Tragedy struck again on The Walking Dead last week. After following Alpha (Samantha Morton) into a cave, Carol (Melissa McBride) made things worse when she attempted to blow up Alpha’s herd and caused the cave to collapse. Carol, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Kelly (Angel Theory), Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Jerry (Cooper Andrews) made it out. Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Magna (Nadia Hilker) did not.
Alpha is relentless in her quest to destroy Team Family. Has she gone too far? Gamma (Thora Birch) thinks so. Gamma aka Mary turned on Alpha when she told Aaron about the herd. Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) figured it out and told Alpha that Gamma is the spy. Will Gamma face Alpha’s wrath?
RELATED: Recap the Previous Episode of THE WALKING DEAD, “Squeeze”
We start out with Beta (Ryan Hurst) entering a trailer in the middle of nowhere. Three Whisperers stand up and open a door on the floor of the trailer. Beta jumps in, lights a lantern and starts walking through a tunnel.
AN UNWANTED GUEST
Baby Coco wakes up in the middle of the night. Rosita (Christian Serratos) gets up to check on her. She goes to the bathroom to get a diaper and hears a growl. There is someone standing over Coco’s crib with a knife. Rosita freezes. The Whisperer raises the knife and Rosita screams. Rosita wakes up abruptly. Coco is fine. Someone calls Rosita on the radio.
The community is on alert. Gamma is at the gates and after what happened to Siddiq, they aren’t taking any chances on new faces. Gamma removes her mask and says she is there to let them know that their people are in trouble. She explains how Alpha trapped Daryl and the others in a cave with her herd. Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) questions the location of the herd, because Gamma told them the herd was in a valley. Alpha moved the herd, conveniently just before Daryl and Carol left.
Gamma says she’s trying to help. She explains that the baby left at Hilltop is her nephew and she wants to see him. Gabriel asks where the mother is and Gamma says she’s dead. He watches Gamma intently. He suggests giving Gamma a map so she can show him where the cave is. Gamma agrees, but Rosita doesn’t trust her and punches Gamma. They put her in the cell.
STALKER
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Jace Downs/AMC
Daryl looks for another way into the cave and comes upon two Whisperers. He hides and gets ready to attack but more Whisperers emerge from the cave, including Alpha. She is leading a group of walkers out of the cave. Daryl decides to follow them.
Alpha is moving the walkers across a river when Daryl attacks. He shoots an arrow at one of Alpha’s escorts, making him cry out and the dead descend on him. The other two escorts grab Alpha and move to the other side of the river. That’s when Daryl jumps out and attacks the three of them. He takes care of the escorts, who step forward to protect Alpha, dying for her. Daryl gets a hit on Alpha, knocking her gun out of her hands. Alpha recovers and hits Daryl in the head with her knife.
Daryl’s vision is blurred by the blood coming from his head. He continues to fight against Alpha, but the walkers catch up to him. He can fight the walkers well enough until Alpha sticks her knife in Daryl’s leg. More walkers approach as Daryl sees Alpha grabbing a large branch and he walks into the woods.
ABANDONED
Alpha follows a trail of blood to an abandoned gas station. Daryl is inside and he’s hurt pretty bad. Alpha walks inside, looking for Daryl. She can hear walkers in the distance, so she sits down and starts banging her gun on a piece of metal so the walkers will come to her.
Three walkers make it to the gas station where Daryl is basically trapped. They pass Alpha and look for something to eat. Daryl starts kicking a bench so the walkers will find him. He is sitting on the ground, fighting each of the walkers that approach, killing each of them. The last one was really hard and a little bulkier than most walkers. Daryl had to pull the knife out of his leg to kill it. In doing so, Daryl is now bleeding out and Alpha watches. She his hurt too and passes out from blood loss.
GAMMA GAMMA GAMMA
Thora Birch as Gamma- The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Bob Mahoney/AMC
Gamma wakes up in the cell and Rosita and Gabriel are watching her. Gabriel is a man of God and he can tell when someone is lying to him. They give her a chance to come clean and let her know that she’s the third Whisperer they’ve held in that cell. The other two are dead including Dante. Gamme doesn’t know anything about Dante, but Rosita makes sure she knows that Dante killed her baby’s daddy.
Gabriel is interested in the stuff Gamma doesn’t know. He says she has to work really hard to convince them that she’s different from the others. And if she can’t, Gamma will die too. They know she’s holding something back and holding the truth back is the same as lying. Gamma comes clean, saying she killed her sister, but she did it for Alpha. Gabriel believes her and they give her a map.
