Author: Julian Cannon

The first half of the current season is coming to an end tonight and with that end, we see that some of our favorite characters are caught in a very life or death situation at the end of the episode. With that, we got major developments with Michonne, Gabriel, and Aaron. Here is my recap and review of “The World Before.”

The episode opens with a flashback showing us how Dante infiltrated Alexandria shortly after the barn slayings. Alpha and Dante were at the border and it is noted that he recently became a Whisperer at the time. Dante also does not know Lydia and Dante was the one spray painting “Silence The Whisperers” all over Alexandria. He also left Alpha messages for her to recieve inside a tree and after that, we are shown that he acted like a survivor in trouble and that is when he was rescued by Connie and the rest. We also find out that Dante is the one pulling all of the water switches to undrinkable so that way, Gamma could poison the water. Dante is also the person that killed Cheryl in the previous episode as well. Flashforward to the current time and Dante closed Siddiq’s eyes after he killed him. He was about to put him down incase if he turns, but Rosita with Coco opens the door. They talk about Coco needing more rest and Dante tries to buy enough time for him to get back to what he was about to do. Siddiq then turned and Dante pulls out a knife and tried to attack Rosita. While this was going on, Siddiq who is now a walker, was about to devour Coco. Rosita got the upperhand and attacked him back and even stabs him. Rosita puts down walker Siddiq.

Aaron has a conversation with Gamma and she asks about her nephew. Aaron told Gamma that they named him Adam and he will not allow her to see him because her sister left him behind. Gamma purposes a trade. Adam, for information. Aaron told her that she will have to give him information first before he decides to go with the trade. Gamma takes off her mask and told Aaron that her birth name was Mary. Daryl begins to interrogate Dante and he punches him until he gets an answer. Rosita, Carol, and Gabriel are watching this happen and they all ask why he killed Siddiq. Dante said that he wanted a chance to be heard and also brings up the the heads on pikes which then caused for Rosita to kick him until he fell. Aaron arrives and tells them that Gamma told Aaron where the location of the horde is. Daryl told Aaron that they will go to Hiltop to get Adam and then they will look for Lydia. Michonne, Judith, Luke, and Scott are heading to Oceanside. While they are going there, Luke makes a whistle and Judith wanted to know what it was. Judith was also writing in her book and what she is writing is the story of the group. Luke mentioned that there is a library not too far and that they can also get history books there too. Michonne also told Judith that they have to be as quiet as possible and they decide to make a pit stop at the library. At the library, Judith finds a book about a satellite and she told Michonne that Eugene would love it. Rosita also calls Michonne over the radio. Luke goes off on his own to observe the area and he finds a sheet music book. A walker grabs him by the leg, and another grabs his shoulder. A survivor (we learn later in the episode that his name is Virgil) saves Luke by killing the behind walker and leaves the library. Luke killed the walker that grabbed his leg and told Michonne of what happened. Michonne informs everyone that Siddiq is dead and that they must go to Oceanside now.

The funeral of Siddiq takes place at Alexandria and Gabriel is the one to hold it. After Gabriel gives his euliogy, Carol and Ezekiel speak and he could not believe that Siddiq is gone. Ezekiel was convinced that Siddiq would survive forever. Ezekiel then asked Carol if she needed help with taking down Alpha’s herd and she told him that she could handle it. Ezekiel told her “good luck” as they parted ways. Rosita was by herself until she heard walkers banging on the wall. She killed two of them, but she had a hard time taking down the walker with the helmet because she is still hurt from losing Siddiq. Eugene helps her take that walker down and gives his condolences too. Gabriel is watching Dante’s arrival interview and Rosita and him get into a heated argument. On Rosita’s side, she is angry that he is not listening to her vent about her being used to taking down walkers and that she could have died. On Gabriel’s side, he has more important things to deal with at the moment and that her venting, added more uneeded stress as her feelings cannot predict the future. Rosita thinks that Dante was right about everyone at Alexandria right now that they are very weak in the inside. Aaron is with his daughter Gracie and she wanted to hear him talk about California. He told her a story of his boyfriend and where they used to travel along with the village that they were in before he went to Alexandria. I think that I want to see these two interract more. Michonne and the rest arrive at Oceanside and she asks Jules and Rachel how long has it been since they had new people there and they said since before the fire. Michonne wanted them to be on high alert. A few members of Oceanside captured Virgil and Michonne wanted to know where he is from and if he was a Whisperer. Luke told Michonne that he saved him, but Jules also told Michonne that he was trying to steal a boat. Virgil told them all that he was just trying to go home. Michonne told him that he will tell her everything. Before they could continue, walkers are approaching and they begin to take them down and Michonne is yelling Judith’s name.

