THE WALKING DEAD mid season finale for Season 10 was something of a disappointment after a first half that, for the most part, pleased fans. No one's head got bashed in, and there were no big character death's that totally alienated long time viewers. But when compared to the mid season finale for Season 9, where Jesus bought it, and The Whisperers made themselves known, this episode, titled "The World Before," felt pretty tame. I think its biggest fault was that it did not advance the coming of The Whisperer War very much, not to mention that we hardly saw Alpha, while Beta and Negan were completely absent. Thus, the best story arc of the season was MIA.
Last week's episode, with the shocking turn of events with Siddiq and Dante, was resolved this week, and it was the highlight of the show. I think Father Gabriel's stock went way up when he singlehandedly meted out justice to the unrepentant Whisperer spy, who had betrayed then all. I commend the writers for letting think Gabriel was about to forgive yet another heinous villain, only to have pull out a knife and go full Jason Vorhees. But a lot of the rest of the episode involved a lot of talking and traveling, which amounted to setting the table for the second half. Michone goes to Oceanside, meets a new character, Virgil, who just might be in possession of something that just might be of help against the Whisperers. It is common knowledge that Danai Gurira is leaving the show, so we might have feared that Michone was walking into a trap when she left with Virgil, but the certainty that they would never kill off such a fan favorite in some mundane manner kept the suspense to a minimum. The other plotline, which involved Darryl, Carol, Aaron, Jerry, and the others going in search of Alpha's horde was pretty much a waste of time, and its resolution required that some very savvy characters act totally stupid - stupid like rushing head on into a cave in what is obviously a trap. It was a big nothing of a cliffhanger ending.
Still, "The World Before" makes the Season 5 finale of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD look like an episode of THE SOPRANOS. And in one respect, it did do its job of raising questions that could only be answered by coming back for the second half: Where's Lydia? When will Negan get that "quality time" with Alpha that was so pivotal in the comics? Will Michone learn something about Rick on Virgil's island; something that will keep her from coming back to Alexandria? Will Ezekiel die from his cancer? And other stuff that wasn't directly addressed in this episode.
There are rumors that THE WALKING DEAD might wrap it up with Season 12, which might not be such a bad thing as they are getting ever closer to the point where Robert Kirkman's comic wrapped up. There is a third TWD spinoff coming, and FEAR is still on the air, so even if that proves to be true, it looks like the Dead have many miles still to walk.
Still, "The World Before" makes the Season 5 finale of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD look like an episode of THE SOPRANOS. And in one respect, it did do its job of raising questions that could only be answered by coming back for the second half: Where's Lydia? When will Negan get that "quality time" with Alpha that was so pivotal in the comics? Will Michone learn something about Rick on Virgil's island; something that will keep her from coming back to Alexandria? Will Ezekiel die from his cancer? And other stuff that wasn't directly addressed in this episode.
There are rumors that THE WALKING DEAD might wrap it up with Season 12, which might not be such a bad thing as they are getting ever closer to the point where Robert Kirkman's comic wrapped up. There is a third TWD spinoff coming, and FEAR is still on the air, so even if that proves to be true, it looks like the Dead have many miles still to walk.