When the first trailer for Season 10 of “The Walking Dead” dropped at Comic-Con back in July, there were two moments that had everyone talking. In one, Michonne was seen grabbing hold of Negan’s Lucille. In the other, she locked lips with Ezekiel.
Tonight, we found out the story behind the latter.
While the two characters were very much a couple in the comics (until the King was beheaded by Alpha, at least), don’t expect that to play out on the show. Looks like this was just a one time thing.
The two crossed paths as Michonne and a group from Alexandria made their way to Hilltop to help with the wall that collapsed. On the road over, she spied Ezekiel in the woods, standing precariously close to the edge of an observation deck over the river. It was clear he was ready to jump.
When she made it known she wouldn’t go anywhere until he stepped away from the edge, he took a few heavy breaths and moved back. They embraced, she assured him it would be okay and, in the moment, he went in for the kiss. She was surprised, but let it play out. He immediately apologized.
In the conversation that followed, she joked, “We never would have worked out anyway, both too damn stubborn.” In a line aimed at the source material, Ezekiel added, “Maybe in another universe.” He then spoke to her about everything he’s lost, including Benjamin, tiger Shiva, Henry, Carol, Kingdom and now, because of the broken wall, maybe even Hilltop too. She opened up to him about being in a “dark place” when she was on her own in the beginning, filled with thoughts about letting walkers bite her.
She then said it was even harder to lose Rick, after getting used to “having someone there, that partner in crime, a sounding board.” Michonne also revealed she hadn’t kissed anyone in six years. While it sounds depressing, it did become a bit of a pep talk for Ezekiel, who returned to Hilltop to once again take the lead.
Of course, the lip-lock wasn’t the only big moment of the episode.
Back in Alexandria, Lydia was dealing with a group of former Highwaymen who clearly did not want her around. They hated her for what the Whisperers did to the rest of their group, possibly painted “Silence the Whisperers” on her door, teased her about her mother abandoning her and, eventually, attacked her in the middle of the night when she refused to just leave town.
Though Daryl got pissed seeing Lydia talking with Negan earlier in the episode, it was the former bad boy who came to her rescue during the assault. While defending her, he seriously injured the female Highwayman, putting a target back on his back and leading to a debate over what to do with him.
While the council argued over his fate, someone let Negan out of his prison cell. Lydia took the fall for it, wanting to be isolated from the rest of the community — but Daryl, however, said he knew she didn’t do it. Though Negan’s whereabouts remain unknown, it was totally Daryl who let him out, right?
We also learned that Michonne wants to keep Lydia around for strategic reasons. She believes the only reason Alpha isn’t attacking them directly is because they agreed to keep Lydia safe. If her daughter disappeared from town, Michonne thinks the Whisperers would take a stronger stance.
As the episode ended, we saw another, bigger piece of graffiti demanding to “Silence the Whisperers.” It looks like this movement might be growing.
In other developments, Judith lived up to her little ass-kicker name by fighting fiercely alongside her mom, Luke is headed to Oceanside to chase a woman, Yumiko was once Magna’s lawyer — which leads to a power struggle in their relationship — and Eugene is relocating to Hilltop to help them rebuild their wall.
Judith also comes up with a pretty reasonable explanation for the waves of walkers being sent their way: she believes The Whisperers are just trying to tire them out. Comparing it to letting RJ run around until he’s exhausted and goes to sleep, she said, “Maybe the whisperers want to keep us fighting back until we get so tired they have the advantage.”
Hmm … she may be onto something!
“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays on AMC.
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