The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 8 “The World Before” Recap

Danai Gurira as Michonne, Cailey Fleming as Judith Grimes – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AM8

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.

Cooper Andrews as Jerry, Ross Marquand as Aaron, Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Angel Theory as Kelly, Nadia Hilker as Magna – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AM8

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.

Thora Birch as Gamma- The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AM8

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.

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Nadia Hilker as Magna, Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Melissa McBride as Carol, Angel Theory as Kelly – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AM8

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.

Interview: Get To Know Lindsley Register of The Walking Dead

Lindsley Register is known as portraying Laura on AMC’s The Walking Dead. Laura was a Savior that eventually turned into not only a resident of Alexandria, but a member of The Council as well. But there is more to Lindsley other than The Walking Dead as she has more credits to her name such as House of Cards, Six, and Outcast. Not only has she been acting, but she also produced her upcoming film Scorn which is set to release in early 2020. I recently got the chance to speak with her and got to know more about her in this exclusive interview!

Before we get to The Walking Dead, you were raised in Virginia. What was it like for you when you grew up over there with your family and what are some of your great family memories that you cherish?

LR: “I was so normal hahaha. I grew up in a really conservative baptist Christian family. I was very invested in my highschool. I was captain of the cheerleading squad, I was in student government, I went to a lot of basketball games, etc. I really cherish holiday meals with my family. My mom is the best cook ever (isn’t everyones?). She always went all out for Christmas and thanksgiving. Every thanksgiving we’d go stay in these cabins on a beautiful lake and eat great food.”

How did your family react when you told them that you would like to pursue a career in acting?

LR: “I can’t say they were thrilled. I think they were surprised and maybe a little scared. They agreed to pay for my schooling as long as I was studying to be a teacher or a nurse. I got around the rules by getting a degree in acting simultaneously while I got my teaching license. I think they’re still kind of confused by what I do!”

Have you always wanted to act? If you were not acting, what would have been the career path for you?

LR: “I remember when I was super young, I said once that I wanted to be an actor. But I also said I wanted to be a super model, a missionary, a painter, and lots of things. I’ve known that I’ve always been a performer, but I never revisited acting until college. I always saw that as an unattainable career and not practical at all. I learned Spanish when I was a preteen and decided that I wanted to work with the Latino immigrant community in some way. Maybe teaching English as a second language, translating, or something.”

The first time I have seen you was on Netflix’s House of Cards. How did you get the opportunity to be part of the show?

LR: “I got my first agent when I was a senior in college and was auditioning for professional projects for the first time then. I had auditioned for that show multiple times before for much smaller roles, and I’m so thankful that’s the role that worked out for me. It was momentous for me, and I felt like my dreams were coming true during that time. They were and still are. I made a selftape in my childhood bedroom while I was visiting my parents in VA. I gave the scene everything I had and played it with lots of conviction. Casting said they liked my tape and wanted to see me do it six different ways so I sent in six more tapes. They liked me and booked me, giving me my first real professional opportunity.”

When you were auditioning for The Walking Dead, did you know which character you would audition for?

LR: “No, I didn’t. It’s a super secretive process. I remember auditioning for a fake character with fake sides. If I remember correctly, I was playing a scene where I shot some guy and was “bummed” afterwards because he was cute. I played it with lots of dry humor.”

Laura was one of Negan’s lieutenants during season 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead. How did it feel for you to be part of The Saviors during that time?

LR: “It always the most fun to play the bad guy. They’re always infinitely complicated. This role was so different from anything I’d ever played so I was flattered to get the chance to play someone I felt was at the far end of my range.”

Laura also tried to intimidate Eugene many times while he was in The Sanctuary including when she made him watch Negan threw Dr. Carson at the burning furnace. Do you remember how many takes it took for that scene to finish?

Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Lindsley Register as Laura – The Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 11 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

LR: “That scene took most of the day. There were lots of practical and special effects to make it work which meant it was very time consuming. However, it was so cool seeing all the moving pieces. We’d be pausing the scene all the time to switch out the real bat for a plastic one, and then switching it out with a rubber one. Then we’d pause to grab stunt double Carson and then pause to get a dummy Carson. It’s insane all the work that goes into those scenes.”

Laura was also the one to tell Negan that Dwight (Austin Amelio) has double-crossed The Saviors. I love how that scene played out on camera as Dwight returned to his room to find you there. Do you have any great stories working with both Austin Amelio and Jeffrey Dean Morgan?

LR: “Austin Amelio was one of the coolest people I met doing that show. He’s so down to earth and like this sweet polite cowboy. I really respected him as an actor and he was also just very kind to me. JDM and I didn’t interact much. I never got the impression that he was a very open and chit chatty person.”

In the comic book series, Laura has a tattoo on her neck at the same place as her TV counterpart but they are different tattoos. Did you have any input to what the tattoo would look like?

LR: “Oh my gosh! I didn’t know that! Now I’ll have to look her picture up again. I just found out that she makes it to the very final comics (Issue #193) which was exciting for me. During my hair makeup test, I got to have input into my character’s look and I loved the tattoo and voted to keep it. I’ll be posting a youtube video soon about the neck tattoo so keep an eye out.”

After the final battle at the season 8 finale, Laura becomes a resident of Alexandria. She is also a current member of the council. Do you believe that everyone can fully trust her more than ever since she is no longer a Savior?

LR: “Every now and then, we’ll be filming a council scene and Ross Marquand will look over at me and be like “I can’t believe you got here.” And I’ll be like, “Yeah, honestly me either” and we’ll have a good laugh. I’m surprised that Laura has come as far as she has, and if I were an Alexandrian, I’m not sure I would trust her. But she really is a contributing member of the community now.”

We have not seen Laura and Negan interracted while he was in the cell. If he was still in the cell, what would you believe that Laura would tell him if she visited him?

