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

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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Over the course of its ten-year run, The Walking Dead has accomplished a great many things storytelling wise, and one of its greatest accomplishments in my eyes, is how this saga always provides depth to its villains. Because so many horror stories give their audiences one-dimensional baddies that do what they do for the sake of moving the plot along and nothing more. But on this series, we learn what makes these bad people tick, and we understand what motivates them to do horrible things to people or what makes them hungry to seize and maintain power and it’s just wonderful to meet a new bad guy or gal on this series, since we know the writer’s room will flesh them out and give them genuine purpose within the framework of the story. 
 
But while we’ve always enjoyed that wonderful fold to this magnificent saga, it would seem that as time goes on, the show wants to dive deeper into the psyche of bad people. Because ‘We Are the End of the World’ did something I’ve never seen on this series before, since it took the time to truly explore how a group as twisted and wild as the Whisperers can even remotely exist. And it accomplished such a fascinating feat by taking us back in time to the earlier days of the apocalypse, wherein we caught up with Alpha and Lydia as they worked to survive a collapsed society, and during their danger-filled travels they stumbled onto a mental health facility and met a mysterious man that we knew immediately to be the enigmatic and towering Beta and this simple set up, is what led to the genesis of the Whisperers.
 
Because clearly her time on the road allowed for Alpha to view the world in new light, and somewhere along the line she came to believe that the end of the world was a purifying moment for mankind, one that was designed to unleash our more primal nature and that only those who abandoned their emotions and ties to yesterday would survive this madness. And by running into Beta she was able to express these views to him and her words were definitely heard, since it was something new for this mysterious man to ponder upon, and being able to hunt together and indulge in fury allowed for these two to bond in the strongest of fashion, and while Beta resisted her initial attempts to get them to join forces, a powerful moment brought forth quite the change for both of their lives.
 
For we came to learn that someone important to Beta lived within the confines of this facility, and of course they had turned and were under Beta’s gentle care and it took the permanent loss of that loved one to finally give Alpha the opportunity to properly manipulate this man. Because she used his fear and his pain and to convince him to abandon everything that he once held dear, and that walking with her amongst the dead would give him a new perspective on life and a second chance that was devoid of pain and suffering. He could simply become one with the world and be as powerful as its new masters and just like that, this mysterious group was born, and it was fascinating to see someone accept these ideas without question and clearly, her idea spread far and wide. 

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But while it was quite intriguing to learn how Alpha found a way to convince so many to do something this wild and inhuman, there was a powerful twist injected into the next segment of the story in that, some of her flock were beginning to wonder if they were on the right path. For a few of them had a reminder of what life used to be like before the fall, since so many of them saw the Hilltop and everything that it had to offer and their chatter and second guessing reminded us of the fact that we cannot escape what makes us, us. But while that alone was a perfect twist in its own right, since it demonstrated our how difficult it is to abandon our feelings, the show took this examination one step further since we came to learn that Alpha, and the young woman who abandoned her baby at Hilltop at her master’s request, were struggling to keep emotion out of their daily lives.
 
For the young woman was grieving over the loss of her child as was Alpha for that matter, and it was incredible to see them break the edict that this group put forth, and it was equally as powerful to see Beta try to keep his master and the flock in line and well, for a brief moment there it seemed as though that the point of this was to give us hope for the Whisperers after all, since humanity was returning to the pack. But a poor choice by the young woman and a tense confrontation between Alpha and Beta brought the chaos home storytelling wise. For it became clear that the underlying theme to this segment of the story was that; since we cannot remove emotions from our daily lives, bad people can and will take full advantage of that, and will work to maintain control by encouraging and nurturing negativity and bad ideas, and this was hammered home by the fact that Beta was able to refocus his master on the mission and her view of the world, and because of that war is coming, and it’s the commentary here, that allows for this episode to haunt the audience a day after.
 
Because in many ways, this particular tale served as a powerful parable to some of the ugly things we see in the world today, especially when it comes to cults and radicalization. Because men and women like Alpha prey upon the weak and the lost, those who believe the world and what it stands for has failed them, and the direction they receive makes them loyal in ways we simply don’t understand and this commentary on the modern world was frightening in its own right. For there are people doing this hour by hour, in every corner of the world, building their army by feeding them lies. But for the sake of the story, what’s terrifying here, is that the dedication that the Whisperers have to their master is seemingly as undying as the dead that walk the earth and that means the fight to come is going to be bloody and costly as they do everything to preserve their way of life.
 
Which means that the question that Aaron posed in the season premiere, revolving around whether or not they are the good guys will be explored further as he and his friends are put to the test like never before and well, that makes this one supremely dark episode when all is said and done. But all ominous foreshadowing aside, we do need to take a moment and celebrate the quality of this particular story. Because it was powerful and heartbreaking and foreign in a unique way, since it’s strange to feel sympathy for people who are trying to abandon their humanity. But there is still humanity present within the Whisperers despite their attempts to shed it and I do hope that comes into play in the weeks to come, because that may be the only way to save both sides from devastating losses since both factions are clearly itching for one hell of a fight. Until next time. 

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