The Walking Dead – The World Before

By: Kelly Kearney

In the mid-season finale of “The Walking Dead” a stranger infiltrates Oceanside which leads Michonne on an adventure that could help defeat The Whisperers. Meanwhile, Alexandria and Hilltop join forces in a search that could end in tragedy. This episode plays with the idea of trust, who deserves it and who is willing to give it if the risks are worth it.

Saying Goodbye to One of Their Own

The episode begins with a flashback in which Alpha (Samantha Morton) orders Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas) to be her eyes and ears inside the walls of Alexandria. He was told to make himself useful so the community would never suspect he was a spy. Over the course of his time playing flirty doctor, Dante found time to send messages to his masked Queen to keep her apprised of all the inner workings of the thriving community. We also found out that Lydia (Cassady McClincy) never knew Dante, which plugs that plot hole so many fans wondered about.

Back to the present and Rosita (Christian Serratos) and baby Coco are at Siddiq’s (Avi Nash) door, having no idea Dante just murdered him inside the house. The killer doctor tries to sweet talk Rosita with his flirtatious banter, but after Siddiq turns into a walker, all the sugary compliments go right out the window. Realizing what’s gone on Rosita plops baby Coco in the bathtub, grabs her knife and attacks Dante. As the two are rolling around on the floor in a fight to the death, Dante yells something about walkers preferring to eat their young. This makes sense since walker Siddiq is heading straight for his crying daughter while its mother is fighting for her life. Finally, Rosita manages to get the upper hand, stabs Dante and puts down Siddiq before he can kill their child. It’s a chaotic opener that leaves Rosita shaken to her core.

Next, we cut to Siddiq’s burial where Father Gabe (Seth Gilliam) generously does the eulogy and drops the first grains of dirt on the doctor’s freshly dug grave. The entire town is there to mourn him and say goodbye to the man who tried to keep Carl Grimes’ legacy alive.

Gamma, Aaron and their Quid Pro Quo

The following day Aaron (Ross Marquand) is back at The Whisperer border and chatting with Gamma (Thora Birch), who we learn was named Mary before she joined Alpha’s gang of freaks. She asks the metal armed man about her nephew and if the people who took him in named him. Apparently, her sister never got the chance before she left him in a field to be eaten by walkers. She goes a step further and asks if she can see the baby, but Aaron isn’t going to give in without something in return. If she has information that can help them with this horde, and it checks out, he might consider a visit with her nephew. This quid pro quo would’ve been out of the question before Gamma learned of Lydia’s survival, but now that she feels betrayed she agrees to Aaron’s request. The young Whisperer takes off her mask and tells him where the horde is.

Someone who isn’t offering much information is Dante, who survived the stabbing and is now being interrogated by Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Gabe and Rosita. The questioning starts off with an angry Daryl pummeling Dante with his fists, but Doctor Demented isn’t really giving them anything they have not heard before. It’s the usual Whisperer talk; that they’re all lying to themselves if they think they can return to normal life in this world. A world that was destroyed by humans means humanity is the threat. While some of what Dante says makes sense, it’s clear this cult member is as brainwashed as they come. Knowing the very thing Alpha says can’t exist not only does exist but is thriving isn’t enough for Dante to wake up from his Whisperer spell. That’s when Aaron shows up with news about Gamma’s information about the location of the horde. He along with Carol, Daryl and a few members of Hilltop head out on a fact finding mission to see if this Whisperer is telling the truth. In the meantime, they plan to keep an eye out for Lydia who is still missing and probably in danger.

A Stranger in Oceanside

While most of her nearest and dearest are disobeying her for a horde hunt, Michonne (Danai Gurira), Judith (Cailey Fleming), Luke (Dan Fogler) and a few others are on route to Oceanside. After hearing about Judith’s journaling, they decide to make a pit stop at a nearby library. Luke thinks the books could help Judith keep an account of their history as well as their current and future adventures. Once inside the surprisingly intact building music teacher Luke is in heaven when he finds some Rachmaninoff sheet music. Just before the violinist starts breaking out in “Isle of the Dead,” he’s attacked from behind by some presumably very dead librarians. Thankfully, an unknown man swoops into rescue him, but before Luke can thank him the man disappears like a ghost. In the commotion Michonne gets a call on her walkie-talkie with some bad news – Siddiq is dead. This means the library field trip has been canceled and it’s back to work at Oceanside and then home to grieve the loss of their doctor and friend.

