#ftwd 5x07

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Piggybacking off of your recent ask about Dr Edwards, the Grady storyline, and France. Do you think the Grady storyline originally meant to be much bigger? I skipped most of 5A because I was sad about Beth dying, and went on to 5B. I’m on 5x07 right now (delaying the inevitable), and in the beginning Rick is talking about how there are few enough guards for them to get in with the upper hand and kill them. So how much was the Grady memorial operation honestly, unless it got into touch with CRM or one of the bigger “government type” things that popped up in the latter seasons further post-apocalypse?

5x06 honestly felt so weird. I really enjoyed the episode, We haven’t really seen where Daryl and Carol were the entire season, but you could feel how heavy Daryl and Carol’s dialogue was. It also felt like it wasn’t actually saying what it wanted to. I’m kinda guessing a lot of that was to give a shock value when they shot Beth, but it also was just confusing. I was sad you didn’t have a 5x06 meta. If you could add that to you rewatch list, that would be awesome to hear the TD perspective. Especially with how it plays into Daryl’s evolution up to that point:)

I'll do my best to do a rewatch. My work life is super crazy right now, but we do still have (unfortunately) a lot of time before new TWD material airs.

But I DO have some 5x06 metas. They're just very old. I'd love to rewatch S5 after all this time and see what new things I can pick up.

Check out some 5x06 Metas here: https://twdmusicboxmystery.tumblr.com/post/165658806179/td-theories-by-season-s5-5x06-consumed

But to answer your question, I don't think Grady was ever a huge operation by itself. But I DO think they were entangled with the CRM. When Dawn talked about someone out there who was coming to rescue them, and Beth just thought she was delusional, I think Dawn was talking about the CRM. She'd been in contact with them and knew they took people in.

(I talk about this in detail here, when FTWD, ep 5x05 revealed a lot of this to us: https://twdmusicboxmystery.tumblr.com/post/185978887294/ftwd-5x05-analysis)

But we've also seen that they won't just take anyone and everyone in. Dawn was probably trying to convince them to come get all the Grady people, but she hadn't managed it, yet. Maybe they even promised her they would come rescue everyone, but they just hadn't yet and she didn't know when.

So, this is why we think Beth's story is very tied up with the CRM as well. If she ended up back at Gray after Coda, then she almost definitely ended up with the CRM eventually. And now, in the spinoff, Daryl is finally going to lock horns with the CRM in a big way. Or so we understand.

So yeah. Hope that helps. I've linked some relevant metas above. Thanks Nonny! Xoxo! 💌❣️

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[commanderlexas]

they can't kill alycia nobody is gonna watch the show if they did. i'm still hopeful that she ain't gonna die

What we’ve known from Grace is that if you kill a radioactive walker and you come in touch with their blood then you’re signing your death sentence. I was expecting a character to suffer from this because it came up on like every episode, but I didn’t think it would be Alicia. By killing that walker, Alicia probably got exposed to a high level of radiation, considering that she got blood on her face and maybe in her mouth. There’s no coming back from that. It all depends on how much radiation she was exposed to. Worst case scenario she gets acute radiation syndrom and dies within a few days or weeks. Best case scenario she gets cancer within a few months (if it was a lower level of radiation exposure maybe she gets cancer some years later). Either way she’s dying. The question is how soon. Both scenarios give her enough time to stick around at least till the end of this season. Unless they come up with some kind of scientific explanation or they completely ignore science about how she didn’t get exposed to high radiation levels, I don’t see how she can survive.

I won’t pretend I care much about ftwd anymore. I only care about Alicia, Strand and Althea, but if Alicia is gone then I’m quitting the show for good. I agree with you that if Alicia dies, ftwd will loose a lot of viewers. The social media engagement they get is because of Alycia, without her they barely get 200 likes on twitter. It’s the stupidest decision the writers could make after killing Madison off. The only way I’m okay with Alicia dying is if Alycia chose to leave the show.

#alicia clark #ftwd #ftwd 5x07 #asks

[rickbisexualgrimes]

i’m finally watching tonight’s ep of ftwd & have a few things to say:

- why has so much time been spent on these damn kids?  i mean we know why alicia keeps persisting but these kids don’t serve a thing for the story?  

- alicia being killed off would be a HUGE mistake for the show.  honestly i don’t even need to get into the reasons why

- has everyone just forgotten that charlie killed nick or ?

