Open Your Eyes

This week's episode of The Walking Dead was fantastic and the veteran TWD actor Michael Cudlitz returned in the director chair, delivering some stunning direction and great camera work which gave us an overall experience filled with emotion as he shoots their faces a lot which makes us see the actors acting capabilities. Alright so this episode, people might find it boring cause of the slow pace but it works as it is the most human and emotional episode in season 10 from the dialogue and the actors just acting through no dialogue at all. The plot moves along nicely, following the survivors of Alexandria and we get to see the events that follow after Carol captures The Whisperer and it's wonderful writing, mysteries and recurring character arcs unveil in a nice fashion. There were also almost no action and it wasn't needed, instead we got one of my personal favorite episodes but it will probably be disliked by some people. I loved every single moment of the episode, Angela Kang wrote a superb script for the episode.

The acting in this episode was great, my personal favorites actors of the episode has to go to Ross Marquand, Avi Nash and Thora Birch. They all did superb performances and gave real emotion to the roles. Thora Birch is one of the best new additions to the cast, she's perfect and continues to do even better.

I'm retrospect, I liked the fact that Siddiq went through something the show has never truly tackled, PTSD. To be fair, I guess the show never really called for it to be something they address, but it certainly lends itself to great horror, when necessary.

His demise this week came as a shock but ultimately doesn't feel entirely consequential. He was never one of the central cast members, but he did have a nice presence when called upon. With that said, the twist with the Whisperer doctor was extremely unsettling, and I think the actor has done a great job of making it just enough this season to create enough doubt to spark interest.

The other major arc involving Lydia and Carol made a ton of sense. Both characters went through frustrating but entirely truthful arcs, and it almost seems they were destined to end up this way. I'd like to believe that Carol could one day act as a mother figure to Lydia (who has always craved that) but it's leaning towards her story ending in tragedy, as sad as that is.

Hard to believe we're almost at the mid-season finale right? Was Siddiq's death the one major plot point we had for this half or will the upcoming week spark more trouble for the survivors? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

8.7/10

Carol interrogates the captured Whisperer, during which the Whisperer praises Alpha for claiming to have killed Lydia; he is later poisoned to death by Dante. Carol plans to turn the Whisperers against Alpha for lying about Lydia's death. Gamma meets Aaron at the border, where she holds him at knifepoint; Carol and Lydia arrive, leading Gamma to flee in shock over Lydia's survival. Lydia flees into the woods after realizing that Carol used her. Siddiq suddenly recognizes Dante as a Whisperer present during the pike beheadings, leading Dante to strangle Siddiq to death to protect his identity.

"Open Your Eyes" takes a closer look at the tensions within the Whisperers' camp, particularly focusing on the internal power struggles and Alpha's manipulation of her followers. The episode centers on Siddiq's discovery of the Whisperers' true intentions and his subsequent struggle to survive and warn his friends. This episode delves into themes of loyalty, deception, and the lengths people will go to in order to protect their own interests.

One of the most striking scenes in "Open Your Eyes" is Siddiq's confrontation with Dante, the Whisperer spy posing as a doctor in Alexandria. This scene is a tense and emotional climax that highlights the danger posed by the Whisperers and the complexity of Siddiq's character. The episode also explores the theme of redemption, as characters like Dante and Gamma grapple with their past actions and the consequences of their choices.

Overall, "Open Your Eyes" is a compelling episode that adds depth to the Whisperer storyline while further developing Siddiq's character. The episode's exploration of loyalty and deception adds a layer of intrigue to the season's narrative, setting the stage for future conflicts and revelations.

It all lead up to the finale of this episode. Loved that everything is coming together. Can't wait till the mid-season finale.

The pacing in this episode was alot faster in comparising with the other episodes this season.

Hopefully the mid break will not dissapoint!!

~Belgian Reviewer DB

Being British I've come across Samantha Morton's work a lot and she is an exceptional actress. In this show however she is truly awful, the look the voice !!!!, the gaze, totally cringe worthy. If Negan wasn't still in it the show would be finished. Time to helicopter Rick back in and finish the show.