathed fresh air into a show on life support, reinventing characters and exploring new and compelling plot dynamics, all while navigating the major cast departures of Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan, as well as the six-year time-jump introduced partway through the first half of the season. It’s not particularly revelatory to point out that The Walking Dead has been starved for some new creative takes, but based off the strength of season 9A, I’d say the writers have earned the benefit of the doubt, and I’m excited to see if the show will continue these positive steps throughout the rest of the season.

Unlike past midseason premieres, “Adaptation” is absent an overhyped, “must see TV” event (Carl’s death, season 8) or a larger than life, special effects-fueled action sequence (the highway scene, season 7). Instead, the show’s ninth midseason premiere relies on patient, if unspectacular, plot development, laying the ground work for the storylines and character relationships that are likely to shape the remainder of the season. Fittingly, this episode picks up right where the midseason finale leaves off, with the dust barely settled from the group’s first encounter with The Whisperers, and Jesus (RIP) still bleeding out on the fog-covered ground of a cemetery.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

The scene that follows is one of the stronger moments of the episode, and the entire bridge sequence is very reminiscent of the “on the road” feel of season five – back when threats could materialize at a moment’s notice, and the group would consistently need to rely on teamwork and a bit of slick thinking, to outmaneuver their enemies. Thanks to some quick planning on Daryl’s part, the group is able to successfully ambush some encroaching Whisperers, strategically turning their walker disguises against them, and even managing to capture one of the Whisperers alive. While new additions, Yumiko and Magna, get some play during this scene, the spotlight largely, and rightfully, belongs to Daryl and Michonne, as these two characters are expected to provide the necessary star power in the absence of Andrew Lincoln, at least for now.

Daryl especially has a large role in this episode, as he takes responsibility for interrogating the captured Whisperer after the group’s joint approach at questioning her initially fails. When I learned that Norman Reedus would be more or less taking over leading man responsibilities from Andrew Lincoln, I worried that Daryl fatigue would inevitably set in, despite being the show’s most popular character. While fans love the silent brooding of Norman Reedus (emphasis on the silent), it’s hard for a show to remain viable when its main character communicates solely through blinks. (And even those are sometimes hard to see through Daryl’s wild mane of hair.) Fortunately, the writers have done an artful job of reinventing Daryl, giving him back the voice that fans fell in love with for its tendency to fight tooth and nail for his friends.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

Reedus’ range is on full display this week, as he switches between the feral Daryl, seen while interrogating the Whisperer, to the more tender, older brother Daryl that we get in his scenes with Henry. However, even lumping the majority of Henry’s storyline into scenes with Daryl does little to help the former’s likeability. Despite showing a glimmer of potential in the midseason finale, for becoming something resembling a root-able character, Henry goes on to do what all child characters do in The Walking Dead– turn the entire fanbase against themselves for their ill-advised decisions from a single scene. It’s clear that Henry is going to be getting a specific path of development that’s given to Carl in the comic books. And, given what we’ve seen of post-time jump Henry so far, I think it could turn out to be a worthwhile deviation from the source material. However, it’s hard to entrust such an important storyline to a character who’s spent the majority of his time on the show at just a notch above redshirt status. In other words, is Henry really a significant, or even likeable, enough character to start receiving a key role in the narrative? As of right now, it doesn’t feel like it.

At this point, if there’s any hope for positive child representation on The Walking Dead, it’s up to Judith Grimes to carry the torch; and so far, she’s off to a stellar start, as her scenes with Negan this week are some of the best of the season. I’ve always been skeptical of reintegrating Negan into the main cast as some sort of anti-hero. I know it’s been a popular story arc in the comics, and Negan has been a great addition to the show, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and Negan’s propensity for snark and pretense is the type of characterization that gets old quickly (and some would say it already has).

(Photo Credit: AMC)

However, just like the show has been able to pivot with Daryl’s character in order to avoid overexposure, the same kind of retooling could do wonders for Negan’s longevity. Pairing the former leader of The Saviors with the precocious Judith is a good start, as Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s effortless charisma plays quite well with the no-nonsense attitude of a child born of the zombie apocalypse. And, it is refreshing to see Negan work with someone who isn’t a sociopathic murder lover, for once. Just don’t squint too hard at the details because as great as their chemistry is, it’s still a pretty unsettling dynamic when you consider the fact that Negan seems on his way to becoming the surrogate father to the little girl whose actual father he tried to kill several times. As much as Rick believed in moving past the war and forgiving The Saviors, it seems unlikely that he’d be okay with his daughter buddying up with his arch nemesis. Rick spared Negan, yes, but it was only so he could live out the rest of his days in a prison cell.