WiC Watches: The Walking Dead Season 10

Cailey Fleming as Judith Grimes – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

The Walking Dead season 10 has finally returned after an intense midseason finale that saw our heroes trapped inside a cave by Alpha. What’s more, they were surrounded by literally hundreds of Walkers in absolute darkness. Seven characters entered the cave, but how many lived to see the outside world again? Well, that is only one of the many questions we face this season.

The upcoming episodes are set to bring us the intense final battles of the Whisperer War storyline, and they might just introduce us to the highly-anticipated Commonwealth community, which has slowly been teased in previous episodes!

Be sure to check here every week for another review of the latest Walking Dead episode, but be warned that SPOILERS lie within each review. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

Episode 1009: “Squeeze”

The Walking Dead’s midseason premiere kicks off in wonderful style with an incredibly tense and thrilling episode that wastes no time providing answers to some of the burning questions we’ve had for weeks. If you’re into tight spaces, dark pits and zombies then this episode was made for you. If you’re claustrophobic, you may well find it a bit difficult to watch.

If you don’t remember, the last episode left us on yet another huge cliffhanger, something The Walking Dead loves to do. Alpha had led seven of our heroes — Daryl, Carol, Arron, Connie, Jerry, Magna, and Kelly — into a dark cave packed with Walkers. So how do they get on?

To start, I’ll say that I loved this episode, it was easily the most enjoyable hour of The Walking Dead I’ve watched this season. Our survivors realize they can’t escape from where they came in, so the only way to get out is to voyage deeper and hope there’s an exit. There’s an awful lot of tension, but I never felt it was too much because the episode doesn’t rely on it. The scenes between the two longest-serving characters on the show, Carol and Daryl, we’re really moving and provided a much-needed distraction from all the intensity.

As they’re trapped in a cave, likely suffering from a bit of cabin fever, we get some emotional dialogue between the two. “I can’t even turn my back on you anymore,” Daryl admits to her. He says this because she’s always wandering off on a lone mission to find Alpha. In fact, it was actually Carol’s wandering that got them into the cave in the first place!

Watching “Squeeze,” I never felt as though the characters in the cave were truly safe. My favorite scene was when they had to maneuver through a tight spot, and Jerry finds himself stuck with two Walkers in hot pursuit. I honestly thought that would be the end of Jerry, which would have been disappointing as he’s a great source of comedy. In homage of the title, that scene was a most definitely a tight squeeze!

It was an unsettling journey where anything could have gone wrong at any moment. This is The Walking Dead, after all, and things rarely run smoothly. Just when they are at the last hurdle and see daylight, Carol takes dynamite she found on the floor and, in a moment of folly, decides to blow up the cave to kill the Walkers. Daryl attempts to stop her, but accidentally knocks the explosives and the cave begins to crumble. In a last-minute escape, Daryl, Carol, Kelly, Jerry and Aaron make it out while Connie and Magna are crushed. This saddens Daryl, who had a wonderful dynamic with Connie. As for Carol, well, she clearly knows the magnitude of her mistake, which I suspect might come back to haunt her in the episodes to come.

And if the storyline in the cave was fantastic, the secondary story with Negan is…happening. Essentially, Negan is still finding his role within the Whisperer’s camp after pledging his allegiance to Alpha. When there’s talk of a spy within the Whisperers, Negan confronts Alpha to give her some advice. He thinks the spy is Gamma, and Alpha plans to take action. I love how Negan connects Alpha’s situation to his own past as the leader of the Saviors; at times I actually feel sympathy for him.

When Alpha sends for the spy — she wants them alive, notable — she asks Negan to follow her. She takes him into the depths of the forest, where oddly she requests Negan remove his clothes, and he bewilderedly obliges. They kiss as the camera zooms out, which is very odd considering their relationship in Robert Kirkman’s comics. There’s some nudity in this scene, which would explain the rare sexual content rating this episode was hit with.

