The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 15 Review: 'The Calm Before'

(Photo Credit: AMC)

The Walking Dead

Season 9, Episode 15

By Garrett Yoshitomi

Warning: This review contains major spoilers for season nine, episode fifteen, and beyond.

Now that’s what I call a finale! With The Walking Dead enjoying something of a renaissance under its new showrunner, Angela Kang sends her inaugural season out with a bang with a well-crafted season finale that…Wait. You mean that wasn’t the season finale? There’s still one episode left to go? Chortle all you want, but if it weren’t for the number fifteen before the title, this week’s episode, ‘The Calm Before,’ would appear to have all the makings of a season finale and then some, with a story that unites several season-long plot lines, all while escalating towards a chilling, heart wrenching climax. The fact that ‘The Calm Before’ is actually the penultimate episode of the season represents a nice change of pace to the typical season structure for The Walking Dead, which often ends with a sharp cliffhanger. Instead, we get one last episode to see the aftermath of what’s undoubtedly one of the show’s biggest moments, and given the magnitude of the events that transpire, one episode might not be enough to unpack all of the repercussions that are sure to follow.

For the most part, this episode is very pleasant, with a lot of attention placed on the community trade fair and its success in reuniting former allies, Alexandria, The Hilltop, The Kingdom, and even Oceanside, who make their first appearance since the time-jump. After several episodes of buildup, it’s fun to see the fair finally come together, and as King Ezekiel mentions in his opening speech, it really does feel like the unified world that Rick Grimes always dreamed of. We get a heartwarming scene between the various community leaders as they decide to get the band back together, and officially sign the charter that Michonne crafted all those years ago. In addition, the communities agree to a mutual protection pact, meaning that an attack on one community is an attack against all communities – an arrangement that conveniently feels like it’s going to be coming into play very soon.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

But it’s not all dunk tanks and caramel apples for our beloved survivors. This overall feeling of frivolity might feel innocuous; but in reality, it’s meant to lull viewers into a false sense of security, with several minor character interactions innocently woven throughout the episode, in the hopes that they’ll misdirect even the most eagle-eyed of fans from discerning the final outcome of The Whisperers’ plot. This episode actually starts off with a short flashback scene with a foreboding ending that establishes an overarching sense of dread that lingers throughout the festivities, unsettling viewers as they wait for the other shoe to drop. This sense of dread eventually comes to a head, and when the big reveal takes center stage, the swell of the musical score, the sweeping cinematography, and of course, the performances of some of the show’s most beloved actors, deliver an ending that will go down as arguably the most moving and well-realized sequence in Walking Dead history.

As great as this episode is, though, the lack of a truly major character death does make the ending feel like something of a cop-out. In the comics (pushes glasses up nose), not only do The Whisperers claim more victims compared to the show, but the characters who die differ greatly, as well. The two most prominent comic casualties, who manage to survive in the show, are King Ezekiel and Rosita Espinosa. Of course, it’s not uncommon for the show and comic to diverge when it comes to killing off its characters. In fact, most characters in the show will end up suffering much different fates than their comic book counterparts. The one exception to this are the key deaths in the series that are significant in a way that transcend typical levels of character and plot development – these are the milestone deaths that represent huge turning points in the narrative, like Shane in season two and Glenn in season six. 

(Photo Credit: AMC)

“The pikes” should have been one of these moments – it is in the comics, at least. But, the lack of a truly impactful death unfortunately prevents this from happening and keeps ‘The Calm Before’ from reaching its full creative potential. Of the major deaths, neither Enid, Tara, nor Henry particularly scream “significant,” and while I can appreciate the feeling of unprejudiced randomness that Alpha implemented when choosing her victims, the big reveal at the end of the episode could have been so much better with a true gut punch of a character death. I’m not necessarily saying that a major character has to die in order for an episode to be good; but stakes matter, and if The Walking Dead really wants to capture an “anyone can go at any time” feeling, it has to sacrifice the occasional marlin, rather than just guppies.