LR: “Oh this is a great writing prompt. I’d love to write this scene just for fun. I think it would be such a still and powerful moment. I think she’d tell him that she followed him because she thought he was strong, but she knows now that he was weak. His way of doing things never could’ve lasted. He was a dictator and her life is so much better in Alexandria now.”

What has been your best fan experiences since you have been part of The Walking Dead?

LR: “It’s really difficult to pinpoint just one. I believe The Walking Dead fans are the best. I’ve experienced so much kindness, so much support for what I do and my other projects from them. Whenever I go to cons, people are so sweet and just easy to hang out with. I love seeing how much joy the show brings them and how caught up in the drama everyone gets. It’s just fun.”

Within the next few years, what are some goals you would like to accomplish?

LR: “I want to do more comedy. I’m currently writing some projects that I’m excited to refine and eventually start pitching. I’m excited to challenge myself by playing a role that is very far removed from both Laura and myself. I’m ready to get caught up in a new character. I’m hoping to learn French and improve at the piano. I love a good challenge.”

Below is where you can find and contact Lindsley Register

IMDB,Facebook, and, Website

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

Interview: Juan Javier Cardenas on His Role as Dante on The Walking Dead

Juan Javier Cardenas as Dante – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

On this season of The Walking Dead, we were introduced a new character from the comic book series and his name is Dante. But the television version of Dante is much different than his comic book counterpart. Here to talk about the role is Dante himself Juan Javier Cardenas.

When you first appeared earlier this season, many fans including myself were surprised to see that Dante is a doctor over his comic book counterpart. How long did you know in advance did you know that Dante would be a doctor on the television series?

Juan: “I was made aware of that when I first received the script for the first episode which came like a couple of weeks before my first day of work. My experience auditioning for a show like The Walking Dead is that you have to kind of assume that you’re on a need to know basis and that information will come when it’s given. If you’re like me and you kind of embrace that process, you have a really great time because, it’s exciting going through the process as somebody who’s watching the show. When I auditioned for the character of Dante, the audition materials were different than what I acted in the show as far as like the scene work that I was given I auditioned for a character that was not even named Dante. I was under a different name so when I finally got the script, all those differences really shot out at me because I was familiar with the source material with The Walking Dead and I knew the Dante character from the books. But all those changes from the book to the show would normally throw you off but what that does typically, it invigorates you because you get excited about saying that ‘okay, I have a chance now to kind of pay hommage to the source material’ but actually, I’m getting a lot of leway now to build a kind of a unique character that can kind of stand on its own within this universe so to have a hand in that, that’s actually a super exciting thing and very fun to do. Plus, I get to play doctor on T. V. That’s always fun. Now I can brag and say I played a doctor.”

Avi Nash as Siddiq, Juan Javier Cardenas as Dante – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

You and Avi Nash (Siddiq) had many scenes during this season. What was it like for you to work with Avi on the development of your characters for this season especially since it is the aftermath of Alpha slaying her victims?

Juan: “Avi Nash, I can’t say enough about the guy. I had a fantastic time working with him. It’s kind of interesting working on a show like The Walking Dead depending on what character you’re playing because, as you know as an audience member, the world is extremely diverse and it’s really compartmentalized. There’s different communities, there’s different story lines, and there’s multiple characters. So when you watch the show, you realize that certain characters really inhabit different worlds and they kind of interact with these characters over here and etc. Every day when I was going to work, I went with a smile on my face because it was a fantastic environment. Avi Nash and me tend to have a lot of similarities in our background. As far as our training, we both come from a theater background and we both kind of approach things with kind of a similar kind of intensity too. We are trying to tell whatever these lines mean and what does it mean for these characters and really kind of go the extra mile as far as committing to it. I love working with Avi and I feel like it was mutual so I had a great time working with him and happy of the development of Siddiq and Dante.”

Was there more to Dante’s backstory that we have not seen on screen that you know of?

Juan: “I’ll tell you that I personally have backstory that I’ve thought about with the character of Dante. Things that I kind of keep close to myself. There might be possible backstory ideas that were running around production and the writer’s room. What I like about the shortness of Dante’s character of this time of this season, is that it makes the character of Dante even more kind of mysterious and unnerving because we don’t get to see a lot of him. All we have are these moments leading up obviously to the tragedy in episode 8 of his death. But there’s so much that’s unanswered about the character that I think makes the character much more interesting because, sometimes you don’t know what’s scary or the devil you know is what you don’t know so having the audience only get the snippets of this character in trying to piece together what’s true, and what’s not true. I think that’s actually part of the fun so I’ve got my ideas, but I don’t know if I’ll tell people about it.”

How did you prepare for your death scene?

Juan: “I did a lot of stretching and put on elbow pads and knee pads because I knew it could be a rough afternoon. but in all seriousness, all you all you can do is read the material and you try to play the honesty of the moment by moment in the scene and you just concentrate on what that character is trying to cheat at the moment because the character of Dante doesn’t know that he’s seconds away from being killed. He doesn’t know that his death is around the corner so what is Dante trying to convey to Gabriel in those last moments that we see a doctor’s life so I concentrated on that and I just try to present the idea of what possibly propelled Gabriel to act out so violently and to drop all level of stability and all levels of emotional control that we see Gabriel doing for the majority of time is him reacting to Dante’s unerving and frightening certainty that all this civilization that they’ve built, all the civility that they’ve built, all these laws and all of these kind of semblance of normalcy that they’ve built in Alexandria is a facade and that eventually, it’s going to rot from the inside. And I’m an agent of that rock and that’s an unerving and a frightening thing to present to Gabriel. So if I just knew in that day that I just had to push and push and to finally give the straw that broke the camel’s back and to force to have Gabriel to not see any other way out, but to extinguish me as a threat to the community and in that way, breaking down something very integral piece of Gabriel’s character and shocking the audience in seeing how someone like Gabriel could end up acting that way or committing to intentionally murder someone.”