The two have a fantastic dynamic, the contrasting personalities are just brilliant. And of course, the writers killed it once again with Negan’s sarcastic, straight-talking dialogue, which is always a pleasure to hear, made even better by Alpha’s stoic face and short, aggrieved responses.

One thing that annoyed me was how dark the episode is. I don’t mean dark as in gritty (although it was that), I mean it really is visually quite dark. I watched this episode on two different screens before I realized that it was meant to look like that. Some might find it aesthetically pleasing, I find it irritating. It reminded me of the issues fans had with the big White Walker battle in the episode “The Long Night” from Game of Thrones.

Overall, “Squeeze” was refreshing for the series. Melissa McBride’s performance was stellar and one of the best she’s done on The Walking Dead. There have been times in previous seasons when the show has been balancing too many storylines. Now they’re just working with two and it seems to be going well.

Grade: A

Samantha Morton as Alpha – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Episode 1010: “Stalker”

I wasn’t sure if it would be possible for the latest episode of The Walking Dead to improve upon last week’s excellent midseason premiere, but “Stalker” might just do it. It delivers on everything you would expect from a horror movie. It’s filled with action, emotion, suspense, and all the blood and gore the production could afford.

With standout performances across the entire cast, it’s hard to single out actors, but let’s give the Whisperers some credit. Ryan Hurst channelled his inner Michael Myers as Beta in a disturbing attack on Alexandria to retrieve Gamma. I must also point out Samantha Morton (Alpha), who gave us her most complex performance on the show so far, delivering a stellar range of emotions.

The opening scene nicely foreshadows the terrors to come, as Rosita sees a Whisperer pull a knife on her child in a nightmare. This actually works well in establishing her untrusting attitude towards Gamma later in the episode. Of course, in the premiere, it was established that Gamma — now we know her name is Mary — was the spy, so Alpha sends Beta is sent to obtain her, unharmed.

When Gamma (Thora Birch) arrives at Alexandria to see her nephew, she promises to relay the information she knows regarding Alpha’s horde and the trapped Alexandrians. But in a war, enemies are seldom trusted, and Father Gabriel decides to lock her in a cell until further notice.

While Gamma tries to get Rosita and Gabriel to trust her, we get some nice insight into her backstory, learning that she actually killed her sister under orders from Alpha. At one point, Rick’s daughter Judith speaks to her. Eventually, Gabriel decides he believes Gamma’s intel that Alpha has moved her horde of Walkers and locked Alexandrians in a cave, and puts together a group to adventure out and find the survivors.

“Starker” shows us a side of Father Gabriel we haven’t seen before. He’s always been a fairly calm character, at least when he wasn’t perpetually scared. However, this episode completely flips Gabriel’s personality as he goes to great lengths to protect the people of Alexandria now that he finds himself in a position of power. “We broke her [Gamma], completely,” he says at one point. “And if we can break her, we can break others.”  He even suggests that the most effective way is to cut off fingers and rip out teeth!

Meanwhile, after narrowly escaping from the cave and losing Connie and Magna in the process, Daryl sets out to find and kill Alpha. There’s a well-filmed fight sequence between the two before Daryl backs away into a gas station, closely pursued by Alpha. The two suffer extreme injuries, with head blows and knife slashes aplenty. But Daryl gets the worst of it with a blade stuck in his thigh.

Alpha realizes that she doesn’t have enough strength to continue their fight, so she attracts Walkers to the gas station by banging her shotgun against the wall. I love this scene, it’s like a dinnertime bell for the Walkers! When the Walkers approach Daryl, he is forced to rip the blade out of his thigh (Ouch!) to kill them, suffering immense blood loss in the process. The two remain together for the night until the arrival of Alpha’s daughter Lydia (Cassady McClincy), who’s been living alone in the forest.

Alpha pleads with her daughter to kill her and take over as leader of the Whisperers, but Lydia declines. “They’re human,” Lydia says about Daryl and the survivors from the other communities. “Not perfect. Just human. It’s all I ever wanted. It’s what you never gave me.” She saves Daryl but does not kill her mother.

