The Walking Dead: Alpha and Negan’s “Formidable Twosome” Flips the Show on Its Ass

Move over, Beta (Ryan Hurst): the pairing of Whisperer Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the newly inducted Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) means this “formidable twosome” is flipping The Walking Dead “on its ass,” according to Morgan. A fugitive Negan entered into Whisperer territory in 10x05, “What It Always Is,” before winning Alpha's approval in 10x06, “Bonds.” To the surprise of Beta, who left Negan to die by walkers, Negan returned with a pledge made to an impressed Alpha: “I’m all in. Whatever you want, whatever I got, it’s yours.” We’ll find out how true that is when Alpha sniffs out a traitor within her camp as the flipped Gamma (Thora Birch) provides Alpha’s enemies with inside information. “This year has been a lot about playing off of paranoia and what side are people on, and I think Negan and Alpha together are a formidable twosome,” Morgan said on Talking Dead following TWD's Season 10 midseason finale. “It’s bad news for our heroes. And what it means for the show is we’re gonna flip it on its ass.”



It remains to be seen if the Alpha-Negan pairing will play out as it did in creator Robert Kirkman's comic books, but showrunner Angela Kang previously remarked the story will escalate “very, very fast” when the conflict between the survivors and the Whisperers comes to a head in the back half of the season. “We’ve trapped a bunch of people in a cave full of walkers, so we have to tell that story. So, that’s definitely going to be a big part of when we pick back up,” Kang told EW. “Obviously, we have Negan embedded with the Whisperers, so we’ll continue to kind of tell the story that’s involved there. And then, not necessarily specific to the episode back, but just as a whole, at this point now some lines have been crossed, right? The border has been crossed by both sides. There have been these acts of war and so things are now escalating very, very fast. And we kind of get to the big conflict between the Whisperers and our people.” Alpha sent Whisperer spy Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas) to infiltrate Alexandria and sabotage it from the inside, but the Alexandrians now have their own insider: Gamma is feeding the Alexandrians information that could prove pivotal in the rescue of the trapped Aaron (Ross Marquand), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride) and Hilltop group Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), Jerry (Cooper Andrews) and Magna (Nadia Hilker).

Ming Na-Wen Celebrates Her Star Wars Debut in The Mandalorian

Ever since Agents of SHIELD star Ming-Na Wen was announced to be appearing in the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Mandalorian at D23 Expo earlier this year, fans have been clamoring to find out how the actress would factor into the series. This week sees the debut of her character Fennec Shand, a highly skilled assassin who is only concerned with survival after being targeted by the bounty hunter's guild. This role makes gives her a Triple Crown in Disney's properties, as she's now been a Disney Princess in Mulan, a Marvel superhero, and now made a trip to the Star Wars galaxy. To celebrate her big debut on Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Wen posted on social media in commemoration of the occasion.



The latest episode shows Fennec come face to face with the Mandalorian and his new ally Taro Calican, played by Jake Cannavale, during the bounty hunter's brief stint on Tatooine. Unfortunately, things don't turn out well for Fennec, but Wen had a great time making the episode. During a previous interview with Vanity Fair, Wen revealed some of the inspirations for her intrepid assassin in the Star Wars galaxy. “We got our inspiration really from the name. The idea of a fennec fox came to mind,” Wen explained. “She’s tricky, and yet she’s able to maneuver and survive, and be stealthy -- so very graceful and agile. I just love that whole image with the name.” She added that her loyalties were only to herself, which we see in the episode, and that she would do or say anything to survive. "Thinking that she's a mercenary, it can go either way," Wen said. "She is definitely someone who's loyal to herself."