The world of “The Walking Dead” just expanded a little more on Sunday night, as a beloved character from the source material comics made her big debut.
While most of the hour dealt with the ramifications of Alpha’s death and decapitation, we want to start with the show’s newest cast member: Princess, played by Paola Lazaro.
Her introduction came after Eugene told the rest of the group about Stephanie and their plans to meet outside Charleston, West Virginia. After hearing him out, Yumiko and Ezekiel joined him on his quest — with a fatally ill Ezekiel saying what were likely his final goodbyes to Jerry before heading out.
It’s clear the former King has very little time left in this world and can barely hold his own against Walkers anymore due to his thyroid cancer. He’ll most certainly be dead by the end of the season, pending a miracle, and even asked Yumiko to leave him behind should he falter on their trip.
Miko says they’ll need the man who built “a kingdom in the apocalypse” after the fall of Hilltop and that did get his spirits back up, but talk can only do so much, right?
Eventually, the group made it to a city only to find it filled with walkers propped up to look like fortune tellers, bar patrons and even a cop writing a ticket. It’s a move reminiscent of the mannequins in “I Am Legend,” only with decaying flesh and biting teeth thrown into the mix.
They then meet the woman responsible and while she doesn’t say her name — and instead only exclaims “Oh my god, hi!” — she is clearly Juanita Sanchez, better known as “Princess” in the comics. The goggles, pink-streaked hair and matching fur coat are all trademarks of the character, who played a big role in the tail-end of the series. Expect a lot more from her in the future, as she’s intricately tied to the Commonwealth storyline the show will surely explore next season.
It should be noted that Stephanie is voiced by an actress named Margot Bingham, so — as it also is in the comics — she and Princess are probably two different people.
The rest of the episode revolved around the side effects of killing off Alpha.
First, we learned how Carol and Negan’s deal came about, as she released him from his prison cell to ingratiate himself to Alpha and kill her. When he asked what he’d be getting out of it, Carol said offing the Whisperer queen would certainly make the other survivors forget about his past. “That’s what the people will remember you for,” she told him, “I’ll make sure of it.”
After the deed was done, however, she pulled a shady move and decided not to return to Alexandria with him. She also placed Alpha’s head on a spike, like she did to Henry and the others, so he wouldn’t even have evidence of what he did. Kind of rude, right? She said he could wait for her, but gave no timeframe on how long it would take for her to deal with her demons.
Instead, he went to release Lydia from the cabin he tied her up in, only to be confronted by Daryl. Daryl, of course, didn’t immediately believe Negan at all — and by the time they returned to the spike, Beta had already retrieved Alpha’s head.
Thankfully, a few Whisperers showed up, confirmed what happened and called Negan their new master. He played along with it for a minute, just to get the upper hand, then killed them all. Negan later admitted to Daryl that he did like being Alpha’s sidekick, after years in a prison cell. Though it made him feel like he mattered again, Negan felt Alpha “took it so far, you don’t kill people that don’t deserve it and you never kill kids.”
The two made their way back to Alexandria.
Meanwhile, Carol was literally seeing ghosts in the woods. The ghost trope on TV isn’t exactly one of our favorites, so we’ll keep this brief. “Alpha” kept popping up to antagonize Carol, who had gone off on her own after meeting with Negan.
Eventually, she got trapped under a canoe in another cabin — don’t ask — as a walker slowly made its way toward her. As it did, “Alpha” kept pointing out how she only loses the people close toher and it’s time for her to “just look at the flowers.” That’s, of course, a reference to what Carol told the homicidal Lizzie before shooting her back in Season 4. The implication here: Carol should kill herself to save those she loves.
Carol, however, was not ready to die, broke free, killed the walker and returned to Alexandria, where Daryl let her in the front gate. Hopefully these two don’t stay angry with each other for long, we need them on the same page.
Lastly, let’s tackle the Beta of it all.
After he found Alpha’s still animated head on a spike, he first made one of his Whisperers get bitten. Was this to keep her spirit “alive” by infecting someone else? We’re not really sure. He then grabbed her head and put it in a bag, before heading to a nearby town.
Beta was clearly hearing Alpha speak to him as well, though all we heard were groans of a hungry walker. He eventually retreated into a bar, which was filled with posters and records for Half Moon, his rocker alter-ego before the zombie apocalypse went down. He tore up the poster, smashed a guitar, before blaring one of his own records — attracting a new, mini horde.
Happy with his audience, Beta then killed Alpha, before crafting a new skin mask using half of his old one and half of Alpha’s face. With a new look and a small army at his back, it’s clear Beta isn’t done wreaking havoc just yet.
“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays on AMC.
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