The Walking Dead, Chokepoint: Things To Note

1) In something of a rarity, this episode begins directly after the end of the previous episode, “Guardians”, with Daryl, Connie, Dog, Henry, and Lydia fleeing the Whisperer camp.

2) To provide a subtle sign of just how fractured the relationship between mother and daughter is, after escaping the camp, Lydia refers to Alpha…not as “Mom” or “my mom” but “Alpha”.

3) After Connie leads the others away from where they initially stopped, we see The Whisperers tend to one of their own who was bitten during the Henry and Lydia’s rescue. In something that shouldn’t be too surprising considering what we learned of them last week, Beta’s words to his fallen comrade reveal that The Whisperers put a great deal of importance and honor on the act of turning, with the bitten Whisperer speaking to Beta almost with pride about becoming “One of them” and Beta responding “But, you’ll always be one of us.” Furthermore, Beta instructing another Whisperer to find his bitten cohort’s wife to “Tell her The Change is coming to him” reveals just how important turning is for them.

4) After the aforementioned scene, Beta requests a “fighting unit” be assembled. Considering their lifestyle and “survival of the fittest” mentality, it’s rather surprising that The Whisperers have such divisions of labor, rather than simply have the entire group be adept at whatever needs they have.

5) Something I missed in last week’s episode (Which I did notice in this week’s): As the title sequence reaches the end, the original shadowy walker approaching a community is now flanked by at least one Whisperer (Wielding a hatchet or knife) on its right side.