HOLLYWOOD—We were teased at the end of last week’s episode that a war is brewing between Alpha and Carol on “The Walking Dead.” This week’s episode, ‘We Are the End of the World’ explained to audiences how Alpha and Beta came to be who they are today. I usually hate these character study episodes, but this was one that I found interesting, because we were still left with plenty of questions.
Now, the constant jumps from past and present annoyed me a bit, but it became clear it was a direct result of tying things directly to the season 10 premiere episode, which was a clever technique. The episode opened with Alpha and a young Lydia on the run from walkers; it looks like death was near for the mother and daughter, but a knight in shining armor, covered in a mask allowed them entry into a building. That person was Beta who refused to allow Alpha and Lydia to see his face, just as in the future, we discovered that the Whisperers were planning to unleash walkers on our protagonists.
We did meet a new character, Gamma (Thora Birch) who was fiercely loyal to her sister, who was grieving the loss of her daughter. Do you recall that baby that was left on the ground back at the Hilltop as Alpha came looking for Lydia? Yeah, this woman was spiraling mentally and almost caused major problems for her group, which Beta explained she would pay for. Alpha made it appear that she killed that woman, but spared her life as she reminded her of Lydia. To be accurate, Alpha was doing all in her power to replace Lydia. Yes, mother and daughter have butted heads, but at the end of the day, Lydia is Alpha’s daughter and the secret Alpha is keeping will have repercussions people.
Returning to the past, Alpha continued to attempt to bond with Beta who kept his distance, but as walkers dawned inside the building, he came to Alpha and Lydia’s aid. It is hear we learned more about Beta and Alpha and why we don’t know their actual names; they don’t want to identify or get too close to others. The biggest issue I had this entire episode was the tease of getting to see Beta’s face only to be left empty-handed. Alpha got a look at this face, but not the audience. Gamma was forced to sacrifice her sister’s life to save Alpha when she went bonkers in the middle of a massive group of walkers.
Like I said, there is still so much about Beta we do not know, including his scratching out the faces in his pictures. What is it about his face that he does not want people to see? I now understand the issue between Lydia and Alpha. Lydia wants to be like her mother, but she is not, and Alpha in some strange way resents her daughter because of it. That fiery satellite in the sky caused a bit of a distraction for the Whisperers and their plans, which exploded as Beta learned that Alpha did not kill Lydia.
Yes, this fearless leader could not take out her daughter, which led to friction with her #2. She begged him to keep her secret, which makes me wonder what will transpire if the truth about Lydia is revealed to the rest of the Whisperers? With all this back and forth, it brought the audience back to where the first episode of the season ended, with Carol and Alpha laying eyes on one another. Learning that her borders had been crossed, Alpha figured it was time to teach our heroes a lesson yet again.
Like I said, a war is brewing and while the Whisperers got the edge last time, I don’t think they’ll be so lucky this time around because Carol and Daryl have fire in them that will change a lot. Until next Sunday “Walking Dead” die-hards!