Gamma shows the council where to find the cave. It’s fourteen miles from the community. She says there’s multiple entrances. She doesn’t know where the entrances are, but says they will be guarded. Rosita is worried about the border, but Gamma says that is unguarded. It’s too long for Alpha to defend and she moved her patrols to the cave.
Gabriel sends Gamma back to her cell. He starts to formulate a plan of rescue, but Rosita stops him. She still doesn’t believe Gamma and neither does Scott (Kendrick Green) or Laura (Lindsley Register). Gabriel can see that they are afraid of the Whisperers but they shouldn’t be. He brought Gamma before the council so show that the Whisperers are cowards. If they can break Gamma, they can break others. If they come across Whisperers, they should keep them alive. He tells them to pull their teeth and take their fingers. Do whatever it takes to get information. The more pain and fear they can pour over the Whisperers, the sooner they will drop the act.
COMPLICATED
Gabriel and Rosita are getting ready to leave for the cave when he finally addresses Rosita’s bad mood. He tells her to stay behind, but she gets offended by the thought. He would be stupid to without her. Rosita says she won’t freeze because she’s fine, unlike Gabriel who’s acting erratic and asking for a fight.
Rosita starts to open up saying she can feel that Coco wonders where Siddiq is. She doesn’t want Coco to be alone. Gabriel cuts her off, trying to empathize by saying he understands. But instead, he upsets Rosita and she leaves the house.
FRIENDLY VOICE
Gamma sits alone in her cell and hears a small voice ask for her name. She notices that no one asked for her name since she got there and says her name is Mary. Judith (Cailey Fleming) is sitting outside on the stairs. She wants to know who Mary was before the Whisperers. Mary remembers that she’s from Santa Monica, California. Her parents’ names were John and Alice. She remembers going to school and that’s about it.
Judith asks why she doesn’t remember anything else. Mary says Alpha has a way of making you forget. She has echoes of memories and feelings. Basically she was ordinary and when the world ended, she and her sister made some bad decisions. They needed someone to make decisions for her and then they met Alpha. Judith says she met the wrong person first. If Mary had met her parents first, she wouldn’t be in the cell. Judith says Mary doesn’t look like a monster to her. Rosita tells Judith to get inside. They are going on lockdown.
FAIR WARNING
Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes, Kenric Green as Scott – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
The Alexandrians learn that there is a herd of walkers headed their way, but they lose communication with the lookout tower. They have to get ahead of the herd so it doesn’t pile up on the gates of Alexandria. Scott asks why the Whisperers would send a herd now. Gabriel thinks it’s because of Gamma. She defected from Alpha’s camp and now they are trying to stop Alexandria from saving their friends. They will have to split the group up if they are going to have enough people to defend the gates.
Rosita is listening and Gabriel can see she is very concerned. He makes the decision to leave Laura and Rosita behind to guard the gates. He and Scott will take a group out to check on the lookout tower and then go to the caves. Rosita is okay with staying behind. She has to think about Coco. She finally admits to Gabriel that she’s been having nightmares. Before they can get too deep into conversation, Scott says it’s time to go. Gabriel kisses Rosita and leaves.
THE DEAD DON’T DIE
Later that night, a hand burst out of a grave and a body climbed out. It’s Beta and he’s inside of Alexandria. A group of Alexandrians are preparing in one house when one of them starts talking about a game they play. If he kills more Whisperers than another guy, the other guy has to take his watch duties. He’s one of the guys who beat up Lydia. He gloats about how the Whisperers are a joke when the lights go off. Beta is stealth. He glides room to room, killing everyone as quietly as he can. After the last person dies, Beta sits on the floor and waits.
Gabriel and his team reach the watchtower, but the lookout people are dead. Gabriel radios Rosita to let her know. He realizes there’s something else going on, but can’t put his finger on it. He realizes the lookouts were forced to call in a herd sighting and then they were killed. Scott asks why. They both realize most of the fighters are at the watchtower and there’s barely anyone to guard the community. BINGO!
Beta is waiting for his latest victims to rise. Outside, Rosita and Laura are leading their small group on patrol. Beta lets the new walkers out of the house and Rosita immediately spots them. She radios Gabriel that there are walkers inside of Alexandria.
DISTRACTION/EXTRACTION
It is all a distraction so Beta can get to Gamma. He tells her that Alpha wants her and promises a painful death. Gamma knows better. She knows Alpha wants to see her in pain. Beta orders her to go with him. Gamma is saved by Laura who holds a spear to Beta’s head. Laura tells Mary to get help. After Mary runs out of the jail, he attacks Laura. She tries to fight back, but he picks up her body and swings her around. When her head hits the bars of the cell, it breaks Laura’s neck, killing her.
