The Walking Dead: World Beyond introduces us to a new part of the country in The Walking Dead Universe and also could provide new details about the CRM- the Civic Republic Military. We’ve seen the CRM in The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. These are the people who took Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Who are the CRM, and who are they protecting?
The alliance consists of three communities in Portland, Omaha and the Civic Republic (CR). We know very little about them, but we do know that they are trying to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse. The zombies in this show are called “Empties.” The CR have plenty of food, fresh water, weapons and beer. And they have a well trained military, the Civic Republic Military. But! They won’t tell anyone where the Civic Republic actually is.
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SISTERS
Meet Iris (Aliyah Royale) and Hope Bennett (Alexa Mansour). Sisters who grew up under the protection of the CRM at the Campus Colony, an extension of the Omaha community. Iris is a model citizen. She is the student council president, friendly to everyone and the perfect citizen. Hope, on the other hand … it’s pretty easy for Hope to get into trouble. Their mother died the Night the Sky Fell, and their father was sent to New York to help develop a cure for the zombie apocalypse. The girls are very worried about their dad. He sends them faxes at the school to let them know he’s OK, but they haven’t heard from him in a while. Felix Carlucci (Nico Tortorella) is their guardian while he’s away.
The Omaha campus community are getting ready to celebrate their Monument Day. It is an annual celebration to commemorate those who died the Night the Sky Fell. The CRM sends Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek (Julia Ormond) to represent them. On the day she arrives, Hope stows away on the student council bus to put flowers on her mother’s grave. She also tampers with the student council welcome sign. Iris isn’t too happy about it when she finds the sign, but she keeps her cool and greets the Lt. Colonel with grace. They expect more dignitaries, but the Lt. Colonel says they could only spare one helicopter.
GUARDIAN
Hope is hosting a rager party. She and Iris both invite the new guy, Silas (Hal Cumpston). Silas is kind of an outcast, and some people think he should be locked up. Apparently he did something bad in Omaha and was sent to the campus. Unfortunately, Hope’s very large stash of alcohol is found, and Felix puts her in jail. Felix says he’s disappointed in her. He hoped she would have grown out of her rebellious phase. Iris talks him into letting Hope go.
One their way out, they run into Elizabeth. She knows exactly who they are and what they are about. Iris is excited that the Lt. Colonel knows who she is. Hope couldn’t care less about anything Elizabeth has to say. Hope blames Elizabeth for her father being absent. She doesn’t trust Elizabeth, and neither does Iris. Hope knows Iris has been having nightmares since their dad left. Iris doesn’t want to talk about it to Hope. While they are away, a message comes in on the fax machine.
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
Iris does talk to her therapist, Dr. K (Beth Leavel). Dr. K lives in a special apartment with a cage on the front door. She carries around an oxygen tank, so it’s safe to assume her health is failing. Iris tells Dr. K about her dreams. She sees herself as an Empty. Dr. K suggests that Iris talk to Hope about how she feels about what happened to them.
The Night the Sky Fell happened when Iris and Hope were little. It was chaos. Everyone was running to the campus. They tried helping a pregnant woman, and a plane crashed between them. She and her dad were separated from Hope and their mom. It was the night their mom died.
Iris says she was killed by Empties, and it happened right in front of Hope. She honestly believes if she was there, she could have protected Hope. Dr. K thinks Iris is living for everyone else and not for herself. She lives for the future and isn’t living in the now. It’s her life. Only she can figure out how to give it meaning.
THE END OF THE WORLD
Hope deals with her inner demons by sparring with Huck (Annet Mahendru), Felix’s best friend. Huck makes fun of Hope for all of the alcohol she’s had. Hope is more interested Huck’s life in the city. She has aspirations of seeing the city, and Huck warns her that there’s over a hundred miles of crap between them and the city. Hope thinks the world is going to end, and it’s pointless to rebuild everything. She has a very dark view of people, too. Huck says life is what they make of it.
Hope watches her friend Elton (Nicolas Cantu) teach karate. She remembers the Night the Sky Fell. She and her mom made their way through the plane crash to get back to Iris and her dad. It was scary. Too scary to think about.
Iris checks the fax machine, and there’s a message from their dad. Silas and Elton walk in and offer her some cake. Hope catches up and sees the cabinet open. Iris hands her the message that says “Safety isn’t assured.” Iris asks the boys not to tell anyone about the messages. Elton shares his own secret, that he sneaks out of the colony to look for something he lost. Silas just says he won’t tell.
Iris tries to reassure Hope that the message could mean nothing. She starts to say the Civic Republic has been very upfront about the information they give out. Hope tells her that Elizabeth lied about the helicopters. She said they could only spare one helicopter, but Hope saw five total, some with cargo. She says the CR are bad people and their dad is in trouble. There is one person who can help them.
FACSIMILE
Felix and Huck are outside of the Campus Colony walls, spray painting Empties. They are trying to track their migration patterns. Huck mentions the jack that Felix is wearing. It belongs to Will, Felix’s boyfriend, who left to protect Dr. Bennett. It’s also Huck’s birthday. They get a message that Hope is looking for Felix.