Gabriel enters the cell area to question Why Dante killed Siddiq and if the stories that he told him on the interview were true. Dante told him why, but Gabriel asked him if he think that people could get a second chance. He also says that he loved Siddiq as a brother. Gabriel then stabbed Dante to death until he died. Rosita with Coco did however see Gabriel leave the cell area through the window. Virgil tried to run while everyone else is killing walkers and Judith stopped him by cutting his leg. She called for Michonne and she arrives as they captured him. Daryl, Carol, and Aaron meets up with Jerry, Connie, Kelly, and Magna. Daryl thanks Connie and she told him via a message “anything for us.” At night, they cross one of Alpha’s borders and Carol almost got caught in a bear trap. Daryl saved her and Daryl was concerned for her mental state as he told her that it felt like he was talking to a ghost ever since she got off the boat. Carol told him that she is doing the best that she can and Daryl told her that he is the one that she tells. The both hug after this as he understands why she is the way she is right now and told her that Alpha is not worth risking her life over. Gabriel is burning Dante’s corpse and Rosita watches it too by coming to his side. Virgil wakes up and told Judith to not go through his belongings. He tried to grab it back, but he fell and Judith told him that his stitches would get affected if he keeps doing that. Michonne finally speaks with Virgil and we learn that he is there for supplies and does not want to hurt anyone.He even says that mercy’s in short supplies these days and Michonne told him that it reminded her of what Rick Grimes used to say (“my mercy previails over my wrath”). Virgil does not want to tell her where he lives to protect his family, but Michonne assured him that he will get back safe and that he should not make his family suffer while he is away. Virgil told her that he lives in a naval base on an island. Virgil thinks that he can help Michonne out in exchange of him getting home in which that he has weapons big enough to take out Alpha’s horde. Michonne tells Judith this and that she has to do this mission alone. In the morning, Daryl and everyone are at the location of Alpha’s horde but there are no walkers there. Aaron and Daryl argue if what Gamma said was true or not and Daryl decides that it is time to look for Lydia. Michonne told Virgil that the offer is accepted and that the weapons will pay his debt in order for him to go home. Michonne says her goodbyes to everyone and told them and Judith to radio her every hour and every day if she wants as she is only a few days away. While Daryl and the rest are looking for Lydia, Carol sees Alpha. Alpha runs away and Carol chases her. Daryl, Jerry, Magna, Kelly, and Aaron runs to get Carol back and they killed a few walkers away. Alpha is luring them into a cave and they all followed. Daryl was by himself for a few moments inside the cave until he fell through a trap that Alpha set (I assume that everyone fell as well) and they are all trapped at the bottom of the cave to see Alpha’s mega horde which consists of thousands and thousands of walkers and there is no way out. The noises of the walkers are so loud, that you cannot even hear the ending music as the episode ends.

I like what they are building here as it reminded me of 6×08 and 6×09 as it is setting up for a huge payoff for the next episode and for the rest of the season. Gabriel and Michonne are my two favorites of this episode and I believe that they are setting up Michonne’s exit within the next few episodes. I also did not expect to see Dante die this quick at all. Carol is still hurt and suffering from the loss of Henry and Melissa McBribe is doing an excellent job of showcasing the pain and damage one person can go through for losing your own children. I also like how all of my questions about Dante was answered within the first three minutes of the episode too. The giant horde that Carol wanted to see is now infront of her so lets see how in the hell everyone will get out of this when The Walking Dead returns in a few months.

This first half of the tenth season has been great despite it’s hiccups and my favorite episodes are the fifth, second, and the first episode of the season. I am loving this season as a whole and to me, the breakout performances this season so far goes to Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Seth Gilliam, Norman Reedus, Samantha Morton, Thora Birch, Ryan Hurst, Avi Nash, Khary Payton, and Ross Marquand. I like the entire cast, but these performances stood out for me.

