‘The Walking Dead’ Season 10, Episode 7 ‘Open Your Eyes’ Review: A Mole Gains The Upper Hand

After tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead, I found myself unable to open my eyes. It’s THAT intense, people.

If you thought last week’s mission to infiltrate the Whisperer’s borders was stressful, what went down tonight was enough to bring back the fear that we once had when watching an episode of TWD. Season 10 has nothing but great stories, and “Open Your Eyes” makes sure that we never lose sight of that. Ever.

Following Carol (Melissa McBride) and Daryl’s sight-seeing near Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) borders, the Whisperer hostage is taken into custody for an interrogation that would lead them to the group’s horde. It’s not until Carol tries to coax Lydia (Cassady McClincy) to help out that things take a turn for the worst. Meanwhile, Siddiq’s (Avi Nash) PTSD seems to take its massive toll on him as his visions of the bloody night before Head Spike Hill was inaugurated grow worse by the day. Everything’s connected, though. *SPOILER ALERT* One unlikely ally is revealed to be Alpha’s mole in Alexandria.

Let’s take a look back at what happened on tonight’s harrowing episode of The Walking Dead. Massive spoilers from here on.

Carol and the Audacity of This Prisoner Scum

The captured Whisperer (played by James Parks) was never going to be of much use right off the bat. They lock him up in Negan’s (now Lydia’s) cell to prep him up for interrogation. Lydia reveals that he’s one of the Walker watchers and that his loyalty to Alpha is unshakeable. Carol’s desperation to find Alpha’s horde becomes an issue for Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) though as she’s acting out of her own volition and disregarding the Alexandria council’s authority. But be that as it may, the horde needs to be found to put at least a small dent in Alpha’s undead arsenal.

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Desperate for a new move, Carol then warms up to Lydia so she can use her to purge the information out of the captured Whisperer (of course, Lydia is unaware as Carol uses the Henry card to get through her). Carol tries a civil interrogation with the prisoner, even going as far as offering him bread with jam—until he spits it out on Carol’s face and declaring his full allegiance to Alpha. But it’s in that declaration that Carol sees a way to break it. The Whisperer was in awe of Alpha sacrificing her own child for the group’s safety, which is obviously bullshit since Lydia is with them. If they can show him that Lydia joined their camp, it might be enough to shatter Alpha’s false sense of authority over the prisoner. Daryl might disagree (remember how Michonne told him to protect Lydia at all costs?), Carol tells him that it’s the only way to get valuable info from the captured Whisperer. With that, Carol takes Lydia out to hunt. Emphasis on “hunt.”

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Meanwhile, Aaron (Ross Marquand) gets cozy with Gamma (Thora Birch) near the bridge border. He knows that Gamma is treading on shaky ground in terms of her allegiance to Alpha, so he draws the family card to get up close and personal. Hell, he even gives Gamma a family drawing from his daughter. Later, Alpha sees Gamma looking at the drawing and tells her to get her shit together because Aaron is manipulating her. She then whips Gamma’s arms in the process (what an old school momma thing to do). Gamma once again returns to the bridge to tell Aaron to go fuck himself. She hands the drawing back to Aaron and puts her kife on his throat—just in time for Carol and Lydia’s arrival. Gamma is shocked at the sight of Lydia, runs away, and cries in frustration at the riverbank. Lydia, on the other hand, realizes that Carol is using her as leverage. Lydia has none of it, resolves to choose a path for herself (fuck you and fuck the Whisperers), and runs away.

Jace Downs/AMC

Gamma is obviously still reeling from the loss of her sister and brother at the hands of Alpha. She might put on a mask of allegiance, but it’s clear that her resentment towards Alpha is growing—more so now that she has seen Lydia alive and well. Alpha doesn’t seem to be the powerful leader she claims to be after all.

Siddiq’a Worst Nightmare Becomes a Reality

Siddiq’s PTSD attacks get worse as more residents of Alexandria succumb to the stomach bug. He still hasn’t figured out that something’s wrong with their water supply (screw you, Gamma!). Before the interrogation, Siddiq and Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas) clean up the prisoner’s wounds. But Siddiq sees visions of Alpha and The Whisperers while looking at him so Dante takes charge. Siddiq checks up on the other patients (with Rosita on her way to feeling better) and grows more frustrated over the whole sickness thing.

Jace Downs/AMC

But when the Whisperer prisoner develops similar symptoms, Siddiq and Dante come to his rescue, but it’s all too late. Dante administered a drug that he thought would inflict pain on the Whisperer and force him to give information, but it turns out to be poison hemlock. It isn’t Dante’s fault, though. Apparently, Siddiq placed it on the pack that they brought while cleaning him up. Oh shit. So is Siddiq the mole? What’s his game plan here?

At long last, Siddiq figures out what is causing the stomach bug. After he attempts to drown himself following his intense visions, Rosita saves him and finally opens up to her about his struggles with PTSD. Rosita tells him to fight and that seems to do the trick to calm Siddiq down and think rationally about the sickness. That’s when it all makes sense—water is the common denominator that they’ve missed while treating the patients. Siddiq discovers that the water filtration system is not working, allowing the Walker guts to infect it (but I don’t think he’s figured out that part yet).

Jace Downs/AMC

That night, Siddiq mulls over the events of the day and is visited by Dante. Siddiq once again has bloody visions of the night Alpha killed his friends. Siddiq was forced to watch her decapitate each of them while a Whisperer holds up his head and forces his eyes open. “Open your eyes,” he Whispers to a screaming Siddiq and clucks his tongue like Charlie from Hereditary. Siddiq snaps back to reality and hears Dante clucking his tongue and saying “open your eyes.” That’s it, folks. Dante is the goddamn mole.

Jace Downs/AMC

A struggle happens, with Siddiq attempting to pin Dante down. But he overpowers Siddiq and chokes him seemingly to his death.

Oh, how the plot thickens, indeed.

‘The Walking Dead: Open Your Eyes’ Overall Verdict

I never saw this whole Dante twist coming (though some Reddit theories about it were circulating prior to tonight’s episode). Looking back at the scene when Dante and Siddiq were about to clean the Whisperer’s wounds, it’s obvious that the prisoner knows Dante enough to say “never” when he told him to “not try anything.” The way he looks at Dante first when they came in was an indication of an acknowledged secret of some sort. But this reveal does raise some questions—how did he end up in Alexandria in the first place? How come Lydia didn’t recognize him in the previous episodes? Is his fascination with what Alexandria had to offer a lie? So Alpha has a spy within Alexandria’s walls and we have Negan in her camp (assuming the show follows the comics where Negan pretends to join the Whisperers only to bring back Alpha’s head in a bag).

Once again directed by Walking Dead alum Michael Cudlitz and written by producer Corey Reed, “Open Your Eyes” is a clear echo of what the show used to have when a lot of episodes were disturbingly entertaining. Although having a relatively slow pace, the episode is a perfect slow burn to the epic enemy reveal and possible death of Siddiq.

The Walking Dead continues Sunday, November 24th, with the midseason finale titled “The World Before” at 9/8c on AMC.