Rick’s leadership wanes in sappy promo for The Walking Dead season 9

Just days before the premiere of The Walking Dead’s 9th season, AMC released a promo trailer titled “Every Picture” that depicts this season’s essential moments and clues us in on new issues.

The Walking Dead’s new trailer gives us some more insight on the problems that are arising among the different groups. By the looks of it, Rick is having issues as a leader, and it seems that it isn’t only Maggie who is disagreeing with his choices and leadership. The trailer also highlights some of the beautiful moments to come that are going to make it so memorable.

Although the previous The Walking Dead sneak peek of the premiere and the trailer preview imply that Alexandria is peaceful post-Negan and Daryl is doing a pretty good job as the resident bossman on Sanctuary headquarters, this trailer suggests that there are more severe troubles brewing beneath the surface. It’s no secret that Rick has lost the support of followers since he allowed Negan to live. Since this will be Andrew Lincoln’s last season, we have to assume that the consequences of his failed promises will either lead to his exile as leader of the group or to his death.

Check out the full The Walking Dead “Every Picture” trailer here:

The two themes that show up over and over seem to be death and forgiveness. While any true The Walking Dead fan knows that mass death is imminent in the series, the recurrent crow imagery–an image well connected with death in this season’s promos, foreshadows that we may see the most significant losses we have ever seen. That may involve characters losing their lives as well as Rick losing the loyalty of the core members of his group.

We already knew that Maggie wasn’t a fan of Rick anymore since he wouldn’t penalize her husband’s killer, but with this trailer, it looks like Darryl and Aaron have a bone to pick with him too. Aaron is seen standing up to Rick, and Rick tells Darryl that” It doesn’t have to be this way.”

All in all, it looks like Rick is looking like a lousy candidate for a group leader. Coupled with the shortage in food at the Sanctuary, it’s no wonder why some former Saviors are desperate for Negan to return to power. Meanwhile, Negan is seen bed bound and probably waiting for Rick to fail.

Jadis looks like she has taken to living with Rick’s people after Morgan’s proposal to join them last season. But there is a small glimpse of Jadis pulling a gun on someone that makes you wonder if she is still up to her old tricks of being deceitful. Jadis is someone that has been forgiven for setting up Rick in the past when Negan was still reigning king of the Sanctuary, but if she’s still playing both sides of the card, she could become another obstacle in Rick’s future.

In spite of all the new problems that will rise in season 9, it isn’t all bad. Fan favorite Carol is indeed living her best life as she’s seen sitting pretty close to King Ezekiel. It seems that with Morgan’s departure and Daryl’s residence in the Sanctuary, Carol has cozied up to the King who has been quite taken by her since they first met. I doubt that an actual relationship will bloom out of their closeness because Carol rarely puts her guard down. But it’s nice to see she’s not alone. Even more, the fact that she’s seen pulling out a gun on some strange men proves that she’s still ready to throw down whenever needed.

Also, Michonne has taken to mommy duties now that Judith is old enough to take part in activities like helping to grow the vegetables in their garden and paint pictures. And Aaron appears in a framed photo holding a baby, and the first question to come to mind is whether that is Maggie’s baby. The other option is that Aaron has become close to someone with a small baby, but I’m still crossing my fingers that it was Maggie’s little one.

In other good news, Saadiq is featured proving that the group’s relationship with him will continue. Saadiq has a medical background, so keeping him around would be a benefit to the team. The happiest news of all from this trailer is that Jerry has a girlfriend. The right-hand man of Ezekiel deserves all the love in the world, and if he’s found a sweet romance in this post-apocalyptic mess, I’m shipping their relationship aggressively.

This trailer fills in the gaps from all the previous footage, and the storyline for this season is pretty much laid out before the premiere even starts. However, there are a ton of new characters that we have yet to learn about. As the story unfolds, this new season promises to bring extreme highs and cry-inducing lows, and we’re ready for it.

AMC’s The Walking Dead airs on Oct 7. Check back with Culturess for all your Walking Dead news and recaps.