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Saturday, April 23, 2022

[Episode 187] Season 7, Episode 9 of Fear The Walking Dead, "Follow Me"

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The #midseasonpremiere kicks off with #AliciaClark's revolution underway, having already sought assistance from Arno (and failed). With that understanding, the show-runners take time to tell us an anthologized story in the process to show her a new way forward: to much polarization from the audience.
This was originally meant to be a #livestream that underwent horrible dips and stops. We stitched a rough copy of exactly what went down, with all its mishaps for our supporters - if you you'd like to watch it knowing that you are supporting the BEST #TWDU #podcast (that are only human and encounter difficulties like the rest of you, only on full display), head here: https://ko-fi.com/post/EARLY-ACCESS-to-Episode-187-FearTWD-7x09-Fol-Y8Y3CAKEF

David Cameo:
Rachael Burt:

🎖SURVIVORS TIER MEMBERS:
Bridget:

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  • Rachael is making headway in her VFX makeup class!
  • Bridget: Always find the silver lining! Loved Paul, loved the Scotland references, and the Alicia Clark focused episode. Along with Rachael, not a fan of her sweaty, fever or Paul's death.
  • Could we be seeing the side effects from the (possibly irradiated) walker blood that splattered all over Alicia in the first half of Season 5?
  • Dave: This episode was a masterpiece. Never fully embraced the hype fans had towards Alicia's character as a hero/bad-ass.
  • Dave: This episode is working through issues with Alicia’s (arrested) character development from prior seasons.
  • Addressing possibly confusion: Alicia trying to get back to her friends on the sub, not the followers she was trying to lead from Theodore Maddox's bunker.
  • But is Alicia truly equipped to be a leader?
  • Bridget explains the way Alicia demonstrated leadership qualities in the back half of Season 3, at Broke Jaw Ranch.
  • Bridget wonders whether Follow Me was all a dream.
  • Paul represents Alicia's hope and optimism.
  • Similarities to The Wizard of Oz: along with a girl in pigtails (albeit, in a gas mask) like the character Dorothy Gale.

  • Has the audience expected Alicia to fill the void Madison Clark left since her departure?

  • Rachael would've preferred more of an ensemble-style (rather than anthology-style) episode, for a mid-season premiere
  • Should they have swapped 7x09 with 7x10 since it contained more cast?
  • 🎖SURVIVORS Tier Member: Jasmine's take, "Hagus ain't so bad!"
  • Rachael: It would be better if this were a stand alone movie, but for an episode in an overall arc, it doesn't move the story along.
  • Dave: It does move the story forward, just not in the way you would've hoped/preferred.
  • Get on with the war, already!
  • Is Alicia actually sick or is it in her head?
  • Sherrandy asks, in the chat: Might her confidence have been shaken from the events of Damage on the Inside (6x07), in that she chose to provide Dakota asylum from Virginia?
  • Bridget felt the opening sequence was surreal and dreamlike.
  • Was Paul's phrasing of the musical instruments as "out of tune" a metaphor for No one's gone until they're gone?
  • What role does luck play in the apocalypse?
  • When was the last time Alicia was actually in a good place?

  • Bridget hopes we continue to actually see Alicia’s character develop over the course of the remaining episodes, rather than squelched by time jumps; however, a montage will suffice.
  • Shoutout to Warren "Wawa" Snipe, who actually played the bagpipes in Paul's final moments on screen (gone too soon!).

  • What good is Paul’s cochlear implant if it's non-operational?
  • Is the little girl in the gas mask a representation of a younger Alicia? ...all of the people waiting to be helped/help her? ...connected to the group that has her mother?
  • Is Ode to Joy, a song that preaches peace between all peoples, a breadcrumb for things to come? Will there even be a war?
  • Sherrandy recommends Immortal Beloved, a movie that depicts Beethoven's struggle with hearing loss.
  • Paul patched the bagpipes with the skin from a walker’s face!

  • After Dave explains the significance of both Paul & Ed Gein (from Damage from the Inside) being two men, gone too soon, that remind Alicia to trust/believe in herselfSherrandy points out Paul was shot in the same spot where Ed was impaled.

