The Walking Dead featured yet another time jump, this time going six years into the future. Alexandria and The Hilltop seem to be thriving, but of course there is unrest growing within the community and surrounding area.
Michonne (Danai Gurira) seems to be taking the lead role as she serves as head of security for the community. She now has a son, RJ, who is apparently her child with Rick (Andrew Lincoln). She has also grown to be like Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Rick, skeptical of the newcomers but decided to allow entry at the last minute. She also has a mysterious scar on her back that has changed her, but viewers won’t learn what happened until later on in the season.
Carol (Melissa McBride) has become queen of The Kingdom, but also seems to have fallen into old routines. After ex-Saviors ambushed her, she burned them all alive. She must be following her old rule of having no exceptions when it comes to those who wrong her.
The most shocking moment of the episode, other than the long, six-year jump, was when the walkers seemingly started to talk at the end of the episode. Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) were hiding from a herd of walkers when they heard one of them whisper “Don’t let them get away.” Though that may be shocking for some casual viewers, fans of the comic books know this means a new villain has arrived — The Whisperers.
The new time jump may be a bit sudden and seem like a long time, but it’s a chance for The Walking Dead to have a fresh start. However, if they plod into tiresome, dreary territory with character arcs that have already been done, the fresh start won’t last very long. For now, The Whisperers will be an exciting twist for the show and it will be absolutely fascinating to see how the characters react to them.
Here’s how fans reacted to the episode:
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m on AMC.
