Negan shines, and the Whisperers are deeper in the trenches of Alexandria than we first thought.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
***SPOILERS BELOW***
The Walking Dead: “Silence The Whisperers”
Season 10, Episode 4
Airdate: 10/27/2019
This episode had a lot going on, but its main story was all about Negan.
The Whisperer threat is only leading to increased paranoia across the Hilltop and Alexandria, especially the latter. Alpha’s daughter Lydia is still struggling to fit in, and is not helping her case by cutting up a squirrel in front of everyone in the communities’ cafeteria.
In the middle of the night, Lydia is attacked in a secluded area by three Alexandrian residents (Gage, Alfred and Margo), and is nearly beaten to death before Negan, of all people, arrives to save her. He accidently kills one of them in the process. While Negan did the right thing, he still killed someone, and thus he is returned to his cell and his fate is thrust into the hands of the Alexandrian consuel. It’s a split vote between death and forgiveness, and Father Gabriel (the deciding vote), takes the night to think about it. The next morning, though, Negan is nowhere to be found. Lydia takes the blame, but Daryl sees right through that, and he knows it wasn’t her doing. Lydia does take up residence in Negan’s cell, however; she accepts that she will never fit in at Alexandria.
Graffiti is popping up all over the community that says “Silence The Whisperers.” In the comics, this graffiti is put up at the bequest of Rick Grimes himself, but here, it’s an act of rebellion. It’s implied at first that Gage, Alfred and Margo are behind it all, but the end of the episode casts a lot of doubt on that theory.
Michonne actually isn’t present at Alexandria when this is going on; she makes her way to Hilltop with her children when a fallen tree destroys a wall and threatens the lives of its residents. It’s implied that the fallen tree is a Whisperer act, but it’s not outright confirmed. Also in this episode, Eziekel nearly commits suicide before literally being talked off a ledge by Michonne. The kiss that was shown in the Season 10 trailer pops up here, and it’s nothing more than a random moment that will not lead to anything. It’s clear that Ezekiel is lonely and depressed, but something else is going on. That something else is revealed in the next episode.
The Walking Dead: “What It Always Is”
Season 10, Episode 5
Airdate: 11/3/2019
I knew that Brandon was a snake the first moment I saw him in “Lines We Cross.” It’s nice to have that confirmed in “What It Always Is,” as Brandon escapes with Negan just like in the comics.
That’s where the similarities end. In the comics, Brandon is the son of Tammy Rose, who was killed in the Pike scene during Issue 144. He is furious at Rick Grimes’ inaction towards the Whisperers and Rick’s killing of his father in self-defense, and frees Negan to help him alert the Whisperers of Rick’s plans for war. He is then killed by Negan on the way to the Whisperer camp.
In the show, Brandon is a completely different person. He’s secretly a Savior sympathizer, and his family is long gone, having been killed in the war all those years ago. He also, interestingly, was NOT the one who freed Negan; he just followed him into the woods.
In addition to all of that, Brandon is also a complete psychopath, and is obsessed with returning Negan to his old self. He gives the former Savior his old leather jacket back, and a brand new Lucllie. Negan has no interest in any of this, and becoming progressively more annoyed with Brandon as the episode progresses. When they come across a mother and her young son, Negan tells Brandon to get lost. Negan forms a bond with the family, and plans to take them back to Alexandria (provided they don’t tell anyone how they got there), but his good intentions are ruined when Brandon returns and kills them both off-screen. Disturbingly thinking that Negan’s words were just a test for him, Brandon shows no remorse for his actions.
This is why I was completely fine with Negan literally caving his skull in with a big rock. The choice to make Brandon an irredeemable piece of garbage was a smart one, and gave Negan an out for brutally murdering him (something that the comic version of this scene doesn’t).
The episode’s end shows Negan finally putting the jacket back on, picking up the new Lucille, and forging ahead into the Whisperer’s camp.
This episode also reveals that Eziekel has thyroid cancer, with no cure in sight. Daryl and Connie also are getting very friendly with one another, and Magna and Yukimo break up when it’s revealed that the former has been hoarding supplies from the Hilltop.
Aaron finds Whisperer recruit Gamma in the woods, and gives her a bandage when she cuts herself. Alpha then tells Gamma that she should befriend Aaron, presumably for intel on the communities.
The Walking Dead: “Bonds”
Season 10, Episode 6
Airdate: 11/10/2019
This episode was, as Brandon would put it, “Classic Negan.”
Negan finally meets up with Alpha and Beta, and the latter is not amused at all about Negan. The former Savior leader is the complete antithesis of what we know a Whisperer to be like, which makes this hour one of the funniest in awhile.
Negan, of course, cannot shut up. His one-liners and really inappropriate dialogue work extremely well this time around (we’re years removed from watching him kill Glenn and Abraham at this point, and no longer have the same amount of hate), but Beta cannot stand Negan and leaves him to die surrounded by walkers. The look of disgust on his face when Negan returns covered in walker blood and bows to an amused Alpha was outstanding. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Negan further adapts to the Whisperer’s way of life, even though I’m pretty sure I know exactly where this is heading. If you’ve read the comics or even just some of my past reviews, you know what I’m talking about.
The voice on the radio from “The Storm” returns in this episode, and I won’t say much about it right now. I do believe, however, that the woman on the radio might help to set up what could be the last chapter of the show.
Also, in this episode, Carol and Daryl head out of Alexandria. Carol insists that they’re looking for Negan, but quickly gives the game up: they’re hunting down Alpha’s horde. They’re not all that successful, but they do manage to capture a Whisperer, and take him back to Alexandria as a hostage.
Carol is clearly in a dark place mentally and it’s really making Daryl uncomfortable.
I like this. Carol and Daryl haven’t had much tension between them at all that I can remember, not since her daughter Sophia died at Hershel’s farm; even that tension was very short lived. And while Carol and Daryl and still mostly on the same page, that could easily change very quickly… especially following the events of episode 7.
The Walking Dead: “Open Your Eyes”
Season 10, Episode 7
Airdate: 11/17/2019
Carol doesn’t have a good history with children. Pretty much every child she has ever come in contact with since the start of the apocalypse has bit the dust: Sophia turned into a walker; Mika was murdered by her sister Lizzie who then had to be put down by Carol herself; Sam was eaten alive, and Henry was beheaded.
And now, Lydia. While Carol using Lydia to try and turn the Whisperers’ against Alpha wasn’t intended to be hurtful, it was very manipulative on her part. Lydia rightfully calls her out on it, and then runs off into the woods. This is bound to upset Daryl, who specifically asked Carol not to bring Lydia into it.
Also, it appears Carl Grimes’ death in Season 8 is really pointless now, because the man he basically died saving is now dead himself.
I always liked Siddiq, even if I thought the way he was introduced into the show was really dumb. Avi Nash is a really great actor and made the most of his time on the show. He will be missed.
I was right to think Dante was a creep, and it turns out that he’s been a Whisperer all along. He was in the barn the night that the beheadings happened, and was the one forcing Siddiq to open his eyes and see the horror of that night. Suddenly, that weird shot of Dante’s mouth during “Lines We Cross” makes a ton of sense.
Dante kills Siddiq, even though he seems kind of remorseful about it. I don’t think that Alexandria is going to have any doctors once Dante is found out… because let’s face it, he will be found out.
The midseason finale, “The World Before,” airs on November 24th.