#ftwd #ftwd s5 #ftwd 5x07 #ftwd lb

[popchoc]

“You know, [the barrel] wasn’t always like that. I sharpened it after I lost my mom. It kept me safe from the dead, but it also kept the living away. I thought if they were scared of me, maybe they would leave me alone. But I was the one who was scared.”

#fear the walking dead #ftwd #alicia clark #alycia debnam carey #spoilers #ftwd spoilers #5x07 #myedit

[expressyourselfanytime]

So, update to my previous mini rant, I searched a bit how Alicia's character develops after FTWD 5x07 and I saw they make her scared of killing again, much more influenced by Morgan which is projected as being influenced by Madison but not really, and they are probably gonna pair her up with some random dude. People are afraid she's gonna be another June. And we still don't know if she's gonna die after the mid season finale or the main finale.

Al and June also seem to not get any character developement and the show seems focused only in Morgan's character. We don't learn more about the strange organization Al stumbled upon.

So. I think I'm done watching FTWD.

#fear the walking dead #alicia clark #alycia debnam carey #althea #june #morgan

[popchoc]

I met someone.

#fear the walking dead #ftwd #althea #althea szewczyk-przygocki #maggie grace #spoilers #ftwd spoilers #5x07 #myedit

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWD 10x09: Squeeze - Details

Okay, let’s talk details. I think there was a lot of foreshadowing in this episode. I’ll talk mostly about that and themes here.

***As always, spoilers abound below for TWD 10x09. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

First off, yes Daryl lit the walker hand and used it as a torch. Thanks to everyone who sent me that. Seriously, I watched this episode like three times and didn’t pick up on that, lol.

I’ve said more than once that Magna is being very destructive, and I worry she might die. I’m not saying it will be right away or super-soon, but on re-watching, I noticed that Daryl and Jerry were giving her a boost, trying to push her up the side of the wall and find a hand hold. She fell and, unfortunately, they didn’t catch her. She said she almost had it, but Daryl said it was too high and she was in danger of breaking her neck if they kept trying, so they looked for another way. I can’t help but wonder if this was a death omen for her. On the other hand, it might have simply foreshadowed her becoming trapped in the cave.

I’ve thought for a while now that whenever we see characters taking falls like this, they foreshadow a bigger, symbolic “fall” of some kind. I think it usually has to do with a big mistake they make, and end up paying for in a big way. I’ve always thought that when Beth jumped down beside Noah in the elevator shaft and kind of belly-flopped, it foreshadowed her being shot. She was about to take a big fall.

Given that, it’s interesting to note that Carol has several falls in this episode. The others who do are Magna and Kelly. And I’m not saying it always has to be death omen. I think it’s more likely to portend death for minor characters. But Carol’s fall might have been what we actually saw in this episode. She made a huge mistake and feels guilty for it now. Daryl’s opinion of her has definitely fallen. Just wanted to point this out.

A couple of minor themes I noticed:

There are some water themes going on. One of their first how-do-we-get-out-of-here discussions comes because Daryl notices a small stream of water leaking down the wall. He says the water is coming in from outside, so there must be a way out. We also see the group collecting water into canteens from a stalactite and there’s an emphasis on them being low on water, especially because the air in the cave is so close (hence Carol’s claustrophobia) and so they’re probably all really hot and dehydrated.

Also, there’s the “I’m okay” theme, and the “I’m here” theme, both of which we saw around Beth. In the scene where Connie signed into Carol’s hand, which I thought was a really sweet scene, actually, she signed “you are okay.” (Btw, Connie held Carol’s hand in the same way Daryl held Connie’s when they were looking for Kelly. Sweetly and in friendship, but without entwined fingers. That’s the official “friendship” hand hold, y’all. Unless of course your theory is that Connie and Carol are about to become a romantic couple. ;D)

And then there was the point when Carol was crawling through the tunnel and started to freak out. Daryl called her name and she answered, “I’m here. I’m okay.” Remember that when Carol was injured at Grady, Beth took her hand and said, “I just wanted you to know I was here.”

Another piece of dialogue that caught my ear was somewhat comedic. Daryl was pulling people out of a narrow tunnel passage. He pulls Kelly by the waist and her hands went down to the ground and her feet went up and she sort of somersaulted. Daryl just glanced back at her and, off camera, we hear her say, “I’m good.” It made me laugh, but also reminded me Beth’s We’ll be Good song.

Let’s talk Death Fake Out Symbols!

