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The first season of World Beyond has come to an end. It has been a rocky road as there has been more bad episodes than good. Believe me when I say that I did not want to come in the series with a negative mindset. But when you have too many inconsistencies and terrible dialouge during the episodes, I cannot let it slip and not aknowledge them.

The seventh episode is their best episode. I was also on the set for that episode and was also happy with the finished product. Every episode before the seventh, has been either mediocre, or just straight up bad. One of those episodes, even featured a wolf that served no purpose, and a top-tier level of cringe during that dance scene. It is reasons like that where fans would look at this as a CW Network show. On this review, I will review the final two episodes of the season into one review. Those episodes are, “The Deepest Cut” and “In This Life.”

I will have to get this out the way right now. Felix’s Boyfriend Will should have been introduced earlier this season. I like the scenes that Will had with the family and Felix. But by the time they reunited, I did not feel that emotional attachment that these two had at the final scene. It works on the other two shows because the characters were seperated for a long stretch of episodes. But here, it did not work as he was introduced at the last minute. But outside of that, I am liking what I am seeing from Will so far.

Speaking about the ending, I am curious to how the second season of World Beyond will begin. Hope is the asset that Elizabeth wanted all along. When Hope solved that CRM cipher, I knew right away that she is what they were looking for. With Hope agreeing to go with CRM for them to transport her to her father, it can finally open more to what CRM is all about. However, The acting between Hope and Huck is passable.

When I watch actors or actresses like Melissa McBride or Alycia Debnam-Carey, they can both have those emotional scenes that I can suspend my disbelief in believeing that they are feeling that emotion. All throughout World Beyond and the final episode especially, Hope has been crying way too much. Alexa Mansour is a good actress, but those scenes do not make me believe what the character is feeling. You do not need to cry for a scene to be emotional. It comes off as trying too hard rather than organic.

While I was watching these two interract, I was eager to see how Hope will deal with the undead in this situation. And her inexperience is still showing on a grand scale. The way Elton handled the undead looked silly when he taped the two together at one point, but it made sense for him. I also believe that the ninth episode is Elton’s best episode. Those hallucination scenes with him and Percy really stood out to me. His own conscious was questioning him whether if he should leave Percy or not. But he believed in himself to do it. And I love how the reveal of Huck shooting Percy was filmed and acted too. Kudos for the production team to give me a jump scare because I totally did not see it coming when he sat back up.

The fight scene between Felix and Huck is great. It is one of the longest, uninterrupted fight scenes in the universe of The Walking Dead. They both were evenly matched at a few points. And the fight choreography enhanced the scene as I was really engaged with the fight. Hope had to stop the fight because she knew that she was leaving. But what will that mean for Iris on the second season? Especially since Huck does not know that CRM took out the Campus back on the first episode.

Of all the episodes, Iris also stood out on the finally as Alicia Royale did a great performance with the character. It was frustrating to even try to like Iris this season. But the last two episodes made up for it. Hope is not the only one that is with CRM. Silas given himself up to CRM in order for Percy and Elton to escape the area. Where he will be placed, is up in the air for the second season. I honestly wish that the entire group did not split up because I have seen it done on both shows. And now on World Beyond, it has happened again. I do not believe that they are all too far though.

I think there is room to fix several of the issues of World Beyond on season 2. There also needs to be more hints on how this will tie into the Rick Grimes movies. The A/B stuff is intriguing, but it did not add to anything after that scene. The Walking Dead World Beyond is a two-season show and things need to pick up fast on the second season. The finale is good. But I did not leave with the urgency of anticipating the second season. But I hope that it is better than the first season.

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The Walking Dead World Beyond returns for another strong episode. Eight episodes in, and the plot is really picking up. “The Sky is a Graveyard” begins right where we left off as there are long hidden truths that finally came out. The seventh episode is my favorite of the season. And I can also say, that this episode is my second favorite as well.

Hal Cumpston’s acting is convincing and striking. The whole time I watched “The Sky is a Graveyard”, I was really sold on how the character Silas was tramutized. There is one major thing that is a common ground in the universe of TWD. And that is, there is a high percentage of bad fathers in this world. I felt really bad for Silas with the way his father treated him and his mother. But I did chuckle when they were both listening to rock music.

The first walker that Silas not only seen but killed, is his father. I could not imagine what his thought process was at the moment. That is also something to think about whenever Silas is on the screen. I had a feeling that there was more than what appeared with Silas. And my instincts were correct. But I am also not convinced that he killed Tony. I believe that Huck did it.

Huck had to do it because the end of the episode revealed why she was missing not too long ago. Tony and Percy had a CRM vehicle, and a map with different refueling locations. There was no way that Huck would let them stay alive. Add in to the fact that CRM knows that the group are coming. And Huck has to not let her cover be blown. Imagine if they all showed up there with Tony and Percy? Elizabeth would not allow that and I believe that she just wanted Hope, Iris, and the rest alone without anyone else on the way. Huck is also Elizabeth’s daughter and that is something I did not expect.

