#twd: dead city 1x01

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LAUREN COHAN as Maggie Rhee The Walking Dead: Dead City - S01E01

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What you did, you don't ever put something like that to bed.

Maggie Rhee

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Lauren Cohan as Maggie in TWD DEAD CITY (1X01)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Helicopter Hints Throughout the Seasons

So, for today, I just wanted to go through the examples we’ve seen in the show of helicopters to help you guys see why I think the helicopter group is pretty much end game and they always have been. I’ve had lots of people asking me about this lately, so here it is.

1x01:

When Rick awoke from his coma in the pilot episode, one of the very first things he saw outside the hospital was a bunch of helicopters. The camera really focuses on them heavily, as if they’re…important for some reason.

Then, after meeting Morgan, getting an apocalyptic education, and parting with him to ride a horse into Atlanta, he sees a helicopter flying around between Atlanta’s sky scrapers. 

So at that point, there was already someone, somewhere, who had the resources to be flying helicopters around.

3x01:

Let’s fast forward to S3. Andrea and Michonne are on the road together and witness a helicopter crash. While observing it, they run into Merle. Which is interesting. Because right then, helicopters became associated with the return of missing-and-presumed-dead characters.

But this helicopter group from S3 is another thing, much like the Beth/Andrea parallel, that always makes me wonder why people don’t ask more questions. It was never explained to my satisfaction.

And I’m sure part of the reason for the lack of questioning is because a short while later, the Governor and his people found the helicopter group and killed them all. I guess that was enough for most of the fandom and they just assumed he killed off this entire group.

Yeah, it’s not enough for me. The group he killed was a bunch of armed-to-the-rafters military dudes just sitting on the side of the road. Almost as if waiting to rendezvous with someone or something.

Now, a group like that might travel for various reasons, but it seems to me they would have to have a base of operations of some kind. And, like at Grady, certain things were insinuated, but not confirmed. So I guess most people probably figured that the helicopter that crashed WAS the one Rick saw in Atlanta. But was it? We have no way to know for certain.

4x01:

The next significant occurrence was the crashed helicopter on the roof of The Big Spot. And this may be the most significant occurrence in my mind, at least in terms of foreshadowing.

Because this was the episode where Beth came front and center, where the Bethyl hug happened, where Gimple took over, and a new arc with new foreshadowing began. This was the episode directly after the one where they put Beth in Andrea’s beanie and had the Governor read a bible verse about resurrection.

I feel like this was them telling us that helicopters were super important and to pay attention to them.

Aside: between the CRASHED helicopter on the roof in this episode, the CRASHED helicopter that coincided with Merle’s return, and the plane CRASH we saw in FTWD 5a that was super-significant, I’m wondering if we should be looking out for a helicopter crash that will signal the beginning of Beth’s return arc.

Season 5: While we don’t see an actual helicopter, Grady has a landing pad. Read HERE about how/why I think Grady represents one branch of the helicopter people and were probably in communication with them. We didn’t see any of this in the show, but there were definite hints.

In 5x09, there was also a little blue helicopter in Noah’s brother’s room. We saw it in the background during Ty’s death experience/hallucination.

7x10:

This one is unconfirmed, but remember when Rick fought Winslow and then stood on top of the trash heap and fans thought they saw a plane in the background? 

People assumed it was an editing error, but the background of this shot is green screen (read: completely computer simulated), so how can it be an editing error?

Polyanna MacIntosh pretty much confirmed this without confirming it when someone asked her about it and she answered, “I can’t say anything. You either talk about a studio screw-up or you talk about a possible thing that might be part of a story, so either way I’m not doing the show justice.” (Source)

So, I’m thinking that was a helicopter. Not a plane.

After that, I don’t remember any particular instances until season 8. It does seem, though, like we might have seen some background pictures, symbols, etc., but I’m not sure exactly when. Also keep in mind, helicopters are often referred to as “birds.”

Season 8:

During All Out War, Rick sees a random helicopter flying overhead. Later, we find out Jadis knows this group and she radios them for a pickup that falls through.

