Not much.
It was all very far fetched to me.

Mr Logic Super Brain Eugene Porter hasn’t figured out in all this time… 2 months? 3 months?… that this was not the same woman he’s talked to on the radio? Really?
And all the conspiracy that followed? Oh please.

The sisters investigating the soldier’s story/captivity/disappearance… not much has come of that with a lot of screen time. Without Daryl turning up to dote on Connie.

Carol sussing out Lance might have been a more interesting part but Lance wearing his stupid suits makes everything so surreal straight up that I just can’t properly engage with what I’m seeing.

So for all this bullshit and for no Daryl at all… a large number of points deducted.

Redeeming features:

Princess: “I have a little bed. I have a little job. I might get a little cat.” ❤️❤️❤️

More signs of Mercer being conflicted.

That’s it.

And I was thinking that it is a little sad with only 9 episodes left of this show, that we are watching these silly side stories, and the only things I liked in the episode came from two characters we’ve only known for five minutes. Hopefully better episode next week with picking up the Daryl/Maggie story at Hilltop.

 

I haven't seen it yet, but I was interested in the reviews. Welcome to the disgruntled viewers club. lol

I can see I'm going to really hate this one.

 

Keeping up with this show just by reading the reactions on this board for a few minutes sounds like a much better plan than actually watching it these days.

 

I didn't care for the episode but felt I still needed to watch. We have Star Wars, now Forensic Files.

Why did Carol go on an outing with Lance? Is he prepping her for something? I must have missed that.

 

I actually got to see the episode last night. What to say. I actually felt bad for Eugene who thought he had found love. It was really kind of brutal but we all had an inkling that the woman who was posing as “Stephanie” wasn’t the real deal.

Hornsby is turning out to have more layers than I originally thought. Not only is he the friendly face of the commonwealth but the scheming underbelly as well. I don’t know what they call his little clandestine group but I agree with what he revealed to Carol that he really knows how the community runs… cause he runs it. I’m beginning to think Pamela is little more than a figure head or she knowingly lets Hornsby do the things she cannot.

I kind of get it that they need to know everything about the people they let into the CW and they certainly knew who the weak link was in our group because he was so obviously love sick and how to extract the information they wanted but still…

Hornsby knew all about Carol’s past exploits no doubt, but apparently waited until she came to him about moving Zeke up the surgical wait list, realizing she was already conducting some sort of personal reconnaissance mission to test her out. She didn’t disappoint. It makes me wonder what he’ll want to use her for next and if he’ll deliver on getting what she’s asked for.

Also at the end of the episode, it made me wonder why the “real Stephanie” chose to make an appearance. Was it because since Eugene no longer had any information to spill, the ruse was discovered and he seemed despondent that she was allowed to reveal herself? Was it to distract him from doing God knows what in his current state? Maybe she’s part of the resistance and knows this is the right time to recruit him. He would have questioned who she was before. He might still but she obviously knows the little secret things they said to each other when they were on the radio. How will he react? Hornsby made a bad enemy in my opinion. Did Eugene ever tell him or his Stephanie agent that he was the one to double cross Negan with the exploding guns? Hah! Betcha not. He was too busy dishing on everyone else. At least we can hope that this lady really likes him.

 

Well, that’s easily explained. The man was finally getting some. He was thinking with his little head.

 

Much as I found it unbelievable that Eugene didn’t realise all this time that Stephanie was not his Stephanie, I am now looking forward to what the “real” Stephanie has to say for herself. And whether Eugene can transfer his love back to the woman he actually fell in love with the first place? A rather odd story.

It’s also interesting that she’s Mercer’s sister.

And I also agree that Lance’s intricate game plan and Mercer’s increasing confusion and inner conflict is somewhat interesting.

So I guess there is some good stuff… but like Stealth said, it feels like a different show.
Like this is already a spin-off.

 

this was at best 3 out of 10. With so little left in this final season, did we REALLY need this type of episode? Couldn't this had been told over several episodes mixed in with something worth watching???

 

So, this is an Eugene's episode.
He himself is a master of disguise. He deceived Abe and Rosita as the brilliant scientist who knew the virus cure. He deceived Negan and all others by going to the Sanctuary. Now, he received the same treatment. He reaps the seeds he sowed! He could/should have checked out this spy Stephanie first and detected her fake. The reason he did not is that he has been so dried for love for so long that this 'sex drive' clouded his judgment.
(Hey, we had this spy thing before. This is not new...remember Dante of the Whisperers)

So, Lance is the CIA of the CW. He runs a ring of spies making dissents disappear without trace (the assassin disguised as a plumber and the pretty girl using sex for info) and deals with 'South American' drug cartels for his own interest. I think he wants to recruit Carol by first testing out her ability to comprehend the situation. I bet he already knew what to do with the drug leader. He just wanted to see if Carol would come to the same conclusion as his.