Avi Nash as Siddiq, Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes, Juan Javier Cardenas as Dante, James Parks as Captured Whisperer – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

I find it poetic that Dante told Siddiq to open his eyes to see the last moments of his friends lives at the barn and then in the opening of 10×08, Dante closes Siddiq’s eyes after he killed him. Do you feel that way too with the way it was presented to you?

Juan: (Laughs) “I think you really did pick up on something! At the end of episode 7 when Dante’s alone in that room with Siddiq at those final moments of his life, this whole season audience members have been watching Dante interacting with people while he’s on call like under cover so it’s up to the audience to kind of decipher when Dante was saying this, or when he was speaking in this way, how much of that is true, and how much it is not. And you have to think about who he was talking to, who was he talking with in front of people. I think about which is what you’re talking about, is that in those last moments of Siddiq’s cyclical life, it’s just Dante and Siddiq alone in that room and Dante doesn’t have to say anything in those final moments. The fact that it comes out of him, I think that’sa totally legitimate moment and more expressing himself. That’s a reveal of something very true. I think that it’s a sad coda ending to the story of Siddiq and Dante that started with an act of brutality, and it ends with an act of brutality. There’s pain there for both people and there’s a sense of regret and there’s a sense of sadness on both sides. So I do find it very poetic from all sides and that could also be written in a book too.”

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Interview: Avi Nash on That Big Plot Twist, Carl Grimes, PTSD, and Much More

Avi Nash as Siddiq – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

This week on The Walking Dead, we got a glimpse on what happened at the barn where Siddiq was forced to watch Alpha slay the pike victims. We also got to see a huge plot twist as it was revealed that Dante is a Whisperer the entire time he has been at Alexandria. Although there are many questions to how he got there, what is more important is that Siddiq has been killed. Avi Nash breaks down the shocking plot twist of that episode along with more topics on this exclusive interview!

How did you react when you seen the script of your death scene? And also, were there any hints that gave away that Dante was a Whisperer?

AN: “I knew from the top of the season because Angela Kang is an extremely gracious leader and she let me know prior to starting season 10 that this would Siddiq’s swan song. But I was actually very excited about it because we got into all the complexities of what he was going to go through with PTSD and survivor’s guilt and having a new child. And I was really excited because I’ve played a character who’s been instrumental to the storytelling and the arc of the season as a whole. So for me, the chance to serve that story in such a significant way was very exciting. And it gave me a lot of work to look forward to the day that I finally got the script for the episode. If anything it was just like ‘oh shit, I’m in a lot of scenes I’ve got to get to work’. And yes, There are hints that was right in everyone’s faces on the earlier episodes of the season. I think Siddiq was slowly piecing it together and that is sort of a dual-tragedy for him in this because, I think on one hand, it was the first person he’s sort of able to open back up to about what he’s going through because he’s a brother in arms of a fellow medical professional that has been through PTSD himself and reached out to Siddiq. And I think truthfully, they’re were forming a friendship now from Dante’s point of view. Maybe that’s all fake or maybe based on some of the language that he uses, he had romantic feelings for Siddiq. I’m not sure what the tragedy being that Siddiq is starting to open up to this guy, while meanwhile in his subconscious, something about this guy is off to him. And you see that starts to affect him you know whether it’s in the first episode when he focuses on his mouth or in the later episode when they’re performing surgery on Carol and Dante sort of makes that verbal tick-tick sound and Siddiq then has a bit of a flashback. He’s not quite able to realize that he is causing those flashbacks, But it’s definitely happening and it’s only at that final moment when Dante is in the same physical space behind Siddiq, he put it all together because that’s also a great layer of the tragedy for Siddiq which is that he’s carrying around the guilt that after they all fought back a little, but it was not enough. Alpha lined them up and started to decapitate them and he was actually unable to move when in fact because of Dante holding him down as a whisperer. He was trying to move and scream and shout and get up and fight back again. But they were all held down by Whisperers and his eyes were forced to open by Dante to see how these other people he cares about decapitated. And so all those pieces of memory coming together I think are there in the season but he is only able to put it together too late.”

Will we see an explaniation on how Dante came into Alexandria?

AM: “Angela and her team of writers are great and they know how to craft good storytelling without sort of sacrificing character development and without sacrificing suspense, terror, and the comedy and all these things that make us fall in love with The Walking Dead and that have kept us tuned in for ten years. So I can’t tell you exactly what you may or may not see, but I can tell you that you will hopefully be satisfied when it does get revealed.”

What was it like to work with Samantha Morton on those PTSD scenes of the barn flashbacks?

Samantha Morton as Alpha – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

AN: “You know, that woman should get nominated for an Emmy or Oscar. She is an incredible actress. When she gets into character and comes on the set, all the air is sucked out because she goes from being a lovely bubbly Sam to being cold and deadlyy Alpha for us. I remember in particular there was a night that we shot majority of those flashbacks where Siddiq in his mind, he thinks he’s sitting there on his own and it’s frozen. But in actuality, it’s Dante behind him holding him down and turning his head and ripping his eyes open the watch. And we shot both versions of me on my knees, on my own struggling just sort of with my mind not able to move and then a version where Dante was behind me literally ripping me forward and holding me down and stopping me from moving and screaming and shoving his hands all in my face. And during all of that, Samantha was on the other side scaring the shit out of me. And we were there probably four or five hours one evening and she is the most gracious actress. She might not be in every one of those shots, but she’s there giving a thousand percent. And I hope I tried to return the favor. There were takes were I wasn’t in the shot because I was just on her coverage and she was like ‘You know darling, you don’t need to do this. Like you’ve just you’ve just been through so much’ because I’m over there crying in my snot. And I was like ‘Samantha snot aside, I got to be there for you because that’s you how I was trained. You know, this is British theater and this is frankly a generous act’. You’re there for your partner. And so, we got to share a really nice moment together giving each other fear and terror and ultimately though compassion.”

