The Walking Dead 1015 – The Tower
The idea of a one horse town is common trope but The Tower introduces another spin with the one woman town. Princess aka Juanita Sanchez, a peculiar character if there ever was one, is a solo welcoming party for Ezekiel, Eugene and Yumiko. This city girl however, proves that she has a few things to learn about living in the country when she mows down a group of walkers and scares the horses away. Devoid of transportation the trio set off, now led by Princess, to continue their trek to rendezvous with Stephanie.
Meanwhile, Beta and a few remaining Whisperers have corralled a massive hoard of walkers to exact revenge on the communities. Surprised to find that everyone has abandoned Alexandria, Beta tries to figure out his next move. He leads the hoard towards Oceanside but along the way starts hearing voices in his head. Watching his every move are Aaron and Alden who report that Beta is walking towards Oceanside as expected.
Daryl and Judith have some cool moments during The Tower as the duo tackle some walkers in the woods. Daryl is the ultimate loner and while there were some feelers put out into the ether for a potential bromance between he and Negan there needs to be another primary relationship in his life. With Rick and Michonne gone and his relationship with Carol seemingly in ashes, it only makes sense that Daryl assumes a father figure role with Judith. Their dynamic is reminiscent of Lone Wolf and Cub and their relationship will hopefully be expanded upon in the future. It will also be interesting to see how a parallel relationship between Negan and Lydia compares to theirs.
Eugene and the group find themselves caught in a tight spot after following Princess into a mind field. As mentioned before, Princess is a unique character and her unusual ways almost cause things to blow up in her face, literally. Her antics, while driving Yumiko to the edge, do strike a chord with Eugene who sees her frailties as ones he once possessed.
The Tower sets the stage for the delayed season finale which will be broadcast some time in the future. With Beta’s massive hoard of walkers descending on Oceanside there are definite cracks forming in the Whisperer army. Beta, is no Alpha and his further decent into madness makes him unpredictable and a formidable foe. However the blind faith the Whisperers had in Alpha is not replicated when it comes to Beta – even if he’s wearing half of her face. Some of them realize he’s fraying at the seams and may be leading them to their doom. Those cracks may be to only thing keeping him from winning the Whisperer War.
