While this week’s episode of The Walking Dead might have otherwise been characterized as unremarkable, there was one particular scene that is likely to stick with viewers for days. It involves the newest villain to The Walking Dead universe, Beta, who was fully introduced to the series this week, as played by Ryan Hurst. Beta is a beast of a man, and in the comics, he wears a walker-skin over his face at all times, for reasons that will likely be explained at a later point (there are reasons he’s very protective about keeping his identity hidden). He’s a big guy, providing all the muscle that Alpha needs, and he is unyieldingly loyal to her.
In this week’s episode, after Alpha and The Whisperers reclaimed Alpha’s daughter, Lydia, from The Hilltop, she found herself in need of a new skin. Masks made of human skin, however, just don’t materialize. Someone has to do with work of finding an appropriate zombie, cutting the skin away from the face with a knife, and peeling the skin off the skull before it can be used by a human. That task fell to Beta in this week’s episode, and he didn’t seem to have any problem with pulling the face off a zombie corpse. It looks something like this.
So that’s how a Whisperer gets it’s mask… #TWD pic.twitter.com/4OLK3x4e4k
— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDead_AMC) March 4, 2019
The full scene made for fantastically disgusting television, and it wasn’t just the sight of seeing Beta peeling a skin off of a skull. It was the wet smacking sound that the removal made. Fans on Twitter reacted to the scene as appropriately as one might expect.
EW BETA SKINNING OFF A WALKER’S FACE TO GET LYDIA A NEW WALKER MASK WAS DISGUSTING #TheWalkingDead #TWD
— ~Brittany~ (@bejeweledbritt) March 4, 2019
he just… took the walker’s skin off #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/k4vj7LrxrK
— iliana 🖤🌙 (@moonlitpisces21) March 4, 2019
Oh…. a visual I did not want. Thank you for ripping that face off. #TheWalkingDead
— Joel⸆⸉ ✸ ✧*。 (@turninginkpots) March 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/MOVIEidol/status/1102397660550651905
Patchy really didn’t need to see the face-skinning. #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/CnZ3lmef8e
— PATCHY🦋 (@PatchyBites) March 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/LexiJoestar16/status/1102398385934487553
Cutting that new skin off…. #TWD #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/hs02Lvjtk4
— Terri 🇨🇦 (@entranced01) March 4, 2019
Me watching Beta cutting the walker’s face off pic.twitter.com/JxtCzqG6jV
— Heather Todd (@TheHTodd) March 4, 2019
Watching The Walking Dead and eating pizza rolls and as soon as I saw Beta cutting the walkers face off this was my reaction: @TheWalkingDead @AMCTalkingDead #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/o2mT8yJvJb
— Abby❤️🔥 (@Abby_M_Taylor_) March 4, 2019
OH GOD. I didn't need to see the visual of them cutting off the walker face. #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/qy2XRodUlK
— ✨️🌙 Steph 🌙✨️ (@butwevegotheart) March 4, 2019
Meanwhile, it looks like we’ll be seeing much more of Beta in next week’s episode. He’s apparently number one on Daryl’s sh*t list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bfsulALYSA
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights on AMC.