I always like it when the two leaders face off against each other. It’s intimate, and the crew only has to work with two characters rather than over 10. I loved a similar scene from season 8 where Rick faced off against Negan in an intense fight.

While this was a solid storyline, it was overshadowed by Beta’s badass solo attack on Alexandria. He’s able to enter the community via tunnels made by former Alexandrian-turned-spy Dante. And when he enters, well, he causes absolute mayhem. The performance by Ryan Hurst is suspenseful and terrifying. During his attack, he faces off with Laura, a former Savior who has been a part of the show for three seasons. Beta kills her, a shocking moment for fans who thought she was a key player going forward. We don’t actually see her die, but it was later confirmed on the chat show, The Talking Dead.

Next up for Beta was…Judith? Yes, like her father, Judith shows no fear and shoots Beta in the chest, though unfortunately for her, Beta is wearing a bulletproof vest. After that, the Whisperer nearly kills Rosita before Gamma gives herself up and reluctantly allows him to return her to Alpha, where punishment awaits. Rosita realizes that Gamma is against the Whisperers, after all.

On Beta and Gamma’s journey back to the Whisperer camp, they run into Gabriel and are attacked. Beta manages to escape while Gamma is once again left to plead her innocence to Father Gabriel.

It would be difficult to improve upon this episode, but I think it would’ve benefited from Negan, who has knowledge of both the Whisperers and Alexandria. Negan would have brought a bit more humor to the table, too.  In such a dark episode, that would be appreciated.

We’ll have to wait until next week to see how Carol manages to cope following the events of the premiere. There’s also the mysterious ongoing conversation Eugene is having with a lady on the radio. But we can’t have everything in one episode, can we?

Overall, I yet again have no real complaints after another amazing episode of The Walking Dead. Since Angela Kang took over as showrunner in season 8, things have been looking up. Not every episode has been as brilliant as the last two, but my expectations are rising. The board has most definitely been set for some gruesome battles to come. I’m starting to think Angela Kang was right when she said “massive things of importance” would happen each week in season 10!

Grade: A

Image: The Walking Dead/HBO

Episode 1011: “Morning Star”

“Morning Star” brings us tons of story and one amazing battle, all of it coming together in yet another brilliant episode, if not quite on par with the previous two. We might have been treated to an epic battle reminiscent of Game of Thrones, but we had to sit through a whole lot of filler to get there.

We begin by seeing Negan finally get fully inducted into the Whisperers. After weeks of trying to impress Alpha, at long last, he gets to put on his Walker mask and roam around with the dead. Alpha knows that if she is to overcome the Hilltop, then she enlist Negan, which turns out to be a great decision later on in the episode.

In Alexandria, Eugene continues his conversation with Stephanie over the radio. I really like the callback to the satellite that crashed back in the season 10 premiere. Of course, if Stephanie and Eugene both saw the satellite crash, then their communities cannot be situated too far from each other. The two seem to be getting close to arranging a meet-up until Rosita curiously picks up the radio. I love Eugene’s reaction to this; we rarely get to see him so heated and it took me aback. This shows how much Stephanie means to him.

Eugene gives up all hope of reconnecting with Stephanie following the unexpected disturbance to their deal [that he won’t tell anyone], until it turns out to be Rosita who convinces him to reconnect with her. The dialogue between Rosita and Eugene is so wonderfully endearing, especially since they’re two characters who have been together in the show for many seasons.

When Eugene powers up his radio again, refilled with hope, he sings “When The Wild Wind Blows” by Iron Maiden, and Stephanie responds with her own rendition. Finally, she and Eugene arrange a date and time to meet up. Overall, this story is really entertaining, while also being the most comic-accurate part of the show. It’s perfectly setting up the next huge community, the Commonwealth, which I’ve talked about in more depth here.

At the Hilltop, the first battle of the Whisperer War is beckoning, and tensions are running high. Aaron arrives with Gamma, who wishes only to see her nephew, but Earl refuses to let her. In fact, Earl really comes into his own in this episode, stepping into the role of leader. We really haven’t seen enough of him on the show.

