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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
The Walking Dead
Season 9 Season Finale
By Garrett Yoshitomi
After last week’s episode had all the makings of a season finale, The Walking Deadcloses out its ninth season with an episode lacking in severed heads, but with the kind of attentive character development and table setting storyline befitting the coda for the best season of The Walking Dead, so far. Yes, you read that correctly. While many fans may wax poetic on the show’s heyday of season five, even this previous creative peak was marred by the mediocre Grady Memorial Hospital storyline, and the enjoyable, yet narratively flat, introduction to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Admittedly, season five does start to look quite good when compared to the travesties that are seasons seven and eight; however, season nine has delivered the perfect blend of gripping, novel storytelling, sincere character moments, and of course, kick-ass zombie action; making it the best reviewed season of the series, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Season nine has quite simply been a revelation, and a key component to its success has been showrunner, Angela Kang’s ability to embrace change, roll with the punches, and introduce fresh and exciting ideas to a series that’s grown stale and predictable over the past few years. The season finale, ‘The Storm,’ represents the, ahem, “perfect storm” of these qualities, as it brings closure to several main characters’ key story arcs from this season, while also wrapping up loose ends from the previous episode and setting up storylines for the future to come. ‘The Storm’ may not have the heart wrenching climax of ‘The Calm Before,’ but that’s okay. Not every season finale needs to end in spectacle, and ‘The Storm’ delivers where it counts, with interesting subplots that propel characters and their narratives forward in an organic way, rather than just for the sake of making something exciting happen.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
For the first time ever in The Walking Dead, snow makes an onscreen appearance, serving not only as a unique visual setting, but as a defining characteristic of this episode. In what ends up being the fourth and final time jump of the season, ‘The Storm’ takes place just a few months after the events of the previous episode, with the sudden snowfall providing a subtle, yet creative way to demonstrate the passage of time. In the early days of the comics, snow had a huge impact on the characters and their choices, and in the context of pure survival, it does offer up a unique set of challenges in this episode, even without factoring in the typical dangers of the zombie apocalypse. Poor visibility, dwindling supplies, and of course, freezing temperatures, all throw our heroes for a loop, and getting to see our favorite apocalypse-hardened characters tested in new ways is just another example of The Walking Dead’s season nine renaissance. It’s been a long time since surviving the elements was a legitimate concern in the show, and it’s fun to see the series get back to these familiar roots through such distinctive means.
The frigid Virginian winter isn’t the only thing the group must contend with, though. When forced to take shelter in the dilapidated husk of The Sanctuary, the community leaders realize that the conditions are worsening too rapidly, and that travel along their original route to The Hilltop is all but impossible. Without enough supplies to stand pat and wait out the storm, the group is forced into a decision – either do nothing and perish or try to beat out the storm by taking a shortcut straight through Whisperer territory. The choices are clear, and the situation itself simple. This isn’t some garish three-pronged assault on a Savior satellite outpost, or a bloodied Rick Grimes blearily leading a herd of walkers over the promise of a collapsing bridge. This is a real dilemma, with real debate, and real stakes, proving that last week’s pikes scene wasn’t just a means to provide cheap shock value (a route The Walking Dead has most assuredly taken in the past). No, there are actual repercussions to the events of last week’s episode that go beyond people feeling sad or scared, and getting to see this storyline flow and enact consequence so naturally is one of the most rewarding things the show has ever done.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Season nine has been, by far, The Walking Dead’s best effort at consistently exploring storylines to their full extent. In the season finale, we get to see several main characters come full circle with their character development from the start of the season, which is impressive when you consider how much in-show time has passed between these two points (hint: it’s over six years). For instance, we get Daryl making his return to The Sanctuary, a place that he hated so much that he spurned all of his responsibilities as its leader to ultimately spend the entire time jump living on his own in the woods. But, after the events of 9B, Daryl is not only back in The Sanctuary, but he’s also reunited with his friends, taking a leadership role in leading The Kingdom to The Hilltop, and for the first time in a long time, he decides to settle down on a more permanent basis, putting down roots in the community where it all started, Alexandria.
Michonne also sees her season arc come full circle, when she comes to terms with the error in judgment she made by isolating Alexandria from the rest of the communities. In a conversation with Ezekiel, Michonne implies that she takes most of the blame for what happened at the trade fair, realizing that Alpha would have never been able to infiltrate The Kingdom so easily, if the communities had kept tighter bonds over the years. Post-time jump Michonne is initially almost unrecognizable compared to the community charter advocate we saw at the beginning of the season. It was a long and windy road, but by the end of season nine, we finally get to see Michonne embrace the ideals of unification that she once held so dear. With Danai Gurira set to leave The Walking Dead next season, how will this change of heart play into her future storylines?
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
Unfortunately, it’s not all triumph for characters whose arcs come full circle. After living a post-time jump life that she describes as a “fairy tale,” Carol’s world comes crashing down around her in the aftermath of Henry’s death. Not only does Carol admit that she feels herself slipping back into her old ways, similar to the path she first walked when Sophia died back in season two, but she also ends her marriage to Ezekiel, as season nine opened with their proposal, and ends with Carol’s attempt to return the ring to her former King. The parallels between Carol and Ezekiel’s relationship and The Kingdom are interesting. The Kingdom, arguably the strongest of the communities, when we’re first introduced to them in season seven, falls first. While, Carol and Ezekiel, two of the show’s strongest characters simultaneously see their relationship deteriorate – a sadly all too common fate for parents who lose a child.
And with that, The Walking Dead comes to a close on what’s been its best season, yet. It’s hard to believe that a show that’s been on the wrong side of so many jokes in recent years has managed to not only return, but to transcend its former glory in just one season. Give credit to showrunner Angela Kang and her team of writers for focusing their efforts on what makes The Walking Dead great and stripping away all the rest. The realist in me feels the need to spread words of caution – that it’s only been one season, and even a broken clock is right twice a day. But I truly think this show has turned a corner, and stringing together sixteen good to amazing episodes is no small feat. Just like our scrappy group of survivors, The Walking Dead proved it could survive, and ultimately thrive if given the support of the right people.
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| (Photo Credit: AMC) |
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