We now have the next big bad guy

After almost nine seasons, it's quite rare that a new character gets his own episode of The dead who walk and even that's exactly what happened Sunday night. The episode, titled "Omega", featured Samantha Morton as Alpha, future Whisperer leader and mother of Lydia, the young woman captured last week by Daryl and Michonne. And she must not be disturbed.

The episode broke out between the present, where Lydia is still in her cell, talking to Henry Hilltop, and the past just three weeks after the start of the zombie apocalypse. A very young Lydia, her mother, her father and a group of survivors are trying to wait for the chaos in hiding. Surprisingly enough, much of this story ended up being a trick, both for the characters and the audience.

Lydia lives with her mother (Alpha) and her father. Daddy has a beard. Papa shaves his beard in an act of defiance. Shortly afterwards, Alpha finally suffocated a member of his group who was trying to escape and put everyone in danger. In the next scene, the father has a well developed beard again! But the dead person is still dead, and not a zombie … for the moment. Then he turns into a zombie, attacks Lydia, his father intervenes and is killed.

It's a confusing scenario that means that the beard has grown quickly or the zombie has been slowly zombieed. Maybe Lydia's father has just incredibly hair follicles or the show has committed a continuity error. Or maybe it was so early in the apocalypse of zombies, becoming a zombie took more time.

Or maybe that's not what really happened. As it was revealed, what really happened is that the man turned into a zombie and attacked daddy (with a lot less hair on his face). Dad was saved, but Alpha later killed him.

Alpha tells Lydia so long about this lie about her father's death that Lydia began to believe it. Which says a lot about who Alpha is and what everyone is dealing with.

The hair could be a clue in these Lydia and Alpha flashbacks, but becomes the focal point when Henry explains to Daryl that Carol (whose story shares some strange similarities with Alpha) has kept her hair so short because it's not easy. she was afraid that her abusive husband was using her against her. Now she is finally safe and has started growing up. It was a good note to show us how far Carol came, how different she is from Alpha and remember that we are now two episodes in the second half of the season and that we have seen very little The Kingdom or Carol.

By not showing these characters, Whisperers philosophies are at the center. Lydia explains to Daryl during one of their many discussions that Daryl and his friends are living a lifestyle that no longer exists. This Lydia believes that she, Alpha and Whisperers embrace the world as it is now. "My mother walks because that's what the dead do," she says. "It's their world and we live there."

This rather poignant idea is just another reason why Whisperers feel like a worthy, different villain The dead who walk. They do not just want to fight for resources like the governor or Negan. No, they are fighting against the past and our concept of civilization.

And stuck between these two philosophies? Henry and Lydia who, during the episode, begin to develop a zombie Romeo and Juliet romance. I'm not sure anyone should trust Lydia again. She says her mother will not come looking for her, but that's clearly not the case. But Henry does not seem smart enough to see him. Otherwise, he would not let her out of the cage and explain all the benefits of her lifestyle. Although maybe Lydia can change. The mere sound of a crying baby might have sufficed for Lydia for her to remember and once again embrace her humanity.

Overall, I must say that "Omega" was not really an exciting episode of The dead who walk but it was really interesting. We now have a very good idea of ​​what everyone is facing. A villain and followers who do not think of life in the same way as heroes. Whoever is willing to kill loved ones because of these beliefs. And guess what? She is at the damn gateway.

Assortment of reflections:

• I can be 100% wrong with the beard. I just know that I took note that it was a possible mistake to watch then the show returned it.
• The subplot with Kelly, Connie, Yumiko and Magna was a huge disappointment. We know that they want to find Luke, but are they stupid enough to go out in the dark to look for him, and then turn around two seconds later? No they are not. In fact, this only happened so that Whisperers could follow them to the camp.
• Am I crazy or was there a shot of Lydia watching a kind of hook hanging on the wall that never came back into play? What was it?
• As I mentioned last week, I skipped about two seasons of The dead who walk and I am here only on a temporary basis. So, I have trouble finding / remembering where is where. There is Hilltop, Alexandria and The Kingdom, right? False? It's not easy to be a relatively "new" viewer.
• If all goes well, Rob is coming back soon and I feel less stupid.

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