Mary ran out and called for help, but she doesn’t know where everyone is. She hears a small voice call to her. Judith tells Mary to get inside of her house. A few minutes later, Beta runs out and knows which way Mary went. He enters the Grimes’ house and creeps around looking for Mary.
BULLETPROOF
Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel Stokes – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
Beta goes upstairs to look through the bedrooms. When he gets to the last door, someone shoots him from the other side. Judith. Mary opens the door and Judith and RJ run out. When Mary runs out, Beta grabs her leg, making her trip and knocking herself out. He checks his gunshot and we see that he’s wearing a bulletproof vest.
Rosita finds him and prepares to fight him. Beta is too strong for Rosita. He knocks her to the ground, ready to kill her when Mary yells at him. She is holding a knife to her neck because she knows that Alpha wants her alive. She tells Beta to move towards her and they leave.
As they walk back to the Whisperer camp, Beta tells Mary that she will evolve when she dies and she will walk with her sister again. Gabriel’s team jumps out of the woods. Beta runs away as Gabriel shoots at him. Mary falls to the ground. Gabriel turns his gun on her, assuming she is working with Beta. Mary insists that she drew Beta away from the community and she wasn’t working with them. Gabriel believes her and lowers his gun.
MADE FROM PAIN
Alpha wakes up in the dark and removes her mask. There is a cut above her brow, almost in the same place as Daryl and she is pale. Daryl is pale too and his breathing is staggered. He’s laying on the ground with his leg propped up to slow down the bleeding. Alpha starts talking to him about seeing beyond the light. She thinks she sees those who made her stand before her and thanks them for making her strong. She was made from pain and so was Daryl and Lydia (Cassady McClincy).
Daryl says she lost Lydia because she threw Lydia away. He says Alpha didn’t love Lydia and that upsets Alpha. She asks what he said and tries to get up. When she stands, she wobbles, unable to stand up straight. She asks him again what he said and says she’s all ears. Alpha falls to the ground and tries to crawl to Daryl, passing out before she gets too far.
THE LIGHT OF LYDIA
Alpha wakes up and sees Lydia. Lydia holds her hand and starts to cry, thinking Alpha is dying. Alpha starts singing to her and puts a knife to her abdomen. She wants Lydia to end her life, but Lydia can’t do it. Alpha says it will prepare her to lead the others. They are waiting for her. Lydia says she’s not there for them or Alpha.
Lydia came for Daryl. She tells Alpha that they are human, but they’re not perfect…just human. That’s all she ever wanted and it’s what Alpha could never give her. Alpha starts crying saying she needs Lydia. Lydia stands up. Alpha starts to ask her to stay, but passes out. Alpha wakes up and Lydia and Daryl are gone. She finds her knife and a message, “You’re way is not the only way.” Alpha has truly lost her daughter.
NO LONGER WEAK
Samantha Morton as Alpha – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 10 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
The next day, Gabriel and Scott look around the community and realize that Dante created multiple entry points for the Whisperers. Aaron returns and is shocked by the condition the community is in. He informs them that not everyone got out of the cave.
A caravan of Alexandrians are preparing to leave for the Hilltop. Rosita included. Her arm is badly hurt from her fight with Beta. She’s leaving Coco with Gabriel because she would be safer with him. Aaron sends Gracie with Mary to the caravan where Judith and RJ are waiting. Rosita officially introduces herself to Mary.
In the woods, Daryl wakes up and Lydia is taking care of him. He’s been asleep for most of the day. Lydia says she was watching him and them…deciding. He asks if she killed alpha, but Lydia couldn’t. She asks if he had to kill his father, could he do it?
The Whisperers found Alpha. She tells them that she is no longer weak. In fact she’s stronger than ever. Their horde will butcher and consume them. Their screams will be like songs to Alpha. They help her sit up and she recites the Whisperer mantra.
RELATED: Catch Up on Season 10 of THE WALKING DEAD Here!
THOUGHTS
This was pretty intense for The Walking Dead. Much respect for the creepy hand busting out of the grave. That must have been a Greg Niccoterro addition. He did work under George Romero after all.
If anything, this is just setting up Alpha’s relentless battle to take down the communities. Before it was just about proving them wrong. Now it’s about vengeance because of Lydia.
I was honestly so scared for Rosita. She has surpassed her life expectancy, if we’re going by The Walking Dead comics. I’m happy to see her thriving. But then again, no one is safe.
The big question remains…and in true The Walking Dead fashion, we still don’t know if Connie and Magna survived.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