One of my favorite topics, lol. Basically, all the typical symbols we have around a death fake out were present here. And as I’ve already said, they’re probably MOSTLY about Connie, but that doesn’t mean symbols can’t have double meanings, and we’ve seen these same symbols already around Beth, Rick, and even Glenn back in 6a.

First, when they were jumping boulders to get to the other side of the cavern, all the walker hands reaching for them reminded me a lot of what it looked like when Glenn and Nicholas were on the dumpster. It might have been a callback to that.

I mentioned Jerry’s foot/shoe symbolism yesterday. Okay, here’s my spiel about this. I’ve thought for a long time that the lost shoe thing is a foreshadow of the death fake out. We saw the disembodied shoe by Beth in Inmates, and then remember that in 7x12 (where they foreshadowed Rick’s death fake out) he accidentally yanked a shoe and foot off one of the military walkers.

But this symbol (as with all TD symbols) gets sort of complicated. First off, while Jerry’s shoe experience may well be a symbol for Connie’s death fake out, or at least double as that, most often the person associated most closely with the shoe gets the death fake out. While obviously Daryl was present for the scene in Inmates, it was Beth who stared at the shoe and cried. Daryl had already walked away.

Same with Rick and Michonne in 7x12. Michonne was there, but it was Rick who actually pulled the foot/shoe off, and it was he and Beth who actually got the death fake outs. So, does this signify that Jerry will have a death fake out at some point? It might.

The other thing is that the shoe symbolism and the death fake out rarely come in the same season. Beth’s shoe thing was in S4 and her “death” was in S5. Rick’s shoe thing was in S7 and he didn’t leave until S9. We also know that he originally planned to leave in S8, so they might have been planning for that when they put the foreshadow in 7x12.

Another instance of this I noticed is with Al in FTWD. This past season (S5) she had a “lost shoe” moment. It was in a Still-like episode where she met Isobel, who is obviously going to be her love interest. So, while we haven’t seen a death fake out for Al, I think there may be one in this coming season of Fear (S6).

My point is, if Jerry does have a death fake out, I doubt we’ll see it this season. I’ve also said that I think Ezekiel will get a death fake out, so I wonder if Jerry’s will be synonymous with that. They’re buds and hang out a lot, so maybe they’ll disappear together or something. And understand, I’m just spit-balling here. Forecasting for the long term. I just thought this was an interesting development.

Oh, and then there are the walkers. So, we believe a horde of walkers was involved in Beth’s death fake out and specifically in her getting left behind, right? And obviously walkers were involved in Glenn’s fake out in 6x03 and in Rick’s exit in 9x05. They were even involved in the FORESHADOW of Rick’s fake out in 7x12. Well, it was kind of minor here, but they were directly involved with Jerry’s foot/shoe stuff in this episode. And you can see the parallels to what we believe happened during the missing 17 days.

Here, the group was in trouble (trapped in the cave) but they were handling it. Making their way slowly and steadily through to the other side. Then Jerry hears something strange and there’s a “shit! Walkers! Runaway!” sort of moment.

See what I mean?

I’m not sure if I’m being super-clear here. Everytime we have a death fake out, we have particular things associated with it. There’s usually a lost shoe/foot symbolism thing about a season prior. We see some sort of dark tunnel or passage. (Note: while they were literally crawling through a dark tunnel in this episode, it’s usually not quite that literal. With Beth, it came in the form of her walking out into the dark hallway after she left Edwards’ office in 5x07.) And there are always walkers involved, who come up suddenly in a way that’s totally unplanned and makes the group panic and run. My point is that we have all of these elements present in this episode.

Also, we see Connie specifically in the shot with the bird cage. No one else. That’s important. Because it was Beth in the shot with the bird cage in her cell. You couldn’t really see it when the camera focused on Daryl. And with Glenn, he was the ONLY person in the scene with his. So, seeing Connie near the empty bird cage foreshadowed her death fake out. (I gotta say, this doesn’t bode particularly well for Magna. 😥)

@wdway​ also pointed out some interesting things I missed about the bird cage.

1) It’s very large. In most cases, when canaries are kept in cages by miners, they’re kept in very small, square cages that are easy to transport in the small confines of the mine. This was not that. This cage is huge and has a swing in it. Not the kind of thing you would normally use in a mine. But very similar to the one we saw in Beth’s cell.

2) We didn’t see any dead birds in it or bird remains. Which suggest the bird that was kept in it is actually alive. Hence, Connie is alive, even if Daryl comes to believe she’s dead.

