When facing enemies cloaked in the skins of the dead, how is one supposed to be able to differentiate between a Walker and a Whisperer? When even the jerky, disjointed movements are imitated almost to perfection, with the skins so chillingly cut and sewed to fit as masks and coats, it seems next to impossible. This is the enemy facing our beloved survivors of “The Walking Dead” this season.
Are you ready for “The Walking Dead” to return? If you’re anything like me, you’ve been waiting eagerly, for months, for the premiere second-half of the already incredible season 10 to begin again. The explosive conclusion starts soon. Be sure to check your local listings for times!
Season ten has been intriguing, bold, tense and dynamic. Our favorite apocalyptic survivors are now facing an uncertain future as they head toward a battle against their most terrifying and formidable enemies yet, The Whisperers. The Whisperers are a band of people who live and move among the dead, covered in rotting Walker skins to camouflage themselves, which prevents them from being attacked and allows them to be as one with the herd. Led by Alpha, the bald, sunken-eyed, cold-hearted mother of Lydia, and her second in command, Beta, The Whisperers is almost, if not more, deadly than any other group before them.
The Kingdom has fallen, as well as Carol and the King’s relationship. Both are affected by the death of their son, Henry (and so many others) after the first attack from The Whisperers, and that has taken its toll on the couple. Storms and illness plague the camp of our heroes, but gradually adjustments are made as time passes. Hope begins to rise once more as the camp starts to heal from the loss of so many beloved friends.
Maggie is still gone. Judith has become a vibrant, fierce little girl, a pixie badass; she’s proven more than once that she can handle her own. Rick and Carl would be proud. Rosita now has Coco, and the love triangle/co-parenting arrangement between Rosita, Siddiq, and Gabriel continues. Eugene pines for Rosita, much to her exasperation, but proves to be a qualified and competent babysitter to little Coco. Carol, after her split from the King, has taken to fishing on a boat, but when she returns, she is still full of fury and pain. Daryl does his best to reach her, in a touching scene when he calls her his best friend, but Carol is infuriated that the group continues to honor the truce of perimeters which Alpha has demanded. The camp trains extensively, even Judith, in preparation for the inevitable war that is coming with The Whisperers. Because a war is coming, and it’s going to get ugly. Borders have been crossed too many times, and Alpha, like a viper hiding in the grass, is waiting to strike.
Alpha continues to keep a herd of walkers close by, and Carol and Daryl search fruitlessly for it. Aaron befriends a Whisperer, to a degree, and at long last, the lie that Alpha told her people, that she had killed her own daughter, Lydia, for her betrayal of her, comes to light. During the storm, borders had been crossed; these borders were never agreed to, just forced upon them, and Michonne especially tries to adhere to the threat of Alpha and her people, although Carol is ready to shoot her in the face. Carol’s behavior continues to be increasingly erratic and she finally confesses to Daryl that she thinks she is losing herself again. He does his best to comfort her, almost begging her to not go back out on the boat, to stay with them. Dog is still around, thanks to Negan, who selflessly goes after Judith in the blizzard when Dog is left in her care and goes missing, but is heard barking in the distance later as they are traveling through the storm, so Judith breaks away in a mad dash to save him and keep her promise to Uncle Daryl. Negan is heroic in his efforts, and both Judith and Dog are saved. It’s hard to not start to feel sorry for Negan at times, like this when his charming side comes out; sympathy that he has been stuck, year after year, in their jail; then, I remember Glenn and Abraham and the havoc that Negan wreaked upon the group, and my empathy falls away. I don’t know what to think about Negan at this point- he’s escaped and joined up with The Whisperers! (This happens close to the end of the first half of season ten.)
Alpha, who is a foreboding and cross woman. She is a disgusting human in every way: morally, physically (not the actress, just the character!) and mentally, with her constant scheming, her mysterious and calm persona, her rage simmering just beneath the surface, all which lead me to believe that she is one seriously mentally-ill woman (given the fact that this is a world where the dead come back to life and zombies are real, insanity would probably become a common condition.) I was horrified to watch her hold out her bare arm to receive a whipping from a willow branch, delivered by Beta, while she stood taking it, enjoying it? Why would she cause herself such pain? To prove her leadership, to test her own endurance…to punish herself, for doing what she knows is wrong? Her motivations for this are a mystery. Her character is dark; it’s very hard to tell she is NOT a Walker at first glance. We are given a few flashback scenes to “before” she became the Alpha when it was just her and a young Lydia traveling together in a herd; terror had given way and Lydia had screamed, forcing the duo into a nearby building- and also the sanctuary of a very large man, who we would later come to know as Beta. They formed an alliance and had been together ever since (about 8 years? is my guess). These scenes are important, giving us a glimpse into who they are and why they’ve become the heathens they are now. Alpha and Beta, no real names, just A & B, but as to whether or not they are an intimate couple has not been made clear, nor is it even an important plotline. However. Add Negan to the mix now, and I honestly don’t know where this union will lead. Both Negan and Alpha are ruthless and brazen, which will be an interesting combination. This could go anywhere. Beta doesn’t seem pleased in any way, and this is what causes me to question the depth of their relationship.
As we head into this episode, a major coup as already been won by The Whisperers, and it was one that came swiftly and out of the blue. Alpha had already infiltrated the group by way of one ‘survivor’, who was rescued and brought in under the guise of being a friendly, non-risk, random guy. He even came with something the group desperately needed- a background in medicine. SPOILER ALERT! This man was a medic in the military. Boisterous and out-going, he was eager to offer his knowledge and work along Siddiq when a major flu outbreak knocked down so many of the groups. He was a snake in disguise, one of Alpha’s men sent in, and the end result, once he was found out, ended the life of one of our favorite characters, and rocked the community to its core. The scene is now set for a full-scale war between our steadfast Grimes survivors and the mysterious Whisperers.
The border crossings have not gone unnoticed, and as Alpha says, “We are always watching,” she is drunk with power and the desperate need for revenge, against the people she believes are the ones who threaten her livelihood most, especially since they have fostered Lydia; taken her in and, thanks to Daryl, given her the chance to prove herself. The death caused by the infiltrated Whisperer at the camp, the rage of not having any say regarding the borders of any of the land involved: its all fuel-ready to explode in the final half of season ten, and this TWD fan can’t wait.
It’s going to be bloody, it’s going to be savage, it’s going to be the most brutal fight they’ve fought yet. Welcome back to one of America’s favorite shows, “The Walking Dead!” Stay tuned for more articles about the show from me here at NaN’s Horror Corner. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the show!
Written by Mandie Stevens