I also did not believe it when Silas revealed to Iris that he killed them both as well. My theory is, maybe he seen Huck do it and she told him not to tell them.

Speaking of secrets, Hope finally revealed to Elton that she killed his mother. I wish that this scene was more impactful than it should be. But I just did not feel the emotion that I thought that I would when the reveal happened. They should have not cut to footage of Elton leaving as the narration of Hope telling him was on. I wanted to see Elton’s reaction right there. That choice of editing should have not happened. And where are Silas and Elton are going to go? They are not ready to handle the outside world yet. That is based on what we seen of the both of them since World Beyond started airing.

With those minor issues aside, I still think that “The Sky is a Graveyard” is a strong episode. I can also say that I am glad that things are turning to the dark side of the apoclapse for the group.

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The Walking Dead World Beyond kicked off their first season in October 2020. While the reception has been mixed so far, World Beyond will be a mainstay for the next year. At November 2019, I was invited to attend their set to meet the cast and to see what was being filmed. I will break down what my entire experience was like!

After the travel arrangements were made, I went to bed that Thursday night looking forward to the next day. On Friday morning while I was at the JFK Airport, I made a last minute order for a cab service to the hotel. The airplane was a little late to depart since the engine needed to be changed. But I got there at Virginia safe. After the plane landed, my cab service was there. It was surreal since the driver had my name on a paper on the window. Do not mind me, I never experienced that before.

I am then dropped off at the hotel. It was actually a great hotel and it was a studio suite. After I dropped off my things, I had to prepare for my interview with Josh McDermitt since that was scheduled before the tour. I then plugged in my Nintendo Switch on the television to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for 20 minutes and placed my MacBook on the charger. After that, I went to the lobby to be picked up.

But I was not the only one there. There were five other reporters there. One of them I know is Kirsten Acuna of Insider. We all talked about what could happen on World Beyond at the time on our way to the set. I also have to note that at the time, World Beyond did not have a title yet. It was only known as “TWD3” and not even the cast or crew knew the name of the show yet.

We arrive on the set which was about 20 minutes away from the hotel. I remember the weather being very cold that day. The cold weather was so brutal, that the tents had heaters. We were all greeted by production assistants, publicists, and representives of AMC. The look of the set is massive. It really felt like it was a real apoclapse in that area. And for some reason, a tall rocket was there.

Next, we were all guided to the tents where the interviews took place. One by one during the afternoon, cast members arived in between breaks of when they filmed scenes. The interviews that took place at the time were with Nicolas Cantu, Nico Tortorella, Annet Mahendru, and Hal Cumpston. Nicolas’ mother and dog were also present during these interviews as well. It is here, that we learned more about the characters and plot of World Beyond. There were also questions to how this show will tie in to the status of Rick Grimes.

We did not know until we got there that Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead’s Abraham) directed the episode that we were there for the tour. I actually ran into him while I was getting hot chocolate for the second time and we both joked about the cold weather for a brief second. He was not available for interviews since he was busy with the directing. But later towards the night, we all sat on the directors chairs outside to look at a scene being filmed.

I thought it was interesting to see how one of those scenes were being filmed in different angles and shots. It also gave me insight on the directors point of view of what looks good, and what does not. After the scenes were shot, we all had dinner. I must say, that the food options and catering was really. I also seen the talent and crew all together during dinner and they all seemed happy and excited from what I seen. Let’s say that the family vibe with all of them together was on full display.

After dinner, the interviews with Aliyah Royale and Alexa Mansour took place. In fact, these interviews took place inside the set in different rooms instead of the tent.

After these interviews took place, we talked with the publicists and representives of AMC about World Beyond. They also talked about how they handle large crowds when it comes to the stars of the main show doing public appearences. It was really interesting to hear them talk about that since I can imagine how insane it is. The conversation then shifted to how great the set tour was. Even one reporter said that this was better than the IT: Chapter 2 set tour that he attened since he and four others were in one room the entire day.

The set tour concluded at around 10:00pm. We were escorted back to the hotel. It was a blast and we all talked about our experience during the ride and said our goodbyes to eachother. I had a great time. I will add this because it was strange. About 10 minutes after I got back into my room to start playing my Switch again, a fire alarm went off. This lasted for about 20 minutes as I thought that there was a fire. The fire department even showed up. But there was no fire.

That did not ruin my experience, But I was sure scared. The set tour was awesome and I will always thank AMC for allowing me to visit!

(Editor’s Note: The episode that I was there for the set tour was for 1.07 and the set is also re-used for 1.08)

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