Last fall, the mid-season finale of the tenth season of The Walking Dead ended with some of our fan favorite characters stuck in a cave as Alpha lured the group into a deadly trap. The mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead is in a matter of a few weeks away and I got a chance to watch the first two episodes of the second half. Here are my non-spoiler thoughts of The Walking Dead season 10, episode 9 titled “Squeeze” and the following episode “Stalker.”
10×09: “Squeeze”
The Daryl and Carol scenes on this episode were done really well and I am glad that the writers acknowledge that Carol is claustrophobic which was first mentioned a long time ago in the earlier seasons. Now that Carol is in a life and death situation, she had to overcome her fear of it during this episode. The scenes of everyone going through the tight spaces of the cave made me claustrophobic myself just by watching it. Daryl was the lead of the escape of the cave, but everyone played a good part of coming up with ideas on how to escape while they were trapped down there.
There were also times where two characters got into a near death experience in this episode and one of them happened at the middle of the episode. I was convinced that this person was going to be gone due to the very tight space. However, not everyone makes it out of the cave as the fate of some characters were left unknown after the escape. I wish I can say who it is, but I cannot so you will have to wait until the episode airs. Also to note, there is a head-shaking (and also tense) moment involving Carol in this episode that would make you question why would she do that in the first place. I have praised Melissa McBride in my past reviews with Carol’s mental state following how much Alpha put her through. But this time, I just hope that the payoff would be worth all the questionable decisions she has done so far this season. I know that previous characters were put in thye same situation as her and I called it out, but it is frustrating to see it happen with Carol episode after episode.
The Negan and Alpha scenes were very good and some of the dialouge were straight from the source materiel (Issues #155 and #156). There is one moment however that will be talked about through The Walking Dead community after this controversail scene will be shown to the world. In fact, I believe it will be the most memorable scene of the entire season as far as shock value it will be. I will also warn everyone to not watch this scene with your children too. I will give it a slight praise since it fits who Alpha is as a person and as the leader of The Whisperers.
Overall, “Squeeze” is a great episode and it does not waste any time to get back to where it left off. And Kudos to Beta for just being there towering over everyone.
10×10: “Stalker”
I have to get this out of the way right now, Beta in this episode is fantastic! Not only does he stalks from within like he is Michael Myers, but he also does brutal killings in this episode. Also, he is involved with two of the three fights on this episode. Also, I noted on my review of 9×13 that Beta has armor under his clothes during his fight with Daryl which is a detail that mostly everyone missed at the time, but it will be useful again in this episode too (Side note, my review of 9×13 is shorter due to me traveling that week). Gabriel will also get high praise from me on this episode too as his advice from Negan earlier this season is starting to really showcase for him especially his conversations with Gamma. Speaking of Gamma, you will all love it when Rosita does what Rick did to Aaron when he first meet him.
Daryl has a fight in this episode with Alpha and I not only loved that scene, I love how the VFX team used the blood on the cameras for Daryl’s eyesight during that fight. Alpha also has a great scene later in the episode as she is finally able to accept what she could not earlier this season. There are also spooky moments that happen at night on this episode too that I cannot give away, but the theme of paranormia returns on this episode too and Rosita will experience that on this episode. I wish I can say more of the episode, but it will be more spoilery than the last episode, but I liked this episode over “Squeeze” and it felt like the first half of the season was the buildup like a bomb fuse being light up and the beginning of the second half is the explosion.
Be sure to check out my full review of “Squeeze” on Feburary 23rd after the episode airs.
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