The Walking Dead: We Are the End of the World (10x02)

I suppose this episode wasn't bad, but it just wasn't all that entertaining for me personally. Let's dive in.

Cons:

We spend the whole episode with the Whisperers, as we learn what they're up to in the present day, and also see a flashback of how Alpha and Lydia first met Beta and began the Whisperers. I remember in the earlier seasons, the episodes that focused very narrowly on one character or one story-line were kind of... "prestige" episodes. They were these special events and were the Emmy-bate episodes. But honestly, if we're being real about this, I think they kind of drag. There have been some good ones over the years, but for my money they are always momentum killers. Why couldn't we see Alpha's flash-back stuff and also cut between this story and what our leads are up to? When you mix and match the plot elements, everything moves faster and we're not stuck in the mud with just one character.

I also feel like we don't learn enough new information from this episode. We see Alpha and Beta meet, sure, and maybe that's kind of interesting. We learn that Beta knew the man whose face he now wears as a mask. That's creepy. But we don't really get anything new out of how Alpha operates, the ideology of the Whisperers, her troubled relationship with Lydia... this was stuff we've already been told, or stuff we could have inferred, from what we saw last season.

In the present-day story, we see two sisters, one of whom was the woman who had to give up her baby last season. This woman is traumatized by the loss of her child, and behaves erratically because of it. Alpha grants her mercy at first, but then this woman freaks out and nearly gets Alpha killed. Her sister sacrifices her to save Alpha's life, and is thus granted the title "Gamma" and is given higher status among the pack. This was fine, but again it didn't really seem to teach us anything new about the Whisperers or their goals and beliefs. Maybe Gamma will become an interesting character and we'll learn more about her moving forward... but thus far I'm not convinced.

Pros:

I did like what we saw of Alpha and Beta's relationship, especially in the present-day stuff. We see that Alpha can be emotionally vulnerable with him in a way she cannot be with anybody else. Alpha has told everyone that she killed Lydia, but Beta finds out that this is not true. He promises to keep Alpha's secret from the rest of the pack. He once stayed in a building with his zombie BFF or boyfriend or brother or whatever. He now wears this guy's face as a tribute to him. They both know of each others' weaknesses, and have decided to keep them secret in order to protect their strength as the leadership of the pack. That's an interesting dynamic that was hinted at last season, but now has a more solidified backstory.

I also like seeing Alpha's twisted parenting style with Lydia. It's obviously hard to watch in a lot of ways, but it also makes me feel even more relieved that Lydia has escaped from that environment. It's interesting how Alpha's "love" for Lydia is such a warped, evil thing, and yet Lydia still is a weak point for her. She can't practice what she preaches, and that could end up being her downfall.

We already see that there are hints of other members of the Whisperers wishing for a more stable life. They saw "the enemy" and the way they were living, and it only makes sense that they would crave that for themselves. Now that the Whisperers are going back to punish our heroes for entering their territory, there is going to be more opportunity for Alpha's people to observe a different way of life. Will any of them stray? And if they do, will the other communities be able to accept them, the way they've (mostly) accepted Lydia? That could be interesting to see!

Sorry if this review is on the short side. This is what happens when you have a whole episode focusing just on one story. I don't need a villain origin story episode. Sprinkle some of this stuff in amidst other story elements, and I'd be much happier.

6.5/10