The Walking Dead this week has a boat load of action along with the debut of a new group that has not been seen in the comics that is exclusive to the show. With the fair beginning to take place, there is a road block that comes in the way. Here is my review for the newest episode titled “Chokepoint”.
At the end of the last episode, we seen Daryl and Connie rescue Henry and Lydia from The Whisperer camp. This episode continues the escape and Henry notices that they were not going the same direction to The Hilltop as he thought. Can I mention how resourceful Connie has been ever since her introduction? Anyways, Daryl told all of them that there is no way they should return to Hilltop because Alpha will return there to kill everyone now since that deal went sour. Daryl also kept giving reasons to why Lydia cannot come with them but Henry told him that they will go alone. After arguing about it for more minutes, Daryl had no choice but to follow Connie to the old building that Magna used as a hideout. Daryl also takes advantage of the building to see a Whisperer and walker herd from above. Lydia did however told Daryl about Beta but we will get to that soon.
Remember that red symbol that was shown a few episodes ago? Well, I initially thought that it was The Whisperers marking their territory but I was wrong. It turns out that it is a new group that is called “The Highwaymen” and they act as extortion pirates that is similar to The Saviors. They are lead by a man called Ozzy and they steal people’s belongings as a toll in order for people to pass the road. Ezekiel and Carol were talking about this when they read the letter. The Highwaymen demand items from Ezekiel, Carol, and Jerry and they refused and they told them that they have nothing to offer. A little more back and forth of words along with Ozzy and the rest point guns at then and then The Kingdom made a deal with them so that they can hire Ozzy and his men to watch the roads while the fair is going on in exchange for The Highwaymen to attend the fair. I found this scene creepy from the way Ozzy and his men stood in the darkened area with other cardboard cutouts of humans before they came to the light. Carol even asks Ozzy when was the last time they seen a movie.
While Tara and others such as Magna, Yumiko, Earl and others are on the road, they encounter a number of walkers and during the scuffle, Earl was close to being bitten which also gave me a jump scare. The Highwaymen also rescue them and escorts them to the fair. It also seems like Tara is going to tell Carol about The Whisperers as well.
The fight between Daryl and Beta that everyone was looking forward to finally happens here during the last half of the episode and Beta, who is tall and intimidating, throws Daryl around like he is a pillow. Daryl even tries to stab Beta with a knife but he realizes that Beta has armor under his clothes so that did not help. That also caught me off guard too. There were times that Daryl tried to sneak attack Beta and that did not work until the end of the fight where Daryl jumps on Beta from behind and pushes him down a elevator shaft. There were also Whisperers that was also killed by Daryl, Connie, and Henry during the time that they hid Lydia and the dog in a closet. Henry was also stabbed during this fight as well. The episode ends with Beta waking up from the hard fall.
This episode picked up the pace from last week’s episode and everything is starting to come full circle. The Daryl and Beta fight took up the majority of the episode and I love it. The Highwaymen i am curious about if they encountered The Whisperers before or other groups during the 6 year time skip. Speaking of that, the next episode will reveal how Daryl and Michonne got those “X” marks on their back and I am looking forward to it!
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