The Walking Dead – The Calm Before

By: Kelly Kearney

In this emotionally trying episode The Whisperers show the communities no mercy for taking in Lydia. In what was a moment most fans of the series have been waiting for, Alpha draws a line in the sand with a warning to all who dare cross over in to her land. “The Calm Before” shows just how far the Whisperers will go to keep their way of life safe from outsiders.

Unity

After years of isolation from the other communities Michonne (Danai Gurira) arrives at the Kingdom with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Henry (Matt Lintz), Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and Connie (Lauren Ridloff). The weary group is just in time for the fair, which seems to be a hit for the struggling community. The King (Khary Payton) and Queen (Melissa McBride) are ecstatic to see their son and friends, especially since Carol was ready to leave the fair to go look for them when they didn’t show up with Tara’s (Alanna Masterson) group. After a teary hello and thank you for keeping their son safe, the King learns from Michonne that there is a new threat and they need to gather the community leaders for an update. A group consisting of Father Gabe (Seth Gilliam), Tara, Carol, the King and a representative from Oceanside listen as Michonne apologizes for all the years she forced Alexandria to separate from the other communities. After last week’s trip down Jocelyn (Rutina Wesley) lane, Michonne realized it was time to honor Carl’s dream of uniting all the survivors, regardless of where they call home. The group of leaders accepts her apology and then move on to the topic of Lydia and the Whisperers. These “skin freaks,” as Michonne refers to them, will not stop until they get retribution for giving Lydia asylum, which Alexandria has agreed to finally do. Tara immediately pipes in that she’s worried that Hilltop will be paying the price for the girl’s safety, not Alexandria. After all, Hilltop was the one who imprisoned Lydia and where Alpha (Samantha Morton) made her threats about meddling and its consequences. Now that Tara has taken the leadership role at Hilltop, she isn’t about to risk her peoples; lives for a girl who doesn’t even live there. Michonne speaks up and offers to send fighters to protect Hilltop and the rest of the communities join in. From now on, a threat to one community is a threat to them all. Tara agrees and asks if they should spit shake on this new pact, but King Ezekiel has a better idea. He pulls out the charter, shocking Michonne because she had no idea Tara stole it when she left Alexandria for Hilltop. The four leaders pass the last working Sharpie on the planet around the table so each can sign, with Michonne passing it on to Father Gabe who she appoints head of Alexandria’s council. With the charter signed, unity between these communities is exactly what the King had hoped the fair would accomplish and their very first order of business is protect Hilltop.

While this historic moment of unity is going on, outside the fair is a hit! Kids are laughing, people are trading their goods and even Eugene (Josh McDermitt) managed to nab some parts for his radio transmitter. Things seem good, at least for everyone but a young married couple from Hilltop. We find out in a flashback that the couple, Hilde (Caroline Duncan) and Miles (Brian Sheppard), were celebrating their anniversary with a trip to the fair. Hilde carved a wooden box full of Hilltop engraved trinkets and they were off to trade with anyone who wanted a handmade symbol of their home. As they set off for the Kingdom, their carriage was ambushed and neither make it out alive. It’s not long before we see Alpha singing her favorite lullaby as she scalps Hilde for her golden hair.

Actions Have Consequences

Back at the fair The Kingdom’s teens are stirring up trouble for Lydia. Rodney (Joe Ando-Hirsh) and Gage (Jackson Pace) berate the newcomer with a reminder of how she will never be “one of us.” They even work to make her doubt Henry’s feelings for her, especially after she sees him chatting with Addy (Kelley Mack).  When Henry finds out what was said he sees Lydia sulking and confirms that he only has eyes for her. The two kiss and make up, but wind up getting interrupted by the sounds of screeching pipes – another sign that there are still issues with the Kingdom and their crumbling infrastructure. Henry excuses himself to take care of whatever is causing the noise while his mother, Daryl and a small patrol group get ready to leave for Hilltop. As the first patrol leaves Alpha makes her way to the Kingdom wearing a Hilde disguise, scalp and all! It’s a decent cover considering nobody outside of Daryl and a few Hilltoppers have seen her, most of who just left on patrol. With her flowery dress, sun hat and wavy blonde hair Alpha manages to walk right into the fair and stroll the streets undetected.

Meanwhile, on the road to Hilltop the patrol group stumble upon the Highway men who are already investigating Hilde and Miles carriage attack. Ozzy (Angus Sampson) is fairly certain it wasn’t a walker attack and thinks maybe it’s the skin freaks they’ve spotted in the past. Daryl, Michonne, Carol and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) decide to split from the rest of the group, sending the others back to Hilltop while they follow the tracks from the carriage attack. Yumiko and Magna (Nadia Hilker) have a sweet kiss goodbye (yes, they are a couple) and promise to reunite as soon as they can make sure there were no more victims.

At this point the timelines bounce around between night and day as our core group following the tracks run into trouble. It’s nighttime when Carol, Daryl, Michonne and Yumiko are attacked by a small herd of walkers that surrounds them from every direction. With swords slicing and blood flying, the fighters dismantle the herd just as their masked enemies emerge from the shadows. Immediately they’re stripped of their weapons as Beta (Ryan Hurst) approaches Daryl with a growling and ominous threat. The decision to keep Lydia apart from her people was the wrong one. They, meaning mostly Daryl, chose this conflict, nobody had to die if they would have honored their pact with Alpha. The group assumes Beta means the carriage attack, but then Alpha creeps out from the darkness smiling like the cat that ate the canary. It’s possible that while she was at the fair she killed more than the Hilltop couple. Daryl assumes she killed Lydia for abandoning her people and making her look weak in their eyes. Alpha smiles as she remembers what happened earlier in the day.

