‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Adaptation’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As a fan of The Walking Dead, I am always supremely excited to settle in to watch the midseason premiere of the show, since it means that my favorite series is back on the air, and the juicy plot line that the midseason finale left us with, is headed toward resolution. But this year, I have to admit that my excitement level for the show’s return was higher than usual. For ‘Evolution’ introduced us to the mysterious Whisperers, a twisted and powerhouse group of villains that brought about all kinds of trouble in the comics and considering how the last episode ended with the death of Jesus, it was obvious they were going to rattle this universe like never before.
 
Because their arrival provides the audience with a different kind of baddie, one that wishes to live amongst mankind’s biggest threat, and that makes them dangerous for so many reasons since they can blend in with the enemy, and clearly…they don’t answer to anyone or anything that humanity holds near. And that kind of villain is downright frightening and I was hoping that last night’s episode of the show, ‘Adaptation’, was going to take the time to teach us more about this mysterious group and well…it definitely delivered on that front. But what we learned was supremely disturbing and it’s clear that going forward, the Whisperers may prove to be the greatest challenge the groups have ever faced. 
 
One big reason for that, is something that I just made mention of, their ability to seamlessly blend in with the dead. Because it was extremely hard for Daryl and Michonne and everyone else to distinguish who was who in this particular tale. Which means that there is a real risk down the line that these individuals can simply sneak up on our heroes since they imitate the dead so well, and that ability forced Daryl to get creative in order to capture one of these twisted individuals and that quite frankly, was a disturbing moment in this particular tale. Because it’s just strange to hear a ‘walker’ scream in agony, and the see the real living dead react to a human in their midst. But Daryl’s plan was outright genius since he and Michonne were able to corner and capture a member of this disturbed group.
 
That capture, brought about some fascinating interactions between Daryl and the young prisoner, a woman who eventually identified herself as Lydia. Because this entire sequence more or less revealed the fact that Lydia and her people are as cunning as they come and will do whatever it takes to get out of a pickle and her ability to confuse everyone and gain Henry’s sympathy is evidence of that. And while Daryl was able to get some answers from her about her people and how they live, what she didn’t say matters more. For outside of informing us that her people live amongst the dead and roam where they roam, she did a fine job of misdirecting the conversation and Daryl is fully aware of the fact that she only gave him just enough information to keep him satisfied and it’s inherently obvious that she is not to be trusted in the slightest and is still hiding plenty of secrets… 

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Yet, the mental cat and mouse games present in this story didn’t end with Lydia’s storyline, they actually extended to Luke and Aiden’s journey in this particular tale as well. For that particular duo were out and about the countryside, searching for the overdue search party, blissfully unaware that mostly everyone returned to Hilltop safe and sound and while they were meandering through the woods, they came to discover one of Yumiko’s arrows embedded in a tree. Which of course, prompted them to move on in order to catch up with the group, but eventually, they came to realize in disturbing fashion that these arrows were nothing more than bait to lure them into a trap, wherein the Whisperers captured the duo at gunpoint…
 
Yet while it was fascinating to learn how smart the Whisperers truly are, this episode had more to offer than mere chills and thrills. For season nine has been about character depth and slow burning growth and the fear that is present in just about everyone’s hearts was on display in this episode as well, since Aaron let Michonne know that he was ready to accept the fact that Alexandria should remain as isolated as possible so that people no longer risk an unnatural death and Daryl even used Hilltop’s and Alexandria’s xenophobia as incentive to get Lydia to talk, and it was just nice to see this episode continue to stick to important themes and notions that are likely going to evolve as the threat of the Whisperers grows.
 
Plus, this episode also managed to surprise us by throwing in a little redemption parable as well, since this story took the time to follow up on Negan’s not-so-thrilling escape from the Alexandria jail in the midseason finale and well…this storyline served as quite the pallet cleanser. For this segment of the story, finally allowed for Negan to face his past, and all of his mistakes, and come to realize that the Savior way and everything he made his lieutenants do was wrong, and that he deserved to pay for his crimes and it was just incredible to see Negan reach this point mentally and honestly, it should be supremely fascinating to see where his character goes from here now that he has made peace with yesterday and is now ready to move onto the next phase of his life.
 
If anything, this ended up being quite the midseason premiere since it packed in so much over the course of the hour and I really did appreciate how this story took the time to teach us plenty about the Whisperers in subtle fashion. Because every little detail was revealed in moments of silence or deception and well, it is inherently clear that the Whisperers are going to be downright terrifying when they come for Lydia and make no mistake about it…they will, and soon. And if that young woman is willing to lie when her life is seemingly on the line (because we all know Daryl wasn’t going to hurt her), her friends and family will go the extra mile to secure her freedom, and this was just a magnificent setup for a massive conflict to come and I cannot wait to see what chilling moments involving this new villain are waiting for us down the line. Until next time.

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