If Carl Grimes was still alive, what do you think he would say to Siddiq?

AN: “I think if he was alive, he would have definitely been somebody that Siddiq would have tried to open up to. I feel like there was the beginning of a very beautiful friendship that would have kept developing. He was sort of adopted into that Grimes family and so, I think those two would have been brothers. Hopefully Saddiq has been a character with enough of a legacy and enough love on the show and enough powerful storytelling that he can stand along with Carl, Glenn, and Abraham shoulder to shoulder and look down on the rest of The Walking Dead survivors.”

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The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 7 “Open Your Eyes” Recap

Avi Nash as Siddiq, Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes, Juan Javier Cardenas as Dante, James Parks as Captured Whisperer – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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.

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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.

Thora Birch as Gamma, Ross Marquand as Aaron – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 7 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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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INTERVIEW: Josh McDermitt on His Radio Conversation, Eugene’s Friendship With Rosita, Improvised Lines, and Everything With Coco!

Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

Eugene has finally made contact with someone over the radio that is not conected with their communities and that is a big development. Here to talk about that big moment of the episode and much more is Josh McDermitt.

We seen that Eugene has taken much interest in the satellite ever since it crashed down. Will some of the parts of the satellite be put to great use for the rest of the season?

JM: “Other than what he’s already used for the radio, Yes. It kind of got mangled you know, and a lot of it is on fire. He was trying to salvage as much of it as he could. And he probably had a singular mindset thinking he could just use it for radio parts. I imagine Eugene’s got like some sort of junkyard set up somewhere with parts that he doesn’t need right now but could need in the future. And anytime people are out scavenging are like ‘hey, I found an old radiator’ and he’s like, ‘go just put it out with the junk’. I kind of imagine him doing that. I think it’s really cool that we were able to kind of start the season with that satellite crashing to Earth because if you think about it, how many satellites are in outer space? I would venture to say hundreds, if not thousands. And it would be completely plausible that one of whom would just fall to earth. And I just thought it was just cool way to open the field. And so I hope that aside from the radio, we could see more of it.”

What do you believe is Eugene’s biggest character evolution since his debut back in Season 4?

JM: “I think every season he’s had a nice arc and has done a 180 from where he started off at the top of that particular season. I think the fact that he was a coward, he was scared, he was lying, he was not an honest person. And he is 180 degrees opposite of that now. He is a guy who is completely capable. to handle himself. He’s got confidence. I think that’s kind of the biggest evolution for him, is that he is kind of content with living in this world where before it was just constant fear.”

Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa, Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Baby Coco – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

You also had great scenes with Christian Serratos and as well as Coco so far this season. Do you have any great stories on how the both of you developed those scenes together along with bonding with Coco?

JM: I love babies, man! And these kids were super sweet. And i’m not fussy at all. And it’s like I just wanted to do more stuff with them, you know? And it’s fun seeing Christian, who has a daughter of her own, take on the role of mother as Rosita and to really bring things from her own life to this character. We had a good time with that. I think everybody was always, all hands on deck, so to speak. Just trying to make sure that these these kids playing Coco were cared for and that sort of thing. We did use the dolls a couple of times. So I think we had more fun probably with the dolls than with the kids because you never want to get wild and crazy with with babies around because you want to keep their temperament kind of chill. Otherwise, it ends up being a really long day of trying to get them to stop crying. There’s certainly a science to when we bring them in like they’re fed, they’re changed. They’ve had a nap, like they’re ready to go. So we certainly cut loose more when the babies weren’t on set.”

Would you like to run down on how you went from yourself loving babies to now being in character to learn how to take care of a baby all over again?

JM: “He approached it with mathematical precision, you know, in science. That’s how he kind of approaches every situation and analyzes it. He has to completely wrap his head around it and understand it and do the math in the air with it. You know, count on his fingers if he has to. There’s not to say that he wouldn’t be a great father, its just seeing how well he handles the kid and he’s trying to burp Coco and he’s counting the times he pats Coco’s back to burp and it is around 21 times. So it was fun to kind of throw everything away that I know about children and babies and to be able to kind of approach it in a new way, like how Eugene would do it in a more mathematical, scientific, religious way. That was just fun. It was fun to kind of play with that. That part of his character.”

Eugene and Nabila (Nadine Marissa) talked about the radio supplies before you turned the radio on and she said that she was happy to be part of The Hiltop A.V club. How did Nadine react to seeing you do your lines the way Eugene does it?

JM: “We had fun doing that scene and Nadine is a great person to work with. I think she’s excited to do something different in Hiltop that doesn’t involve gardening or fixing a fence or like all the things around Hilltop that that kind of need attention. I think she was excited and she was like ‘oh, this is fun. This is exciting’. But, you know, at the same time, once he starts explaining everything that’s going on, she may have realized like ‘oh, I’m in over my head and so I’m going to have to do this test run another time and I got kids’. So that was fun to play with that. You see, it was funny because Eugene says, ‘you don’t parlay any Russian by any chance’. I was also coaching her for a brief time on how to say one line in Russian and it was just hysterical. We are all just trying to figure out how to say this this fairly simple Russian word that even if you don’t speak a lick of Russian, you probably know how to say.”

Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes, Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Avi Nash as Siddiq, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa – The Walking Dead _ Season 10 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Eugene finally makes contact with someone on the open channel over the radio. Being that I am also a comic reader of The Walking Dead, I am excited for what is to come. Do you believe that Eugene is also happy with this development?