Hope shows him the message, and he’s immediately concerned. He says the CR trusts them, and the message is a violation of that trust. This is the first time they let anyone know where the CR is and let them inside the CR. Hope wants to tell someone so they can check on their dad, but Felix says that’s a bad idea. He promises them that Will is capable of handing anything and will protect their dad. They have no choice but to keep quiet about the messages.
THE MAP
Hope storms out, and Iris runs after her. Elizabeth is out for a walk and hears Hope say the CRM are bad people. She wants to know why they are bad. Iris is honest with her. The CR don’t let anyone in or out. No one can communicate with them. They don’t know where they are located, and they have their dad.
Elizabeth says she has daughter in the CRM, and it scares her. But she remembers that her daughter is helping to protect the alliance. She is risking everything to bring the world back. And that makes Elizabeth brave. They have to be brave to exist. And to make the girls trust her, she gives them a coded map with her watermark on it. If anyone found out she gave them the map, she would go to jail.
They are skeptical, but they accept her map. She says she’s being real and she’s a little drunk. She commends Hope on her champagne. Felix gave Elizabeth some of the booze as a Campus Colony gift. Elizabeth says the girls are very much like their father. Iris with her banner and Hope flipping her off. They’re brave like he is. Felix sees the whole exchange and watches the girls leave. He hears Iris tells Hope that their dad left a bottle of brandy in his office. Felix just laughs.
MONUMENT DAY
Iris has her Empty dream again and wakes up in her dad’s office, hung over. She checks the fax machine, and there is a message. Dr. Bennett says: “It’s gone bad. I’m keeping my head down. I’ll find help. Don’t tell the council. Don’t tell Felix.” They know there’s nothing they can do but wait. For now Iris has a speech to get ready for. Their dad would want her to go through with it.
Iris goes to Dr. K’s apartment. She hears the TV, but no one answers the door. Iris opens the door, and Dr. K’s apartment is a mess. Dr. K grabs Iris, hitting her head on the bars. A couple of orderlies arrive and take care of the body.
Iris is in a daze at the Monument Day address. Elizabeth speaks first, thanking the Campus Colony for loaning one of their brightest minds, Dr. Leo Bennett. She says he is working on creating the science that will bring the world back. She’s most grateful to the Bennett sisters.
It’s Iris’ turn to speak. She starts out just as she planned, but then speaks from the heart. She tells Elizabeth that she doesn’t trust her because she doesn’t know her or what she’s doing. Elizabeth promises she will know soon and someday she will understand. Iris says that’s not good enough. Iris is going to work on living in the now instead of planning for the future. Hope smile with pride at her sister.
BRAVE
After the speeches, Iris tells Hope that she wants to go find her father. Felix won’t go, so it’s up to them to find him. She brings up her mom’s death and says Hope should have never have been alone to see that. Hope is happy Iris didn’t see it at all.
That night, Hope and her mom found a truck. A pregnant lady ran between them and the truck with a gun in her hand and said she was taking the truck. Hope’s mom tried to reason with the lady, saying her family could help the lady. The lady freaked out. Hope ran toward her, and the lady shot the gun. She hit Hope’s mom in the chest, killing her. The lady threw down the gun and watched Hope cry for her mom. Hope turned around, picked up the gun and shot the pregnant lady. The lady had a marble in her hand, and Hope picked it up. She is glad Iris wasn’t there to see that.
Hope says they could die, but Iris says they could live. When they get there, they’ll be ready. Hope sees Silas in the distance. She knows how they can get out. They find Elton and tell him about their plans. He asks a million questions, and they tell him not to talk them out of going. On the contrary, he wants to talk them into taking him. Silas wants to go too.
Elton wants to go to see the world before men are extinct. He wants his life to mean something. He knows karate. Silas wants to go because he doesn’t want to be who everyone thinks he is. The four kids exit the safe walls of Campus Colony.
WORLD BEYOND
Later that night, Felix finds a note that the girls took his and Will’s matching jackets, a s-pole and food. They know Silas and Elton are gone, too. Huck blames herself for training Hope to fight the dead. She thinks they are headed for Omaha, but Felix thinks they are going somewhere else. He doesn’t think they can make it there alive.
The kids walk into town and find the crash site where Hope and Iris’ mom died. Silas finds a triceratops horn. It belonged to Elton, and it’s what he’s been looking for. It was a gift for his sister. His mother was pregnant when things went bad. They were separated the night the sky fell and he never saw her again. Elton packs up the horn and looks through everything else. He finds a picture of his mother. She’s the woman that Hope shot on that fateful night.
The next morning they get an early start, and so do Felix and Huck. Elton uses the horn to make a weapons for Iris. They see their first Empty, and Iris volunteers to kill it. She uses the makeshift weapon that Elton gave her and lunges at the Empty.
At the Monument Day celebration site, the CRM kill many Empties, some of them spray painted. There are regular bodies among them. Elizabeth kills an Empty and a soldier has an update for her. He says they searched every building on campus and the surrounding area. They can’t find her. That’s good news for Elizabeth.
RELATED: Read our recap of the Season 10 Finale of The Walking Dead
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.
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