10x10 Stalker

[7.9/10] I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a million times. TWD is better when everyone just shuts the hell up. The dialogue in this show so rough, the performances so hot-and-cold, that I forget how great the series can be when it relies on its pure visual stylism.

The flashiest part of that is Beta’s attack on Alexandria, and it’s a hell of a set piece! I bristled a bit when they made him seem weirdly unstoppable against Daryl last season, but I actually love making him Michael Myers here. The way the show mostly proceeds in silence, and shows Beta taking an overconfident group of allied survivors is creepy as hell. His skirmishes with the major characters (so long random Savior lieutenant!) are a little more contrived, but even there, the show adds some tension and suspense that’s been hard to find elsewhere.

But even outside of that ominous, genuinely frightening setup, the show does some really cool cinematography here. There’s a number of interesting top-down shots (did the show just get a camera drone or something), a series of cool point of view shots (for Daryl in particular), and even some impressionsitic close-ups as Alpha thinks she’s dying. I regret to say that I’m not previously familiar with director Bronwen Hughes or her work, but if this episode is any indication (along with the season 5 premiere of Better Call Saul), she’s someone to watch.

There’s also some solid thematic material here. The show does a lot with the idea of mothers or at least maternal figures and children. Rosita is largely motivated by the desire to protect Coco, and the way the show sets up her fear of the Whisperers hurting her after what happened with Siddiq, only for her to stand up to Beta, is good work.

Gamma (aka Mary), earns her sympathies largely for admitting her pain at the fact that she killed her sister and let a child be taken because she was loyal to Alpha, breaking the sanctity of that relationship. She earns her place by helping to defend Judith and R.J. in a mama bear sort of way. And her name is literally Mary, arguably the most famous mother in Western Civilization. It’s a little muddled in places, but it works (and as someone who grew up thinking American Beauty was a great film, despite its later diminished reputation, it’s great to see that Thora Birch really can act!)

Last but not least you have Alpha, whose twisted motherly relationship with Lydia has long been a theme on the show. Theoretically, there’s something interesting there, particularly when Alpha’s offended, to the point of murderous intent, at Daryl’s declaration that she doesn't love Lydia. But that’s reinforced when Lydia rejects her, being unwilling to kill her mother when the time comes, returning to this scene to save her mom’s attacker, and declaring that she doesn't want to lead the Whisperers or have any part of his mother’s ways. Samantha Morton hams it up as usual, but there’s at least some potency to the idea of her being stronger and more dangerous now that her connection to her daughter is severed, the fear or reality of which is something that’s motivated others in the episode.

The other major theme in the episode is the usual “are we human beings or are we monsters...or possibly dancers?” shtick. It’s fine enough, and Gamma’s a good enough vessel for it, but it’s just been done to death on this show (no pun intended) to the point that I just have little interest anymore.

That said, when the show does go dialogue-heavy, it’s still not very good. As mentioned, Alpha’s monologue is over the top and unconvincing as usual. Rosita and Gabriel’s spat is somehow both cheesy and flat. And the less said about Judith’s “you don’t look like a monster to me” conversation with Gamma, the better.

Not all the visual stuff is perfect either. While the zombie design is cool, Daryl and Alpha’ fight feels really convenient, and the whole situation is contrived. But I suppose if I had a nickel for every character who probably should have died on this show only to survive because they’re too important for the plot and/or fanbase, I could afford to make effects that look this good.

Overall, this is an improvement to be sure, especially when it focuses on Beta’s super engrossing, silent, but scary rampage, and squeezes some good stuff out of Mary/Gamma, but falters more when it sinks into the same stolid dialogue that always brings down the show.