‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Omega’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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If there’s one thing that audiences always enjoy when it comes to their favorite television series, and films for that matter as well, it’s being able to learn everything there is to know about the villain that the story features. Because seeing what brought forth the darkness in their soul, or motivated them to harm their fellow man is simply fascinating to say the least and somehow, knowing exactly what makes a bad guy or gal tick, offers some sense of understanding for the audience and if there’s one series out there where this kind of exploration is almost commonplace, it’s The Walking Dead.
 
Because fans of this series have been treated to all kinds of facts, both subtle and direct to explain exactly why the bad guy was more than willing to cause harm to Rick Grimes and his friends and what we have learned through the years, has been downright fascinating to say the least. After all, who didn’t enjoy quietly learning that Philip ‘The Governor’ Blake, was motivated to become a despot because he was a middle management employee and bland everyday man that finally saw an opportunity to become more? Or find themselves fascinated to learn that Negan was once a high school gym coach who experienced enough loss in life that he snapped and created a powerhouse persona that people could look up to, giving him unprecedented control over others.
 
If anything, this just goes to show how much the series enjoys giving the audience every ounce of knowledge available when it comes to the characters that inhabit this universe, and last night’s episode of the show, ‘Omega’, helped to continue the proud tradition of teaching us everything there is to know about the heavy. Because this particular tale was all about Alpha and what drove her to lead and inspire people to wear the skins of the living dead and walk amongst them and well, what we learned about this mysterious woman was downright disturbing to say the least because it’s clear now that she and her followers are going to be quite the formidable force in the days to come.
 
For this is a woman, who will do whatever it takes to survive, and that’s no exaggeration. Because Alpha truly has nothing to lose. She has no loyalties or ties to humanity outside of her daughter, so if someone goes missing from her group, she and the others simply move on. She has no possessions to fight over or worry about since she and her people follow the path of the dead, which means they never stay in one place for too long or store food since they scavenge or share with the dead. And while that kind of carefree attitude is scary in its own right since she can in essence do whatever she wants and fade back into a crowd of the dead without consequence, what truly makes Alpha scary…is that she has little regard for the civilized world. 

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​As it turns out, her particular disdain for that part of the world, came about from seeing its collapse in up close and personal fashion. For before she was a woman who wore dead flesh as a disguise, she was an everyday mother, trying to survive the end of the world with her daughter and husband in a shelter with others in Baltimore. But the panic and fear of the end of everything, drove some in her group to act in irresponsible fashion, and it also drove Alpha to take action and try to maintain order, regardless of the cost or in this case, loss of life. And of course, a lack of knowledge of the plague eventually led to resurrection within their sanctuary and we all know how that ends, in chaos. But said chaos is what truly changed her, for it helped her to ‘understand’ that the dead were in charge, and that they would eventually claim any place that man deemed safe and she had to find a way to coexist with these creatures peacefully and present day shows us just how far she went to make that happen.
 
However, what truly made this backstory episode so incredibly fascinating is the sheer fact that it was told from Lydia’s perspective, and her recollection was shaky at best. Because in order to exert true control and keep other people in line, we learned that Alpha tends to lie, and use more violent methods to maintain control and sadly we came to discover all of that by way of Lydia herself, since we saw the bruises on her arms when she tried to teach Daryl a lesson and thanks to some genuine kindness from Henry, she eventually came to realize that her mother altered the story of their time in Baltimore to make her seem like the hero when she in fact, killed Lydia’s dad with impunity to help facilitate their escape…
 
But, while Alpha’s origin story was disturbing in its own right, there was some levity to be found in this tale, and all of that came forth by way of Daryl and Henry and their genuine attempts to use kindness to reach Lydia. In fact, it would seem that Daryl came to realize that his more ‘direct’ approach in last week’s episode simply wouldn’t cut it, and it’s good that he did because this approach was far better and quite frankly, inspiring. Because this softer approach to interrogation served as a fine reminder of what Hilltop and the other communities could accomplish if they applied themselves and it was nice to see Carl and Rick’s dream come to life if only for a moment. Because there is trouble brewing on the horizon, for the Whisperers have come to the gates of Hilltop and Alpha clearly expects Daryl and his friends to hand over her daughter…
 
When all is said and done however, I really enjoyed this episode through and through. This was a great example of how to properly use flashbacks in a story, and I loved how said flashbacks evolved over the course of the hour to reveal Alpha’s lies and true nature. But while this was a fine way to teach us everything we ever wanted to know about this villain, knowing what she is all about is damn terrifying to say the least. Because there is no crossing Alpha, and trying to corner or outwit her seems like quite the poor choice, since she will always do whatever it takes to keep herself and her daughter safe and that leaves me nervous and curious when it comes to how the negotiations are going to go next week as she works to bring her daughter ‘home.’ Until next time.      

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