I think this episode wants to show a little bit of each of our heroes about his/her 'dissatisfaction' with the CW (Connie sniffing after trooper Tyler, Carol knowing Lance's drug secret, Eugene being cheated, Rosita seeing Tyler's posters, Mercer not happy that his authority being undercut...etc) so as to prepare them to join the Resistance to overthrow Pamela Milton.

Edit#1
One more thing about the real Stephanie. I think, she has to somehow give some (if not all) information to the fake Stephanie so that the fake one can pretend to be her. Maybe she was caught red handed while doing radio with Eugene. Maybe Lance threatened to expose her if she does not fully cooperate. If she is exposed, I imagine her brother Mercer will be affected and probably his career being the General will be finished? Maybe this is why she agreed, to protect her brother Mercer?

I agree what have said above by others that the show is a different show now. This plot is more or less like a 'regular' soap opera. 'Life-as-before-ZA' of CW is an advanced version of Woodsbury. Personally I enjoyed the earlier seasons (like S1 Atlanta and S2 Heshel's Barn) much more. The looming apocalypse feel is now all lost)

 

Not a different show per se but perhaps the CW presents a much more successful version of Woodbury. In order for them to be this big, secure and living life as if it were pre ZA they must have come together right after it started. Without a psychopath Governor running the show, it gives us a glimpse of what that previous community might have become.

While I’m pretty sure Hornsby probably isn’t running on all cylinders, he appears fully vested in maintaining the CW warts and all. On the surface it’s a sweet life, but maybe not for everyone…especially some in our group who are used to more transparency and equality in the communities they’ve occupied.

I’m willing to give this story line some slack because it begs the question what will one be willing to give up or turn a blind eye to, to be able to live in a relatively “normal” environment? What will each of our characters decide?

 

The degree of hurt Eugene expressed in this episode is not believable for me. He was lied to and the Stephanie is faked.

I didn't watch this episode from beginning to end, I watched the second half first, then The Talking Dead, then caught up on the first half after that. It didn't really hold my attention too much.

 

Oh, I totally agree about Eugene. He’s pulled his share of ruses to keep himself safe but he could reason it was self preservation. Yep, he let his guard down here cause he finally fell in love. At least Eugene now understands what Abraham was feeling when he knocked his lights out after the scientist lie was revealed. Still, I felt bad for him.

I agree with your other observations as well. Hornsby was testing Carol. I also think that we’re seeing how each of our characters feel about living in the CW. and how they’ll handle what they dislike about it. After all, not everyone stays, or we wouldn’t have a spin off of Carol and Daryl off on their own again. Some with more to lose like Rosita (who has to think of her little one), or Princess who likes her job and wants to get a cat may stay. One way or another our group is poised to make some sort of change in the way that place is run, for better or worse.

I also think you could be right that real Stephanie was caught talking to Eugene and was blackmailed into going along with the deception. She did have her brother to think of besides herself. I still believe she might be part of this nascent rebellion cause why was she on the radio in the first place reaching out to strangers? We have no indication that the CW regularly searches to recruit survivors as a practice like they did at ASZ.

How this circles back to Rick or Michonne is beyond me. I don’t even think the CW is the group that took Rick or how the CW might tie in with that group. I could be wrong though. I never did read the comic books.

 

I've finally viewed this episode in its entirety and I feel that it's the worst one in the entire TWD series.

I laughed when they ran the opening credits showing fake Stephanie packing her bags, as if that's some pivotal moment. The whole show is bordering on parody now.

Suddenly Connie (who Daryl has apparently forgotten exists) is doing some sort of law and order episode in the Commonwealth. I know if I got to a new place and some deranged guy held a knife to a woman during an event I would immediately say, you know I want to hear knife dude's side of this. What a complete joke.

The Stephanie thing doesn't make sense, and I don't care what lame explanation they have for it. I wish it had ended there, but they just had to bring in Stephanie 2.0. Now this boring, poorly written unbelievable storyline will continue on. Great. And if it's not already terrible enough they make us deal with Eugene's nauseating crying. The guy deserves Martinez's death from Season 4.

We have only 13 episodes left in a series that has run 11 seasons and they're churning out this sort of trash. It's just bad TV.

If Andrew Lincoln is coming back for the final third of the season, as it seems he is, I now worry what they're going to give us. They'll probably have him with amnesia and he thinks he's Shane. That's the level of writing we're getting now.

 

The quality of the plot lines are only bothering you now? Lol. Maybe Andy will only appear in the last episode where we see Rick in the hospital, awakening from the coma he’s been in since he was shot back in the first season, as the nurse soothingly says, we thought you’d never regain consciousness.LOL

 

I've always been critical of the show's later seasons, starting with Glenn's dumpster dive and the heavy handed one where Negan killed both Abe and Glenn. That was just too over the top. But at least those plot lines revolved around a post apocalypse world and wasn't like As The TWD World Turns, soap opera style story.

 

Rick awakens from coma only to realize in reality he is a resurrected Jon Snow who dreamed the whole other universe while dead.

 

Ahh…Maybe Rick has somehow opened the TWD multiverse….or was that Gimple???

 

And is sad when he realizes instead of a python , he has a small pecker.