I also noticed a wheel when they were trying to dig out of the mine. It reminds me of the ferris wheel symbol we’ve seen often, and I think that’s a symbol of the death fake out as well. Specifically, that the person presumed dead will come back around again. We’ve especially seen this symbol a lot around Rick and Michonne.

All the dialogue I mentioned above (I’m here, I’m okay, I’m good) is inherently death fake out stuff because we heard it around Beth, Glenn and Rick just before their death fake outs happened.

So yeah. Basically all the classic death fake out symbols are there, my friends. And while they might mostly refer to Connie here, remember that we saw them around Rick, Glenn, and Beth as well. And we know that at least two of those three (Glenn and Rick) survived their fake outs. Just waiting for canon confirmation on a certain blond.

It also struck me that there’s an emphasis on unfinished relationships here. Or at least things left open ended. Of course, there’s the fact that if Connie dies, Daryl won’t have been able to say goodbye (a sad pattern with him, including Beth, Denise, Glenn, Rick, Merle, and others). There was an emphasis on Alpha having killed Henry, so Carol didn’t get to say goodbye to him. But then we also had Magna telling Aaron that the reason she’s so gung-ho to get out of the cave is because of the unfinished way she left things with Yumiko. That line is what made me realize this theme.

And of course Daryl’s MAIN unfinished, open-ended relationship is Beth. Always Beth.

@frangipanilove​ pointed out that Kelly stopping Daryl from digging through the rubble and looking for Connie might be a parallel to the missing 17 days after Coda. We believe he would have looked for Beth’s body when it disappeared, but at some point Rick and possibly Carol forced him to stop and give up looking. So this would have been a terrible replay for Daryl

@bethgreeneprevails​ also made some great observations:

The way Daryl and Carol sit side by side when they talk is very similar to how Daryl and Maggie sat side by side in the barn in Them, talking about Beth. So there’s a visual parallel there.

Also, Jerry holding Kelly while she cries over her sister is a parallel to Glenn holding Maggie when Beth was shot. His shirt color is even similar.

Carol’s stance in this end scene is similar to what it was in Coda when Daryl carries Beth out.

Anyone need anymore proof of the parallels here?

Very minor details: we saw an arrow pointing left. It was obviously a “road sign” left the Whisperers for how to get out of the cave, but we’ve seen similar arrows before. The two instances that come to mind were in 6x04, Here’s Not Here with Morgan and Eastman. And then at the school where Cyndie killed Arat in 9x04.

I can say a few words about the Negan/Whisperers story line, but nothing huge jumped out at me there.

Alpha sent Gamma to the border, but she never arrived. We aren’t told if she defected or if something else happened to her (though based on the trailer for the next episode, it appears she went to Alexandria). Beta is now hunting her. (Can we just take a moment to appreciate how frightening it would be to have Beta hunting you? Yikes!)

Once again, I thought the Negan/Alpha thing was super cringe-inducing. Funny? Yes. But also…ew.

I thought it was funny that before their “naked” scene AMC put a parental discretion notice up. That made me laugh.

Negan did mention kings and queens (like the poker queen theme?) Frankenstein (Resurrection theme) and goose steppers. I had to look that one up. It just means someone who marches in line and does what they’re told. He was accusing Beta of being a goose stepper for Alpha. But there is a bird-ish reference there, so I’m not sure if we should be reading into it or not.

I’m gonna stop there for today. Come back tomorrow for how Daryl is the light at the end of the tunnel. This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever come to understand about his and Beth’s arc. Seriously. Tomorrow. Come back! 😁

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Fear the Walking Dead S5 - Theories

***Please Ignore. Just more Index Stuff. 😉***

The Possibility of Beth in S5 of FTWD 05/03/019

5x01: Analysis 6/03/2019

5x01: Details and Movies 06/08/2019

5x02: Analysis 06/10/2019

5x03: Humbug’s Gulch 06/17/2019

5x04: Analysis 06/25/2019

5x04: The Little Prince 07/05/2019

5x05: Analysis 07/01/2019

5x06: Analysis 07/08/2019

5x07: Analysis 07/15/2019

Helicopter Group/Bridge Theory 07/19/2019

5x08: Analysis 07/22/2019

5x09: Analysis 08/12/2019

Song Analysis: Convoy 08/15/2019

5x10: Analysis 08/19/2019

5x10: Details and Predictions 08/20/2019

5x11: Analysis 08/25/2019

Predictions: FTWD, Helicopter People, and TD 08/29/2019

5x12: Analysis 09/02/2019

5x12: Predictions, Battery Theory, A/B Theory, and Eternal Light 09/05/2019

The Rabbi’s Altar Vs. Morgan’s Altar 09/17/2019

5x13: Analysis 09/13/2019

5x14: Analysis 09/16/2019

5x15: Analysis 09/23/2019

5x16: Analysis 09/30/2019

Misc:

