WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for this week's episode of The Walking Dead, "Chokepoint," which premiered Sunday on AMC.
This week The Walking Dead introduces the Highwaymen, the third group of newcomers we’ve met in Season 9. They’re not as honorable as Magna’s group, but they’re certainly not as crazy as the Whisperers. “Chokepoint” doubles-down on the show's promise to feel more like a Western this season by introducing a few real bandits.
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It turns out, the red symbol Ezekiel and Carol passed a few weeks ago wasn’t made by the Whisperers, nor was it, as we speculated, another slightly varied incident of the letter "A" cropping up. It was left by some no-good, thievin’ varmints that have been spying on the Kingdom, or at least the traffic to and from there, long enough to know about the upcoming fair. They hold up a Kingdom patrol, rob them of their weapons and armor, and send them back home with a clear message: Give up supplies, or else the roads to the fair won't be safe for anyone who wants to attend. Not only does Ezekiel know the Kingdom isn't able to meet those demands, the fair is the ast chance to acquire necessary supplies to keep the community on its feet. Also, Carol isn't about to be pushed around by a note, dag burn it. So the King, the Queen, Jerry, Diane and several loyal subjects head out to meet the Highwaymen and see if they can come to terms.
Once they reach the abandoned factory the Highwaymen have selected as the meeting point, everyone readies themselves for a fight. Carol points out that there’s probably room to negotiate, as the note was a) grammatically correct, and b) wasn’t a death threat. It turns out, she’s right, and after a slightly tense confrontation between the Kingdom and a group of Civil War reenactors led by Ozzy (Angus Sampson), she manages to convince the Highwaymen to collaborate by tempting them with an unexpected carrot: a movie. At the end of the episode, we see Tara and some other Hilltoppers catching some action on the road, and things look pretty dire until (cue music) the cavalry arrives! Ozzy and several horsemen ride in to the rescue, and introduce themselves as the Highwaymen, here to escort everyone safely to the fair.
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While Jerry’s still not particularly enamored of the new group, they seem like honorably enough businessmen to keep up their end of the bargain. There might be some treachery in the future, but Ozzy and his crew seem to be genuinely appreciative of the working relationship they’ve established. It feels more likely that these guys will stick around and provide some whimsy in the midst of the horror that the upcoming Whisperer conflict promises. Or they’re just as depraved as the Whisperers are, only in a different way. and all of this is a huge mistake.
From a narrative perspective, Ozzy and his group of post-apocalyptic history buffs certainly make for the most whimsical group we’ve met since Morgan wheeled Carol in to meet a King and a tiger in Season 7. While it might feel like Season 9 has been overloaded with new people, as we’ve speculated in recent weeks, if The Walking Dead follows the comics Whisperer arc, the show stands to lose a significant number of familiar faces, Ezekiel among them. It could be that Ozzy and his pals provide some of the lighthearted comedy if the dreamy King doesn’t make it out of this season alive. It’s difficult to predict what to expect from these guys, though, as they don’t appear to have a direct analog in the comics just yet. With only three more episodes to go, we’re bound to find out soon.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Nadia Hilker, Dan Fogler, Angel Theory, Lauren Ridloff and Eleanor Matsuura.