A flashback to earlier in the afternoon finds Alpha eavesdropping her way through the fair while searching for any information she can use against her new enemies. As she glares at a drawing of the King and Queen, Ezekiel introduces himself and Alpha pretends to be a member of Alexandria. Thanks to the group’s isolation there is no way Ezekiel could know she is anything other than who she claims to be and their conversation is pleasant, with a few disturbing undertones and hints of what’s to come. After all the talk about not messing with Henry and Lydia’s mom, it’s no surprise Alpha mentions one day meeting the Queen. With her cover still holding strong, she asks the King to point her in the direction of a clothing stand that trades warm clothes. As he starts to lead the way she leans in and whispers, “I think its going to be a hard winter.”

After her encounter with the King we see Alpha pop up at the movie theater where all the fair goers are enjoying an animated film. Lydia is sitting alone and waiting for Henry, which leaves her seat open long enough for her mother to slide right in and convince the girl to go outside. Once they’re alone Alpha berates her daughter for being weak and disloyal to their people. Like some unbridled aggression that ebbs and flows in an internal battle between maternal protector and murdering lunatic, Alpha ranks her role as leader far above her title as mother. Her abusive ways are too much for Lydia and the girl threatens to scream if her mother doesn’t leave. Now she’s an Alexandrian her new friends will protect, even if that means killing Alpha. She doesn’t want her other to die, but she also doesn’t want to go back to the Whisperers. “I am giving you a choice, which is more than you ever gave me,” Lydia says. Alpha falls into a strange mix of angry and brokenhearted as she grabs Lydia by the throat and says, “I was trying to make you strong. …but you aren’t one of us. You never were.”  With that she disowns her daughter and takes off into the night.

Back to the present Alpha recounts her encounter with Lydia and it prompts her take Daryl on a short trip to show him what he’s really dealing with when she is crossed. She is more powerful than they could have ever dreamed because when the dead own the earth, the one who controls them is the one who is Queen.

Power Lies in the Hands of the One Who Controls the Dead

Forced at gun point towards a cliff overlooking a ravine Alpha shows Daryl her secret weapon. Down below and for as far as his eyes can see a massive herd of walkers led by the Whisperers paces and waits for their Alpha to guide them. If the communities are thriving it’s because she allowed them to live. The herd will follow her right to their doorsteps and there is no way, even with all four joining together in the fight, could the communities survive an attack from a threat that size. Guns and swords and walls could not stop her army of the dead and Daryl realizes she holds all the cards now. Showing him the herd also comes with a warning about her land, the Whisperer’s land as she calls it. There is a border she erected so that the communities know where they are not allowed to cross. Her land is forbidden and if anyone crosses into her portion she will unleash her army, leaving no survivors left in their wake. When Daryl asks where this border is she laughs and says he won’t be able to miss it.

Flashback to the fair and Ezekiel is panicked to hear Alpha was there and Henry is missing, especially since his wife is off protecting the others. What happens after that is a slow and heart wrenching reveal that leaves our characters forever changed.

As the sun rises Daryl makes it back to the others unharmed and they all start following the path back home. As they come upon a hill they spot a bloody Siddiq (Avi Nash) tied to a tree and crying about trying to stop them. Stop who? Nobody in the group knows what he’s talking about until they make their way up the steep incline. At the top is a line of ten wooden pikes, each adorned with a head! Alpha marked her border with the heads of their friends and loved ones! The impact of what they’re seeing doesn’t sink in at first, but as their vision sharpens they see the gruesome surprise. The heads of two highway men (Ozzy included), DJ (Matt Mangum) the former savior, Negan’s wife Frankie (Elyse Dufour), Addy, Rodney, Tammy Rose (Brett Butler), Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Tara are shone. Then, when the final head comes into focus Daryl runs to Carol. In what felt like a repeat of Sophia’s death, Daryl grabs Carol and says over and over, “Just look at me.” Carol’s pain is palpable and she glances over Daryl’s shoulder to see her beloved son Henry’s head on the final pike. Daryl holds tightly to his friend as the agony of losing another child overwhelms her.

The next day the communities gather to remember the dead. Siddiq gives a speech about hope and how their friends should be remembered. In the end they put aside their differences to fight for each other. They fought for their freedom and for the lives of people they barely knew. That message of togetherness is what Siddiq thinks the communities should take from this loss. Their hope should overpower the fear the Alpha tries to unleash on them – a hope that one day soon they can all put away their grudges and stand side by side, united in fighting to protect the life they built. It’s what Henry and the others would have wanted.

When the speech is over Daryl escorts Lydia to the pike border to say goodbye to the boy she loved. Henry saw beyond the mask, to the girl who just wanted to feel safe with people who cared for her. Removing the necklace he gifted her, Lydia places it at the foot of the pike; a symbol of their love and her grief. As the tears fall so does the snow, slowly covering the hill dividing the land between the living and the dead. Winter is coming and what that means for the survivors and the Whisperers is anyone’s guess. Can walkers survive in the snow? Will the Whisperers hibernate in winter? Will the cold weather give our survivors time to regroup, or was Alpha right all along? Is it going to be a harsh winter? Find out the answers to this and more, in next week’s season finale of The Walking Dead.