As a community, the Hilltop decides to evacuate the children to the far-away Oceanside, only to find that that the Whisperers are already ahead of them. They have blocked off the roads with trees and hanged scouts. Daryl instantly realizes that these tactics are similar to Negan’s, as seen in season 6’s “Last Day on Earth.” The team is forced to retreat back to the Hilltop. “All the roads are going to be like this now,” Daryl says. “We ain’t getting through. It’s Negan. He’s with her now.”

I loved the dynamic between Daryl and Judith. This was the first episode since Rick’s “death” that Daryl has really played that leader/father figure. Judith even makes him a new angel wing vest. It’s very cute, which is needed ahead of the carnage that awaits.

We get a glimpse of Carol after the heartbreak of the midseason premiere. She is sad about everything she has done wrong, made worse by the fact that Ezekiel has cancer. And as tensions run high in what could be their last time together before the battle, they have sex.

Carol actually has a nice interaction with Daryl as well, confronting him for the first time since her stupidity in the cave. She apologizes and asks Daryl not to hate her. “I’m never going to hate you,” he replies, but their relationship may not be the same again, as actor Norman Reedus has already said.

The final 15 minutes of the episode are taken up by the spectacular battle. There’s lots of tension as Alpha’s horde of Walkers attempt to break into the Hilltop but are stopped by a genius electric fence constructed by Eugene. Daryl sets down his crossbow in favor of a morning star — hey, it’s the title — and we see some beautiful Walker kills. It’s honestly a joy to watch!

But the Whisperers get the last laugh with Negan’s idea is to dump gasoline on our heroes and then shoot flaming arrows. Negan himself actually tells Alpha not to kill them all, but instead make them all bend the knee and obey her. “We can get them to join us,” he says.

In the end, Alpha shows no mercy and lights the entire Hilltop on fire. The credits roll as Daryl stares at the carnage the Whisperers have caused as they creep up behind him. The final shot is absolutely stunning.

Many might argue that this episode was the best so far this season. However, I just don’t think it benefited from juggling so many storylines, which slackened the pace and killed the tension leading up to the battle. The Walking Dead is not Game of Thrones; it thrives on fast-paced, focused episodes. But the battle itself was incredible.

Grade: B

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Samantha Morton as Alpha – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 12 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

Episode 1012: “Walk with Us”

“Walk with Us” continues right on from the nail-biting ending to last week’s episode! If you don’t remember, last week saw the Hilltop take the full force of an attack from Alpha’s Whisperers. It was a battle that pushed the capabilities of the Hilltop to the very limit, with the episode concluding with a cliffhanger that saw the longstanding community up in flames.

However, it’s not just the epic aftermath of this fiery battle that makes this episode the best so far this season, and one of the best in the whole show, for that matter. It’s the acting, emotion, and the arrival of a huge twist from the comics we’ve all been waiting for!

Watching this episode really took me back to the show’s earlier seasons. It reminded me of the aftermath of the Governor’s attack on the prison during season 4, or when Terminus didn’t work out in season 5. The episode followed select groups of characters on the run after the attack. It’s always nice to see the dynamic between characters you rarely see together.

A particularly terrific storyline follows Aiden, Kelly, Mary (Gamma) and baby Adam. In previous episodes, Aiden has been very protective over baby Adam. He doesn’t even allow Mary to hold him because she was a member of the Whisperers. However, Aiden’s inexperience with children soon shows when Adam begins to cry, and it doesn’t take long before he is put in the hands of his loving aunt. It’s a beautiful moment.

This being The Walking Dead, beautiful scenes rarely last, and when they are chased by a horde of Walkers, Kelly quickly finds a car to hide in, but Mary remains in the open. She bravely decides to run away and distract the Walkers, to some success. But one does not simply leave the Whisperers, as she learns when Beta sneaks up behind and stabs her. As she dies, she manages to pull off half of Beta’s face, revealing it for the first time. While it’s a horrible way to die, at least she was killed saving her nephew, which is all she wanted to do.

