REVIEW: The Walking Dead, S9 Ep11 – Bounty

The Walking Dead resolved its hostage crisis as Alpha confronted Daryl, while Ezekiel and Carol go on a mission for cinema.

This week’s episode was an interesting balance between the sinister meeting with the Whisperers and the Kingdom’s side quest to get a movie projector to introduce the next generations to the magic of movies. The bulk of the episode dealt with what was supposedly a simple trade-off – Luke and Alden for Lydia, but since this is The Walking Dead we’re watching, there were some almost deadly complications.

Daryl, Tara, and the others consider this for a moment and though Daryl is reluctant to return the girl to her abusive mother, the rest of the group is worried about the two guys who are part of their community. Alpha and the Whisperers demonstrated some of their ruthlessness when they left a crying baby to be devoured by an approaching horde of walkers.

One of the most thrilling parts of the episode was when Connie grabbed the baby and walked into the maze of maize while being pursued by both walkers and Whisperers. She reacted as fast as she could whenever a monster popped up but luckily Daryl came to help her. This moment probably, as one reviewer mentioned, helped build the idea that Connie would go with Daryl.

Henry was his usual obstructive self (though this much is expected at this point), by hiding Lydia away to keep her safe. Enid talks him out of it and Lydia herself volunteers to go but it’s clear that she’s returning to a bad situation. Despite his bleak outlook on the world and how one simply has to live with it, Daryl does feel for the girl because of his own experience with trauma. Henry runs off to find her, and Daryl (keeping his promise to Carol) runs off with Connie to bring conflict to the Whisperers. They’re an odd couple but Daryl rarely lets anyone help him so it would be interesting to see their dynamic.

The B-plot was fun and engaging enough and certainly more interesting than most side-missions on The Walking Dead. We got to see more of Carol and Ezekiel’s dynamic and the strength of their bond. Carol is the voice of reason, as always, but she also appreciates Ezekiel and Jerry’s need to bring joy to their children’s lives. Ezekiel and Carol enjoy a rare moment of happiness which only means that terrible things are on their way. We might as well enjoy it too, while it lasts.

(Also, Jerry has a baby and watching him live in domestic bliss is so refreshing.)

It’s strange that Maggie and Michonne are referred to but do not appear. We’re a few episodes into the time-jump and that conflict that happened between them is still unexplained. Hopefully all this will tie together with the upcoming trouble with the Whisperers. For now, there’s enough going on to keep us worried about the fate of the rest of the survivors. That confrontation with Alpha ended too easily and too peacefully. There’s bound to be more in store for everyone.