Turning an enemy into a friend

"It never ends, does it?" - Ezekiel, "The Walking Dead"

"The Walking Dead" returned for the second half of its ninth season on Feb. 10. Each week I'll be looking at the episode, the deeper themes, and the world.

Last night's episode of "The Walking Dead" presented something fun. Sure, we saw an epic battle between Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Beta (Ryan Hurst), but that was more of a side light and a holding pattern. The big showdown with The Whispers and Alpha and Beta is coming (I mean, seriously, did anyone in the world think Daryl dispatched Beta with that????), and with it will come more losses.

Sometimes all the cycles of violence get to be too much. I was amused when Ezekiel (Khary Payton) expressed the same, saying "it never ends, does it?" when faced with another potential threat. This time coming from The Highwaymen, a group who assaulted a few on the road and left a note demanding payment for allowing folks to pass.

The first move of The Kingdom, with the all important trade fair coming, was to go on the offensive. But Carol (Melissa McBride) suggested another way. Much to the surprise of the group, she suggested that they try talking first to avoid conflict.

Weary as they might be, Ezekiel and the rest relented, and they had a face-to-face with The Highwaymen, which started out looking pretty dangerous. But when The Kingdom got the upper hand, a funny thing happened. Instead of showing the back of their hand, they offered an open palm. Suggesting a partnership, wherein the Highwaymen are invited to be part of the community in exchange for help securing the roads.

And while that alone wasn't completely appealing, it was what Carol offered next, the chance to see a movie, that both tickled me as a film fanatic and turned the tables. Their leader Ozzy (Angus Sampson) was also tickled by the offer as a selling point. And just like that, a potential threat became an friend and cohort in a world gone made that a few souls are trying to put right.

In fact, Ozzy and the gang quickly came to the aid of the Hilltop group, helping them make it to the fair. And said fair will likely be the sight of a showdown later this season, but for now it remains a symbol of hope.

Some may have seen this as a slow episode, and I'm sure most will be focused on the fight between Daryl and Beta. But what I've always been fascinated by in "The Walking Dead" is trying to re-built a society that's been lost. I love that Ezekiel is an optimist, trying to build society. I love that they risked it all for a projector bulb to return the world to a sense of normalcy. I love that Carol opted to make a friend rather than kill a stranger, and that movies were the key.

My hopes for the fair are the same as Ezekiel's, and I guess over the final three episodes of this season we'll see how it plays out.