The Walking Dead season 10 recap: episode Look at the Flowers

After a diversion to Michonne’s story in episode 13, “What We Become,” episode 14 of season 10 of The Walking Dead takes us back to the main plots. Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Carol (Melissa McBride) looking at Alpha’s severed head, and at the survivors who have just lost Hilltop.

Episode 12 had left us with the shocking reveal that Carol had released Negan from his cell, and “Look at the Flowers” opens with a flashback to the conversation that led to Negan’s release. Carol comes to the death-row inmate with an offer – kill Alpha, and people will be grateful they’ll forget your past. Negan is impressed with Carol’s cahones, but for all his smarts, he doesn’t realize the master chess player that Carol is, and he’s about to find out.

As we return to the present day, Negan is waiting on his promised reward – Carol escorting him to Alexandria and hailing him the hero. But Carol has no such plans. He took too long, people died, Hilltop destroyed, and who says she’s even going back to Alexandria? She puts Alpha’s head on a pike – triumphant yet with a hollow victory – and walks away.

While Carol walks the woods and considers her next move, back at the safe meeting spot, Magna is greeted with joy by all the Hilltop refugees at her safe return. And as Rosita recovers from a nasty wound, she begs Eugene to tell everyone about Stephanie and his plan to meet his new friend. Eugene gathers his emotions up and delivers a speech on his belief in his friend, in new starts, and his willingness to be a fool for the sake of hope. Ezekiel sees a kindred spirit and supports his plan wholeheartedly.

“Look at the Flowers” explores Carol and Negan’s deal and the aftermath of Alpha’s death

The pair seem to inspire the others, and Yumiko and Magna discuss the chance of an adventure and the chance to create a future they had previously not foreseen. In the end, Yumiko decides she is the one to take on the mantle, while Magna wants to stay and put down roots. Whilst nearby, another pair prepare to break their relationship as Jerry expresses his concern over Ezekiel’s plan to go on the journey with Eugene, but ultimately shares it’s only that he’ll miss his friend and that he cannot stop him from doing what he does best – being optimistic and looking forwards.

Out in the wilds, Beta discovers Alpha’s head on the pike, and the shock seems to break his already tenuous grip on reality as he pushes a Whisperer to Alpha’s mouth to hear her divine teachings on what to do next. As the Whisperer is chewed, Beta finally grabs Alpha’s head and paces off, while another Whisperer flees in terror.

In a cabin in the woods, Negan returns to release Lydia from her protective captivity, only to find not only has Lydia gone, but Daryl and his crossbow are in her place and making close contact with Negan’s face. Negan rushes to explain his situation to Daryl, who is, unsurprisingly, distrustful. However, Alpha’s mask in his pocket and the revelation that Daryl’s “girlfriend” released Negan cause a flicker in Daryl’s eyes that show Negan is telling the truth that he has killed Alpha.

While Alpha may be dead to some, it seems she’s still horribly alive to Carol as she finds herself followed by a hallucination of the Whisperer queen, taunting Carol about her failures and the fact that she can’t get rid of Alpha now unless she cuts off her own head. Alpha’s inside her head and here to stay. She mimics Lizzie’s pleas before her death and brings up Sophia and Henry and that Carol’s single-minded vengeance has cost lives. Her friends won’t forgive her. When Carol begs to be left alone, Alpha points out that it never works out. Carol is always pulled back. Being alone is not what Carol truly wants, and she taunts Carol to express her most secret desire, but Carol resists and tries to shake the illusion free.

As Alpha continues to berate Carol, insulting her with Ed’s old taunts, Carol attempts to secure a kayak from an old boat shed, only for it to collapse around her, trapping her on the ground as Alpha has trapped her in her own mind.

Carol isn’t the only one troubled by her mind as Beta finds a poster of his own face in a bar, revealing his previous life as a country star. Beta lashes out and smashes a guitar. Listening to Alpha’s voice talking to him, he enters a hotel and plays one of his own records, attracting country-loving walkers from miles around who gather outside. Tormented, Beta tears at his own mask.

At the pikes, Alpha’s head not being where he said it was causes problems for Negan, but in a mixed blessing, Whisperers arrive on the scene confirming Alpha’s death and thus Negan as the new Alpha. It seems for a moment it’s all Negan’s dreams come true, and he apes the role, forcing Daryl to kneel for him. Moments later, he takes out the Whisperers with a shotgun and frees Daryl, proving his loyalty and resistance to the call of leadership.

This unlikely couple then waits out the night in the field, expecting – or perhaps not – Carol’s return. Negan confesses he did like being part of the Whisperers, but only because Alpha gave him attention. And ultimately, Alpha’s philosophy was not one he could adopt – you don’t kill people who don’t deserve it, and you don’t kill kids, reiterating his care for Lydia. Daryl seems to accept both this and the fact that Carol isn’t coming and leads Negan back home.

Carol also reaches a decision. With a walker pressing in on her and Alpha getting closer to the heart of Carol’s mind, pointing out that she loses everyone, and if she goes back, Daryl may be next. Carol decides that she will not let that happen and dislocating her own shoulder to free herself – slaying the walker, the Alpha ghost, and declaring it’s never too late – before returning silently to Alexandria.

Meanwhile, Beta is still in contact with Alpha, cradling her head and thanking her before finally putting her down. He then appears in front of the gathering horde of walkers with a new look, altered by the addition of half of Alpha’s own face grafted onto his mask. Reinforced thusly, Beta raises himself and leads his new horde on his continuing journey to continue Alpha’s work.

On the road, Eugene, Yumiko and Ezekiel see signs of life as caged walkers line the road. Ezekiel finds himself physically struggling in a walker kill and is saddened to see his horse falter similarly. He urges Yumiko to go on without him, but he is not the only one to rally the troops, and Yumiko can rouse Ezekiel. She points out the future plans she made, which were for naught, and that now she is looking forward to seeing what is possible. What they need in a world full of possibilities is a man who was able to build a kingdom in the apocalypse.

Ezekiel is reinvigorated to continue the journey. When morning comes in the city, he finds more reason to buoy his spirits as various tableaus crop up around them, of walkers posed in amusing everyday situations. This tickles Ezekiel no end, while Yumiko remains suspicious. And just as things don’t seem as though they can get more surreal, a cry of “Oh my god, hi!” rings out through the empty streets, and the bundle of furry, purple energy that is Princess appears in their path.

“Look at the Flowers” finally takes us to the place we find our characters in the bonus eps coming up this month, with Carol and Daryl dealing with their distance, Negan dealing with who he is now and where he belongs. Ezekiel, Eugene, Yumiko and Princess discovering what lies ahead for them with new people and places.