(Warning: The Walking Dead spoilers will be found below.)
Not to take an unnecessary dig against Fear the Walking Dead, but having watched 16 episodes of that series in between episodes of The Walking Dead, it’s such a welcome change-of-pace to watch a series that puts considerable thought into how it structures episodes in terms of structure, character, and theme. This week’s episode, “Ghosts,” is terrific in the way it advances the story, develops four characters in new ways, and ties those storylines together on a theme.
The theme is Ghosts, in different permutations. Thanks to sleep deprivation and an apparent Adderall addiction, Carol is seeing ghosts in the form of hallucinations. She can’t sleep — or doesn’t want to sleep — because she’s plagued by the nightmares of all of her dead children, both biological (Sophie) and adoptive (Henry, Lizzie, Mika, and even Sam Anderson). Even when she’s awake, she sees ghosts in the form of hallucinations, like this particularly chilling hallucination of the cover of a home economics textbook she finds in a school she and several other Alexandrians take refuge in for the night:
The hallucinations are exacerbated by another run-in with Alpha and The Whisperers, who call a team of Alexandrians out for a meeting. Alpha knows that they have crossed into their territory three times (perhaps because of an informant), and she decides to punish them by extending the Whisperers’ border across their hunting grounds. Carol doesn’t take kindly to losing part of their territory, and when Alpha taunts Carol over the death of Henry, Carol tries to shoot Alpha, only to have Daryl thwart the attempt, knowing it would mean the death of all of them. The Whisperers have thousands of zombies at their disposal, which is why everyone in all the allied communities are terrified of starting a war with The Whisperers. They have no plan for taking them out.
In any respect, after the confrontation with Alpha, Carol has a number of hallucinations, including an extended hallucination involving Daryl warning her against hallucinations. At the end of the episode, when she’s booby-trapped and forced to fight off a number of walkers while hanging upside down, she also shoots a Whisperer. Michonne doesn’t believe that Carol actually saw a Whisperer, and Daryl appears to have his doubts, as well, but as we can see in the episode’s final scene, Carol really did shoot and kill a Whisperer, which means that Alpha is sending them into Alexandrian territory, as well.
Meanwhile, there are waves of zombies crashing Alexandria gates, which means all of its citizens must spend roughly two days putting them down. It’s grueling and exhausting work, and it results in a few sleep deprived interactions. Father Gabriel, for instance, forces Negan and Aaron to work together to put down straggling walkers, but the two do not get along particularly well, because back in the day, Negan killed the love of Aaron’s life, and Aaron is still haunted by the ghost of Eric. Aaron treats Negan like a POW, but Negan — after spending seven years in a jail cell — doesn’t take kindly to that treatment. Negan, however, manages to keep his cool, and even after Aaron lays into him, Negan manages to gain Aaron’s respect by keeping watch over him when he’s temporarily blinded by hogweed and saving him from a couple of walkers. In the end, they arrive at an uncomfortable truce, as Negan continues his redemption arc.
Siddiq, meanwhile, is dealing with extreme PTSD, which gives him panic attacks when the Whisperers are mentioned. Late in the episode, he’s also unable to help stitch up Carol after she’s injured because the PTSD is making him see ghosts of his past, too. Dante, the other doctor on staff, comforts Siddiq by telling him that he, too, used to suffer from PTSD after losing a lot of men in combat. I think, however, that there is more at play her for Siddiq than simply PTSD. I think he may have helped Alpha decapitate some of his friends, while under duress.
The D-storyline this week may have been the weakest. After spending all day fighting off zombies together, Rosita once again had to insist to Eugene that she’s not romantically interested in him. Eugene takes the news hard — even though it’s the third or fourth time Rosita has had to deliver it — because Eugene finally takes Rosita at her word because she is too exhausted to lie. Rosita’s admission not only thwarts any chance the two ever have of romantically connecting, but it also cast their friendship in doubt. “Our whole friendship is premised on the mistaken belief that someday I could perhaps change your mind, that you could see I was worthy enough of being rezoned into love town,” Eugene tells her. “What kind of friend is that?”
It’s heartbreaking, and it may be even more heartbreaking knowing that Rosita may not make it through the season.
Additional Notes
— It’s worth noting that Angela Kang is doing a phenomenal job making Negan earn back respect and transforming him into an ally without changing Negan’s true character. He’s still “Negan,” but more and more, he’s their Negan now, and honestly, he’s a guy you want to have on your team.
— The new guy, Dante, is growing on me. He reminds me of James Marsden. He’s already nailed his comics inspiration: Arrogant but likable (in the comics, he’s also a love interest to Maggie, but that might have to wait until Lauren Cohen’s return next season).
— Hey! The Highwaymen are still a thing here, although not that bright if they think they can just crash The Whisperers’ party without a plan.
— I am 100 percent convinced, despite Alpha’s denials, that she sent the waves of zombies to Alexandria in an effort to fatigue them. It illustrates just how difficult it’s going to be to take down The Whisperers with what appears to be an almost infinite number of walkers at their disposal.
— In next week’s episode, it appears as though more skirmishes with The Whisperers will break out, plus Lydia continues to contend with being an outcast.
