The long anticipated sort-of tenth season finale of The Walking Dead has finally aired after having been delayed for six months (because Angela Kang has tacked six episodes into the 10th season, it’s also no longer technically the season finale). It was a good episode, even if it didn’t quite live up to the expectations put upon it by a six-month delay. The episode was more low-key than the episode where Alpha was killed, and that would have been finem had it aired back in April; but it’s not an episode that benefits, exactly, from airing in isolation.
However, the episode accomplished what it needed to accomplish: namely, to end The Whisperer War, reintroduce Maggie, and tease the next arc. It did, however, leave us with a few outstanding questions.
Where has Maggie been? Good question, and the episode does not offer much by way of answers. We know that she was off in another community, and somehow capable of receiving mail (given Alexandria’s isolation from the rest of the country, this needs an explanation all on its own). Maggie was apparently helping out Georgie and her community, but it remains unclear what community that is. Is it The Commonwealth? Is it one of the three communities represented in The World Beyond?
Moreover, why did Maggie choose to return now? And who is her friend with the mask and the ninja skills?
The current speculation is that the extra six episodes in Season 10 will fill in Maggie’s backstory. We know that Lauren Cohan is in Georgia currently shooting those episodes, but so is Norman Reedus, which at least suggests that all six episodes will not focus entirely on Maggie’s backstory.
Is Stephanie even real? I know we met The Commonwealth soldiers at the end of the episode where Eugene was expecting to meet Stephanie, but I do wonder how real Stephanie is. Did she actually have feelings for Eugene and want to meet him? Or was she a character created by The Commonwealth to lure people out and into their community? If she’s not real — or was conning Eugene all along — Eugene is gonna be absolutely crushed. Don’t toy with Eugene’s emotions!
Are Luke and Jules still a thing? It sure seems like it! Jules is the reason that Luke relocated to the Oceanside, and though we have only seen a few scenes with Luke and Jules together, it certainly appears that the two are very much romantically interested in one another. In fact, during this episode, while they were walking among the zombie hordes, Luke very sweetly reached out and held Jules’ hand, which was very nice, but also reckless! Don’t hold hands while walking among zombie hordes!
Did anyone die in the episode? Alpha and a few unnamed members of The Whisperers died, but only one person in the Alexandria alliance died. Her name is Beatrice. She got chewed up by a zombie horde and left behind by Carol, who saw the writing on the wall and left Beatrice before she got eaten, too. Beatrice (an Oceansider) hasn’t had a lot of screentime, but she is best known here for not trusting Lydia, which is reason enough for her to die.
How long did they listen to “Burning Down the House”? Seriously, they must have had that song playing for hours, because there is a time skip in the middle of the episode, in which time jumps from day until night, and they are still playing the same song. Did it not drive anyone crazy listening to the same song on a loop? The walkers were following noise, but not a specific noise. Couldn’t they have switched up the song every once in a while, if only for their own sanity? No wonder Carol almost threw herself over a cliff!
“Do you know who that asshole is? It was fun to see Negan briefly starstruck by the identity of Beta underneath his mask, although Daryl was completely nonplussed. “He’s nobody.” That’s a super cool casual reaction, but come on, Daryl. If we found out that, say, Garth Brooks was Beta, we’d sh*t our pants.
In case you missed it, Beta is a very famous country musician in the universe of The Walking Dead. We found that out in an episode of Fear the Walking Dead last season.
Is Virgil going to move in on Connie? — Connie didn’t die, which is great news. However, the fact that she got picked up by Virgil — whose carelessness led to his family’s death, which led Virgil to a bout of insanity compounded by hallucinogenic tea — is maybe not the best thing in the world for Connie. But look: We know that Carol and Daryl are getting their own spin-off. There’s no room for Connie on that bike, so maybe her and Virgil can hit it off and stay together. Daryl and Connie would have made a cute couple, but then again, I’m not sure that Daryl is cut out for romantic adventures.
Did Carol and Daryl continue to lay the groundwork for their spin-off? They sure did! Earlier this season, the two talked about getting on Daryl’s motorcycle and riding away on adventures together. After defeating Beta and The Whisperers, Daryl suggested that they maybe do exactly that and ride out to Mexico (Angela Kang calls the Daryl and Carol spin-off a road-trip drama). Carol, however, insists that they still have things to do, so I suppose they will put that road trip off for exactly 30 more episodes.