JM: “Right now, he’s kind of a lonely and depressed place after having a sad realization that things would never work out with Rosita. He was trying to figure out what he’s going to do with his life. And so he’s just buried himself in this work. Working with the radio and doing duties around Hilltop. But I also think that he wasn’t necessarily expecting a voice to come out at that moment. I mean, he was trying and certainly down the road. He was probably wanting to reach out further than the communities that he’s already in contact with and just see what else is out there. But, you know, it was basically just Rosita standing him up. You know, obviously for good reason. She’s sick and had to go to the infirmary, but he doesn’t know that. So he was just kind of like ‘I’m alone, This is not a fun place to be so let’s just see what else was out there’. So I think he’s extremely happy and extremely surprised that this voice came on the radio and he was also able to share some personal details about himself that we’ve never really seen that out of him. We don’t really know too much about his life pre-apocalypse and he was able to kind of talk about that with someone.”

Will we see Eugene interract with other characters he has not interract with yet for the rest of the season?

JM: “I think there’s a great possibility of that. At the start of every season, we have a conversation with the show runner and this year, I did speak with Angela and said ‘you know, maybe there’s some people that I would like to work with if we can make that happen’ because there’s people like Lenny James (Morgan) and I never interracted with him. And both Lenny and I talked about that. And it was kind of disappointing because obviously, our storylines didn’t intersect as much. I mean, we were in scenes together, but we never did a scene. And obviously Rick left and I didn’t really do a scene with Andrew Lincoln until Season 9. And so this year, I said, ‘hey, you know, there’s some people that if the opportunity comes, I would love to work with them and come to find out these people said the same thing about me’. So I will say yes, There are some moments where I get to interact with other people, but we’ll just leave it at that and we’ll let the audience be surprised.”

Everyone has a signature weapon except for Eugene. Why is that?

JM: “I mean, he’s got his trusty knife, the big blade he got in the time jump between the front half of Season 9 and then in Episode 6, when the time jumps like six and a half years into the future. He has become proficient in knives and that’s kind of become his signature weapon. But he’s still not first person to jump out to the front lines unless you absolutely have to. And it’s not out of fear. It’s just, Eugene have other things that he is also doing and he will get out there if he is needed. But in the meantime, Eugene is just being here. I don’t know that he’s gonna have a another weapon.”

Eugene has had any memorable lines throuought the series. How many lines have you improvised for Eugene?

JM: “I do not improvise a lot. Eugene is a lot smarter than I am, and I think it would be really obvious if I improvised a line because it wouldn’t sound like you. You know, in the end, I give credit to the writers. You know, Corey Reed always writes for Eugene really well. Scott Campbell was amazing at writing for Eugene. And, you know, it’s kind of fun to see the writers get to come throw out their knowledge because I’m having to look up half of what they say or what he’s saying because they don’t necessarily understand it on the first read. But in terms of me improvising anything, the percentage is so small. I think I improvised one line where I was fighting alongside Rosita this season with the horde and she says something to the effect of like, ‘you know, you want to give up or do you want to call it a night?’ And he says, ‘I can go all night’. I improvised that line. But, you know, I don’t even remember what the original line was. You don’t ever want to improvise. This isn’t a sitcom or anything. So you don’t want to just be throwing out lines. Most improvised lines are going to be funny though, but you want to make sure you stick with the tone. So there’s really not a lot of room for improvisation. But I remember talking to Jim Barnes and he had said ‘hey, you know, if you have something else you want to say, go for it’. But yeah, I did improvise that line for sure!”

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The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 6, “Bonds” Recap

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon; group – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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.

Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Ryan Hurst as Beta – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 6 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

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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The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 5 “What It Always Is” Recap

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

The big bad wolf himself Negan has escaped the cell on last week’s episode and this week, he goes on a little adventure with Brandon. What could possibly go wrong as you are reading this? Well, you will find out right now as I give my recap to the fifth episode of the tenth season of The Walking Dead titled “What It Always Is.”

The episode opens as Kelly is in the woods observing her surroundings as she also sees a lonely pig. I also want to add that her vision and hearing is going low and we see it happen from her perspective during this opening. She kills the pig using her slingshot weapon and she did not know that a walker was approaching behind her. But she killed a few walkers and the ones that were left devoured the pig. She runs through the forest to return back to Hiltop and she gets injured. As she is laying down, a walker grabs her head and then we cut to the opening credits. Negan is by himself washing his face and Brandon approaches him. He first pointed a knife towards his direction, but he said that he was just joking (Brandon is also a fan of Negan). Brandon also told Negan that it took him forever to catch up with him. He gives Negan water to drink and Negan smiles. Yumiko and a few Hiltop residents are finishing up clearing walkers at the gate. Earl still believes that it was The Whisperers that cut the tree down. When another Hiltop resident tells Yumiko about fish being stolen at the middle of the night, she asks who was on watch and then goes inside and talks to Magna who is also listening to music. They both talked about why Magna was not at watch and that she should do her job. Magna ignores her and turns back on the music. Daryl, Dog, and Siddiq arrive at Hiltop and they talk to Ezekiel about Negan. Ezekiel also says that they need more help due to the damage of the tree fall. Ezekiel also does not want to talk to Carol. Oscar and a few soldiers also return and Connie asks him about Kelly’s whereabouts.