We also see the return of Magna, who was presumed dead after the cave exploded in the midseason premiere. I mean, maybe it’s a tad far-fetched that she returns after being in the middle of an explosion, but it is what it is. She is spotted by Yumiko during the battle at the Hilltop. Later on, we get a nice scene where we hear Magna talk about how she escaped the cave, revealing that she lost Connie on her way out. Carol also happens to be with them, and I love the awkwardness of these scenes. Carol will not apologize, and Yumiko resorts to punching her as tensions run high.

Elsewhere, Daryl searches for the children — who were meant to be taken to safety by Ezekiel — only for Earl to save them. I really liked Judith in this episode; she is quickly turning into one of my favorite characters. It’s interesting to see how she’s growing up with all the bravery of Rick and Carl.

When Earl is bitten saving the children of the Hilltop, Judith faces one of her toughest challenges yet. It’s really sad seeing Earl panic over killing himself, and when he eventually does it, Judith is forced to kill him once he turns into a Walker. I actually found myself quite disappointed when Earl was killed off. Since he was getting more screen time in the last couple of episodes, I was beginning to think he was becoming more of a key character, like he is in the comic books.

Now onto that huge moment that we were all waiting for since the day the Whisperers were introduced. Yes, Negan kills Alpha in this episode. This scene comes as slightly less of a surprise after the preview for this episode heavily implied that this scene was on its way. The way it played out in the show was definitely different from Kirkman’s comics. For one, I found it a lot more emotional. The sex scene from the midseason premiere definitely made this scene more interesting, giving the pair more of a dynamic than they had in the books. The acting was a joy to watch, too. Samantha Morton does a stellar job, while Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivers yet another frighteningly gruesome kill. I might add that his dialogue is on point again.

Negan tricks Alpha into believing that her daughter Lydia is captured and locked in a shack. When she opens the door, it turns out that Negan has put Lydia somewhere different, and he slashes her throat. It’s reminds me of when Rick slashed Negan’s throat a few seasons back.

After the murder, Negan finds Carol and rolls Alpha’s head on the ground. “Took you long enough,” she says. Although it might not have been totally confirmed yet, it looks as if Negan was the spy after all. In fact, if you look back to the midseason premiere, Negan even hints to Alpha that he is the spy. “The spy you’re looking for? Right here in your camp,” he said. “Well, based on my own personal experience, I’d say look closer to home.” Some nice foreshadowing right there!

Overall, I loved this episode. It delivered on an iconic scene from the comics, whilst also giving us a few great storylines featuring characters that rarely share scenes together. If I have one criticism, it’s that the battle was quite short. As epic as it was, I thought maybe they could have focused a lot more of this (or last) episode on the battle; it all seemed to be over too fast!

Grade A

Danai Gurira as Michonne – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 13 – Photo Credit: Eliza Morse/AMC

Episode 1013: “What we Become”

“What We Become” is a much-needed change after the carnage of the Whisperer War, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping. It’s a much more intimate and character-driven story that on Michonne. In this episode, she embarks on a journey to a mysterious island with Virgil (Kevin Carroll) to retrieve weapons that could help turn the tide against the Whisperers. He offers her this in exchange for her assistance in helping him get back to his family. Sounds like a simple deal, right? Not quite.

We’re all aware of how devious Virgil is from his time sneaking around Oceanside, but Michonne is willing to risk everything in order to get the weapons he promises. As soon as they step foot on the aptly named Bloodsworth Island, Michonne’s suspicious begin to rise when Virgil constantly makes excuses not to take her to the promised weapons.

On the first night, Michonne’s curiosity gets the better of her and she takes a stroll around the base. After some time snooping around, Virgil seizes an opportunity and locks her in a cell. Virgil turns out to be that typical character who’s driven to absolute madness by the death of his family.

