But the real drama is with Lydia, who sneaks away and is oddly pursued by Carol, not Daryl. (Unless the Whisperers have also been busy making some necro-puffers and skin-hoodies, they likely aren’t sitting around in the snow, but hey, can’t be too careful these days.) The ol’ Hidden Walker trick catches everyone by surprise, as zombies emerge from the deep powder. After a pit stop at the Sanctuary, the Hilltoppers have no choice but to cross through Alpha’s territory and pray they don’t attract unwanted attention. The blinding snow works well as we toggle from A-town to the caravan, and no one (including us) can quite tell what the hell is in front of them. Let’s move on.) Yeah, Negan smashed Glenn and the Sarge’s heads to smithereens, but when he wraps up Judith in his coat and leads her and Dog to safety, it’s hard not to like the guy he’s becoming. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned this at all.
(I thought that limp he had, along with the zero visibility, would lead him to being mistaken for a walker. (Even Gabe has to chuckle at his “Father Not The Father” line.) Good thing he’s around, because when Judith runs into the storm to find Dog, he’s the only one who chases after her. That show of mercy isn’t enough to keep him from mouthing off, of course. The storm hits A-town first, and Negan gets furloughed so he doesn’t freeze to death in jail. Daryl also takes an earful from Zeke, who straight-up tells him life at Hilltop would be better for him and Carol if Daryl wasn’t around. They have a lot in common: outcasts, abuse survivors, no family, not afraid to roll around in the dirt.) Lydia contemplates a most horrible suicide - death by zombie bite - until Carol interrupts. (I’m liking Daryl’s dad/big brother vibe with Lydia. Making matters worse, everyone is super tense: Alden gets lippy with Lydia - her mom did kill his girlfriend, after all - but Daryl swiftly tells him to shut it.
The fact that she’s not in a stress-induced coma is a miracle.)Īlpha hinted at what the future would bring with her “sweater weather” comment at the Faire, but the storm that rolls in turns the otherwise easy trek to Hilltop into a life-or-death adventure. What’s a king without a kingdom? And what’s this couple without their son? (To be fair to Carol, she’s now lost four kids - Sophia, adopted daughters Mika and psycho Lizzie, and Henry. No one’s taking it harder than Zeke and Carol, of course Carol’s always been a bit of mope, but poor Zeke is curled up in bed and is resigned to leave his home behind. It’s not quite clear how things got so ugly so fast at the Kingdom, but the neighborhood really looks like shit, as Judith would say: Pipes have burst, stone has crumbled, roofs are blackened and tattered. It all adds up to a very Game of Thrones ending to the season, with the big shocker coming in the penultimate episode rather than the finale, and danger arriving in the form of a crap-ton of white walkers. While the Whisperers are mostly MIA and Alpha’s massacre casts a long, dark shadow, the survivors simultaneously come together and split apart. Kudos to TWD for not only delivering what we needed, but also for doing so in a way that’s unlike anything we’ve seen on this show - specifically, with a wicked blizzard.
Sometimes it feels like The Walking Dead’s characters and audience could use a reprieve after a particularly brutal, draining episode.