To be fair, “just guppies” is a bit…harsh. After all, outside of the core 3 of Daryl, Carol, and Michonne, Tara is the most veteran character on the show (surprising I know), so from a seniority perspective, her death should carry significant weight. After several years of very little character development, it felt like Tara was finally coming into her own once she assumed leadership duties over The Hilltop. It’s a shame that Tara’s time on the show comes to a close just when her arc finally starts to pick up. The same could be said for Enid, who was introduced back in season five, but really hasn’t been given that much focus up until recently. This season, Enid was paired with former Savior-turned-good guy, Alden, and while it’s not the most complex storyline, the two made for a likeable couple and I enjoyed seeing Enid’s transformation from the introverted teen we first met at Alexandria, to the caring and confident young woman we see at The Hilltop, post-time jump.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

So that leaves us with Henry. Despite being generally unpopular with fans, and rather frustrating to watch throughout the season, Henry’s death is setup to be the big loss of the episode, and believe it or not, I actually think he’s the one character who’s actually able to pull this off. Say what you want about the adopted son of Carol and Ezekiel, but his storyline with Lydia has been the heart of 9B, and after getting off to a rocky start to his post-time jump storyline, he’s been a pretty solid character to root for – relatable in his mildly awkward, but genuine, displays of affection for Lydia, and so unafraid to stand up for what’s right that it almost makes up for the fact that this entire conflict with The Whisperers is basically his fault. Almost. Looking back, it makes sense why Henry was featured so prominently this season. At first, it seemed like he would be getting a portion of Carl’s storylines from the comics, but it’s easy to see now that we were meant to grow invested in Henry as a character, as well as the relationships he maintained and developed throughout the season.

One of those relationships, which will by far be the most interesting one to watch going forward, is with Carol. Carol’s already suffered through so much during her time on the show that it’s unfortunately not very surprising to see her lose Henry as soon as things appeared to be trending upward. Carol hasn’t had a ton to do this season outside of some peripheral work with the trade fair, but it’s likely that in the aftermath of the pikes, she’ll be brought back into the fold. Carol is one of the OGs, and at the rate they’re departing from the series, OGs are a valuable commodity for The Walking Dead, and any amount of increased screentime is more than welcome for Carol. While I still believe that it would have been more compelling to watch her cope with an Ezekiel death (we’ve already seen versions of Carol come to terms with children she cares about dying), Henry is the next closest character to her, and I think Carol and Ezekiel both learning to cope with the loss of their son is an interesting dynamic worth exploring.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

Ultimately, I think the writers made the best decision they could have when it came to which characters to kill off. With the recent departures of Rick and Maggie, and reports of Michonne leaving as soon as next season, the show probably couldn’t really afford to lose any more major characters in such a short amount of time. Plus, even if we didn’t get a huge death, the fact that ten supporting characters were offed all in one go is still super significant for the show. This does lead me to wonder, though, if The Walking Deadhas failed to craft enough impactful characters to allow them the flexibility to write off popular characters when it suits the wider narrative. Ask yourself this – are there any characters who have been introduced post-season three that would carry this kind of impact if killed off? Ezekiel feels like the most obvious answer, but even then, the King’s only been around since season seven. Eugene, Rosita, Gabriel, and Aaron are the next longest tenured series regulars after the core 3, and their narrative scopes are too narrow to really destabilize the show in any meaningful way if they were to exit the series.

I’ve written at length about how much The Walking Deadhas improved this season under new showrunner Angela Kang. And, I was also quick to point out that Rick’s departure earlier this season could actually be beneficial to the show, by opening up screentime that could go to other characters. Focusing too closely on just a handful of characters is a problem that’s plagued The Walking Dead for almost its entire run. But it is possible that the show could be repeating this same mistake, only instead of focusing too much on Rick, it’s Daryl receiving more than his fair share of screentime, minimizing the opportunities for other characters to step into the spotlight. Granted, no matter how creative a show gets, there will always be characters who receive more focus than others – not everyone gets to play quarterback. But overall, it would be beneficial for the show to give crucial roles to a wider range of characters, even if it means we have to say, “good bye” to them sooner, rather than later.

(Photo Credit: AMC)

It’s hard to imagine following up an episode like this one, but if there’s any show that can do it, it’s Angela Kang’s new look Walking Dead. Based on the previews that have been released, it looks like we’ll be getting another time-jump; albeit this one will be much shorter than the six year one we got in 9A. Still, I love the narrative use of time-jumps this season, and I think it fits perfectly with the storytelling of The Walking Dead. This is a show all about surviving the zombie apocalypse, and the deep running consequences that matter during the end of the world can sometimes only be glimpsed when enough time has passed. Another short time-jump bypasses the immediate emotional fallout from ‘The Calm Before,’ and instead allows the season finale to focus on the more practical concerns that have developed in the passing months.