My weekly recaps of The Walking Dead will return in three more months and next week, I will count down the top The Walking Dead comic book moments of 2019. My lists for 2017 and 2018 are below too along with my interviews I have done this season.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.

The first half of the current season of The Walking Dead will conclude next weekend and after that, we will have to wait about three months for the next episode. But I do not want to talk about the end of the first half yet as this week, we finally get some insight on how Alpha slain the victims. Here is my review and recap of “Open Your Eyes.”

We first see a flashback to the barn where Alpha is about to slay the pike victims and then Siddiq wakes up and gives Sheryl water. Cheryl is getting more sicker as the time goes by and Siddiq also gives water to everyone at the infarmy. He also sees Alpha outside the door as an hallucination. At night, he was writing on his notebook and he fell asleep. He also has a dream of being chocked. We will get back to this.

In the morning, Daryl tells Lydia to get out of the cell so that way, they can place the one Whisperer in the cell that Carol captured the previous night. Carol asks Lydia if she seen him before and she told her that he watches over the mega herd which means that Lydia does know him. Gabriel thinks that it is a bad idea to have him in the cell as it will put everyone at risk. But Daryl and Caryl told him that Alpha’s herd needed to be found. Carol also thanked Daryl for having her back in that situation. Daryl takes off his shirt and many scars are visible on him including from the previous season. Dog runs up to him to greet him. Carol is on her investigative mode as she asks Lydia more about The Whisperers. Lydia says that she hates them and that her mom twists people to make them obey her because they have no choice but to do it. Dante and Siddiq checks on the Whisperer since he also has a stab wound. The Whisperer also says that he knows Siddiq indicating that he was there when he seen the pike victims got killed. Gabriel tells Siddiq to go and told him that Dante will watch over him. When Siddiq looks at the top of the gate that resembles the pikes, he has another flashback of Alpha decapitating DJ of The Highwaymen. At one of Alpha’s borders, Gamma and Aaron talk and she asked how do they have bread every day and he told her that they have a lot of flour. Aaron shows Gamma a piece of paper that has a drawing that his daughter made (I believe it is the one that he adopted during season 8). He asked her if she had any brothers or sisters or a family and Gamma told him that she is the only child.

At the cell, Carol, Daryl, and Siddiq begin their interrogation of that Whisperer. She brings a steel sheet covered and we are lead to believe that it is sharp objects, but it is bread with different types of jam and peanut butter. She asks him what does he prefer and he says “all of it.” He wanted to talk about what does she want and she says that they are having fish for lunch. After he took a bite of the sandwhich, she asks if it was good and then, he spits the food out right at her face and said “no.” Siddiq and Rosita talk about Eugene as she does not want Eugene to think that she is dissing him. She also did not think that she would be a mom, but they are proud parents. Right when they were about to kiss, she coughs and Siddiq gives her more water. Back at the cell, Carol asks him about the herd and placed the knife on his wound. He does not give an answer and then, she puts on her wedding ring and started to punch him. Daryl told her to stop, and then the Whisperer told them that they are all weak. Daryl then took out his knife and threatened to cut out his fingers and ears. He then displays his loyalty to Alpha and The Whisperer life as he is not going to say a word. He even thinks that Lydia is dead. Daryl and Carol then have a debate about using Lydia to get to him but Daryl is against this. Back to Gamma and Aaron as he lets her look at the drawing his daughter dew and he told a story about his brother. He does this to try to get her to open up but she walks away from him. The Whisperer at the cell is heating up and then he was bleeding from the mouth and died moments later. Daryl, Siddiq, Dante, and Gabriel tried to save him however, but Siddiq asked Dante how did this happen and Dante told Siddiq that he packed the hemlock which was the wrong medicine.

