This hour, while entertaining, is pure filler.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
The Walking Dead: “We Are The End Of The World”
Season 10, Episode 2
Airdate: 10/13/2019
***SPOILERS BELOW***
For the first time since Angela Kang took charge of “The Walking Dead” and completely revitalized the show, an episode has felt like pure filler.
Let me be clear: “We Are The End Of The World” is not a bad episode at all. Samantha Morton and Ryan Hurst were fantastic as usual, and everyone else in the episode plays their part well. It’s just that this hour feels like it doesn’t serve a larger purpose, and, at least to me, it just feels like killing time. It’s an episode that focuses solely on The Whisperers in the present day, and Alpha and Lydia’s first meeting with Beta (who hilariously was shielding his identity even back at the beginning of the apocalypse). It’s good stuff and enjoyable to watch, but it just doesn’t feel very important.
There is one thing that has to be noted, though. It’s made clear that despite her willingness to let her go, Alpha still cares about Lydia a lot and is very upset with her decision to leave; Beta is not pleased about this development. In the comic series, Alpha shows similar emotions, but I honestly didn’t think the show would go that route; since her introduction, Alpha has been portrayed as being unflinchingly ruthless. I’m not sure that I like that development, but we’ll see if it leads to anything substantial for the story. It might not; by the episode’s end, Alpha becomes impressed by a new Whisperer, who she bestows the name “Gamma” on. Beta doesn’t seem too pleased with this development either. Alpha taking a liking to Gamma may signal that she has let Lydia go for good, but I’m not so sure that’s the case yet, no matter what we saw on screen.
The end of the episode is the same as the end of “Lines We Cross,” as Alpha spots Carol from the clearing. War is definitely coming. The show has set the table for the battles ahead and what the stakes for those battles are; it’s time for conflict.
SCATTERED THOUGHTS:
– Beta’s origin story is still largely a mystery, but this episode heavily infers that he was in rehab when the apocalypse hits. What he was there for was left unsaid, but I think he could have been in there for drug abuse. It didn’t look like there was anything wrong with him.
– While “Fear The Walking Dead” is trash, it may have provided a clue to Beta’s real identity. There is an album cover that is seen with actor Ryan Hurst’s face on it. Could Beta have been a famous singer? That’s objectively funny to think about.
– Another thing: in the comics, Beta is eventually unmasked and revealed to be an unnamed famous basketball player. I don’t think that’s where the show is heading.
– Beta keeping his friend around after he already turned is objectively less creepy than The Governor doing the same thing with his daughter after she turned.
– Actress Thora Birch, who plays Gamma, was apparently in “Hocus Pocus.” I’ve never seen that movie. Apparently that is sacrilege but I just don’t care for the premise. I hope Thora Birch shines on this show though.
– It’s worth noting that Gamma has a sister who is a Whisperer, and that sister is the mother of the baby that Connie saved last season. Of course, since this is “The Walking Dead,” that sister is dead by the end of the hour.
– Here’s a spoiler for next week: Henry’s back so that Carol can be sad again. Even in death, Henry is by far the worst kid in the zombie apocalypse.