Back in Alexandria Carol and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) have a somewhat friendly but increasingly awkward chat after Siddiq’s funeral. The former King never tells his ex about his cancer, even after Carol gets the clue that something seems off with him. Ezekiel offers his help on her horde finding mission, but she declines and the two part ways with nothing resolved between them. Ezekiel isn’t the only one trying to find the best way forward as Rosita is still reeling from what happened to Siddiq and decides to go beyond the walls to take her anger out on walkers. The problem is that killing her zombie baby daddy left some lasting effects on her mental state and as she’s slicing through a group of the dead she freezes. The walkers get the better of her and just as she’s about to become zombie dinner Eugene (Josh McDermitt) shows up and saves the day. Apparently, he was on his way back to Hilltop when he saw his friend was trouble. It’s usually Rosita saving Eugene, so it’s nice to see a role reversal in the relationship, even if the mullet man is still chilling in the friend zone. Having come from a military background, Rosita knows that freezing in a fight could get her or others killed. It bothers the new mother enough to go and talk to Gabe about it, but he doesn’t seem to understand her concerns. In fact, Father Gabriel is pretty harsh with Rosita. He seems more concerned with Dante than he does his girlfriend’s fears of leaving baby Coco orphaned.

My Mercy Prevails Over My Wrath

After the news about Siddiq we see Michonne, Judith and Luke make it back to Oceanside just in time to catch a thief trying to steal one of the boats! Luke recognizes the man as the same person who saved his life in the library. Doesn’t that mean he’s one of the good guys? They don’t get to ponder that long because chaos breaks out in the beach community as walkers wander through their fences and everyone is fighting for their lives. While they’re distracted with fighting the dead, the stranger tries to escape but is stopped by Judith and her swinging sword. His wounds are not life threatening so Michonne ties him up and takes him to camp so that she can find out who he is and what he wants. What she learns is his name is Virgil (Kevin Carroll) and he and his family live on a Naval base on Tangiers Island. He left to go search for supplies and was stealing the boat to get home. Michonne doesn’t trust him and asks why he helped Luke back at the library. Virgil says, “He needed help,” and ignoring the fact he might’ve died trying he couldn’t let Luke be killed. He goes on to say, “Mercy is in short supply these days,” which reminds Michonne of Rick and a saying he learned from Siddiq and that is, “My Mercy prevails over my wrath.” And maybe it’s the reminder of what Rick tried to create, but Michonne leans towards believing Virgil, even if he called her daughter “a demon with a sword.” Virgil’s attempt at stealing the boat and the walker attack that followed did some serious damage to Oceanside and they’re not just going to let that go. Maybe he could offer them something that could help them fight their enemies? Michonne cuts a deal with him that she will sail him home if she can bring back weapons that they could use on Alpha and the horde. A Naval base could have something that could take them all out and end this border turf war. Trusting Virgil could help them all or be their undoing. It’s a risk she’s willing to take. There’s just one catch: Judith has to stay behind. If Virgil is telling the truth then Michonne will be home before her daughter knows it, but if he’s lying this mother is not putting her daughter at risk. Judith agrees to stay behind and be good for her Uncle Daryl because she agrees with her mother that they can’t afford to lose anyone else.

Father Gabe must be thinking the same thing because back at Alexandria he stops off in the jail cell to talk to Dante. The preacher is furious that he trusted Dante and actually felt bad for his dead son story that got him inside their walls. Gabe is so angry that when Dante starts rambling off his cult speech about how all of this is a lost cause Gabe snaps. The Father goes into full beast-mode and attacks the prisoner, beating him to death mercilessly. Covered in Dante’s blood Gabe walks through town seemingly unaffected as Rosita watches him from the window with a look of both concern and relief.

Alpha Sets a Trap

As Michonne and Virgil sail off to the Naval base Daryl, Carol, Aaron and the Hilltoppers meet up to find the horde and Lydia. Throughout their search Daryl notices Carol’s desperation and the two have a heart to heart. He is done with her putting her life in danger just to get revenge on Alpha. He tells her that ever since she got off that boat she’s been different; consumed with hate and it’s clouding her judgement. If she is struggling emotionally than he is the one she should be coming to with her problems, not burying them to the point of making deadly mistakes. He hugs her and wipes away her tears as she tells him she’s trying but her losses have pretty much destroyed her. Daryl reminds Carol that they have a future saying, “Don’t let her take that too.” Besides the obvious dangers of her going off halfcocked, Alpha is a dead woman walking anyway. After all these two have been through together the bald queen of the skin freaks just isn’t worth the risk.

If Carol heard what Daryl said her actions say otherwise. After the group discovers an empty field where Gamma said the horde would be Carol spots something in the woods. At closer look she sees a smiling Alpha and takes off after her without a care for herself of her friends. Daryl yells for his bestie to come back, but his screams get lost in Carol’s rage. He takes off after her, as does the rest of the group, while she chases Alpha running zig zag through the woods. As Alpha draws them all deeper into her territory Carol, Daryl and the others chase after her and eventually run into the hidden opening of a cave! In the darkness the group realizes they’re stuck on a rock ledge and just below them are thousands of walkers! It looks like Carol finally found Alpha’s horde and it might just cost them all their lives.