Brandon is practicing Negan’s Savior whistle and he even asked Negan how did he get out of the cell. Negan told him that he is looking for a new place and Brandon says that they need a new Sanctuary. Brandon even brings up a rumor about Negan killing Carl Grimes and Negan shuts that conversation down real quick. Brandon also says that “we are Negan.” As they were both looking at a house, a walker attacks Negan and he killed the walker bny using the barbed wire attached to it to rip the head off followed by smashing it’s head. Brandon did not help because he was making Lucille 2.0 for Negan. He even showed him his jacket and Negan told him to put it away so that way, he could not be reconized.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, Blaine Kern III as Brandon – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

Aaron is by himself and he hears a walker and seen that Gamma killed the walker and cut open its stomach to drain its blood into the water stream. Back to Brandon and Negan as they talk about what The Saviors used to do to kill time. Then, they hear a woman screaming in the bus and Negan not only saved the woman and her son, he killed those walkers in that bus in gruesome fashion. Brandon even yells out “damn, classic Negan!” While Daryl and Connie were alone looking for Kelly, Daryl tells a good fishing story about Merle. Dog alerts them both and they see blood and the corpse of that pig from earlier. Magna appears moments later and Daryl drew his crossbow at her thinking it was someone else. Siddiq and Ezekiel are looking through the cabinents and they noticed that some of the medical supplies are missing. He also begins coughing and Siddiq tries to care for him and Ezekiel refused at first. Something is clearly wrong with him and Ezekiel revealed that there is a lump on his neck and that he has had it for a month. Siddiq thinks that it could be an infection, but Ezekiel knows that it is thyroid cancer because his grandmother and father had it too. They fought it and beat the cancer and he thinks that the odds are very slim for himself. Siddiq also revealed to Ezekiel that he had to leave Alexandria because hje cannot stand how everyone looks at him and even brings up his PTSD from the barn.

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 5 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC

Back to Negan and Brandon as Negan is talking to the woman as she told him how they got to where they are now. When she and her son exited the bus for a minute, Brandon tells Negan that they might have weapons and supplies but Negan not only does not care to find out, but he told Brandon to go back to Alexandria and tell everyone where he is. Also to note, Negan stopped Brandon from attempting to kill them with his metal pipe. At The Whisperer camp, Alpha talks with a Whisperer and then Gamma and Beta about the walkers they are sacrificing. The unnamed Whisperer speaks up about not wanting to take down any more walkers. Beta was about to attack him, but Alpha lets him finish speaking. Alpha wanted to take a vote with everyone to see if they agree with him in which nobody did. She then leaned over, smiled, and said “that’s democracy for you” and slashed his leg. He tried to fight back and she slashed his arm. He is completely immobilized and Alpha gives Beta a knife to kill that Whisperer and he did exactly that. Negan has a talk with Milo as he was playing with a toy airplane. Negan tells him what it was like to be on an airplane before everything changed and even makes a joke about nut smacking. Funny bonding time. Negan then told him that he and his mom should come to Alexandria. Gamma is walking with the walker who was that Whisperer that Beta killed. She does the same thing to that walker that she did earlier to and that is, contaminate the water. While she was stabbing the walker, she cuts her hand and Aaron introduced himself and gives her bandages. Gamma runs away after this. Dogh finds Kelly and Magna, Daryl, and Connie rescued her. She could not hear at the moment and this is when we find out that they show them the stolen fish and medical supplies that we now know that Magna stolen. Connie was unaware that this was going on and Magna had a dumb reason explaining why she took it which was because she did not trust them.

When Negan returned with the logs to burn fire, he sees that Brandon killed Amelia and Milo and he even got that Savior whistle correct. But that did not last as Brandon attempted to have a Tony Stark moment and say “I am Negan” before Negan himself killed him by bashing his head with a heavy stone. Negan takes his jacket and Lucille 2.0 with him and left. While Siddiq and Aaron are on the radio, it was mentioned that Rosita is sick and that Siddiq is leaving at night. Ezekiel also does not want to speak to Carol. Magna and Yumiko had a falling out and she brings up that they known each other for thirteen years. We also find out here that the reason Yumiko was her lawyer is because it was during the trial of when Magna killed a guy for hurting her cousin who was very young at the time. Gamma and Alpha talk about Aaron giving her the bandages and about her sacrificing her sister. Later at night, Everyone at Hiltop says their goodbyes. Elsewhere, Negan crossed one of Alpha’s borders. He killed a few walkers and called them out and one of The Whisperers knocked him down and Beta and Negan had a stare down and Negan challenged him to a fight as the episode ends.

This episode is awesome and the comic moments from Issues 153 and 154 were done really well on screen. Jeffrey Dean Morgan gets a high praise for me on this episode as not only that he (Negan) did not want to go back to who he was years ago, but he showed that he can be very human to unknown survivors who are in need of help. Also, killing Brandon and having him being a “fanboy” of Negan was the best fan service I have seen this season so far. Ezekiel revealing that he has thyroid cancer made me sad and it also adds to everything that Khary Payton said about Ezekiel’s state of mind last week. I also love Daryl’s interractions with Connie, Magna and Yumiko’s falling out, the opening with Kelly, Alpha showing who is the head boss in charge, and the graphic gore on those walker kills and even Brandon’s death too. My only criticism is the reasoning of Magna stealing the fish and medical supplies. I did not want to roll my eyes after I heard that, but I just had to because Judith saved her in the first place back in season 9 and she is still up to her old nonsense that she brought into the community. I cannot wait for Negan and Beta’s scenes on the next episode!


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The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 4 “Silence The Whisperers” Recap

Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Angel Theory as Kelly – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

The Whisperers has dug under the skin of each community and we are starting to see some of the members taking it out on other members. Lydia is also getting the worst treatment from some of the members, but she is not letting them get the best of her at all. Meanwhile, there is a bad situation going on over at Hiltop and I will go over it all on my recap of this week’s episode of The Walking Dead titled “Silence The Whisperers.”

