The Walking Dead (10×03) Ghosts Review

Keith NoakesOctober 21, 201973/1009059 min
Director
David Boyd
Writer
Jim Barnes
Rating
TV-MA
Running Time
47 minutes
Airs
Sundays 9pm
Channel
AMC
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Ghosts was an overloaded episode whose parts outweighed their sum, with a great Carol arc being the best, as the season rushes everything along.

For our review of last episode of The Walking Dead, click here.

Synopsis: The threat of the Whisperers return leads to paranoia sweeping over Alexandria; in the meantime, Carol battles with the need for revenge. (IMDb)

After a whisper-intensive episode, let’s catch up with everyone else and give Carol her own arc.

Ghosts started in the similar way as the season premiere as it appeared to track a chronological order of events starting with 6AM on Day 1. Carol woke up and the people of Alexandria went about their day. The hours kept going by as they dealt with the steady wave of walkers brought on by the whispers (you would think they killed them all by now?). This was clearly taking a toll on Alexandria (this could have been the episode but of course it wasn’t). Gamma arrived at their wall with a warning to clear the Northern border and presumably wait for Alpha. The communities were divided on how to deal with their situation (Lydia didn’t think Alpha was responsible for the waves). They certainly did not want to face Alpha’s horde.

The group would have to divide and conquer to tackle both waves from the North and the South while dealing with Alpha at the border. Meanwhile, Negan was still around and being underutilized so it was time for him to join the fight whether they wanted him or not (especially Aaron). Regardless, he soldiered on. Aaron had eventually had enough and didn’t believe that Negan was reformed. It didn’t help when he implied that Eric death was his fault. Negan barely flinched when Aaron brought up his dead wife. Nevertheless, Negan used a small group of walkers as a distraction before escaping.

Aaron was blinded temporarily (or not) by some sort of weed and eventually caught up with Negan in an abandoned house (where he or may not have been watching Aaron suffer). Negan offered to take care of him. They survived the night. Meanwhile, Eugene and Rosita spent some quality time together dealing with walkers but this did not mean that they were a thing and he was finally coming to terms with it (he always thought there was a chance they could be together).

Michonne, Carol, and Daryl led a group to the border (seeing the spikes was emotional for Carol) to meet Alpha (this could have been the episode but of course it wasn’t). She knew of the three times when they crossed into her territory (winter, fire, and Aaron apparently did as well) and now they would have to be punished. Alpha decided to show leniency. She wanted more land but Carol had none of it. Though she wasn’t scared Alpha successfully provoked her (Henry) and got her to shoot at her with a gun she shouldn’t have had. While, Carol got away with it, they would have to leave. The others were still worried about her (Daryl thought she should get back on her boat but Michonne thought otherwise).

Carol shot at what she believed to be three nearby whispers but the pills she was taking may have implied otherwise. They needed sleep but first they would need to clear an abandoned school. Carol’s problems continued when she kept seeing more things that weren’t there. Daryl tried to empathize with her with a story. There was something that made Carol not want to sleep. Her sleep-induced hallucinations continued when she saw Henry (she also mixed up details in Daryl’s story). Then she got caught in a real trap in a gymnasium as walkers and a whisper approached. When she was found, her arm was cut up bad after cutting herself down from the trap. A trip to see Siddiq brought up those same memories that were haunting him (his assistant covered for him with the others and also told a story about his past but who cares?).

Everyone seemed to eventually get some much-needed sleep (Carol had one more Henry dream). Despite this, Carol was still adamant about what she saw (Michonne didn’t seem to believe her but Daryl did if only to not upset her).

The episode ended by panning to a whisper in the earlier gymnasium who was still very much alive.

In the end, the pieces were greater than their whole as they each got in the way of one another and would only get more dull after what was an intense first segment. Melissa McBride was good (which happens quite often) but it didn’t matter.


If you liked this, please read my other reviews here and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, follow me on Instagram, and also like me on Facebook.

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