The Walking Dead: Stalker review S10 E10
The Walking Dead’s hot streak largely kept rolling with Stalker, an episode that played out in a lot of ways like a classic legitimately scary 80s horror movie. Ironically it was a highly anticipated clash that didn’t hold up its end.
Rosita might be a mutant as she’s having nightmares of Beta invading Alexandria. She awakens to learn Gamma has arrived with all kinds of juicy intel on The Whisperers. Assuming of course she can get them to believe her.
While it’s been months for us, it’s only been two days since Siddiq was killed. Man they’re productive with their time on TWD! Gabriel and Rosita don’t trust her, but Gamma wins them over after confessing she killed her sister. Gabriel is convinced they broke Gamma and thinks pulling teeth and fingers is the best way to get intel from The Whisperers. I’m thinking Gabriel needs to reread Proverbs a few more times.
Judith visits Gamma aka Mary. Judith plays the intel gatherer card pretty well even if it’s totally unintentional.
Has there been a time since they’d been together that Rosita and Gabriel were happy? They seem like the most random couple in the history of the series. Through her bluster Gabriel recognizes Rosita really isn’t right and needs to stay behind for this mission to go after The Whisperers.
Making good on Rosita’s apparent superpower, Beta emerges from a grave and begins invading Alexandria. It’s was an awesome enough visual that I won’t question how the heck Beta found a grave to emerge from. Beta makes for a very effective horror movie boogeyman as he slashes through some community members.
In a real Night of the Living Dead homage, he killed them in a way to create an army of walkers within Alexandria. That’s a solid plan actually. This was part of his real objective to get Gamma to bring back to Alpha.
Laura makes the save, but makes the fatal mistake of not immediately killing Beta. Beta doesn’t make the same mistake. Nice knowing you Laura. Gamma ran off to get help and got it from an unlikely source in Judith, who shoots Beta when he stalks outside her door.
Sadly, Zombieland was not on the movie night rotation otherwise Judith would know to always do the double tap. Beta catches Gamma, but Rosita comes in for the save. Beta slashed her up nicely, but Rosita gets spared when Gamma offers herself to Beta. As bad as it looks, Gabriel and his crew believe Gamma when they find her in the woods with Beta.
Now Mary has fully earned the trust of Alexandria. If I were the suspicious type I’d wonder if this weren’t all part of Alpha and Gamma’s master plan. Rosita doesn’t have any concerns though and officially introduces herself to Gamma/Mary.
Onto the B subplot, Daryl thinks he’s got the drop on two Whisperers, but they’ve got a mini-horde with them. He eventually decides to rush them anyway. This seemed like a questionable strategy and then he gets blinded by blood and tries to get intel instead of killing the remaining Whisperer — Alpha — who promptly stabs him in the knee.
Last week we had Claustrophobic Carol and now Dysfunctional Daryl. He’s been a killing machine so many times that it seems questionable that he would take such a terrible approach to finding Connie and Magna. He’s gone from being the hunter to being hunted.
Bloodied up herself, Alpha tries to get some walkers to finish off Daryl. That doesn’t work out so well for them and Alpha and Daryl are reduced to lying on the ground issuing threats neither is any condition to make good on.
Lydia arrives out of nowhere and once again rejects Alpha’s plea to take over The Whisperers. Lydia does take Daryl out of harm’s way. That’s enough to motivate Alpha to get inspired for a final attack on the communities.
As a Daryl/Alpha tease this was…a little underwhelming, but it’s not like their first encounter should have a winner and a loser. Beta running wild in Alexandria was great however and helped make Stalker a very effective episode.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: AMC