The Walking Dead season 9 finale review: The Storm

If you haven’t gotten the memo, winter is here, and it has spread all the way to The Walking Dead. In the season 9 finale, we learn who has survived “The Storm”.

On The Walking Dead, King Ezekiel laments over the radio about the fall of his kingdom. The crumbling infrastructure has failed them as an early winter hits. It is not a coincidence that Henry was sent to Hilltop to learn how to fix such cracks and now that he is dead, so goes the kingdom. Other leaders, such as Michonne and Daryl, are on hand to help the royal subjects make the journey to Hilltop.

As the travelers quietly ostracize Lydia, Daryl continues to watch over her and assures Carol that Henry would have wanted her with them. Carol is constantly reminded of Henry when she looks at Lydia. Ezekiel catches Carol and Daryl comforting each other in conversation and he politely asks Daryl to give them enough space to revive their tested relationship.

Meanwhile Lydia’s guilt takes control and she attempts to commit suicide by way of walker, or a half-frozen zombie stuck in the ice. She would have let it bite her if Carol didn’t disturb.

As the snow starts to come down harder, the caravan finds sanctuary at… the Sanctuary. The location was once the stronghold of the Saviors and is now merely an empty warehouse. Even if they could last the night, they lack the food to last much longer. The leaders agree that it is worth the risk to cross the frozen river in the dead of night, when the Skins may not spot them trespassing in their territory.

Ezekiel worries about starting a war with Alpha; he already blames himself for the Kingdom’s downfall. Michonne credits him with saving his people and practically apologizes because her credo allowed Alpha to walk freely at the fair since the communities were strangers to each other.

They pass the border where the spikes still stand and proceed to the frozen river. The ice is stable but buried dead emerge from underneath the recently fallen snow. Daryl and Michonne protect the king’s men as they cross the ice. The former notices that Lydia is missing and Carol volunteers to find her.

Carol catches up to Lydia at a covered bridge and Alpha’s daughter begs Henry’s mother to end her life. The woman who once shot a little girl for the sake of others decides that Lydia is worth helping. She brings her back to the group who make it to Hilltop the next day. Once there, Carol breaks it to Ezekiel that she will be leaving him, going to Alexandria with Michonne and Daryl.

All this time, Alexandria is also bracing for the storm; Eugene and Gabriel plan to gather the residents together and recognize that Negan needs to be let out of his cell or else he would freeze to death. Once they bring him into the lodging, he can’t help but crack jokes about Rosita’s three-man predicament. He only gets serious when he sees how concerned Judith is about Daryl’s dog, since she was charged with caring for it.

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When the fireplace ventilation is compromised, Gabriel is forced to lead a large gathering of Alexandrians (including Negan) to a warmer domicile. In the thick of the blizzard, they have a long way to walk such a short distance. Judith hears the dog and runs in its direction. Within seconds, she disappears into the storm and Negan does not hesitate to follow her.

Negan gets hit in the leg by flying debris and limps toward Judith and the dog. He wraps his coat around the pale girl and rips another layer to fashion a tourniquet for his leg. Negan grabs the dog’s leash and carries Judith back to shelter.

Days later, Michonne visits Negan in the infirmary to acknowledge his effort to save her daughter. She also explains how the communities are being brought together against evil. Negan replies that no one ever thinks of themselves as the evil one. This also applies to Alpha as she plans to retaliate against those who broke her boundary rules.

The final moments transition from the “evil” pack leader who finds strength by ordering her second in command to whip her, to the deflated, yet somehow still optimistic, ruler who finds comfort in telling his tale to an eager listener. Ezekiel was conversing with Judith, who he must now look to as the future of the collective, over the radio. When the latter leaves the room with the radio on, she misses another person attempting to connect.

Weekly Walkaways

• It turns out “The Storm”, in actuality, is only a storm in the natural sense of the word and not also a storm of clashing battles or even a continued covert storm of deadly executions. The end of Season 9 pulls a Game of Thrones-esque maneuver by having the penultimate episode consume all of the shock and death, while the finale is left with the fallout as characters settle into new roles or places.
• After not utilizing weather as a major obstacle for a good part of the decade, The Walking Dead follows in the footsteps of the most recent season of Fear the Walking Dead. An entire arc consisting of several episodes focused around a southern hurricane where pairs of characters were split up and had to face the storm in different ways. In this finale, the storm is a wintery blizzard, but both examples emphasize how severe weather can push these characters, who have survived many years in a post-apocalyptic environment, to their survival skill limits.
• The episode contemplates themes of acceptance and redemption. There is quite a variety shown throughout, from Gabriel, Siddiq, and Eugene accepting their unusual love quadrangle with Rosita, to Michonne breaking down barriers as she regrets that she kept the communities and its people disconnected. Then Lydia is brought in by Carol even though her son would be alive if it weren’t for the former Whisperer. Finally, Negan saves Judith from the deep freeze and is literally thanked by Michonne. He could become a citizen of Alexandria, instead of a prisoner.
• The MVP of “The Storm” is Daryl for effortlessly being the bigger man as well as the best man to have by your side. He is the only one who publicly stands up for Lydia following the mass beheading. He also manages to win an argument with the king without even speaking – ultimately Carol stays with his company and leaves her husband behind. And as always, he is the first to step up and take out an incoming walker or assess a potentially dangerous path before leading his people to safety.

The Walking Dead will return with its tenth season this October.