I’m going to come out right now and say it: this episode felt like a goodbye episode. As for who will be leaving remains to be seen but I have my theories. But first, let’s get to what happened in Episode 4 of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 10.
Episode 4 opens with the feeling that it is the calm before the storm. And, it is, kind of, since a tree falls at Hilltop and many people are injured as a result of it. However, thanks to all that rising fear and paranoia, before bodies are even rescued, people are suggesting that this was an act of the Whisperers and not of God.
Ezekiel (Khary Payton) takes this all pretty hard and decides that it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. After all, he has lost a kingdom, a son, and a wife recently. He goes off for a little quiet time that will likely result in him taking his own life. Lucky for him, though, Michonne (Danai Gurira) is heading over to Hilltop after hearing about the fallen tree and has a little chat with Ezekiel. He responds by kissing her and it gets a bit awkward for a moment but they totally get over it after a while and head back to join the communities.
Lucky they do, too, because walkers are now breaking through the breached walls and the group tasked with killing them are pretty exhausted at this point. So, the extra hands are exactly what Hilltop needs and they quickly set about getting rid of the remaining walkers.
Trouble is also brewing in Alexandria in this week’s episode of The Walking Dead. People are harassing Lydia (Cassady McClincy) and she is hiding from them rather than retaliate. Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) finds her and gives her a heart to heart about how she just needs to ride it out and now I want nothing more than redemption for Negan because he seems to be the only person outside of Daryl (Norman Reedus) that gives a single f**k about poor Lydia.
Speaking of Daryl, he swoops in and tells Lydia to leave so that he can have a grown-up chat with Negan. This chat consists of Negan pointing out that Lydia is having a hard time and Daryl telling him to rack off because the cool kids don’t hang with Negan, apparently. Daryl then storms off like a petulant teen, likely so that Negan can’t say anything logical that counteracts the very stupid things Daryl just said.
Needless to say, this all escalates and Lydia ends up meeting with the group picking on her and a fight breaks out. Lydia gets the crap beaten out of her before Negan steps in. He breaks up the fight pretty quickly but that’s mainly because he’s accidentally killed someone.
And so begins Daryl’s really terrible no good day.
Lydia insists that Negan saved her life — which he totally did. Except that everyone else in the community thinks it is time for Negan to meet his maker.
A meeting is called and Daryl is finding it really hard to grasp the fact that he hates Negan but also that the man saved Lydia. Poor Daryl, none of this is black and white but a multitude of greys and he has no idea what to make of it all.
A vote is cast and, as Forbes points out, even though Negan saved Aaron’s (Ross Marquand) life in last week’s episode of The Walking Dead, he totally voted to snuff out Negan. Daryl, who has been tasked with voting on Michonne’s behalf finally decides that Negan may be a better person and, therefore, he should be also. This means that he votes against killing Negan. Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) hasn’t voted yet and he suggests that they all go to bed and think on it before voting again in the morning.
Except, in the morning, Negan is totally missing and Alexandria points the finger straight at Lydia. Because, of course, they do.
The episode concludes with Michonne heading off to Oceanside because apparently they radioed in earlier. Michonne makes a big deal about Judith (Cailey Fleming) joining her and Luke (Dan Fogler) also makes a deal about wanting to go to Oceanside. He has a lady friend there and I am placing my money on this trip turning out deadly.
Which brings me to why I think this episode of The Walking Dead is setting up for some major carnage down the track. I honestly think this could be the end for Michonne. The actress who plays Michonne has already stated that she will be leaving in Season 10 of The Walking Dead and this seems like the perfect set up for disaster.
Without a doubt, too much time was spent on Luke saying goodbye to everyone so I think he is definitely a goner.
Judith probably will be safe. After all, we saw her fighting kills earlier in the episode and even Michonne had to stop and admire her. Plus, it’s not likely that AMC is prepared to totally wipe out the entire Grimes family from The Walking Dead. It would also be handy if someone lived to tell the tale.
However, I suspect Michonne could die soon. As to the how or the why, I have no idea. Maybe the Whisperers will attack them while they journey to Oceanside? What I do know, though, is that viewers will have to tune into future episodes in order to find out more. Although, The Walking Dead’s showrunner did tell Entertainment Weekly that Michonne will not be featured in Episode 5, so it might be a significant wait for viewers until they can find out more.
The Walking Dead Season 10 returns with Episode 5 on Sunday, November 3, at 9/8c on AMC.