The episode opens with music as Michonne has dinner with Judith, RJ, and Daryl. Daryl even left food for Carol, but she is getting a new bandage from Dante. We also see Magna and Yumiko together in a heavy love scene too. As soon as Ezekiel gets up from his bed, he goes outside and then a giant tree falls down and breaks one of the side walls of The Hiltop as walkers are also approaching. Alden and Earl come up with a plan to get rid of the tree and Connie and Kelly talked about it too. Earl thinks that The Whisperers did it since he believes that they are in war with them now. At Alexandria, Aaron is training members of Alexandria on how to fight with a knife and then Gage, Margo, and Alfred makes fun of Lydia by putting on a mask and making a joke towards her. Michonne and Judith and a few others are heading to Hiltop and on their way, Judith told Michonne that she looks worried and also mentioned Carol’s bandages. Michonne asserted her that she is okay and Judith told her that she will be her fresh eyes and ears. Michonne also talks about what happened at Alpha’s border and Judith believes that Alpha wants to have the entire group fight until they are tired. Michonne suddenly stops to see Ezekiel with himself.

When she searched for him deeper in the woods, she noticed that he was by himself at the edge of a high point. Michonne talked Ezekiel into not jumping and he listened. After that, he kissed her and said that he was sorry. Lydia then finds a worm and Negan approached her and they talked about the people that bullied her earlier that day. While Negan was still giving her advice, Daryl interrupted and told her to get away from Negan. Negan told Daryl that she was just trying to fit in with everyone else there and Daryl told him that she cannot do that while he is around her. After Daryl walked away from Negan, he and Lydia talk and then, a “Silence The Whisperers” grafitti was seen by the both of them. Ezekiel and Michonne talk about what just happened and they both even admitted that they would never work as a couple, but maybe in another universe. He talks about everything and everyone that he lost that includes The Kingdom, Benjamin, Henry, Shiva, and even Carol as they divorced. He even says that he does not know how to talk to Carol anymore too and he was not sure what he was going to do when he came out there. Michonne relates to him and tells him about her dark past and that it felt like she was wearing a mask at that time and could not face reality. She also misses Rick Grimes too and she also said that he is not a bad kisser. Ezekiel made sure that he will not make the same mistake again.

Cassady McClincy as Lydia, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Eliza Morse/AMC

Members of The Hiltop are trying to barricade the wall so that way, walkers would not break through. At Alexandria, they are eating dinner and Lydia cuts open a squirrel in front of Margo, Gage, and Alfred and when the blood splattered on Gage, he was disgusted. Daryl questioned if she wanted to live there and they also talked about the grafitti on the doors too. At night, Lydia walks outside of the house and Margo, Gage, and Alfred circle around her. Lydia told them that she was not there the night Alpha made the pikes. They all assualt her and Negan saved her life and not only stopped the fight, but accidentally killed Margo too. Members of Alexandria finds this out and Daryl told Brandon to take Negan back to his cell and helped Lydia get up. Also, Siddiq has another PTSD moment and ran away from everyone and washed his face and dumped his head in the sink water to calm down. Dante is doing his best to heal Lydia’s wounds and Daryl checks in on her. She talks about her dad for a few moments as he protected her. Daryl asked her about what happened and she told him that Negan saved her life.

Daryl then visits Negan at the cell and Negan first asked about Lydia, and then he told Daryl his side of what happened and why Margo was killed as she should have not beaten Lydia up. Daryl told him that he has never been in the same room as him and that since Rick is not here, everyone wants him dead. Negan pokes fun at Daryl for not killing him when they had the chance and questions why he is still alive following their rules. Daryl leaves the cell and speaks to Carol as she mentioned to him that it is the same cycle again as everyone is talking about Negan and not focusing on The Whisperers. Back at Hiltop, everyone is clearing the incoming walkers outside of the wall and it got to a point where they were starting to get overwhelmed. Magna wanted to stay out and finish, but Yumiko told her that there were too many and that they should go behind the gate. They did that, and another part of the wall falls down as walkers started to arrive on that side. Michonne, Judith, Ezekiel and the rest arrived in time to help and we got a cool walker kill sequence with everyone including at one point with Michonne and Judith doing this together.

The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Michonne and Daryl speak over the radio about what is going on at Alexandria and why they think that Alpha did not kill them at the border and it is all because Lydia is alive and Daryl needs to protect her. Michonne told Daryl to be her proxy when it comes to the vote at the council meeting. At the meeting, they bring up whether if Negan should be alive or not and Siddiq told them that The Whisperers should be the main focus, but Gabriel told him that this meeting is not a discussion about them. Daryl told them that his vote is to not kill Negan since Lydia told him that he saved her life. The vote is now at a stalemate as Gabriel told everyone to rethink their votes in the morning. In the morning, Michonne, Eugene, Yumiko, Luke, and the rest have a meeting at Hiltop about fixing the wall. Eugene told Michonne that he will stay to fix it, Michonne will leave with Judith. After the meeting, Magna tells Yumiko to not watch over her anymore because of what happened last night and Yumiko told her that she could have died if she continued with those walkers the previous night. At Alexandria, Gabriel goes to Negan’s cell to see that he is gone. He alerted Daryl and Aaron and Lydia told Gabriel and Aaron that she let him out while she was walking herself into the cell. Daryl does not believe that she did it, but she told him that she did. She also told him that Alpha was right about what she told her about Alexandria puts on masks to make things seem like they are okay, but it is not. The episode ends as the same song from the opening plays again while we get a montage of both communities getting their things ready to leave while some stay back. Also, the “Silence The Whisperers” grafitti is everywhere now in Alexandria.

This episode is fantastic and I have to give high praise to Khary Payton and Danai for their performance. That conversation was very dark and and it also exposes the mentality of what people go through when they are in that dark mode. I also like how some of the scenes of the comic series was remixed to fit the overall narrative of the scene with Negan saving Lydia. I also like the walker kill sequence at Hiltop and I am curious to know why the tree fell in the first place. Plus, double points for Daryl and Michonne talking about RJ over the radio.

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Interview: Khary Payton on Ezekiel’s State of Mind, How Much Henry Meant to Him, That Kiss With Michonne, and Much More.