Season 9:

In 9x02, The Bridge, Jadis is on watch at night and sees the lights of a helicopter in the distance.

During Rick’s hallucination, we see a room that looks very Grady like, and then tons of helicopters coming flying right at him.

Finally, in 9x05, Rick and Jadis are whisked away in a helicopter with the three circles on the side.

FTWD:

In this season of FTWD, Al meets Isabelle, a member of the helicopter group. We learn a lot more about them and how Grady-like they are. They parted ways, but given that nothing about that story line is resolved, it’s obvious we’ll have more run-ins with the helicopter people in the future.

More recently, we had Sarah’s trucker “anthem” which mentioned “bears in the air.” That’s trucker slang for police helicopters. And of course the “bear” symbol is a huge part of the Sirius/return symbol.

So what does it all mean?

Just kidding.

If all of these symbols are meant to be related, or pertain to the same thing, it’s interesting that in the early days (S3) the helicopter people wore military uniforms. I’m thinking this group grew out of the military or government in some way.

If that turns out to be the case, certain things will actually make a lot of sense. Military organizations like this would have probably mobilized when the virus first hit to try and save what they could. Them working on a cure (possibly with government funding and/or resources) would also make more sense than some random group who simply figured something out. Finally, we know they don’t let people go once those people know about their operation. A military group would have much more of the mindset, determination, and possibly resources to do that than any civilian group would.

More specifically, I read it like this:

Rick wakes from his coma in 1x01. Before he (or the audience) knows anything about what’s going on, any details about the nature of the apocalypse, or who, other than he, might still be alive, we see helicopters. As if to say, something about them are important.

Then, after obtaining his post-apocalyptic education from Morgan, he goes looking for his family…and sees a helicopter flying about the city. Now, granted, Lori and Carl weren’t with any helicopter people at that point, but TWD constantly foreshadows things many seasons in advance. Rick is looking for his family, he’s on a HORSE, and he sees a helicopter. So the helicopter is entangled with both the horse symbol and with being separated from and looking for one’s family.

When he gets trapped in the tank, which is right after seeing the helicopter and his horse going down, they play the song, Space Junk. In 9x05, when the helicopter takes him away, they play the exact same song. Coincidence? Definitely not. (See why we pay attention to songs so closely in this show?)

As I’ve already explained, season 3’s helicopter coinciding with Merle’s reappearance immediately entangled the chopper with characters who suddenly disappeared, were more or less presumed dead (at least by the characters) but whose bodies and burials we never saw.

Then comes S4. The opening sequence in the Big Spot has a TON of foreshadows of Beth’s arc. But I feel like S4, when Gimple took over, was when the helicopter group’s story was all planned and cemented. 

Yes, they were obviously thinking about it before that, but perhaps in a more general, not-set-in-stone sort of way. 4x01 was the beginning of Gimple’s tenure as show runner, the beginning of Beth’s resurrection arc, and Bethyl, and when Gimple’s 11 year (through S15) plan began. So naturally, we have a crashed helicopter on the roof.

This is the writers waving their arms around to get our attention and pointing frantically to the helicopter yelling, 

Remember how I always say the beginning will foreshadow/mirror the ending? This is why I pay attention to season premieres so closely. They can tell us what is going to happen down the road, even if we can’t see the entire picture yet.

Yeah, this helicopter in particular is what makes me think the helicopter group is end game.

Of course we had the hint of the helicopter pad at Grady, which suggests but doesn’t confirm.

In 5x09, we also see one. This is another big instance for me. We have SO many hints at Beth’s return in this episode. The number 8, the 5:10 clock, the graffiti, various background symbols, etc. 

If all of it points toward her return (and I believe it does), well, there’s a helicopter included. Enough said?

7x10 is another fun one to think about. In its simplest form, showing the helicopter here was a hint at plot. Jadis is in contact and league with the helicopter group. But it’s SO much deeper than that, isn’t it?

Remember that when Rick fought Winslow, he got a wound in his hand that was very stigmata/Christ-like. This foreshadowed that he would have a death fake out/resurrection arc, and Jadis would have something to do with it. (Check. She did.) 