Helicopter Hints Throughout the Seasons 09/26/2019

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Foreshadows in Rick’s Speech in 5x16

Over past months, I've done a few posts that required me to look back to 5x16. I've done interpretations of Rick's speech at the end of that episode in the past, but not for several years. I’ve wanted for some time to look at it again in light of new things we’ve learn this past season. Needless to say, I found it very interesting.

Let’s review what we see while Rick is giving his speech to the Alexandrians. The scenes we see cut back and forth between Glenn and Nicholas outside of Alexandria, 

Carl and Judith staring at Beth's music box, 

the wolves resetting the trap Aaron and Daryl tripped, 

and Sasha and Maggie praying with Father Gabriel.

What do these scenes portend? Well...

When I watched this sequence of 5x16 after having seen the end of S8, the first thing that struck me was that this episode ended on a note of mercy. Glenn nearly killed Nicholas on the outside and would have been very justified in doing so, but he didn't. He showed Nicholas mercy and took him back to Alexandria. I'll come back to that because another aspect of that is very important.

Similarly, Sasha and Maggie showed Father Gabriel mercy. There's a joke about how 20 million people wanted her to kill him in that moment, but she didn't. She showed mercy. It just feels to me like it mirrors the end of S8 where Daryl wanted to kill Dwight and had every justification for doing so after what happened to Denise, but he didn't. He showed mercy.

Let's talk about that for a minute. Because I’m things in this season of Fear that go hand-in-hand with that.

I’ve always said I would love it if Dwight had a hand in bringing Beth back to Daryl because it would mean that Daryl got Beth specifically because he was merciful to Dwight. That’s a fantastic theme!

But I think there's an even broader theme along those same lines going on here. You could argue that Glenn only survived in 6x03 because Nicholas was with him. I will admit that without Nicholas, it's very possible he wouldn't have ended up on top of the dumpster to begin with, but then again, he might have.

They were looking for the feed store to set on fire and divert the walker herd, and that was Nicholas’s idea, but even without him, Glenn might have gone looking for something to burn and ended up in the same situation. Nicholas falling on top of him is the only reason Glenn survived. Walkers ate Nicholas and Glenn was able to slide under the dumpster. So, Glenn may have survived his death in 6x03 specifically because he showed mercy to someone who didn't deserve it.

I can’t think of a specific time Father Gabriel saved Sasha or Maggie, but he's definitely done his part to help TF in general. In fact, if you wanted to get super-complicated, he helped facilitate the relationship between Rick and Jadis. So in a way, he helped Rick survive. Father Gabriel also has a unique relationship with Ngan, who respects them. You never know how Sasha and Maggie showing him mercy might have saved TF in a lot of ways.

And then there's Dwight. FTWD 5x07 put a big emphasis on the reason people are still standing. Dwight can't find Sherry and he may not find her for some time. But he told John he would help get him back to June and Dwight being part of Morgan’s group might well help save that group in some way. So, Daryl letting him go might end up saving Morgan.

Do you see the pattern I'm after here? It's about showing mercy, which has a domino effect ("Domino shit," as Martin said in 5x09) which leads to the survival of others. You could even argue that Rick showed Morgan mercy in S3, when Morgan was crazy and tried to kill him. Now look how many people Morgan has helped.

Now, none of this proves Beth is alive per se, but I'm glad to see this pattern because I think there's a lot of truth in it and it very well might end up leading to Beth in some way.

But back to 5x16. I've said many times now that I believe the wolves may have been a foreshadow for the Whisperers. Let's assume it's true for a minute. Everything about this final sequence in 5x16 foreshadows the wolves who came in 6x02.

And again, I know I'm repeating myself, but we've were confused by the fact that Beth didn't show up with the wolves because there was so much wolf symbolism around her. But if that will symbolism actually foreshadowed the Whisperers, that suggests she may return with them instead? With that in mind, let's look at the final sequence of 5x16 again.

We have a foreshadow of Glenn and Nicholas’s arc in S6. Remember that Glenn is one of the four death fake-outs that we’re expecting to see. So, the fact that were sort of referencing the death fake out here is important. When we see Glenn and Nicholas staggering through the woods after an encounter with walkers, it’s a direct foreshadow of what happens in Operation Lead the Walkers Away in S6.

The next thing we see is Carl and Judith staring at Beth's music box. I don't think I have to explain that one. That may be a foreshadow of her returning with the Whisperers.

This next one is really interesting. Check this out. Remember that in 5B, Tara sustained a head injury and was unconscious for a while. Rick says, "The ones out there, they’ll hunt us. They’ll find us. They’ll try to use us. They’ll try to kill us…”

Right when he says the phrase “kill us,” it shows Tara's face as she wakes up in medical building. 

Super interesting because if this is a foreshadow of the Whisperers, who did they kill? Tara. So, the ones out there are foreshadow of both the wolves and later the Whisperers. In other words, this was a foreshadow of Tara's death back in S5. Do you see what I mean? The "ones out there" refers to both the wolves, which will result in Glenn’s death fake-out, but also the Whisperers, which will result in Tara Tara’s death. And once again, keep in mind that we see Beth’s music box in this sequence.

But here's the real clincher. Let's switch gears for sec. I’ve said since Morgan crossed over to FTWD that I think he'll be back. I’m more convinced of this than ever.

In FTWD 5x07, Morgan once again talked about how everything gets a return. I'm not saying he's returning now. Maybe not for another season or two. I do think he will return to Rick to ricks group in Virginia. The only real question is whether he'll return with his own group from fear, or perhaps with Rick.

The reason I suggest with Rick is because he’s with the helicopter group and Morgan's group has already had a run-in with them. So, if Morgan at any point goes with the helicopter group, he's bound to run into Rick. I can't help but wonder if he and Rick will return to Alexandria together. Of course, that remains to be seen. It might not play out that way at all.

The reason I'm bringing this up in conjunction with 5x16, is because after all these possible foreshadows of the wolves in the Whisperers, Morgan shows up at the gate with Daryl and Aaron.

@katkhaos came up with theory a long time ago that Morgan's template in S5 of returning to TF may also be used as a template for Beth's return. I still think that will be the case or could be the case (DC al coda post here), but it also might be template for his return once again to TF after the cross over.

What I'm getting at here is that the end sequence of 5x16 foreshadows the wolves and the Whisperers. And right after these foreshadows, a long lost character returns to the gates of Alexandria. So I’m thinking that could be a template for both Beth and Morgan's return and possibly even Rick’s. Maybe a foreshadow that a long lost character will turn up in conjunction with the Whisperers.

So I’m liking what I'm seeing here at the end of 5x16. Most of this stuff we couldn't possibly have put together back when it aired, or even in most of the seasons since. We needed to know what we know now. But it gives me a lot of hope. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 5x07: Analysis

“She’s alive….Impossible shit happens.”

Hello everyone. How you like last night’s episode. I thought it was fantastic. There were some really great lines in it that are very good for TD.

***As always, spoilers abound in for 5x07 in this post. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

So, a quick synopsis. In this episode, Strand and Charlie are still trying to get the propellers back to Luciana so they can put them on the plane. By the end of the episode, they do manage that. Morgan seems to get through to Grace. It seems that perhaps will come with them now. Alicia manages to get the children to agree to come with them as well, and John finally gives Dwight the letter from Sherry. The major twist is that Alicia killed a walker that was contaminated. She didn't know until after she killed it and saw chemical burns under its clothing. She got some of its blood in her mouth and chances are she's infected now.

Remember last week I said I felt like they were hinting that someone was going to get sick and die? Looks like Alicia is the one. Will she actually die? I don't know. If they do any kind of cure arc, I think it's possible she’ll still live. But it's equally possible that they're heading toward killing off her character. They did talk a lot about how she redeemed herself and made up for the bad things she's done, so I could see was being fitting end to her arc. More on that in a minute.

Let's talk symbols. The biggest one was still the yellow balloon that Strand and Charlie used. I'm about to shift a little bit on what I think the yellow means. I’ve always said yellow means escape, and I still think it does. But I think after all the times we've seen it, we can be a little bit more specific. The yellow specifically means escaping or living through an encounter with walkers.

There’s awesome evidence of that in this episode. Strand and Charlie used the yellow balloon specifically as a wall against a horde of walkers. So yellow specifically protected them from the dead, rather than helping them in a more general escape.

