Written by Josh B. Taylor
Premise: “While one community struggles to ease tensions that threaten to divide from within, the true nature of another group comes into focus; a mission to rescue a friend has deadly consequences.”
‘Guardians’ felt like a bit of a filler episode, especially when the story was not focused on Alpha and The Whisperers. The lovers quadruple situation involving Eugene (Josh McDermott), Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), Rosita (Christian Serratos), and Siddiq (Avi Nash) was so … so, ugh I just didn’t care to focus on that. It was mildly entertaining seeing Judith (Cailey Fleming) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) have an argument about Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Negan’s scene with Michonne was my favorite scene of the filler moments from this episode.
The Whisperers have not disappointed me one bit this season, and ‘Guardians’ was another amazing episode with them. For starters, we finally are introduced to Beta (Ryan Hurst), and he’s very intimidating and haunting. Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) actions to rescue her daughter from the Hilltop has other Whisperers questioning her leadership. She confronts the two that directly question her authority. Of course this ends in a brutal/savage way for the two that dared to question Alpha’s rescue mission.
I really enjoyed the special effects in tonight’s episode, especially in a scene where Beta is carving a zombies face, to make a new mask (for I’m assuming Lydia). I also enjoyed how Darryl (Norman Reedus) and Connie (Lauren Ridloff) managed to get Henry (Matt Lintz) and Lydia (Cassady McClincy) out of the whisperers camp. It was an intense moment, and has me eager for next weeks episode, building up to a possible confrontation with Beta and Daryl.
Even though half the episode felt like a filler episode, I was still pleasantly entertained with ‘Guardians.’ This thanks to the segments we had with Alpha, Beta, and the Whisperers. They’ve been I think a saving grace for the series, and without them, I’d hate to think where the show would be now.
6 out of 10