Gurira really pulls out a marvelous performance in this episode. I loved her descent into insanity, fueled by anger, lost hope, and isolation. Michonne isn’t the only one trapped by Virgil, either.  There’s a group of three in the cell next to her, although I was disappointed not to learn more about them. All we know is that they were present when Virgil lost his family. We don’t get many other details, which is disappointing.

Later on, when Michonne is drugged by Virgil, we get some trippy alternate reality scenes, all of them exploring her worries, fears, and guilt. For the most part, this was a fantastic and incredibly well-crafted sequence. She sees a vision of Siddiq, who blames her for everything, even as she pleads her innocence. Then there’s a scene that takes us right back to her first-ever appearance in the show. Andrea is being attacked by Walkers, and Michonne leaves her to die rather than saving her, as she did in reality. Her visions become even more extreme when Daryl ignores her cry for help, leading her to be found by Negan and becoming a key member of the Saviors. She is present, as a Savior, when Rick decided to attack and slaughter everyone in Negan’s outpost.

As much as it’s awesome to see what Michonne would be like in Negan’s service, I couldn’t help but feel it’s a bit harsh to display her as a villain in her final episode. It even reimagines her in that infamous season 7 episode when Negan kills Glenn and Abraham, except he hands Lucille to her to do the honors.

After being drugged, Michonne manages to convince Virgil to take her to get weapons, but what she finds there changes everything. She finds Rick’s boots on a ship that Virgil claims had recently washed up there. This is the first indication to any character that Rick is actually alive. Upon further searching, she finds a phone with a picture of herself and Judith on it. Again, this is conclusive evidence that Rick is alive. And after a short radio chat with Judith, Michonne becomes hell-bent on locating Rick.

I loved the awesome call-backs to when we first met Michonne. When see reaches land, she uses Walkers to protect her by cutting off their arms and mouths. This is something she hasn’t done in a long time, and it was amazing to see again.

Overall, as sad as it always is to see such a beloved character leave the show, I think they executed Michonne’s exit in a way that will please some fans but aggrieve others. I can’t understand why Michonne would just decide to leave without actually going back to her community, especially given the news Judith told her. It felt a bit rushed, similar to how Maggie left the show.  At least it sounds the crew gave Danai Gurira a wonderful send-off on set.

This episode was visually impressive, and it’s only right to give kudos to Sharat Raju for his directorial debut on the show. I thought the alternate reality sequences were fantastic and thought-provoking, giving a great example of the butterfly effect. If there’s another thing they did well, I think they’ve set up the character brilliantly for the future. The many hints at Rick still being alive are enough to make me think she’s now guaranteed to have a part to play in the upcoming Rick Grimes movies.

Maybe I’m being harsh. It wasn’t a bad episode per se. It’s just, for the last episode of such a beloved character, I expected a bit more.

Grade: C+

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 14 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

Episode 1014: “Look at the Flowers”

Following on from Michonne’s emotional final episode, this week’s hour of The Walking Dead wastes no time in delving right back into the ongoing struggles of the Whisperer War, where things have taken a turn. It also marks some great progress in Eugene’s storyline, as the introduction of the game-changing Commonwealth community edges closer.

The last episode ended with Negan killing Alpha and delivering her severed head to Carol. Now the secret is out, and people know that it was Carol who let Negan escape imprisonment under the condition that he bring her Alpha’s head. The first thing Carol does with the head is put it on one of the spikes that was used as the border. I’ve already seen a few fans online complaining about the use of her head. I personally found it cool. I thought it was great how the head is treated as it’s passed from character to character. Soon enough, it ends up with Beta.

After fulfilling his promise to Carol, Negan returns to the shack to rescue Lydia, only to find that she’s gone. Not only that, but Daryl somehow finds him, and he’s armed and ready to kill. Of course, Daryl doesn’t know about what Negan has done, and doesn’t believe him when he tells. Before long, Negan tries to prove hitby taking Daryl directly to Alpha’s head. But when they arrive they find it gone.

