This episode, we learn Beta’s true identity, Alpha taunts Carol from beyond the grave, Daryl is mad at Negan, and Eugene, Ezekiel, and Yumiko meet Princess. My name is Kent, and I ask 5 weekly questions and then people answer them. Any comments in BOLD are written by me. I hope you enjoy and if you or someone you know may want to do this blog, contact me, leave a comment, etc.
1. Who’s crazier or has more PTSD: Carol or Rick? Elaborate, please.
Bob: Carol, I think she has had more flashbacks and exhibited more mental damage. She has also battled with suicide more often. I would measure them by their reactions and persistent issues. (The more I went down the rabbit’s hole, I felt it was more clear that it was Carol. He simply handled things better.)
Raylene: That’s too much thinking for me in a question. (What? Picking one person out of 2 choices is a chore?)
Kent: Normally I would break it down by losses except that is so much work. The question that you have to ask yourself is simple. Do you count ALL the losses to the group as Rick losses or not? If the answer is no, then what losses do you count? For the sake of my sanity, I am going to say no to the first question. Damnit, I tried avoiding this. But now let’s look at the Rick losses and the Carol losses.
Rick lost his cheating wife, Lori, his best friend, Shane, a mentor in Herschel, 2 big comrades in Abe and Genn, Jessie, Carl, and then the group in a way which included his daughter and love interest. Carol lost Ed and a bunch of kids including Sophia, Lizzie, Mika, any of the other kids from the prison, Sam, Henry, and I would argue that Carl was also a loss for her too because she spent a lot of time looking after him and then subsequently losing him. I think that the loss of children that you feel responsible for has a significantly different impact than say Shane, Abe, and Glenn. Carol also lost T Dog and at that point in time, she basically witnesses him get eaten alive to save her. She also had to kill the 2 infected people in the prison which resulted in getting kicked out of the community for a length of time which had to be incredibly difficult. Plus years of Ed don’t help.
I feel that Carol has more PTSD and struggles with categorizing things, yet I feel that Rick is crazier. Yeah, that was a terrible answer and I feel like I cheated the readers. Okay, the answer is Carol.
2. Are you enjoying all of the callbacks to previous seasons that we have been getting? This week we had Alpha quoting Lizzie and we also had a very similar image on the highway of people on a horse.
Bob: I may be missing most of them… (I miss some of them and then read about them online or hear about them on Talking Dead. A lot of times I feel a bit of familiarity and then can’t place where it’s from and then quickly forget it. Then I hear about it and then I get mad at myself for not knowing. Life is difficult watching a zombie show.)
Raylene: It does seem nice to see call backs perhaps because of it being season 10 they are doing something special with each episode. (That would be a nice nod. I always enjoy when Nicotero tries to do nods to previous zombie films.)
Kent: “I’m sorry you’re mad at me. Please don’t be mad at me. I’m sorry!” Those were originally Lizzie’s words and they still resonate strongly for me. I loved this send-off for Alpha, because even though she wasn’t alive, her words were haunting and it was a fantastic performance. The scene on the road was also beautiful. The place that Beta found the music reminded me of Humbug’s Gulch, from Fear the Walking Dead. I hope I got that name right. This was a really nice blend.
3. If you’re Daryl, have you finally started to trust Negan?
Bob: To a certain degree. I think Daryl trusts that Negan won’t betray necessarily. There is a very long road ahead before Daryl can trust Negan in a personal way. Easy Street. (Dare I say, it’s a Not So Easy Street.)
Raylene: That’s a slippery slope to trust him but he knows that once Beta finds Alpha’s head he is going to be a kind of beast they’ve not had to deal with yet. (The whole the enemy of my enemy thing. I love those types of stories.)
