WiC Watches: The Walking Dead Season 10
By Ashley Hurst
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.