Second half of season 9 is looking great so far with the start of The Whisperers War arc from the graphic novel. We get introduced to Lydia, a character I really like in the comics but the whole prison sequence didn't set right with me as Carl is supposed to be there, it doesn't make any sense that Henry is there but we'll have to wait and see. Overall a great episode which is directed by Greg Nicotero, he knows the characters and story arcs and has the knowledge to do a fantastic job.
The story arc with Negan which is fantastically played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, bringing something new to the character and making him likeable to everyone. He took Jesus' place on my list of favorite characters as he sadly met his demise in last episode in a brutal but epic way. Angela Kang is doing a great job at being the show runner, bringing justice to the source material and trying to patch up the broken pieces left by Scott Gimple.