‘The Walking Dead’ Season 10, Episode 2 ‘We Are the End of the World’ Review: The Alpha Omega

Things are got a bit clearer on tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead. We’ve known the Whisperer’s to be a credible threat now, but we only know so much about Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Beta’s (Ryan Hurst) partnership.

Tonight’s episode, titled “We Are the End of the World,” shines a spotlight on the unlikely origin of the Alpha-Beta partnership that led to the formation of the Whisperers. In an interesting flashback, the story of the two leaders appears to cut deeper than a normal friendship post-apocalypse. I honestly thought these two would fuck or kiss at some point, but it looks like the A & B partnership is a platonic one—at least for now. But as we learn about the foundation of the Whisperers’ leaders, another key character from the comics is introduced. Gamma (Thora Birch) finally makes her much-awaited appearance and teases conflict (both within the Whisperers and the survivors) ahead.

Here’s everything that went down on tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead.

“You’re B, I’m A.”

Season 9 showed us a bit about Alpha’s pre-zombie apocalypse origins. In yet another flashback, we are taken to its aftermath where Alpha and young Lydia (Havana Blum) outrun a small herd of Walkers. Alpha, now bald and covered in Walker’s guts, tries to escape the incoming herd to no avail, but they do find safety in an abandoned hospital where a ski-masked Beta holes up (we’re never actually shown his face in the episode, which makes me wonder more about his character). At first, the two engage in a hostile staredown but Beta eventually lets them stay for the night, forbidding them to cross over to his side of the hallway. Later, as Alpha rummages through the supplies, Beta appears and tells her to stop humming. Alpha tries to build rapport but the big man won’t let up when she refuses to give a name (at this point, all of them are nameless save for Lydia). “I like it; the sound of the dead,” Beta says. “It’s the only song I never want to end.” Way to brood over the zombie apocalypse, big man.

Jace Downs/AMC

Later, Lydia decides that she’s not a kid anymore, wanting to be more like her mom—brave, ruthless, and uncaring. It’s something that Alpha has been waiting to hear for a long time, and it’s clear that she’s bonding with her daughter even more. But Alpha doesn’t like the attachment—especially in the world full of the dead—but her daughter only makes her feel weaker with love by the minute.

As the night droned on, Alpha decides to head out and look for some zombie action. A small group of Walkers overwhelms Alpha, but Beta arrives just in time to save her. As they kill off the group, Alpha sees that there’s a partnership that could be borne out of this, so she calls Beta “B.” She breaks through Beta’s thick emotional wall slowly but deflects when Alpha tries to remove his ski mask. Meanwhile, Lydia tries to prove her bravery by covering herself with Walker’s guts again and facing one that’s trapped in a room. When Alpha sees her gone, she goes on a frantic search and crosses over to Beta’s side of the hospital. And that’s when we discover that Beta had a son before the outbreak and that he’s keeping his zombie corpse with him.

Jace Downs/AMC

Beta goes on a rampage, but Alpha calms him down. He stops flinging shit around when Lydia appears and shouts for them to stop. Once again, Alpha asks Beta to join him but he can’t leave his son behind. So in an effort to build Beta up, Alpha has him do what would start the whole Whisperer thing—skinning his son’s zombie face to put on as his new mask.

There are two things that you could pick up during this flashback: one, Alpha will always have a soft spot for Lydia, even if she’s not with them now. Two, she had all the Whisperer tactic figured out even before the group was created.

Enter the Gamma

Back in the present, the Whisperers appear to have fewer Walkers in their arsenal after flexing it to Daryl in the valley last season. Beta organizers a Walker hunt, but one Whisperer puts the mission in jeopardy—Gamma’s sister, Frances (Juliet Brett). Take note, though, that Gamma isn’t actually “Gamma” yet. There’s more to Frances than just a dreamy Whisperer, though. She was the mother of the baby that Alpha had her sacrifice during the standoff at Hilltop in season 9. Since that day, Frances never got out of the trauma of losing her son, hence her dreamy (almost on a high) demeanor. This attitude almost got her devoured by the Walkers next to her, so Beta brings Frances back to camp to be punished. But just as she’s about to be executed, Alpha steps in and tells them to stop. She wants to correct Frances herself.

Later, Beta notices that Alpha’s been acting weird lately. She’s storming off at night with no protection and always appears to be thinking about something. But Alpha nonchalantly shuts him down and orders Beta to bring Frances to her. You’d think that she’s going to skin Frances alive, but she actually forgives her. Huh. Now that took a weird turn. Frances returns to Gamma refreshed like she’s seen the Blessed Mother or something. “She’s Alpha, she doesn’t cry,” Gamma says. Oh how wrong you are, honey.

Jace Downs/AMC

The Whisperers then gear up for another Walker hunt, another mission where Frances’ false pretense is shattered. As Alpha leads them in the fields, a group of Walkers merges with them. But the space satellite careening towards earth overwhelms then and throws the organized herd into disarray. As the Walkers file out in all directions, Frances sees her chance to kill Alpha and swoops in for an attack. But her efforts were useless as Gamma herself removes her sister from Alpha’s back and the Walkers feast on her. A grateful Alpha runs off with Beta and Gamma in tow. With Gamma’s bravery comes Alpha’s promise to repay her. A ceremony is held that night officially “anointing” Alpha’s savior as “Gamma.” But in the background, we see Beta looking on with active malice in his eyes. Is this the start of a Beta-Gamma feud somewhere down the line?

The next day, Beta sees Alpha gone again. He then discovers that Alpha hasn’t really gotten over losing Lydia and that she is still alive. This is when we see a frantic Alpha screaming her wits out and crying like a maniac. She even built this fake twig house for Lydia in case she comes back. Beta’s discovery triggers Alpha to go on a rampage and destroy what she built. “They cannot know that Lydia’s alive,” Alpha says. But Beta, the ever-faithful righthand, assures her of the secret. He then tells Alpha about the fire near their borders. “The enemy moved across. We must teach them a lesson,” Alpha declares. Uh-oh. It’s Whisperer payback time next week!

Jace Downs/AMC

The episode ends with the epic staredown between Carol (Melissa McBride) and Alpha at the valley (this time with a wider angle and a long-shot of the two lady bosses).

‘The Walking Dead: We Are the End of the World’ Overall Verdict

“We are the End of the World” is season 10’s first slow-paced episode, but the story doesn’t disappoint. It brings more to the character of Beta and Alpha, and we get a glimpse of how their dynamic works. Gamma’s addition also makes for a more exciting season as she rises to the ranks of Alpha’s lieutenant and ultimately leads the Whisperers to another war with our survivors. The episode’s slow pace does it more good as it builds up the understanding of the Whisperer’s intentions in the show. It’s good to see both sides of the coin have their spotlight in the midst of an apparent bloodbath in the next episodes ahead.

The Walking Dead continues Sunday, October 20th, with “Ghosts” at 9/8c on AMC.