#bethy

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I watched the episode already. It was awesome. It felt a bit transitional, with lots of action, but there was also TONS of stuff for us to discuss. It was very Maggie-centric (the montage at the beginning was mostly about her) and we finally got that weird scene from the promo where she's lying with that walker (of the purplish pants) next to the tracks. What it is, is interesting. It's really a matter of the perspective of that shot doesn't show what the walker actually is. You'll understand when you watch.

(I sent this before all my pals had watched the episode. What I meant is that the walker was a child, and that wasn’t entirely clear from the shot of her lying with him next to the tracks.)

But there's tons of symbolism and a lot of callbacks to S4/Terminus. Not Terminus itself, but what leads up to it. The end of this episode feels a lot like the end of 4x15. And thinking about that, it just feels like everything is on track for Beth to return. Like, she wasn't at Terminus. She wasn't in 4x15. But if this is a retelling of that, well, then maybe the final three episodes of S11 will parallel 4x16 and 5x01.

And of course, Daryl didn't find Beth until 6-8 episodes later, depending on how you look at it. But of course, we'll be going into the spinoff, so.... Also, the Donnier's are gonna pounce all over this episode. Unfortunately. There's some Daryl/Connie interaction. Nothing that will worry us, but you know the shippers are gonna have a heyday. Oh well. Anyway, it's a great episode. Leaves us on kind of a cliffhanger of what's to come.

@wdway​:

There were a lot of numbers being thrown around in this episode. One of them, near the end, was 301=s3e1. I thought how well placed that was and what it would mean in the story. That number caught my attention because it's part of my address, haha. 

I'm going to mention one thing that if you don't already know you might want to be aware of before you rewatch. I know I certainly am going look for it, or I should say listen to it. Right as the closing credits come on the first credit is.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Oh weird. I totally didn’t notice that. I wonder who she was. Maybe one of the people may the labor camp? Or a walker, which would be the obvious thing.

@wdway:

It showed immediately as the first end credit and wasn't there for very long. I caught it out of the corner of my eye and had to go back to check it out to see if I actually saw her name. I racked my brain. Where was she? Then thought, we probably did not see her, but heard her. I think you'll know who I'm talking about, and I really don't think that will ruin anything for anyone else.

The scenes with Connie were sweet but I did not at all feel there was any romantic overtones at all. Then again, I also don't see romantic with him and Carol. I really felt that the Carylers were going to have a field day with Carol reaching over and taking Daryl's hand. That one, they will run wild with.

I think YNB is the voice on the radio with Rosita.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Ah okay. Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. That makes sense.

(This was confirmed on TTD. Yvette Nichole Brown was the voice Rosita talked to on the radio near the end.)

Yeah good point. Daryl interacting with various female characters and the shippers always freak out.

@wdway:

I also thought the writers made a point of showing Carol hug Gabriel. I didn't see a lot of difference in how she hugged him as she does Daryl. But they definitely did not have Daryl hugging Connie, that's for sure.

There's something that AK said and her portion at the end about FG and Rosita's relationship and I thought it's funny that they've never came out and said that about Carol and Ezekiel. If you don't know what I mean, I'll wait and explain maybe tomorrow.

(@wdway has a good point here. This was AK confirming their breakup. While obviously they’ve talked about Zeke and Carol’s separation, because it’s a thing on the show, they’ve never said with finality, “okay they’re broken up, now.” It’s always been a question of whether they’ll get back together again or not.)

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah, I know what you mean. It was actually good to have confirmation about that, but I can't help but wonder what the point of writing it that way was. Maybe it will be clearer when we get to the final episode.

One thing that may help as far as Daryl and Connie (for those who are worried, which isn't us) is something he did with his hand. Google, "Are you alright, sign language." It’s just important to know that his motions were actually him signing to her. Nothing else. I know people *coughs* Donnie shippers *coughs* will read into it.