If we look back over all the other times we've seen yellow in this way, that's always the case. We saw it around Beth and Noah when they escaped Grady, and they fought walkers the entire way. It also might've been a foreshadow of the walker horde that resulted in Beth being left behind, but that remains to be seen. In 7x12, Michonne thought Rick was eaten by the walker horde but he went through the ride and escape through yellow car. So, the yellow car protected him from the walkers and helped him live.

A lot of gasoline/fuel in this episode. We’ve seen a lot of this anyway throughout the season. Al went to get some fuel for the plane on the mountaintop, where she went with Isabelle before. We got a shot of the fuel right beside a lake, which is kind of interesting.

When Alicia went to convince the kids to come with her, something interesting struck me. I have no idea if this is what they were going for, but the kids were living in this sort of makeshift tree house. 

It reminded me a lot of Peter Pan’s lost boys. Basically, these are kids living on their own and not wanting to become part of the real world. Just like the lost boys didn’t want to Neverland and go back to real world.

And THAT reminded me of Beth’s song in 4A. When she sang to Judith in the prison, she sang about not wanting to grow up, which I always saw as a Peter Pan reference. I don’t know if we should be comparing those two, but it might be a connection that shows Beth will show up soon. And honestly, I can see the Peter Pan story being associated with Sirius symbolism. People always “return” to Neverland, and you get there through the stars. “Second star to the right...” etc

Morgan went to some houses Grace told him to, looking for a car. There were some interesting shots there as well. He found a parking permit hanging from the mirror of a car.

It caught my attention because that's where the rabbit foot hung in the wolves’ car in 5x16. Plus, it had a prominent A on, much as the helicopter does.

I really hoped he’d look in the trunk, but he didn’t. He searched the car for keys, including the glove box. It was very reminiscent of the way Maggie searched the car in 5x10. Even though he didn’t open the trunk, I still felt like there was something important about cars and parking, and of course looking for keys. (Key theory.)

Inside the house, Morgan picked up a Garfield birthday card. 

That's important for two reasons. First, there's the cat symbol, which I’ve talked about recently. We think that it's a resurrection symbol because cats are known for having nine lives. And we can tie that back to Daryl in S4 and the Claimers (think Red Machete). Rewatching, I think there’s actually three different birthday cards, all with cats on them. But the camera focused in on this one.

Then there's the birthday thing. I can only remember two other times in the show where birthdays were mentioned. One was by Beth in Still when she mentioned birthdays and summer picnics. The other was when the Savior outside their compound in 6x12 started whistling the Happy Birthday song. So, seeing those two symbols together felt important.

Morgan also saw a flyer for Fiddler on the Foof. A couple of ways I think they might be using the symbol. First, it's definitely a musical symbol. This musical is also the story of a people who get kicked out of their homes. They’re forced to leave against their will. I think that could also foreshadow something with Morgan’s group. They were living in the denim factory before Clay’s previous partner took it away and is forcing them to leave. So, maybe it foreshadows them being forced it leave the area. Maybe something else. It will be interesting to see how things go moving forward.

But back to the musical symbol, because we know Beth equals music. I couldn't help but think that right by the flyer, Morgan found the keys. The key was kind of in the music. 

In this part, @wdway also noticed that there’s a soda bottle on the fridge in the background. We can’t tell if it says “Frosty Cola” on it, but it’s definitely reminiscent of the Frosty Cola soda bottle.

I even noticed a bird cage. We saw one of those in Beth’s cell and have seen them in a few key scenes since. It definitely gave me some thoughts, but I’m going to save them for another time because they’re a little off-topic.

A little later in the episode, Morgan shows up to kill walkers and save Strand and Charlie. This is very reminiscent of what happened in S5 with Daryl and Aaron. In both cases, they were surrounded by walkers and trapped in a structure (minivan and yellow balloon). Morgan showed up to save the day and get them out. We even had a return of Morgan’s gas mask. That’s super interesting to me. We saw him with the mask in 5x01, but never really saw it any  other time. So I’m wondering if that little snippet when he first appeared in 5x01 foreshadowed what’s happening now in FTWD.

As I said last episode, there was a foreshadow of Al talking to June about Isabelle. She did that this episode. What she said sounded very much like what we've seen with Daryl after he lost Beth.

June even told Al (speaking of being separated from John) "I felt gone." Read the “gone” theory HERE. In TWD, using that phrase always suggests someone being alive but not in their significant other’s life at the time. 

