‘The Walking Dead’ 10×08 Review: “The World Before”

The mid-season finale of The Walking Dead left us all where we probably expected to be – with a big giant cliff-hanger. Now we have to wait until February to see if the gang gets out of that trap in the cave or if Michonne comes back from her boat trip.

In the end, the mid-season finale set us up for an explosive back half of the season.

Will Daryl Get Through to Carol?

This entire episode was basically Daryl trying to get Carol to calm the heck down. In her quest for vengeance against Alpha, she is making choices that are putting herself (and now others in danger). I have always been on Team Carol, thinking people should just listen to her because she is one of their most strategic badasses, but her actions in the end that led them to get trapped in that cave indicated she definitely should not be in charge of making plans anymore.

There was a noticeably more platonic vibe between Daryl and Connie this episode (sorry Donnie shippers), and it’s clear that Carol is Daryl’s main focus. Him following her around all episode with sweet puppy dog watchful eyes gave me life.

Caryl shippers – how much did you love that scene by the bear trap? Daryl was trying to get through to her, and he cares so much. And she keeps throwing herself toward death.

My favorite line was when he said, “We have a future – don’t let her take that too.”

What future you talking about there, Daryl? And then she breaks down crying when he says that she should tell him her feelings.

And they have a hug that lasts a long time. Like really long. There was lingering, people. And then he wipes a freaking tear from her face! They are killing me.

Two things still need to be resolved for this ship to sail – Carol’s reckless behavior and Ezekiel’s illness. I’m presuming Carol will find out and be some sort of comfort to him before he dies from cancer.

And then Carol and Daryl can get married and adopt all the apocalypse babies.

Rosita is a Badass

While I predicted the Dante spin last week, what I did not see coming was just how quickly Rosita would figure out his bull crap. Literally, it was two seconds and she was onto him. And that fight where she took out both Dante and walker Siddiq (I’m not crying, you are) – our girl kicked some serious butt. I have to say, watching her beat the ever-loving crud out of Dante was cathartic.

And I love that her therapy was going out and beating the crap out of some walkers with brass knuckles. Her speech about not being a great fighter now that she was a mother because she was afraid to die made me so sad. There are indeed a lot of orphans in this time period, that’s one of the few guarantees of this world.

And her trying to talk to Gabriel and him focusing instead on the bigger picture kind of showed that the nicks that Alpha and Dante were talking about were starting to set in. Also, I’m so tired of the men in Rosita’s life (that are alive) not listening to her! First, it was Eugene and now Gabriel. Ugh, it’s the worst. Not one of them deserves her.

And speaking of Dante – I was so shocked when Gabriel stabbed him so many times. He’s come a long way from that whiny guy at the church that our group first met.

This was an interesting turn after they argued against Dante’s statement from earlier in the episode: “No one is actually kind. We are selfish, we are brutal.”

Where is Michonne Going?

Can I just say that Judith has Michonne wrapped around her little finger? It’s freaking adorable when she begs to go to the library, and whenever there is a fight and Michonne praises her girl.

Which is why I’m begging TWD writers – don’t let that hug at the end of the episode be the last time Michonne and Judith see each other. I know Danai is leaving the show, but I want her to have a proper goodbye. I hope her sailing off with this new dude to a mysterious island to get weapons is not the last we see of her. This would be an awfully anti-climactic way to say goodbye to a character that has been so important on this show for so long. I would not be okay with it.

And what’s with this new guy anyway? The Dante news has everyone shook and they’re not going to trust someone they’ve just met now (why they did before, I won’t ever know). So why did Michonne just go off with him? People lie in the apocalypse, it’s been proven over and over.

And did you catch Michonne referring to Daryl as Judith’s uncle? Hella cute, and I think Rick would be proud because he always called Daryl his brother. Great now I’m crying again, especially with how broken up Michonne was when she talked about Rick.

What is Alpha’s Plan?

I’m glad that Mary finally asked about her nephew, but I can’t figure out if she’s to be trusted or not. Her info on the herd location did not pan out – but was that because she was just operating with old information?

Alpha seemed to know where the group would be and led them into the trap in the cave, so either she’s onto Mary’s betrayal or she orchestrated it. We didn’t see Negan or Beta in this episode, so was Alpha acting alone? How did she get the herd in the cave?

I have so many questions, but that is the great thing about The Whisperers, they make you question everything. Now I’m also wondering if there is a secret whisperer spy in each of the communities. And huge props to Gabriel for finally voicing out loud what I’ve been wondering all week – why didn’t Lydia recognize Dante?

Ultimately, the mid-season finale was pretty tame when compared to others (minus the last few seconds with the zombie cave reveal), but they peppered in enough exciting walker battles to keep things interesting. My favorite walkers were the librarian ones. You’re supposed to be quiet to not attract walkers anyways, but you gotta be extra silent or those librarian walkers will eat your brains.

When we come back, I hope we get a cool bottle episode in that cave, but I think that not everyone is going to come out of there alive.

The Walking Dead will return with new episodes in February on AMC.