Gamma is by herself and she killed an approaching walker. Alpha is also there and she asked Gamma about the intel she gathered from Aaron. After Gamma told Alpha that he has a daughter, Alpha told her to remove her mask and she did that along with opening her sleeve. Alpha proceeded to whip her wrist with a small branch and Alpha told her to not lose her focus and to not give in to what Aaron is telling her. Alpha told Gamma that she believes in her. Carol and Lydia are on a horse and here is where you think that Carol did not listen to Daryl. Daryl and stabbed the Whisperer at the head so that way, he would not turn. Gabriel thinks that Alpha will find out, but Daryl assures him that she won’t. Siddiq enters Cheryl’s room to see that she is gone and he then goes outside to see that Dante is burying her dead body. Siddiq then had another barn flashback and he ran to jump in the water. Rosita saved him and they talk about what he is going through. Siddiq told Rosita that he misses Enid and that he blames himself for not stopping what Alpha did. He also says that many people died in front of him then and it still continues now. Rosita told him to not blame himself and that he is the smartest person she knows. Siddiq asked her why is everyone sick even when they do not live with each other. He realizes that it is the water that is making everyone sick.

He checks the plumbing and notices that they are all switched to undrinkable. He then has a breakdown (poor Siddiq). At night, Gamma told Aaron to never come near her ever again. She then holds him hostage until Carol and Lydia show up. Gamma sees Lydia and runs away and Lydia not only argued with Carol about her being used, but also hits her with the stick. Lydia crosses over Alpha’s border. Siddiq is looking through the window and Dante walks in and apologizes to Siddiq about earlier. He says that he is a friend to him, but Siddiq does not want to hear it. Dante then said something that triggered Siddiq’s barn flashback and this is where we find out that not only that Dante is a Whisperer that has been planted there, but he also was there at the barn slayings and also made Siddiq watch the slayings. Siddiq realizes this and had a scuffle with Dante. Dante proceeded to choke him out until he dies as the episode ends.

The pacing of this episode was all over the place and there are a few dialogue choices that I have mixed feelings about. The Carol and Lydia dynamic does not fit for me as the Daryl and Lydia dynamic. It seems like she was the reverse Alpha in this episode in some ways and it just did not work. That is my only harsh criticism of the episode. I like the plot twist of Dante being a Whisperer as I did not see it coming at all since he was a completely different character in the comic book series. Avi Nash stole the entire show in this episode as this is the best episode of the series that I have seen him play as Siddiq. My only thing is that how will they explain how he got to Alexandria and when did he tell Alpha that they crossed the border during the winter (since Alpha planted him there). Hopefully, this will be explained in another episode. Also, being that I used to watch 24, the interrogation scene at the cell was great and once that Whisperer spit her food at Carol, it was all over for him. Another solid episode!

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Bonds are made to be held together no matter if the road to that bond is sweet or rocky. We see that on this episode in many ways and it shows how strong they are, and how it could be challenged. Here is my recap for the latest episode of The Walking Dead titled “Bonds”.

The episode starts with Carol waking up early in the morning to prepare coffee and she even looks at her gun too. Daryl and Dog is also outside observing and catches Carol leaving Alexandria. Carol told him that she is looking for Negan and Daryl accompanies her. Once they enter the woods, Daryl figured out that she lied to him and she told him that she is really there to look for Alpha’s mega herd to destroy it. Dante is also taking care of an ederly woman due to her being sick and he even makes a joke about wanting to date her. Siddiq arrives with Coco and told Dante that Rosita still has the stomach bug. More on that in a bit as we go back to Carol and Daryl. They both check the map to try to track where The Whisperers were going. Carol admitted that she lied to him because she did not want him to worry about her due to what happened last time when they meet Alpha at the border. Negan is blindfolded when Beta and a few Whisperers are taking him to their camp. Negan jokingly tells them that he wants to join them and Beta shuts him up by having his knives close to his neck. Negan also demanded Beta to take him to Alpha so that way, he can spill every secret he knows about Alexandria.

