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The Walking Dead: Alpha wants what is hers
In This Episode …
Alpha faces off with Daryl, Tara, and the rest of the Hilltop. She wants her daughter back, and points out that they did not kill anyone from the Hilltop, even though the Hilltop killed some of theirs. When Daryl refuses to send Lydia back to the abusive “home” she has with Alpha, Alpha tries again. She reveals Luke and Alden, and offers two of theirs for one of hers. Otherwise, she will kill them. The Hilltop goes to collect Lydia, but Lydia has escaped, with Henry’s help. One of the girls knows where they went, and leads Enid to them. She tries to reason with Henry, but Lydia overhears this and agrees to go back to her mother.
Alpha slaps Lydia when she returns, then embraces her. Lydia thanks her mom for coming back for her, but mom is all business: “You will call me Alpha.” They leave with no further delay. The longer Lydia is gone, the more Daryl regrets his decision. A note from Henry reveals that he has gone looking for Lydia. Daryl, Connie, and Dog go to bring Henry and Lydia home.
The Movie Theater
Ezekiel’s crew has a side mission: to get a projector bulb from a movie theater. And his side mission has a side mission: to get a poster frame for the community charter. He is hoping that all the communities will sign it at the fair, and then he can hang it proudly at the Kingdom. The mission at the movie theater is relatively free of drama. Everyone gets out safely, a bunch of zombies are killed, and Ezekiel gets to introduce a new generation to films.
The Whisperer Baby
If there was ever a trope to show who were the bad guys and who were the good guys in a TV show or movie, it is how they treat a baby. A Whisperer has a baby, and it begins crying. Alpha motions for the mother to get rid of the baby, and she does – putting the baby on the ground and allowing its cries to draw the zombies in. Connie risks her own life to save the baby. Alpha shrugs it off: “If a mother can’t quiet her own baby, the dead will.”
In the end, Tammy Rose and Earl take the baby in, filling the hole in their life that they have had ever since their son died.
Connie’s Hearing
When Connie saves the baby, the soundtrack is garbled and muted. I’m assuming this is to represent how much she can hear. I like this, but I think it could have been even more effective if the camera had been from Connie’s POV. This would have allowed the viewer to get the full experience of what it’s like to be deaf in the zombie apocalypse, to be aware only of what is directly in her line of sight.
The Cold Open
Was it really necessary to go back in time a couple years just to show the procurement of the charter? We didn’t learn anything with regard to what happened between Michonne and Maggie. We didn’t really learn anything, other than that maybe at that time the Sanctuary was still a living, breathing community.
Ultimately, this was a rather stale episode. The face-off with Alpha was cool, but nothing happened. Then Ezekiel’s team encountered a ton of zombies in the movie theater… and nothing happened. I mean, I guess it is nice for our heroes to finally get a couple in the win column, but it does not make for good television.