I loved it when a group of Whisperers bow to Negan when they find out that he killed Alpha. “Alpha is dead because of you!” a Whisperer says to him. “Kneel before your Alpha!” Essentially, in Whisperer lore, the one who kills Alpha then becomes the new “Alpha.” For a moment, we wonder whether Negan will go back on everything due to his new status, but he just plays along with it for a while before killing his new-found followers. It was really fun to watch.

I really liked what they did with Beta this episode. Despite him carrying around Alpha’s severed head and taking advice from her zombie growl (odd, I know), we finally get confirmation of the fame he had pre-apocalypse. Fans have long speculated that Beta was famous before the outbreak. Turns out that he was a country singer, after all. In fact, he went under the name Half Moon. When he enters a bar, he finds a poster on the wall promoting one of his shows. There’s even one of his records atop an old record player. Before long, he plays his own music through the speakers while the hordes of Walkers rush towards the bar like adoring fans. After spending some time soaking up the nostalgia, Beta realizes his danger and knows what he must do. He puts Alpha’s zombie head out of its misery and walks away. I predict that this won’t be the last we see of him.

In another side story, Carol finds herself haunted by Alpha. She goes off on her own again, something she’s done a lot over the years. The ghost of Alpha relentlessly follows her, mocks her, and criticizes nearly every decision she’s made. She messes up Carol’s mind so much that it nearly gets her killed.

To be honest, that was all this story was: Alpha messing with Carol’s mind with no real outcome. It was the most irritating part of the episode for me.

Elsewhere, after weeks of conversation with a mysterious lady named Stephanie over the radio, Eugene finally embarks on his quest to meet her. When he breaks the news to his fellow citizens, they are understandably wary of the prospect of meeting up with another community. But after a bit of persuading, Ezekiel and Yumiko decide to join him.

It’s nice that we’re going to get one last adventure with Ezekiel. Of course, he is sadly dying of cancer, which is something this episode constantly reminds us of. It’s also good for Yumiko to get some screen time, as so far I’ve never seen her as a massively important character.

Anyway, when the trio make it to the city, there’s a cool callback to the pilot episode of the show, when Rick enters Atlanta. They use a similar shot here. We also get our first encounter with Juanita Sanchez, otherwise known as Princess (Paola Lázaro). Unfortunately for us, it happens right at the end of the episode. Princess is an eccentric character directly from the pages of Robert Kirkman’s comic. Even though she was only in the episode for a few seconds, I’m glad they seem to have decided to remain loyal to the books with her. It already looks like she’s going to be a new fan-favorite, which is nice, as we’ve just lost Michonne.

I think they’ve absolutely killed it with Eugene’s storyline so far. Not just in this episode but throughout the season. It’s had everything from mystery and intrigue to the adventure of this episode. I’ve always said that The Walking Dead is at its very best when it’s filled with adventure, and if it happens through Eugene, all the better.

Overall, “Look at the Flowers” delivers, and it does it well. I loved the dynamic between Negan and Daryl. The two have been against each other for so long, but there’s also the slightest bit of respect between them. The story with Carol and her haunting visions of Alpha was disappointing. It built up so much, with little payoff. They did get it right with Beta. I can’t wait to see more characters recognize him as the former country musician Half Moon.

The war with the Whisperers is coming to a close, while the introduction of the Commonwealth is just getting started.

Say goodbye to Michonne, say hello to Princess!

Grade: B

Cailey Fleming as Judith Grimes – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 15 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Episode 1015: “The Tower”

“The Tower” picks up right where last week’s episode left off. Beta takes matters into his own hands and leads Alpha’s enormous zombie horde right into Alexandria. Elsewhere, we have Eugene, Ezekiel, and Yumiko, who try to make sense of the eccentric “Princess” they have just crossed paths with.

Let’s start with Beta and that horde. After last week, we now know that he’s out for revenge after Negan murdered Alpha. He’s even wearing Alpha’s face as his Walker mask, which is much more disgusting than it is cool — but it’s still a bit cool. So when he and his army arrive at Alexandria, Beta soon realizes that it is completely abandoned, except for Aaron and Aiden, whom he does not see. This is already a big change from the comics, in which the Whisperers attack Alexandria and there is a huge battle.