  • Dave's Crazy Brain: Might Alicia’s illness be derived from something sci-fi-like contained within walker Senator Vazquez's blood?
  • Was all these events part of Executive Producers Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss' overall roadmap?
  • Parallel: Arno's left hand is shot just like Alicia’s left arm.
  • Spenser Granese (Arno) also played Arlo on Better Call Saul.

  • Now that Alicia is assuming the role of  PADRE, will we ever see its location?
  • What if the people who have Madison are (in the actual) PADRE?
  • ChrisTheBeat, in the chat, asks if Alicia was the one broadcasting PADRE's existence in the surrounding region.
  • Should Alicia lead or should she follow? Dave & Rachael spar on this one.

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Saturday, April 16, 2022

[Episode 186] Season 11, Episode 16 of The Walking Dead, "Acts of God"

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We do our absolute best to make sense of what felt, overall, to be a slightly "off" episode. This episode made us feel, in the most visceral way, the race towards #TWD's finish. More than anything else, for all the build-up her character was afforded, we were aghast at the sudden dispatching of #LeahShaw and Dave, at least, is had issues with the direction #LanceHornsby's character is heading.
A WHOLE lot was taken out this episode, including a bevvy of technical difficulties, but also a whole lot of exposition you don't want to miss. As a supporter of the best #TWDU #podcast, bar none, you are entitled to EARLY ACCESS to the unedited breakdown as well as the ability to join future recording sessions. Want more info? Head here:

David Cameo:
Sherrandy Swift:

🎖SURVIVORS TIER MEMBERS:
Jasmine:
Bridget:

INITIAL THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

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  • Dave: Worried about Lance Hornsby’s character development; Leah Shaw and The Reapers arc, on the whole, going out with a whimper.
  • Sherrandy: Furious about Leah’s ending.
  • Dave notes a similarity in Leah to Morgan Jones during his clear phase.
  • Do you, too, hope that Daryl Dixon's execution of Leah affects him in some way?
  • Sherrandy: this entire season feels rushed.
  • Were the time skipping elements in the second trimester of Season 11 even necessary?

HERE LIES LEAH SHAW

  • Why develop Leah’s character so well (TWD 10x18 Find Me through TWD 11x04 Rendition) for it to have such little impact on the entire story?
  • Why were Maggie Rhee and Pope ultimately at odds?
  • Dave: Maggie had focused more on her failed communities' physical location than the lives of the actual people living in them (and fleeing, than letting sleeping Reapers lie).
  • Similarly, Madison Clark also admits it was about protecting her kids, not a place (Fear The Walking Dead 4x08 No One's Gone).
  • After some technical difficulties: Dave offers to embrace his inner Daryl Dixon/Lydia by eating worms. He will eat two (2) worms for every one of SQUAWKING DEAD's accounts that reach 2,000 followers before the end of April, 2022: YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok accounts! 10,000 followers? Dave will fly out to the 10,000th follower for each account and have them feed him 10 worms!
  • Why did Leah hesitate to kill Maggie?
  • Is Leah hesitant because Maggie is a mother?
  • Sherrandy says Leah’s demise was just as underwhelming Alden's.
  • What does this trimester's end mean for the final trimester of The Walking Dead's 11th and final season?
  • What does Daryl’s journey look like moving forward?
  • Leah’s unsatisfying death hurts her character's arc, The Reaper's arc, and (at least partially) Daryl’s growth.
  • Will Daryl resent Maggie and blame her for him having to kill Leah?
  • What is the extent of Lance Hornsby's clearing the field?
  • Can Daryl even return to The Commonwealth?
  • Is the point where Daryl & Carol Peletier could start their spinoff?
  • Bridget: What if Daryl dies (AKA, no Daryl & Carol spin-off)?

