ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What can we expect to see in the second half of season 9?

Weve seen the Whisperers now on the scene.

Theyve made their presence felt bytaking down Jesus.

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Jackson Lee Davis/AMC; AMC

Its very complicated and its very clever, the way that they sort of infiltrate everybody.

The threat is a different kind of threat for us.

As for Daryl, he doesnt want Carol mad at him.

You dont want to get a spanking from Carol!

Yeah, wheres Daryls head at?

Hes been out in the woods looking for a body.

He wont give up.

Thats just who he is.

He was like that with Sophia, when she was lost.

Hes just the jot down of guy that… he needs proof.

He needs some closure.

He needs to figure it out.

Hes been put on this mission, like you said, to bring Henry to Hilltop.

When he gets there, all hells breaking loose.

Theres a knock at the door.

Were kind of called out, and no ones really stepping up.

Daryls like, Screw it.

Ill go do it.

He ends up in a situation where he kind of has to man up.

Thats just not who he is.

He listens and he figures out a way to cut that distance in half.

Hes a no-bullsh guy.

All of a sudden, all of these things have happened.

Were bringing Jesus back.

You kind of have a glimpse into the world of the Whisperers a little bit through this back door.

Hes trying to figure things out.

I mean, there are certain moments in the next two episodes where Daryl didnt get in someones face.

He kind of took a step back, and hes watching.

Hes very clever in a way that hes going to play both sides, in a way.

Its very complicated, and theres a lot of moving parts.

And weve got some new faces as well.The performances in the back eight [episodes] are just ridiculous.

We really sort of got this show to a point where its so direct and its so honest.

There are no dull moments.

Theres no grandiose gestures of importance coming from anybody.

Everyones on the hoof, so to speak.

Its a brand-new back eight, and its super good.

Super, super good.

So, whatdoesshe do with this character?Theres a lot of Daryl and Alpha stuff coming up.

Theyre coming from two different places.

Shes coming from a place of shes got it figured out.

Shes figured out how to survive.

The way that shes figured out how to survive is smart, but its also so dark.

Daryl sort of is put in the middle of this.

It gets to a point where theres a mutual respect between them in some weird way.

You live outside of these walls.

Youre a wild animal.

You get it more than anyone.

I think Alpha kind of sees that in Daryl, and Daryl sees that in Alpha.

As the story progresses, youll get to know that there is a mutual respect between those two characters.

Shes coming at it like Axl Rose.

Shes squirming in his face, belting out the loudest noise.

Everybody has their own way of being a bad guy.

Jeffreys is to be confident and smile.

The Governor was to be really serious.

Samantha, shes kind of having fun being puffed up.

Shes kind of enjoying the mental of being Alpha.

Shes getting into it, and she comes at you like a snake with a smile on her face.

A lot of the characters on our show would be affected by that sort of showmanship.

Daryls like, What the f do you want?

The whole snaky fing creepy-face-looking thing, Ive seen it all at this point.

What do you want?

Im just cutting to the fing chase.

Youre not freaking me out.

What the f do you want?

You cant intimidate him.

For moreWalking Deadintel, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.