The Walking Dead: Recap of season 10, Bonds

“Bonds” is the sixth episode of season 10 of The Walking Dead and sees the building up of three stories which are all about a growing poison: Carol and Daryl’s relationship is decaying over Carol’s insistence on going after Alpha herself; Negan is trying to work his way into Alpha’s trust, and Siddiq is dealing with the sickness sweeping Alexandria. All are developing pillars in the ticking time bomb war with the Whisperers.

Much like “Silence the Whisperers,” the episode starts with the mundane of an ordinary day, with Carol waking and getting ready for a run of some kind. She contemplates her gun, obviously still on alert after the events of “Ghosts.” And Daryl clearly has the same thing on his mind as it appears he’s keeping an eye on Carol from the porch.

Before Carol can leave Alexandria, Daryl catches up with her and insists on accompanying her on her alleged search for Negan. Of course, neither the audience nor Daryl believes her, and once they are out in the woods, Daryl challenges the fact.

Carol admits her plan is actually to locate Alpha’s horde to try and deal with it. Daryl agrees to stay with her and help track. As they wait for signs of activity, they banter over a game. When Carol finds a double-capper acorn, she gives it to Daryl, insisting it’s good luck, and Daryl pockets it in his vest. It’s clear the acorn is a metaphor for their connection and something that will come into play further down the road.

The Whisperer war is closing in on Carol and Daryl, Siddiq and Negan in “Bonds.”

In amongst the banter, Carol prods Daryl about his interest in Connie. He denies anything romantic, but when Carol pushes him for an explanation on why, insisting he doesn’t have to be alone, Daryl is visibly uncomfortable and moves the conversation on.

A group of walkers acts suspicious, urging the pair to make a move. Daryl’s lack of trust in Carol’s honesty starts to show as he searches her bag for her gun but doesn’t find it. As they tentatively cross the border, they are separated when the Whisperers discover Carol’s location. When Daryl finally meets back with her, she has a Whisperer prisoner. Carol suggests she had no choice but to capture him, to save herself, and suggests they interrogate him. However, there’s no hiding the truth from Daryl, and he notes the zip-ties Carol had brought to tie up a prisoner. She’s lying to him, as she has several times over the day, and Daryl knows it.

Back at Alexandria, Cheryl – a feisty older woman who deserves to live, damn it – is sick and getting checked over by Dante. When Siddiq offers to help, Dante insists that Siddiq is exhausted and needs a day off to spend time with Coco. The after-effects of Siddiq’s time captured by Alpha, his PTSD and survivor’s guilt, are running rampant in the drained doctor, and he takes Dante up on his offer.

However, when Siddiq pops in to see Rosita and to get Coco, we discover Rosita is sick too – something she had mentioned briefly to Eugene when they reconnected over Eugene’s satellite boosted radio. When she almost collapses, Siddiq insists she goes to the infirmary, where he finds that many of Alexandria’s residents are ill.

The stress and shock of this causes Siddiq to snap at the laid-back Dante, who takes it in his stride. It’s not long before Siddiq is calmed by Rosita and, after talking to the sicker-than-ever Cheryl, he apologizes to Dante. Yet when Siddiq spends time with Coco, he drifts off, has horrifying flashback dreams of his time in Alpha’s clutches, and is horrified to find when he awakes that he is standing on the windmill with Coco in his arms. Siddiq’s mental health is fading, is he becoming a risk to others, including Coco?

At Hilltop, Eugene has not only talked to Rosita with his newly souped-up radio, but his connection has also traveled further, and he is stunned to make contact with a mystery woman further afield. Despite suspicions all around, the pair bond over shared knowledge of the woman’s home town. Both agree to share no revealing details, with the woman insisting if anyone but Eugene is heard she’ll leave and not return. It seems Eugene has made a new, cautious friend.

Meanwhile, in some much needed lighter scenes, in the woods, we find Negan is trying to convince Alpha he wants to join her, and he’s willing to prove it. Much to Beta’s disgust, Alpha is prepared to put him to the test, Beta would rather kill this interloper, but he relents to his queen and bends the knee in submission to her will. Negan is smart enough to eavesdrop on the entire thing and stores the information away.

Beta then sets Negan a series of unpleasant tasks to earn his place. The tasks become a game of one-upmanship, as Negan struggles but succeeds in skinning a walker, killing a boar and digging graves. Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better is not the background music, but it could be. Throughout, Negan’s smirking, talkative attitude irritates Beta as much as his persistence and success.

Eventually, tired of Negan’s taunts that he’s after Alpha – in every way – Beta kills a Whisperer, drawing the attention of their surrounding walker herd, and he walks away, leaving Negan defenseless but for a pocket knife.

A triumphant Beta returns to Alpha in the morning, declaring Negan as weak and dead. Then like his worst nightmare, Negan appears, triumphant and gloating, demanding a skinsuit for himself – and one with extra space for his gigantic balls. As a final flourish, he kneels for Alpha, who accepts the offer of his favor, and with that, Negan’s goal is achieved. He is a Whisperer, and even more than that, he seems to have won a special place by Alpha’s side. You can almost hear Beta’s teeth grind.

These season 10 episode recaps will be a count down to the AMC+ release date of The Walking Dead on February 21, for the first of the season 10 bonus episodes. AMC will premiere this episode on February 28.