Kent: Let’s face it, Negan isn’t going to sacrifice himself to save Daryl, well maybe he would at the rate they are handling negan. This is tough because I struggle to put myself in the mindset of surviving the ZA for a decade. They went to war and lost many people. Daryl was “tortured” on Easy Street, which I thought was a treat. All of these things point to no. But I have to ask myself, at what point of desperation do you find yourself starting to trust someone so horrible from your past? Daryl has witnessed Negan’s reformation while imprisoned. I think Daryl knows that pre-ZA, him and Negan may have actually been friends. Also, Negan is far from harmless, but he also is significantly less of a threat than Beta currently is. I think you have to start putting trust in Negan.
4. Eugene is with Yumiko and Ezekiel. Nobody cares about Yumiko, so let’s talk about Ezekiel. Was this the best use of his character all things considered?
Bob: I appreciated Yumiko more aside from her..storyline. She could be a real contributing character to the show but her story drags her down. I suppose I mean how she has good screen presence. Ezekiel’s use is of being an example of knowing be will die but doing what he can to do what is right. He wants to go out in a blaze of glory but is now realizing that is going to become more difficult unless the show presents him a Rick-like opportunity. (You’re right about Yumiko, and I’d say Magna too. Maybe that whole group actually seems to have their best moments away from their little clique. I would like to see them give Kelly someone to work with, like Lydia or Aaron, perhaps.)
Raylene: If Ezekiel makes it to Stephanie, then yes he is a personable man who can make anyone feel at ease. (He simply has a presence. And when you see him in interviews, he seems to just have that level of charisma.)
Kent: At first, I wanted Ezekiel to die a brave death out on the battlefield, protecting Jerry’s blindside, or maybe Jerry’s children. I feel like comparing Ezekiel to Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones. They have similar personal qualities. Also, they have similar destinies, dying for what they believe in. Ezekiel was the one that stood up in the crowd and told them to stand down and let Eugene talk. Eugene is not a great mouthpiece but Ezekiel is and one can suspect that Yumiko can be as well given her past profession. Ezekiel will potentially be clutch in talking to Stephanie and potentially her people. I just want a hero’s death and not some random shenanigans. He deserves that much at least.
5. We finally found out about Beta’s pre-ZA life as Halfmoon. We also saw him attach part of Alpha’s skin to replace the torn away piece. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget that one of the Whisperers stupidly talked to Beta and got got. Now that we are finally making progress with Beta’s character and there only being 2 more episodes this season, does it feel too soon to pull the plug and kill him?
Bob: Nope, it will be just right. He is gone, soon!
Raylene: It’ll always be too soon in my opinion I hope he’s around for 2 more seasons.
Kent: I loved everything about this. I love that they gave us just enough of Beta prior to this episode to allow us to tie all the pieces together. I truly was impressed with how well they handled this, and I love to hear Ryan sing. The new mask is amazing, in my opinion. It definitely feels too soon to pull the plug because that is what we have ingrained in our minds. Now that he’s the main villain, he deserves time to shine. The thing is, killing him off in the season finale is the right decision. Better to go out on a high than to hang around too long and become boring. I hate to say that and I look forward to Ryan’s next project.
Final Thoughts – What was your favorite story from this week’s episode? Also, any thoughts on Princess would be welcome.
Bob: Negan having Daryl on his knees was fantastic. (Once again, a nice nod to the past. See, you don’t miss every little nod, just a few here and there.)
Raylene: Finally getting Beta’s story was excellent. He will officially go all out insane now and I am so looking forward to that. Jury is still out on Princess but that’s me with most new characters. (Princess is an acquired taste early on, that is for sure. I stopped reading a little beyond this part, so I don’t know what to expect from her.)
Kent: This episode will be remembered for a bunch of small snippets. Jerry and Ezekiel’s hug was sad as hell. Beta listening to his music and then wearing Alpha’s face. Alpha dropping the Lizzie quote. I think my favorite thing had to be Beta’s story this week. I have to say that by and large, I think Angela Kang has been an amazing showrunner and has really given TWD new life. I didn’t think that this show had much steam left in it, but Angela breathed new life into it. Regarding Princess, I suspect that she will annoy me but eventually come to be endearing, or so I hope. She’s an outlandish, pro wrestling type of character, so she has my attention. Bianca Bel Air and Nikki Cross would be excellent on this show.