Welcome back TWD fans! After a very long summer hiatus, the All Out War is upon us as Rick and the gang have prepared themselves to go head to head with Negan and The Saviors. We have reached 100 episodes, and this season premiere pays homage to the pilot episode a few different times which is pretty awesome. We jump around quite a bit throughout the hour and it's not always easy to know when we're in the "now," but it sure is nice to see everyone back together again...however short lived it may be. Here's what went down in "Mercy."
I Got A Brand New Attitude
The episode opens with a Maggie/Ezekiel/Rick pep talk as their followers gather around and listen to the trio of leaders talk about how far they've come together. Ezekiel calls the men and women who fight with him his brothers and sisters, Maggie tells the group they can't ever lose faith in each other, and Rick says their world is going to continue to get bigger. He also says there is only one person who has to die, "and I will kill him myself." The leaders deliver a message of a brighter tomorrow and the residents of all three colonies seem eager to make the world a safer place and win the war ahead of them. There's a lot of head nodding and "I got your back" exchanges among the group, so at least everyone is currently on the same page.
We catch up with Carl as he's on a supply mission in what looks like a run down version of The Mystery Machine. His one-eyed driving skills seem to be pretty strong and his hair is just as inexcusable as it was when we last saw him. As Carl wanders around a gas station with an empty can, he hears a man call out to him. This guy is hiding behind a car and he tells Carl a little bit about his mom, quotes the Quran, and mentions that he hasn't eaten in days. He steps into sight and just as Carl is about to approach him, we see Rick firing shots over the guy's head, scaring him away. Carl had been hoping to help the dude but Rick is worried he's a Negan spy. Carl walks away in frustration as Rick gets his hatchet ready to dispose of a little girl Walker. Fun fact - if you're sitting there thinking "that little girl Walker looks like the one from the pilot episode of TWD," you're not crazy. It's the same young actress and they brought her back 100 episodes later. Neat, huh? We see Carl go back to this spot later in the episode and leave some food and a "Sorry" note. I'm guessing we'll see more of that guy at some point this season.
We're All Gonna Get In A Fight
Seems we have reached the big day where Alexandria, Hilltop, and The Kingdom join forces and head to The Sanctuary. I'm not exactly sure how much time has passed between this day and the day Shiva ate Saviors in Alexandria...Judith suddenly looks like she's in preschool, but Maggie doesn't even have a baby bump yet. Fuzzy math. There has been a ton of preparation leading to this day though. Dwight is our inside man now and has made security for The Saviors very vulnerable. The Saviors' satellite sites and watch towers have been taken out, a large number of vehicles have become moving shields like the Spartans in 300, and the masses have been trained to wield weapons for combat against living enemies as well as the dead. I hope this carefully laid out plan has a payoff.
Rick leaves Carl, Michonne, and Smokin' Hot Rosita (and her resting bitch face) behind in Alexandria to defend the homestead if needed and none of them seem thrilled about it. Tara, Carol, Daryl and Morgan have the daunting task of leading Negan's patrol cars to an area of explosives, and also leading a large herd of Walkers toward The Sanctuary. Timing is key here.
The armored Spartan vehicles assemble outside The Sanctuary and some warning shots are fired. Negan, Simon, Eugene, Gavin, Regina and Dwight emerge from the front door and Negan doesn't look phased by this setup at all. "Well shit, I'm sorry. I was in a meeting." He goes on to say a few more things but I can't pay attention...all I can think is WHY AREN'T WE SHOOTING NEGAN ON SIGHT? I mean, there he is, Rick! Kill his ass! But that's not what Rick does. Instead, Rick offers Negan's lieutenants a chance to surrender and survive. Eugene is silently realizing he chose poorly in this fight and Gavin looks a little worried too. Simon, however, steps back inside to grab Dumbass Gregory, who has apparently been hiding out there and pouting. Dumbass Gregory calls out to the Hilltopians and tells them Hilltop stands with Negan, and any resident who takes up arms will find themselves homeless. "Go home now or you won't have a home to go back to!" Several folks from that colony look nervous but none of them waiver. Jesus shouts back "The Hilltop stands with Maggie!" and Simon tosses Gregory's ass down the stairs. Ha!
And You're A Tool
Negan hears the explosion from his patrol cars and sees smoke rising in the distance. He knows shit is going down. Rick initiates a countdown for the lieutenants to surrender, starting at 10 and opening fire at 7...and by opening fire, I mean the group shoots blindly at the building, hitting none of the lieutenants and possibly just grazing Negan. The Grimes gang wastes a shit ton of bullets shooting up the windows and I'm not entirely sure why. I get that gunfire was an alert for Daryl to get the Walkers heading that way, but are bullets really that disposable that we needed to unleash so many of them? Didn't we have a hell of a time finding "a lot" of guns for Das Sound Machine the garbage people? Where are they these days?
Our heroes sprint to their vehicles and haul ass out of there. Gabriel rigs the RV to crash through the main gate and he jumps out of the back window. Instead of hopping in his car though, he makes the mistake of trying to save Dumbass Gregory, who makes off with the car instead and leaves him behind. Gabriel, really? You left the keys in the ignition? The herd of Walkers have now surrounded the place and Gabriel barely makes it into a trailer without getting bit. Problem is, he's not alone in that trailer. Negan is there as well and he tells the priest "I hope you have your shittin' pants on...cuz you are about to shit your pants." Groan. We then get an aerial shot of the Walkers ascending on the trailer outside, and the camera pans out the same way it did in the pilot episode when Rick was stuck in the tank.
Tonight we also toggle back and forth to some sort of future where Rick walks with a cane has a long, gray beard....it's very Rip Van Rick. Michonne and Carl don't look like they've aged a day, but Judith is at least kindergarten age and she takes Rip Van Rick to see some sort of festival preparation happening outside. She tells him there's an owl and we see them head out their front door. At the same time, we see a somewhat more present day Rick, eyes red and a little shaky. He stands near two graves says, "My mercy prevails over my wrath," which is also a quote from the Quran. I'm guessing this is a post-war Rick, reflecting on decisions made and losses suffered. This scene seems very real. The Rip Van Rick sequence, on the other hand, reminds me far too much of the fantasy scenes we saw after Glenn and Abraham died where the group sits happily around a large dinner table without a care in the world. So should we worry that those two graves hold some combination of Michonne, Carl, and Judith? Are Gabriel's days numbered? As much as I would enjoy an Odd Couple spinoff of Negan and Gabriel in the trailer, I don't think cohabitation is in the cards for those guys. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks, but for now, The Walking Dead show runners have certainly given us a lot to chew on. 
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