The Walking Dead : Season #9 : "Whispers in the Dark"

[numberthirty]

Credit where it's due, Ryan Hurst really did kind of disappear into Beta.

While I know that is sort of the point, it's still worth noting.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

Solid episode, some is still considering it filler, despite giving more insight into the whisperers.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So basically we meet a new group tonight...


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- The episode has Daryl admit they can't go back to Hilltop with Lydia or this will have their friends die etc. So Henry volunteers to move on with Lydia basically but Daryl tells him his mom (Carol) won't be happy at this. So they have to keep moving .


- The fair is in danger as Ezekiel gets a letter (that is well written) from a new group called The Highwaymen. The group seem to wear western style outfits and look like they walked off this music video . As a tribute to Waylon Jennings ...the main leader seems modeled after his look by the way.






- Meanwhile Daryl and Connie find a building to plan an attack against the arrival of Beta and his group. Building fake walls and more to trap to battle them. Lydia tells Daryl that Beta is their best which has this reply ..."Good , ill kill him 1st."


- Lydia admits she has feelings for Henry as Daryl listens in. After promising he will try to not kill a Whisperer to her because they were there for her ...she gets scared about him and attacks the Whisperer saving his life.


- The Highwaymen show that they are honorable rogues who accept a deal from Carol to work a peace deal. They will get to do the fair and become allies. To seal a deal the leader is amused at getting to see...a movie. They show up later and bail out Tara's group traveling there.


- THE BATTLE we had been building to happens. Daryl vs Beta. The 2 men battle as Beta demands Lydia but Daryl won't answer him. He gives Daryl more than he can handle and it takes Daryl cheating him to knock him through an elevator shaft. Daryl believes he's dead. But as we discover at the end he's alive and angry. (Hurst claims Lincoln was there and helped them discuss the fight sequence for 5 hours , took him around town and showed him where to eat. Hurst bragged Andrew Lincoln as a great guy)


- Tara arrives as she's now worried as is Carol over the fact Daryl , Henry and Connie aren't there yet. At the end Daryl tells Henry they are going to Alexandria to patch up.

[numberthirty]

Best this show has been in quite a while.

[Theleviathan]

Best this show has been in quite a while.

It's watchable again! The Whisperers are kind of silly as a concept, but they are working somehow, someway.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

It's watchable again! The Whisperers are kind of silly as a concept, but they are working somehow, someway.

I still like them, but they were executed slightly better in the
Comics

[CellarDweller]

I'm still really liking this show, and I must say, the new characters that were introduced (Magna, Yumiko, Luke, Connie, And Kelly) are really growing on me.

[Theleviathan]

I still like them, but they were executed slightly better in the
Comics

For me, I have trouble buying it because we were told the rules of how zombies work and simply dressing like them and whispering doesn't overcome that. It's being done well enough for me to look past that though.

[Malvolio]

They're not merely dressing like zombies. They're wearing the skins of the dead, something that was already established in season one as a way to keep walkers from attacking. If you smell dead, they leave you alone.

[ChrisIII]

Looks like they might be setting Earl and/or Tammy (along with Rosita and Ezekiel) up for THAT scene, although that might be more misdirection, something we've seen a bit of lately (The whole "Flashforward" last season being Carl's dream, and more recently the sign being the Highwaymen and not the Whisperers).

[Theleviathan]

They're not merely dressing like zombies. They're wearing the skins of the dead, something that was already established in season one as a way to keep walkers from attacking. If you smell dead, they leave you alone.

Only on their heads though right? Most of their bodies do not appear to be adorned with anything from the dead, or am I missing something?

[numberthirty]

Only on their heads though right? Most of their bodies do not appear to be adorned with anything from the dead, or am I missing something?

That is sort of hard to gauge.

Plenty of them have something wiped onto various "Non-Head" parts. There's no telling what that stuff is or how long it's been there. The clearly have some spare dead sitting around(just happened to have one to skin).

[Malvolio]

I think they've made it quite clear that when one of their own turns into a walker, the Whisperers put him down and then wear his skin.

[Theleviathan]

I think they've made it quite clear that when one of their own turns into a walker, the Whisperers put him down and then wear his skin.

In at least two scenes (alpha at the gate, when Daryl sends walkers into their camps), the walkers come and all they do is put on masks but there isn't anything apparent on their bodies or clothes to indicate they are wearing skins. I'm not sure it's clear at all. I can look past it, but they should've done more to show how they avoid detection. A skin mask shouldn't be enough.

[ChrisIII]

Although I think they might be attracted by smell I think loud noise is also a big deal as well (hence the whisperers whispering). Carl killing the Walker Shane brought the herd down on the Greene farm for example, and Sam's panic doomed the Peterson family. Also music is often used to distract them (such as recently in the theater).


Also regarding walker disguises I think Michionne was able to largely 'blend in' with just the two Walkers and no viscera or mask.