Cooper Andrews as Jerry, Khary Payton as Ezekiel – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

This week’s episode of The Walking Dead features a heart to heart between Ezekiel and Michonne that has the world talking as this scene is a pivital moment of the entire episode. With Ezekiel losing so much, it is safe to say that we fans hope that he can find happiness once again soon. Khary Payton is here to break down everything with Ezekiel in this exclusive interview!

With the fall of The Kingdom, losing Shiva, Benjamin, Henry, and the divorce bewteen Ezekiel and Carol, which loss do you believe affected Ezekiel the most?

KP: “I think I think it’s cumulative. Benjamin, who is Henry’s older brother, died first and then you have to remember that he [Ezekiel] lost nearly one hundred people with that with that big gun that just tore into people in Season 8. So it’s not just one person or two or Shiva or even Carol. It’s an entire community an entire way of life he really believed in and he looks around him and all of those people are gone. So it’s I think it’s more of a cumulative effect than anything else. He was kicking butt man. He was a light in the dark. He did that for the last few years. It’s just that he’s lost two sons and he lost the only Tiger left in the world that we know of. He lost everything and it has affected him badly.”

In the comic book series, Ezekiel an Michonne were in a relationship and we only got a small tease of that on this episode except that they both realize that it would not work. Do you think that Ezekiel kissed Michonne because he felt very lost and alone?

KP: “I think that’s what it was. When you’ve lost as much as he has, I think I think he’s reaching out for tenderness is understandable and he was desperately and absolutely lost and she provided an anchor. I think if you ask him, he’d say ‘Yeah I’m a hugger.’ And I think that’s what in that moment he was reaching back for. To be loved and to feel that he is wanted and needed.”

Khary Payton as Ezekiel – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Both Ezekiel and Michonne told their stories with eachother as they both can relate to eachother. How much input did you and Danai had when it came to delivering those lines for that scene?

KP: “I think I have had a lot of input, but also Danai too just because we were talking about Rick and and she’s had such a long history that the relationship between Michonne and Rick I think she probably understands that that relationship just about better than anybody. And so there was definitely some back and forth about how she would remember Rick Grimes. And honestly, I felt like I was sitting and really listening and absorbing that because this was really about Ezekiel finding his way back. I don’t know if he found his way all the way back to shore. But at least he could feel the ground underneath his feet even if he was still waiting in the water.”

The threat of The Whisperers is affecting everyone in each community. Do you also believe that Ezekiel is also giving into the fear of them at this point now too?

KP: “I don’t know if it’s a fear of the whisperers, I think he’s more worried about himself. I think he blames himself more than anything else. I know that the whisperers are definitely a weird and creepy group. But in his mind, they’re not the thing that’s feared. It’s more like it’s a conversation between him and God. You know, I feel like he feels like he’s done everything you could to bring light and positivity into this world. And yet everything has been taken away from him and he’s wondering is he the problem. Does he need to extricate himself from this world. And would that be the right thing to do or is it just the easy thing to do. The demons in his own mind are far scarier to him at this point.”

Khary Payton as Ezekiel – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

We have seen Carol grieve about Henry. Will we see the same for Ezekiel in the future?

KP: “I think that we’re going to see Ezekiel grieving in his own way. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in his mind and as as verbose and eloquent as he can be sometimes, I don’t know if he gets the chance to to let it out when it comes to his losses in that sense.”

We have seen you interracted with Gavin (Jayson Warner Smith) but not with Negan yet. Have the both of you been in a scene together in this season without giving too much away?

KP: (Laughs) “Yeah I can’t say anything about that yet, You’re just going to have to watch to find that out. I wish I can though!”

How did you mentally prepare for that scene with Michonne?

KP: “I did a lot of research on post-traumatic stress disorder on soldiers because to me, this is about how you deal with loss. It’s sobering and it’s kind of heavy on my shoulders. I feel when you’re trying to portray that kind of pain and that kind of despair, and I don’t claim to even begin to truly understand what that pain feels like, but I hope that the people who are going through that and they were watching and if they saw themselves, that they felt represented. It was a big deal to me in the moment and it continues to be.”

Why do you believe that some of the Kingdom soldiers still look up to Ezekiel even though he does not want to be looked at as one?

KP: “I just I think it’s hard to forget what the man was able to build. You know, the people are still looking for hope and his ego was a big part of what kept people hopeful for a long time and they may want that guy back as much as people like to tear down their heroes. The truth is they say they love a comeback story even better and I have a feeling that Ezekiel will have a great comeback.”

All of you fought against the walkers at Hiltop after the tree crashed down. It was a great sequence and do you have any stories being part of it? And also, is killing walkers very therapeutic?

KP: “The crazy thing is, whenever you’re dealing with horses and smoke and all of this, it never goes the way that you want it want it to. And we were having so many technical problems that night. It was crazy. We ended up shooting the shot of me riding in on that horse and we were waiting and waiting and waiting and my horse, his name is black and he’s a beautiful horse and he can do all kinds of wild tricks and things like that. But at that point it had been so late. It was probably after 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and he was done. He was so ready to go home and I was just trying to give him exercises to do to keep his mind occupied because he would just get so kind of rattled by all of the noises and stuff going on around him. And he’s the most challenging horse that we use on the show. He’s tried to buck me off a couple of times, but he is a handful horsse and I’m just glad that it ended up looking pretty cool. Killing Walkers is incredibly therapeutic. It’s one of the best workouts because it’s full body. At least when I do it, I’m swinging with my whole body and swinging from my toes all the way up through my arm. And it is a cathartic kind of feeling to to just swing with all of your body and all of your mind. And the idea that we’re kind of going all night to clear this thing and it does feel great. What could be cooler, you know you’re killing things but you’re not really killing things. You don’t want to feel bad about it. You can do go for it. So yes, I absolutely love killing walkers. And every time I get to do it, I feel really grateful and I can’t wait to do it again.”

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