Much like the pace and tone of the rest of the season, the mid-season finale has a "Cold War" vibe and doesn't necessarily go for big moment after big moment, like perhaps previous seasons did. The Whisperers themselves have been villains you feel their presence even when they're not on the show, and this episode was no different. You only really see Alpha & Dante, if we're putting Gamma aside for obvious reasons, but with every scene you get the sense that The Survivors are dealing with the mental wrath of The Whisperers every second. I loved watching Rosita get the center stage with a fight scene (it seems like it's been seasons since we saw that), and even Gabriel went off and killed Dante, something I certainly didn't expect but welcomed. The only detractor for me was the sudden appearance of a guy from an island during Michonne's trek to Oceanside and how his presence felt like a cheap way of explaining why Danai Gurira won't be in a few episodes to start the second half. I wouldn't be surprised if this will play into Gurira's exit from the show, but it felt completely out of left field and contrived. But hey, we got a pretty great cliffhanger to forget about that. Looking forward to February when the show returns.
9.0/10