Putting the helicopter in the background of this shot also foreshadowed that helicopters would have something to do with it. (Also check.) Also interesting that while he fought Winslow, Michonne was screaming at him down a tunnel, genuinely afraid for his life. Once he beat Winslow, they kind of reunited, hugged, her happy to see one another again. Seeing the foreshadows?

And then of course we get the actual introduction of the group when Rick sees them in S8, and they take him and Jadis away in S9. 

It’s super-significant that we see a room that looks EXACTLY like Grady in Rick’s hallucination, and then all those helicopters come at him. There’s no better way to entangle Rick, Beth, Grady, and helicopters.

We’ve still only seen bits and pieces of them through that and then the Al/Isabel dynamic in Fear, but they’re revealing the helicopter people to us a slice at a time.

So yeah. I’m just trying to illustrate that they’ve given a lot of hints toward this that we didn’t entirely bring together until this season of Fear. We’d definitely noticed the helicopter theme around Beth several seasons ago, and also that it pertained to Rick, linking the two of them together. What better way to explain that than by finding out they’re now both with the helicopter group?

So I think they’ve planned this since the start. They may not have had all the details hammered out, but I think they had it in mind as an endgame sort of scenario. I just wanted to lay this all out for you guys.

Thoughts?

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[twdmusicboxmystery]

Hi! AMC just released the S9 TWD poster. Do you have any thoughts on it?

Okay, the S9promo poster. We’ve discussed this extensively in my group. Please note thatnot all of these thoughts are mine. Many of them came from my fellow theorists.

The biggest image we have there’s that of thecapitol building. Not surprising, given the spoilers about 9x01 filming. But again,we saw that same building on Beth’s spoon, which makes us think that perhapsshe isn’t just going to show up in D.C. but is literally going to show up atthe capitol. *Fingers crossed*

The nextthing which I believe @katkhaos noticed, was that the different characters seenon the poster art looking in different directions. These are arguably the mostmainstream characters on the show. Maggie and Daryl are looking in the samedirection. Don’t know what that means, but we’re hoping they have some sort ofshared arc that has to do with Beth. You could also argue that if Lauren Cohenreally is leaving, Daryl might be very tied up in her arc. Chances are, herexit will have lots of callbacks to Glenn, and we know how inextricably tied upDaryl is with Glenn’s death. Of course, we’re hoping for something a littlemore positive, like Beth.

Rick islooking the same general direction as Daryl and Maggie, but slightly moreforward than they are. Michonne is looking in the same direction as him. Again,that makes sense, because there are couple, and with Rick leaving, we’llprobably see a lot of Richonne moments.

 Finally,Carol is looking off in her own direction, which simply shows that she willhave her own arc, be doing her own thing, separate from these other characters.Again, that makes sense based on what we’ve seen and what the spoilers havebeen. She will be at the Kingdom, at Ezekiel’s side, and not necessarily doingthe same thing that the others are. There’s really no clearer way for the showto tell us that Carol and Daryl will not be a thing.

Also,notice the helicopter between Rick and Michonne. They’ve already told us we’ll learn moreabout the helicopter this season, and for it to show up in the promo postersays a lot. Remember, there were helicopters around Rick in 1x01 when he wokeup and came out of the hospital. We also had a very prominent helicopter whenMerle returned in S3 after being gone for several seasons and presumed dead. Allthis gives me a great deal of hope.

There’s alot of talk in the fandom about whether all this stuff done in the capitol isactually about Washington D.C., or if it’s actually going to be about Atlanta.I can see us having some Atlanta flashbacks in the season, but I honestly thinkthis is probably the real D.C. We know TF is still in the Virginia area, andBeth’s spoon specifically said Washington D.C. But, again, if we have someflashbacks to Beth’s story, we may see Atlanta as well. If you look at thispicture, you can see the skyline of the city. There’s not really any way totell what city it is, but it was included in the poster.

So that’sall I have about the poster. I love it and it makes me super excited! Thanks,Nonny’s! Xoxo!  💓