At Hiltop, Eugene and Nabila are talking about the supplies for the radio transmission update and she is glad to be a bigger help at Hiltop now. She leaves as she has to get back to her kids and Eugene turns on the radio. Rosita calls in and she wanted to see what he was up to. She also has a fever of over 100 degrees and Eugene is not sure if he can ever return back to Alexandria. There was a malfunction on the radio that stopped the conversation and Eugene went straight to fixing it. While Daryl and Carol were tossing acorns at a can to see who can knock it over, she asks him about Hiltop and also about Connie. Carol wants Daryl to open up to the idea of finding love with her (Donnie fans, keep your fingers crossed). They both then see walkers from a distance along with a few Whisperers. Beta tells Alpha that Negan cannot be trusted at all and Alpha feels that he could and if she then feels like she cannot, then she will kill him. Alpha then asks Beta “Is it time for Beta to become the Alpha?” and then Beta bows down to Alpha and told her that will not happen. Negan sees this happen. Negan asked Beta how long they have been with eachother and even says “If it is Beta with benefits” before Beta cuts him off and told him to respect Alpha or else he will die where he stands.

Siddiq returns to his house with Coco to see that Rosita is getting worse than she already is. He helps her up to walk to the infarmy. Eugene calls to Alexandria, but he got no response. He then opened the channels and called anyone, and still did not get a response. Daryl and Carol notices that the herd is getting bigger as The Whisperers are directing the walkers around with them. They make a plan to strike at nightt and Carol walked away for a few minutes and Daryl looked through her bag. When she returns, she asks Daryl if he found what he was looking for as she knew that he went through her bag. She also told him that she did not bring the bag. Back to Negan and Beta as Negan asked him how does one become a Whisperer. Beta gives him a shovel and told him to dig. Then we get a montage of Beta watching Negan do different things such as skinning a walker, digging some more, helping Beta dragging dead walkers, and even stabbed a boar to death after a Whisperer shot it with an arrow. The montage ends when they bured the bodies.

Siddiq and Rosita arrive to the infarmy and this is when I realized that Gamma poisoning the water on the last episode affected everyone that is currently ill. Dante says that the illness is spreading and Siddiq argued his reasons on why he did not want to leave the infarmy in the first place and told him what to do to help. At night, Carol and Daryl made a safepoint incase of they get lost. At The Whisperer camp, Beta knocks down Negan because Negan asked for some bacon to eat and Beta feels that he did not deserve it. Alpha watches this happen and Negan stands down and sit next to another Whisperer and that Whisperer gave Negan some food to eat. While Eugene is still on the open channel, someone finally responds.

Daryl and Carol are observing the walkers while they are hiding and some were approaching them. Daryl killed one walker and smeared its blood on his own face after cutting open its stomach so that way, no walkers would notice. They approached them because a few Whisperers heard Carol’s footstep and directed the walkers to them. One of The Whisperers even said “over here” after that happened but did not find him. Eugene and the woman on the radio introduced eachother although she did not give her name or location. They tell eachother stories of where they were before the apoclapse begun and memories of a train event at Landcaster, ice cream, and much more. Siddiq also apologized to Dante for snapping at him earlier and after he checks on Rosita, he falls asleep and wakes up to a PTSD dream but this time, he hears Alpha’s voice and it near the windmill. Beta makes it very clear to Negan that he is not part of them and that he is took weak but Negan wants to hear none of that as he is there for Alpha. Beta kills a Whisperer and told Negan that they can agree on one thing and that he is going nowhere as walkers begin to surround Negan.

Daryl and Carol has a Whisperer hostage and that he will make sure to tell them everything. The woman over the radio told Eugene that she will only talk to him and that if she hears another voice, she will not talk to him no more. In the morning , Beta and Alpha talk about Negan and then, Negan says “I’m ready for my god damn skin suit” as he is covered in blood and walks straight to Alpha. He introduces himself to her and bows down infront of her. Alpha stares at him and he told her that he is all hers. She continued staring and did the “shhhh” as the episode ends.

The title of this episode has more meaning than just the title and that is, to showcase the bonds that are current, questioned, and building. The current is Daryl and Carol as their bond is getting tighter, but she wants him to be fully happy. The bond that is questioned is Alpha and Beta as these two continue to question her leadership decisions and his role of The Whisperers now especially that Negan is in the picture. also, I would watch an Negan and Beta episode anyday. And the bond that is building is between Eugene and the woman over the radio and comic book readers have an idea of who she is and I believe I know who she is too. I also liked that Gamma poisioning the water in the last episode affected this episode. Alpha is very strategic and her plan of wearing the group out is so far, working. Another solid episode of the season!

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