Something I would have liked to see is the Alexandrians actually evacuate the community. In this episode, it felt like they just breezed over that bit, so that when Beta arrives they’re already gone. There’s no sense of panic or urgency and the whole scene seems a bit pointless in the end.

Both Aiden and Aaron try to follow the ever-moving Whisperer horde. They learn that Beta plans to travel to Oceanside, though the plan is quickly changed. In fact, it looks like Beta knows exactly where our survivors are hiding (the tower) and heads right for them. Aaron and Aiden try to radio Gabriel, but get no answer. We don’t see any more of how this pans out, but it’s all building up to one epic battle in the season finale!

The star of this episode for me was Judith, who grows bored with hiding and goes off on an adventure of her own. Before long, she encounters Daryl and he is not happy to see her out alone. When Judith explains herself to him, Daryl reluctantly allows her to tag along on his scouting mission, teaching her some tips and tricks along the way.

Judith’s youthful innocence is on display when they encounter a runaway Whisperer who was previously threatened by Beta. He talks to the lady and gets all the answers he needs, but then — to Judith’s shock — he kills her. I think he did it more to put her out of her misery than out of spite, but Judith still thinks she could have been saved.

Despite the other two major storylines at play, I think this one was my favorite. There’s a lot of emotion between these two characters, who a long history going back multiple seasons. I think this is something that would be hard to achieve with most other characters left on the show.

Another emotional side story sees Negan try to help Lydia. After killing Alpha (her mother) he wants to apologize and allow her to take her anger out on him. I feel sorry for Lydia, who lost out on any sort of childhood with a mother as crazy as Alpha. Negan sees this and understands her. He hates to see her so trapped in mixed feelings.

When you’re trapped in a confined space for so long, it makes it easier to let out your true feelings, as Lydia finally does. She takes it all out on Negan, punching and hitting him. She blames him for everything, calling him selfish. For the viewer, it’s a great sense of relief. I think we’re going to see a very different, more confident, Lydia moving forward.

Anyway, in the other major storyline, Juanita “Princess” Sanchez gets a chance to shine, or at least, she tries. Princess becomes overexcited at the sight of Eugene, Yumiko and Ezekiel. They are rare visitors in the city. Ezekiel tries to be nice and introduce himself, Eugene remains quiet, while Yumiko and Princess almost instantly get off on the wrong foot.

In her excitement, Princess shows off her gun and fires at some stray Walkers in the distance. The problem? Well, her gunfire scares away the horses. This is a big deal for Eugene and his crew, as they’re tied to a strict schedule to meet up with Stephanie. Without horses, it’s unlikely that they will make it in time. But Princess apologizes and promises the team “wheels” should they follow her.

In an odd turn of events, Princess innocently leads the team into a minefield, and I mean that literally. She says she’s maneuvered her way through the mines hundreds of times, but that doesn’t seem to calm anyone. Tensions are further increased when she loses track of the mines, and forgets the way out of the minefield.

A couple of mines do accidentally blow up, but they finally make it out unharmed. Except for one thing: Princess takes them right back to where they started, getting her directions mixed up. She risked their lives for nothing. As expected, Yumiko doesn’t take to this in good humor.

Eventually, Juanita does lead them to “wheels.” While they were expecting something more, it turns out that she has bicycles, so she wasn’t exactly lying. Our three survivors seem to accept the fact and are happy for the bikes. Even Yumiko, who’s had it in for Princess all along, invites her to join them.

Overall, I’ve got to give it to Princess, she’s added a lot to this show already. I like how she brings a bit of lightheartedness to a group of survivors who are so serious in everything they do. Sometimes it’s nice to have a laugh.

With a huge cliffhanger like this, I can’t see fans being too impressed with having to wait until later this year for the season finale, which has been delayed on account of the crew not being able to finish post-production because of the coronavirus.

At least we’ve got an action-packed finale to look forward to. Once it airs, season 11 won’t be too far away, either!

Grade: C

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