BEWARE OF SNAKE

  • One of Lance's Commonwealth Army troopers was named Romano, whose name is recycled from Will Campbell's Campus Colony partner in The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
  • What was the purpose of the snake randomly appearing in the shoot-out scene?
  • As a result, we'd be interested in seeing the a director's cut of this episode (might've made more visual & narrative sense).
  • Bridget explains the Locusts parallel to the Eighth Plague (of 10 plagues meant to harden the heart of Egypt's Pharaoh to release the Israelites from enslavement) in the the old testament (airing so close to Passover).
  • Copperhead snakes do eat cicadas. Sherrandy compares the snake to our survivors and the locusts to The Commonwealth.
  • Angela Kang is laying Easter Eggs in this episode, solely for SQUAWKING DEAD to interpret (after mocking her Inside The Episode segments for so long and complaining that she's taking out jobs).
  • Maggie gently/quietly laying down the now-dead walker reminds Sherrandy of Rachael's imitation/interpretation of the scene in World Beyond (2x02) where Felix Carlucci advises Iris Bennet to do similarly, "Don't let em hit the ground! We gotta catch em!".
  • Poor Marco!
  • Hershel Rhee’s hateful interaction with Negan!

POST-APOCALYPTIC BACHELORS

  • Eugene Porter has become a pussy-crusher according to Bridget.
  • Because we can forgive, but lest we forget: Eugene is also a dick-biter!
  • Cast trip to Disneyworld!
  • We break from our coverage to acknowledge Dave’s Thirst Trap of the Week: Cooper Andrews.
  • The "triangle" names on Eugene’s shirt are Jeffrey, Frederick, and Eugene.
  • In addition to Dave thirsting for Cooper Andrews, we thirst for: Ian Anthony Dale (Tomichi Okumura), Michael James Shaw (General Michael Mercer), and most notably Josh Hamilton (Lance Hornsby).
  • 🎖SURVIVORS Tier Member, Linda, mentions her love of Lance's character development. Also notes parallels to Harvey Dent (AKA Two-Face, from D.C.'s Batman comics) Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men.
  • Sherrandy, referring to Lance: Wouldn’t it be poetic that the big-bad at the end of The Walking Dead be the one who helped instantiate the zombie apocalypse?
  • Was the original side-project, which included the caravan of weapons, Lance briefly mentions to Toby Carlson really all about taking down our survivors "Hick Communities"?
  • Noteworthy: Oceanside depicted with men in their ranks (having started off as being anti-male as a result of their dealings with The Saviors)!
  • Will Lance gun down Oceanside's inhabitants?
  • Why didn't producers just include a 12th season, to prevent them from rushing through the events of this season (or at least this trimester)?
  • Lance may not know what our characters are capable of, but what's scarier is how we barely even know what Lance is capable of.

PAMELA MILTON IS LYING TO YOU

  • Can Pamela Milton change?
  • Bridget: Pamela is her own worst enemy because she cannot look forward, only backward.
  • Does Pamela truly care about Max Mercer?
  • 🤫WALKERS TIER Member, Aidan, mentions the similarities Negan & Pamela: They had their respective communities in the palm of their hand, until everyone turned on them after finding another way (for better or worse).
  • How will The Commonwealth lead by the time TWD wraps?
  • Lance’s coin depicts Pamela’s father, President William Milton (circa1982).
  • The phrase on the back of the coin, Pedestre Mortuus Est, literally translates to The Walker/Pedestrian is Dead... AKA The Walking Dead.
  • Could The Miltons be involved in the creation of the walker virus?
  • That Aidan guy keeps stealing all of our co-hosts for his interviews!
  • Does King Ezekiel Sutton’s participation in the dissemination of Connie's rogue zine foreshadow his demise? 
  • Could Rosita Espinosa be nearing her end?
  • Will the Carol & Daryl spin-off depict a progressively deteriorating walker Daryl?
  • Daryl’s communication to Lance over the walkie reminded us of Father Gabriel Stokes' "Call me Gabriel" moment.
  • We struggle to analyze the moments of Daryl and Maggie's escape from Leah's cabin: what was Daryl trying to accomplish by shooting at Lance, shooting randomly outside the windows at The Commonwealth troopers, then shooting the back window?
  • What is Lance’s next step, now that he has taken made our survivors' communities Outposts of The Commonwealth?
  • And, again, where are characters like Virgil & Luke?
  • Don't the twists and turns make the show worth watching?
  • Despite out uncharacteristic gripes. we are incredibly optimistic for a stellar finish of The Walking Dead's final season!
  • What if Leah shows up again as a ghost that literally haunts Daryl? BeetleShaw! BeetleShaw! BeetleShaw! We'll miss Lynn Collins and thank her for giving us such a memorable character.

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