Entertainment
This 'Walking Dead' Clue Could Point To Another Civilized Settlement
Besides finding out why Negan's bat is named Lucille, another big reveal occurs while Jadis holds Negan captive in "Still Gotta Mean Something." Spoilers follow. The helicopter on The Walking Dead shows up again, but this time, it's clear that Jadis knows who's in it. Or, at least, she knows the time that the helicopter will arrive at the junkyard. As Jadis is the only surviving Garbage Person, she is desperate for more allies and it appears that the helicopter is one of her last hopes. Yet, she doesn't succeed in drawing the attention of the helicopter and so the identity of who's in the helicopter continues to remain a mystery. But this moment in "Still Gotta Mean Something" reminds viewers yet again that there's another group of people out there with the power of flight.
Jadis captured Negan after his fight with Rick in "The Key." And it seems that she planned on simply feeding him to a walker after she tied him to a cart. She was also going to use Lucille as kindling for a fire to presumably draw the attention of the helicopter. But before Negan could be consumed by the walker, he manages to grab a gun and a flare and threatens to destroy the photographs she has. This buys him time and when the helicopter arrives, they tussle and the flare is dropped into a nearby puddle. Jadis runs to light another flare to draw the helicopter's attention, but it's too late — the helicopter turns around before the flare is lit.
Before Simon killed all of the Scavengers (except Jadis) in "The Lost and the Plunderers," he asked about the solar panels and helipads that exist at the junkyard. Even though more of the junkyard is revealed in "Still Gotta Mean Something" with Jadis' home space being shown, these helipads really haven't been featured. But Jadis has some sort of alarm set that alerts her to the helicopter's arrival. So while the people in the helicopter may not necessarily be Scavengers, the Trash People were tracking whoever flies the helicopter.
Jadis also screams, "I'm here! I'm here!" to the helicopter when she finally sets off the flare in "Still Gotta Mean Something." That indicates that even if the helicopter people weren't part of her community, she does know who they are. Since her the Scavengers had helipads, perhaps the helicopter people (for lack of a better term) would stopover at the junkyard occasionally. And now, she wants to join those people since her group has been completely annihilated by Simon and the Saviors.
Who is flying the helicopter is still pretty much a mystery. Talking Dead gave viewers the chance to vote on who they think it may be with the options of a new group, a military convoy, or a Heapster (another name for the Garbage People) outpost. A military organization would make sense because of the technology and the fact that someone knows how to actually fly the helicopter. But it also would seem bizarre that if some sort of military convoy was still around that they wouldn't be trying to help more people. The idea that the "Heapsters" expanded beyond their trash pile seems unlikely, so a new group is the best option. And fans agree; that choice won the vote on Talking Dead.
The identity of who is flying the helicopter will most likely stay a mystery until the Season 8 finale or beyond. But Jadis capturing Negan confirms that the aircraft is real and not something that the characters have been imagining. The only problem now is that Jadis may be on Negan's side — and if that's the case, Negan may somehow gain access to the helicopter. And Negan having the power to control the skies will be beyond terrible news for Rick's group.