The Walking Dead mid-season finale did what every Walking Dead mid-season finale does — it delivered a cliffhanger so good, that you can’t believe you have to wait till February to see what happens next.
However, unlike most mid-season finales, you had to tough out an excruciatingly bad episode to get to that cliffhanger.
‘New Enemy’ (one of the most on the nose episode titles imaginable) finally confirms what we’ve all been thinking — The Whisperers are here.
Now, it’s been no secret they’ve becoming. Logically, they’re the next big bad in the comics after Negan, and we’ve only seen them referenced countless times in trailers since Rick’s “demise.”
The introduction of this new enemy was absolutely awesome. In fact, it may have been one of the best villain introductions in a long time. Let’s set the scene. The introduction finds Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Jesus (Tom Payne) trying to help the injured Eugene (Josh McDermitt). The trio is caught in a foggy graveyard, and cornered by this mysterious “evolved” herd of walkers. After Daryl (Norman Reedus), Michonne (Danai Gurrira) and company arrive to help out, we see Jesus go “full Jesus” and use his renowned martial arts and sword skills to take down the walker threat.
However, one “walker” approaches him from behind — a bit quicker than most — Jesus is stabbed through the heart and the walker starts talking to him. Then, like a fever dream nightmare, The Whisperers run in to attack the group.
The whole sequence feels like it were set in an old horror movie. It’s probably some of the best suspense we’ve seen on the show in forever. The use of fog has worked effectively before. Remember when Negan shoved Rick out of the RV with just his axe amongst a herd of walkers in the fog? That was one of the series’ best moments, hands down. Here, the fog works again, and you can tell a lot of love, care, and time was put into this scene.
Tom Payne and Ross Marquand were great in their roles as men rushing into the face of death, while Eugene underscored the air of suspense with his hyperventilating, and sobbing.
The end — with the audible emergence of the rest of the Whisperers — really brings you back to the early days of the series. When sound was more exponentially more frightening than sight.
The addition of these villains could be the much-needed jolt this show needs. It’s a complex new villain who you can’t pinpoint in a crowd. They blend so well with the walkers that who knows when they’ll show up. Also, the site of fast-moving walkers (even though we know they’re humans now) is absolutely nightmarish.
Sadly, the rest of the episode was another installment slow-moving, low-talking, inconsequential theater.
I’m sorry but we honestly don’t need Carol’s son filling in the angsty teen who does stupid things role that Carl (Chandler Riggs) left behind. His crush on Enid, his drunken antics, his boo-boo face — all wastes of time.
Speaking of Enid — we all see she’s trying to be Maggie, right? Same haircut, same style of clothes, same attitude (pre-let’s murder Rick). Also, how is Tara is this “hard ass in charge character?” Wasn’t she a bumbling character that always made the wrong decisions? These criticisms are not knocks on the performers, but on the writing of the show.
The Negan/Gabriel stuff was fine, but it’s too repetitive. Neither character has evolved — Gabriel is still a mess of a human searching for meaning, and Negan is just a rapscallion. The one intriguing thing about those scenes was . — who left the cell door open for Negan? Was it Gabriel? A guard? Was it an accident, or was he allowed to leave?
‘New Enemy’ could’ve been a special episode, instead we got a great five minutes, and the rest was forgettable dreck. In short, it’s what The Walking Dead has become now.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