@wdway:

So true. But the way I saw it after that initial meeting, the writer/director kept a lot of physical space between Daryl and Connie. Enough that I thought it was odd to be so far away from each other.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah, they did. They even specifically had Carol help her up. And the two of them (Daryl and Connie) didn’t interact individually after he first returned. When she talked, she talked to whole group. And maybe this goes without saying, but I’m seeing SO much Beth proxy in her.

@wdway:

Yes, I thought of Beth several times with Daryl reaction to what happened to Connie. Carol's reaction to Daryl’s too.

I'm going to watch it for a second time probably this afternoon. I think it's going to be an episode that we catch more and more each time it's watched.

twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah, same. I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my neck this morning. Totally random. Guess that means I gotta lay around and watch TWD all day.  😁

@wdway:

That would definitely be the mature, grown-up thing to do. Being proactive with your health.

I really don't think this is a spoiler but even if it is me pointing it out hopefully sparks some thoughts.

S4e15 US. Daryl with Claimer Joe walking the railroad tracks. Glenn running down the railroad tracks after seeing the sign from Maggie. 

Did we ever determine what this W stands for? Is it an actual Railroad sign?

The garage the Claimers stayed in. Inside the truck with the license tag the same as the car that took Beth away. I was just struck at how much it looks like a railroad platform; I think it might have originally been one.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah, it does. I noticed the W sign too. I think part of it is that this is a retelling of 4b. So, they might have included it just for that. But the W signs are called "whistle" signs. It's a reminder for the conductor to blow the train's horn as a warning before they get to a particular crossing where cars or people might be. They're not even used by all railroads anymore, what with how technology has changed. But they used to be.

I know people in the fandom have wondered before if they meant wolves, since we had the super obvious sign of the W carved into foreheads. But a whistle is also a type of music. In this case, more a noise. A warning to keep people safe. Tell them to get clear of the tracks before the train arrives. So yeah, not sure what the writers are going for here, but it's definitely interesting!

https://railroad.net/grade-crossing-horns-and-quot-w-quot-signs-t55345.html

@wdway:

Oh My Gosh, a waring of possibly danger ahead. In s4, we saw these signs before Glenn and Tara were almost taken down in the railroad tunnel by walkers. Just before finding the woman he loves, who was missing.

Daryl had the sign behind him and soon after found his missing family and was almost killed helping Rick. In the next episode "A" all of team family except for Beth was found at Terminus. Soon after (in story time not in season time) Daryl found out a clue to finding Beth. I'm loving but the W. Especially since Connie seems to be at Beth proxy.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah, exactly. And while this episode felt a lot like 4x15, that means we’re coming up on the retelling of 4x16. I can’t help but think about the fact that that episode had flashbacks of Beth. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This wasn’t part of our initial conversation, but the more I think about these W signs, the more I think they foreshadow the CRM. They could definitely foreshadow bad things in the short term, as @wdway​ said. Like the tunnel Glenn and Tara went into. But overall, because they are on train tracks, I think they foreshadow a bigger baddie. In S4, that was Terminus. It’s where all of TF’s paths converged, and, while we don’t know this for certain yet, we think they might have had ties to the CRM. It might have been in a 6-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon sort of way, I’ll admit. We just don’t know. But there were cop cars at Terminus, which suggests Grady. And we’re 99% sure Grady was linked to the CRM.

So here, in S11, I think the Ws foreshadow that TF is on the fast track to coming face to face with the CRM, just as in 4b they were on the fast track to running into Terminus/Grady/CRM. And of course with all of this, comes Beth. Hence, the train tracks in this story line are not at all a coincidence. Just wanted to throw that out there! 

@wdway:

Rick and Daryl mentioned Beth by name in 4x16, but I haven't thought about the prison flashbacks and the famous new sheriff in town scene. Great point. And we know sometime in the next couple of episodes, we will see Daryl and Judith together with her in the hat. Next Sunday seems sooo far away.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Lol. Right? Each time the new episode ends I’m like, “Nooooooo!”

And then before the new one comes on, it’s:

@wdway:

I'm right there with you.

@twdmusicboxmystery​: