By: Kelly Kearney

The continuation of Season 10 starts on Sunday, February 28^th with six bonus episodes to hold fans over until the final season of the series lands on our TVs. When we left off Alpha’s head was gifted to Carol (Melissa McBride) courtesy of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), which kicked off the Whisperer War that destroyed The Kingdom and Hilltop, ultimately forcing the survivors to flee from Alexandria. In the end, our heroes won the war and with a little help from Negan and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), they managed to kill Beta (Ryan Hurst) and remove the threat of the horde. Now facing massive renovations at Alexandria, the survivors have nothing but time to replay the tragedies of that battle and somehow find peace with whatever roles they played in them. With six hours to wrap up the last two years of drama, fans are desperate to enter the final season with a fresh slate. To move forward, the characters will have to make peace with their pasts, and with that, answer the many questions that were put on the back burner while they are dealing with the most recent threat.

Can Maggie Make Peace With a New and Improved Negan?

At the end 10B, Maggie Rhee and her masked samurai friend arrived just in time to save Father Gabe (Seth Gilliam) and the children of Alexandria from Beta and the Whisperer horde. We have not seen Maggie since she left Hilltop to join Georgie and her group of engineers and do-gooders. So, what has the former farm girl turned community leader been up to? Raising her son Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller), who is now a baseball cap wearing spitting image of his father, Glenn. Being a single mother during the fall of mankind must have its challenges and fans want to hear about all of them if it means remembering Glenn (Steven Yeun), but the big question surrounding Maggie (besides why she came back) is what she plans on doing about her nemesis Negan? The man who murdered her husband and Hershel’s father is not only out of his cell but is quickly becoming a helpful addition to the community. Sure, he helped Alpha (Samantha Morton) torch Hilltop, but before Carol released him, he was thriving in indentured servitude as Alexandria’s tomato picking farm hand. Negan was on the long and winding road to redemption even before he took Alpha’s head. Children are Negan’s weakness; they bring out the softer and heroic side to a man who can swing a barbed wire bat almost as well as he can lob a genital joke. But what does this mean for the son of the man he slaughtered and for the wife who witnessed it? If the last seven years taught Negan anything, it is that he can learn to tuck in his NSFW attitude for an altruistic mission to save those who would rather see him dead, but can Maggie do the same? Can she recognize Negan’s effort to change and, by doing so, move on from their shared brutal past? With only six episodes separating us from the final season of the series, Maggie might have to take a page out of Rick Grimes’ book and allow her mercy to prevail over her wrath, for the sake of the community and their continued survival.

Daryl and His “Will They, Won’t They” Lack of a Love Life

It has been ten years since we first saw the redneck archer stick a flower in an old beer bottle with the hopes of making a grieving mother smile. Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), the shy and oftentimes angry loaner, has spent the Turn evolving into the trusted hero his friends. At least one of them anyway always knew he was destined to be. Surrounded by admirers, Daryl is a cherished member of Alexandria. So, why is his romantic life nonexistent? If Rick (Andrew Lincoln) could find love with Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Maggie with Glenn, why can’t Atlanta’s favorite hot and sweaty biker find a mate? Shippers want to see Daryl happy and loved, but is a romantic relationship in his future? Does he even want one?  The fans have been desperate to hook Daryl up with literally any character Norman Reedus spends more than thirty seconds on screen with. Whether you are a “Caryl” shipper, a “Rickyl (Rick+ Daryl): supporter or a “Donnie” (Daryl + Connie) fanatic, Daryl Dixon seems to prefer a life of solitude, at least when it comes to matters of the heart. With a litany of questions swirling around about his sexuality, or lack thereof, maybe the answer to who makes his heart beat faster isn’t so simple as a few longing glances or a hook-up. Ever since Atlanta, Daryl and Carol have been dancing around each other, both trying to forget their abusive pasts while living in a world that takes the ones they love the most. As best friends, there are no two other characters who are closer – they even wear the BFF bracelets to prove it. But can they be more? If the news of their spin off is anything to go on, Caryler’s prayers could finally be answered, but where does that leave Connie (Lauren Ridloff)? Daryl swore his relationship with the newcomer “wasn’t like that,” but it doesn’t explain the sparks fans saw between the two. Before he and his best friend run away to New Mexico, or wherever Daryl’s bike takes them, fans need to put Daryl’s “will they, wont they” question to bed once and for all. 10C needs to give Daryl fans the love connection they have been thirsting for. This show might not be romantic drama, but is about trying to remain human in a world run by the dead and what’s more human than finding your soulmate in the middle of a decade’s long Hellscape?

“What Do You Want, Carol?”

After spending the bulk of Season 10 obsessed with getting revenge on Alpha, it’s time for Carol to make amends to those she has hurt and finally figure out what it is she wants in this life. At the end of 10B, the hallucination of Carol’s arch nemesis taunted her with the question, “What do you want, Carol?” leaving fans wondering the same. What does this lone wolf and former Queen truly want? What is it that makes this woman such a force to be reckoned with? Perhaps the answers were staring her (and us) in the face all along and it is high time she admits it. When we look back to the start of the Turn, we see that all this abused housewife and mother wanted was a good man by her side and some normalcy for her child, but it wasn’t long before “that person was burned away.” Then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes she found comfort in the family she formed with Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) and Henry (Matthew Lintz). Unfortunately, the long arms of this world’s flames touched her again when Henry’s head ended up on a pike courtesy of Alpha and her marriage fell apart. Another wife and motherly persona, another life ending in ashes. Carol, like Daryl, seems to exist in a constant state of tug of war between a life of solitude and surrounding herself with family. Her shattered heart has been mended more times than any other character in “The Walking Dead” universe and protecting it from more pain seems to fly in direct opposition to her need to offer it to people freely. Her wrath is just another way of keeping the pain at bay, that is until it wound up hurting people she cared about. Now it is time for Carol to stop running and admit the truth to herself – that allowing her fears to dictate her future will not make her dreams of family and motherhood come true. In these next six episodes Carol needs to recognize the fact her dreams didn’t die with Sophia (Madison Lintz) or in a grove amongst the flowers or even on a psychopath’s pike. In fact, those dreams are still thriving in her care for Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and the Grimes children and flourishing like the petals on a flower gifted to her by the one who knows her best.

What’s Next for Negan?

After seven years behind bars, Negan has finally proven himself useful to Alexandria, but it wasn’t without sacrifice and hard work. Besides donning a skin-mask to take out the head freak, he went above and beyond to protect Judith (Cailey Fleming), he proved to be a man of his word to Carol and he became a shoulder to lean on for Lydia. Now that Maggie has returned to Alexandria with her son, Hershel, what is next for Negan?  Will he face what he did to Glenn and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and try to redeem himself in the eyes of the widow and her child or will he turn an already tense situation into a pity party proving he hasn’t changed at all? If he wallows in the disappointment of going from new hero back to old villain, what does that mean for his future in Alexandria? After all, Maggie is the cherished former leader of the Hilltop community and Negan is still on thin ice with most of its surviving members thanks to the part he played in torching it to the ground. If Maggie’s return means the last seven years of his imprisonment were for nothing, what does that mean for him and those who have grown to appreciate his presence in Alexandria? The fans were tired of his years long quest to destroy Rick and cheered for his redemption thanks to the charm and swagger Jeffrey Dean Morgan brings to the role. So, if Negan is planning to stick around until the end of the series, these next six episodes need to answer the question of how he can settle his past with Maggie, even if it means losing the new life he is building in the community.

Surviving for the Next Fight

In the final moments of 10B Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Ezekiel and newcomer Princess (Paola Lazaro) left to search for help as well as to meet up with a certain radio sweetheart named Stephanie. Only, when they arrived Stephanie was gone and in her place was group of gun toting storm troopers waiting to take them hostage. It was unclear if this group was tied to Eugene’s on-air girlfriend or if they mean our group any harm. All we know is they are organized and do not appear friendly. In this final push towards Season 11, fans need to know who these fighters are and if they could be the last in a long line of big bads the survivors will be forced to fight? It also bears wondering if that if this post-Turn world is only about living for the next battle, then is there really any point in rebuilding for a better future? Ten years of that vicious cycle needs to end with a sliver of hope for something better and maybe these troops are the first sign hope is coming. Maybe they are a part of a bigger community (their armor and weapons are a good tip off they are). So, does that mean could help Alexandria become the safe place it was always mean to be? If the show is ending with a spin off series, doesn’t there have to be some hope driving it? If every human left on earth is just another catalyst for war and death, how can the survivors plan for anything other than their inevitable demise?

Now is the time to answer these questions and begin Season 11 with renewed hope. Hope that humanity can survive a world run by the dead; hope that they can make peace with their pasts and move forward in unity and, most importantly, hope that love and forgiveness can grow from the ashes of pain and disappointment. That is the future Rick and Carl Grimes dreamed of and in 10C it is time we see their dreams manifest into a tangible reality.