Just like John and June were separated, but neither was dead. Michonne talked about being gone for a long time after she lost her son. She was still alive and going through the motions of living, but this wasn't emotionally or mentally present. Beth said, "You’re gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone." Which means she's not going to die. She simply won’t be in Daryl’s life for a while.

June assured Al that she will see Isabelle again. That's not a stretch since we know Isabelle is with the helicopter people and therefore is not dead. It's pretty good confirmation that some point, Morgan’s group will end up with the helicopter people. And given the parallels between Al/Isabelle and Beth/Daryl, it also suggests that Daryl will see Beth again.

The car runs out of gas (major out-of-fuel theme going on this season) for Dwight and John. John tries to ho-twire a truck. I knew right away it wouldn't start. Every time we seen people successfully hardware cars in TWD, it's been with a red and green wire. The car comes back to life because red and green are the resurrection colors. In this case, he had a red and yellow wire. I immediately thought, "that’s not going to start." And it didn't.

When Alicia was looking for the kids, we saw the same disgusting one with one of its eyeballs popped out several times. 

So a lost eye is often part of Sirius symbolism. Remember the one-eyed dog in Alone, and Denise getting the arrow through the eye. And now Father Gabriel being blind in one eye. Alicia saw this walker once and then saw it again. It made her realize she was going in circles before Dylan came to show her the way. In other words, she RETURNED to it.

Then, at the tree house, she fought that same walker. It was that one whose blood she got in her mouth before realizing it was contaminated. So, I’m not sure how to weave all of that altogether, but I think it's important. 

Remember we saw the contaminated walkers in S8 during AOW because there was a chemical leak. My fellow theorists and I have also discussed that this might hearken back to the virus and the contaminated walker from S4. Either of those instances might have been foreshadows of this contamination in Fear. If it leads to Beth or ends up being connected, perhaps this walker with the missing eye is a sign that Beth will be connected to this contamination in some way.

And that's why I think it's possible Alicia could be saved. Maybe they’ll find this helicopter group and the group will have a way to save her from the radiation. I honestly don’t know which way it will go. Will be interesting to see, though.

Morgan talks to Grace about Eastman, his mantra about all life being precious, and how you have to redirect your life to live for something else when you can’t for yourself. These are all things we've seen before, especially around Morgan. But for me, it kind of confirmed that Morgan will end up going back to Virginia at some point. In order for his arc come full circle, he needs to return to Rick's group to get his return and perhaps lead Beth back to Daryl.

Then we had the convo between Dwight and John. Definitely my favorite part of this episode. When we saw Dwight’s three rings (his and Sherry’s) laying on his palm, something occurred to me. There are always three of them, and they look exactly like the three rings we see on the helicopter.

I mean, why THREE rings, specifically. Yes, yes, I’m sure it’s because Sherry had both an engagement ring and a wedding band, which isn’t uncommon. But if the writers are specifically just trying to show Dwight and Sherry’s rings, a symbol of their love/marriage, the obvious thing would be to have two rings, not three. 

To me, this suggests that Sherry is also with the helicopter people. That's important because, in this scene, Dwight finally realizes Sherry doesn't want him looking for her and she's gone to some other place without leaving him a note. Dwight wants to keep looking for Sherry, but says he'll help get John back to June. Basically, Dwight is being unselfish this point.

He says the most epic TD line ever: “She's alive…Impossible shit happens." Wow! Totally my favorite line of the whole episode. No better way for the writers to tell us that Beth is alive.

I mean, we’ve already seen a million parallels between Daryl and Dwight. And “she’s alive” is the first thing we heard when S5 began. Daryl said it several times to Maggie when they were at Terminus. So to hear Dwight say it now is such a great confirmation!

In addition, something else occurred to me. I’ll talk about this more in tomorrow’s theory, but this also reminded me of how Daryl let Dwight go at the end of S8, and I think that will allow Beth to return to him in some way. I think something similar is happening here.

If the rings Dwight holds are meant to connect to the helicopter group, and Sherry is with them, I’m thinking that by being unselfish and helping John get back to June, that will lead Dwight straight to Sherry. So I’m seeing a definite theme in which it is the characters’ merciful actions that help others live and result in their own, long term happiness.

At the end of the episode, some air raid sirens go off, which suggest they’re out of time and the reactor has already begun melting down. Feels like a MSF situation to me. ;D Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl