Good to see that the electric was still on to roll up that gate with a single button push from Beta. Its only 10 years into the apocolypse. Unless those doors are spring loaded to retract and it is just locked in the floor until released

 

That's what it was, I think. I worked at a Marina many many years ago as a teenager, and we had a spring loaded door on one of the boat houses almost exactly like that. Whether Beta would have known that, and been so confident that it would work, is another question. Unless he had been there before.

 

This. It's a major hiccup. Like this was one of our most important questions, right? How did they arrive to wearing Walker skins this the first place. Because it's obviously not necessary to blend in from a survival point of view. Bit of blood and guts do that just fine, along with silence and whispers and slow movements. It's only necessary when it comes to wanting to blend in and make the enemy believe you're also a walker. So why did Beta think that's what Alpha meant? Is that what she meant? Is this the origin story? And how did they convince everyone else to follow them and do the same?

We have seen that both Alpha and Beta are batshit crazy already when they first meet. How did they get like this? What caused their mental illness? Why would Beta be following Alpha? AND HOW ON EARTH DID THEY MANAGE TO GATHER FOLLOWERS??? These were my main questions, and after this episode I'm non the wiser.

I also thought all dialogue from the back story was stilted. Present day was much better written. And agree that the young actress was not a memorable choice.

The scene where she was walking around dressed in guts reciting the "we are all monsters" mantra, oh that was just hideously jarring.

 

Let me just say first that I love bottle episodes. Some of my absolute favourite TWD episodes are bottle episodes. And I was really looking forward to getting a backstory to the Whisperers, to see if they can be made a little more believable and relatable. I was prepared to trade precious core-group time for these revelations. But I feel terribly short-changed. I didn't find out anything interesting except for how Alpha is so deeply conflicted about Lydia.

I now feel totally over this bunch of crazy folk and want them dead and gone as soon as possible. Alpha is the only fascinating character amongst them, but after this episode I feel all her cards have been revealed.

My interest in Gamma is zero. And after this episode I find Beta just as dull and wooden as before. I'd like to see Negan and Daryl take him down together. And Carol to finish Alpha. And I'm pissed off we will most likely have to sacrifice a few more of our people before that can happen. I hope this new drift in the pack between the "more normal" wing and the fanatics will get more engaging, because that's the only thing I still find interesting about them.

 

My only guess for that is the followers are just as crazy as them. Or it wasn't a choice, join or be killed. Come join us, but you have to live outside and wear the faces of the dead. Eww, no thanks.

 

That didn't make any sense to me either. She knew that he wanted to keep his face covered and that they would be traveling with the dead. So.....somehow they silently communicated this disturbing idea?
I wonder if Alpha's eventual mask came from someone important to her?
They were definitely skimpy on the information leading them to this way of life.
Their conversations kind of pointed them in the same creepy direction, but the first face peeling could have used a bit more explanation.
That was annoying.

 

Honestly the whole episode felt like a bit of a let down, especially when episode one really launched the season off to an amazing start.
I just want the whisperers gone, I have since they were introduced; a group of lunatics who LARP as walkers, no thanks. I've already stated (probably dozens of times now) that shield walls, like formations and flamethrowers, or basic chemical weapons (like the firefighting pump guns loaded with lye (caustic soda/sodium hydroxide) solution) would cause even disciplined groups to panic and break ranks. But I digress.
I was waiting for some sort of reveal with Beta's face, it never happened. If they are going the same way as the comics, I'll be sorely disappointed.

@bula412 @Neuropyramidal
Where is the part where beta opens the gate? I must have missed that part of the episode.

 

He opens a roll up door to allow the walkers out so they can join the whisperers and walk with them. At some type of warehouse it seemed.

 

I remember now. I didn't think anything of it at the time, however that is a big oops on the part of whoever scripted this episode.
It could have been spring loaded, though assuming that something will work just like it did a decade ago is asking a lot.

 

Less of a stretch though than for him to assume the power was on haha. My thinking is maybe this wasn't his first time at the warehouse. Maybe they even left those walkers inside there on their way down south, to use later.

 

I am NOT a fan of bottle episodes. we have too many main characters sitting out when they do these.

 

The "how did they get followers" has always been a problem with me for the villainous groups, so I seem to have developed an immunity to the irritation over that. I bet some of these unhappy campers would love to join our group. Maybe that will turn out to be helpful when the battle comes.

On Talking Dead, they did a survey of whether you would wear your best friend's face if that was what it took to survive. Maybe they didn't read it as literally as I did--I was in the minority of that vote. But, hey, I would be alive. lol

 

I thought the episode where Daryl hooked up with the Claimers was a good example of how people fall in with various groups. I forget his exact words to Rick as they sat against the truck, something like, they had a code, it was bullshit, but it was something. I wonder if Daryl would have intervened had it not been Rick, Carl and Michonne the Claimers were attacking.

Even if you know your group is warped, you rationalize it because it's better than trying to go it alone. I think human nature eventually leads you to assert yourself within that group, even if it's just low level peon, out of self preservation.

I missed TTD. The answer to a hypothetical question given from the comfort of your sofa would vary drastically from a real world scenario. I'm betting if you asked that soccer team who crashed in the mountains if they would eat their teammates to survive their answer would have been no.

At least you are honest, lol, and it's pretty badass to admit what you believe yourself to be capable of in such a scenario. The standard, eww, no that's gross, doesn't require much thought or honesty.

 

The whisperer followers knew the zombie situation was horrible but they decided they just had to face it.

 

Sef-preservation actually would keep me from eating people. lol At that point I would resign myself to my fate. Cannibalistic tribes can get brain disorders from prions. No thanks.

But if my friend was already dead and I needed a mask to survive, I could imagine that being like organ donation. If it were the other way around and I was the friend who died, I would want, with love, for my friend to take whatever was of use. If you want my face, tuck it into your pocket to tan later, toss the rest of me out the window to distract the walkers, and RUN!

 

You make a good point. I'd like to think Daryl wouldn't have stayed with those assholes much longer, but he stomached at least one guy getting beaten to death for lying.

I mean, we see this in our real lives every day. People put up with their boss's bullshit and various injustices, because they need the job. Dictators rise and gain support for favours and for fear. People sign up to the worst idiologies. They justify horrendous acts in conflict. Ridiculous and terrifying cults form all the time, all over the world.

 

So here is a question for you. If you found yourself alone in the zombie apocalypse and had to join any of these despicable groups, which one would you choose? Or would you rather go it alone, if this is the choice?

Woodbury folk
Termites
Claimers
Grady
Wolves
Saviours
Whisperers

(Have I remembered all the horror troupes?)

Edit: + Trashbags - how could I forget? Thanks @NakedCity

 

I think most of the folk in Woodbury weren't aware of the evil actions of the gov and his core henchmen so it would probably be easier to be lulled into that community before realizing something was wrong.