The Calm Before (TV Series)

"The Calm Before" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the one-hundred and thirtieth episode of the series overall. It premiered on March 24, 2019. It was written by Geraldine Inoa & Channing Powell and directed by Laura Belsey.

Plot
The fair at the Kingdom is underway, with all four communities coming together in celebration for the first time in years; while some pacts are renewed, other deals will come at a much steeper price.

Synopsis
In a flashback, Miles and Hilde find their way to Hilltop and quickly integrate into the community. Years later, they make some crafts and board a carriage to the Fair at the Kingdom. In the woods, they are ambushed and killed by Alpha, who then proceeds to scalp Hilde.

In the Kingdom, Ezekiel addresses the crowd and declares they’ve finally accomplished Rick, Carl, and Jesus' dreams of reuniting the communities. “Let the fair of a new beginning begin!” Ezekiel says. As everyone celebrates, Daryl, Michonne, and the convoy arrive. Carol scolds Henry for running away while Michonne greets Ezekiel, who’s shocked to see her. “I was in the neighborhood,” Michonne says. Carol and Ezekiel marvel at how much Judith has grown while Tara spots Lydia among the group. “The plan was to bring Henry…just Henry” Tara says angrily to Daryl.

Inside the theater, Michonne convenes the leaders and tells them she’s finally ready for Alexandria to help out. “We’re here now,” she says. Gabriel announces Alexandria is willing to grant asylum to Lydia, but Tara warns if her mother retaliates it’ll be against Hilltop. Michonne reminds her that none of them were trusted when they were first introduced to Rick’s group, and Tara relents.

They all agree to send some of their own to Hilltop to guard against any potential attacks from the Whisperers and Michonne decides to re-establish the charter, establishing that an attack against Hilltop counts as an attack against all of them. Ezekiel then retrieves the original charter as Tara and Michonne finally make up. They all sign the charter, and Michonne tells Gabriel he should sign for Alexandria as the head of the council.

In the fair, everyone enjoys trading goods, learning survival lessons, playing carnival games, etc. Henry shows Lydia around and then Ezekiel tells them he hopes to see them at the movie tonight. Luke tries convincing Alden to perform with him. Enid accidentally calls Alden her boyfriend, but he decides that it’s ok. Kelly emotionally tells Connie how upset she is that she left without saying goodbye and Connie apologizes but says she had to protect that baby. Michonne informs Siddiq she’s going to leave for Hilltop with the first group and he tells her he has some news to tell her when they’re all back at Hilltop. Addy apologizes to Henry for ratting him out but he forgives her. Gage and Rodney introduce themselves to Lydia and tell her that Addy has a thing for Henry, making her uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Daryl, Carol, Michonne, Magna and others leave the Kingdom to go to Hilltop and leave some soldiers in case of a possible attack. In the woods, they encounter Ozzy, Alek, and D.J. and find one of Hilltop's cart overturned. Carol, Daryl, Michonne, and Yumiko decide to track any possible survivor while Magna and the rest head to Hilltop and Ozzy and his group patrol the Kingdom's outskirts.

At night, Daryl and the group gets attacked by walkers. They take them out one by one until the Whisperers surround them. Beta emerges from the trees and tells them to drop their weapons. “You just had to give me the girl,” he growls at Daryl, telling him their deal is off.

In a flashback to earlier that day, Alpha walks in disguise at the fair, wearing Hilde's clothes. Meanwhile, Eugene tells Rosita that he’s collected radio parts to make it easier for the communities to communicate with each other. Rosita tells him that despite her pregnancy, things don’t need to change between them and they are still friends.

Elsewhere, Henry assures Lydia he likes her. They kiss and he leaves to check on the pipes, asking her to save him a seat at the movies. Nearby, Ezekiel introduces himself to a disguised Alpha. She presents herself as Deborah from Alexandria and asks him to show her around. Later, at the movies, Lydia worries about Henry not being back yet. Suddenly, Alpha sits down next to her and quietly tells her not to say anything.

Later that night, Alpha, now out of disguise, approaches Daryl and the group tied to a tree. She tells them she ran into trouble on the road as she wipes her bloody knife on her pants. Michonne warns her if she tries to get Lydia back they’ll respond in force, but Alpha assures her Lydia isn’t her concern anymore. She takes out a shotgun and tells Daryl to come with her alone.

At dawn, Alpha forces Daryl to the top of a cliff where a massive horde of walkers and Whisperers walk beneath them. Alpha says Daryl’s communities are a joke and that her way of life is best for her people. She then tells him his friends at the camp are fine, but the next time his people cross into her land she’ll release the horde into theirs. She clarifies she marked the border and Daryl asks if she killed Lydia.

Flashback to earlier that night, Alpha confronts Lydia about being a traitor but she tells her this is a better way of life. She then threatens to scream if she doesn’t leave and Alpha tells her she was never one of them. Lydia breaks down in tears as Alpha leaves. Back in the present, Alpha tells Daryl she didn’t kill Lydia and doubts she he can protect her. He tells her she's wrong and leaves.

In the camp, Beta asks Alpha about Lydia. “I want to be alone,” Alpha orders him, but a Whisperer accidentally witnesses her crying. She stabs him in the neck, making sure no one sees her being weak.

On their way back to the Kingdom, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and Yumiko find a beaten and bloody Siddiq tied to a tree. He points them to a nearby hill, which has ten pikes in the ground. Each spike has a severed head stabbed through the top. The group walk devastated towards it and look in horror at the victims: Ozzy, Alek, D.J., Frankie, Tammy, Rodney, Addy, Enid, Tara, and Henry. As they see each head, a flashback reveals people at the fair asking others where they are. Daryl comforts Carol and tells her to look away, but she is overwhelmed with emotion.

Later, in the Kingdom, Siddiq addresses the crowd to deliver the tragic news. He tells them how brave everyone was in their final moments and how he was intentionally kept alive to tell this very story. He encourages everyone to remember the fallen.

Sometime later, Daryl and Lydia return to the border. Lydia leaves the necklace Henry made for her on the ground and as the two walk away, snow flurries begin to fall.

Co-Stars

 * Angel Theory as Kelly
 * James Chen as Kal
 * Matt Mangum as D.J.
 * Anthony Lopez as Oscar
 * Avianna Mynhier as Rachel Ward
 * Elyse Nicole DuFour as Frankie
 * Caroline Duncan as Hilde
 * Jansen Panettiere as Casper
 * Gustavo Gomez as Marco
 * Brian Sheppard as Miles
 * Kelley Mack as Adeline
 * Jackson Pace as Gage
 * Joe Ando Hirsh as Rodney
 * Jason Kirkpatrick as Alek
 * Josh Ventura as Martin

Uncredited

 * Micah King as Nabila's Son
 * Michael Layman as Kingdom Soldier
 * Corey Gupton as Kingdom Soldier
 * Michelle Hartwig Rich as Kingdom Soldier
 * Susan Boone as Kingdom Resident
 * Terri Joe Kennedy as Kingdom Resident
 * Dana Rempy as Kingdom Resident
 * Bob Lusher as Kingdom Resident
 * Joey Renfroe as Kingdom Resident
 * Mason Beard as Alexandria Resident
 * Bob Melton as Hilltop Resident
 * Kinney M. Lee as Hilltop Resident
 * Quandae Stewart as Hilltop Distiller
 * Jamel Vaughn as Hilltop Distiller
 * Marisol Correa as Oceanside Resident
 * Rachel Hernandez as Oceanside Resident

Deaths

 * Hilde (Off-Screen)
 * Miles (Off-Screen)
 * Martin
 * Casper
 * Ozzy (Alive and Zombified)
 * Alek (Alive and Zombified)
 * D.J. (Alive and Zombified)
 * Frankie (Alive and Zombified)
 * Tammy Rose Sutton (Alive and Zombified)
 * Rodney (Alive and Zombified)
 * Adeline (Alive and Zombified)
 * Enid (Alive and Zombified)
 * Tara Chambler (Alive and Zombified)
 * Henry (Alive and Zombified)
 * Many unnamed Whisperers (Off-Screen)

Trivia

 * First (and last) appearance of Alek.
 * First (and last) appearance of Miles.
 * First (and last) appearance of Hilde.
 * First (and last) appearance of Martin.
 * First (and last) appearance of Casper.
 * Last appearance of Henry.
 * Last appearance of Tara Chambler.
 * Last appearance of Enid.
 * Last appearance of Rodeny.
 * Last appearance of Adeline.
 * Last appearance of Ozzy.
 * Last appearance of Tammy Rose Sutton.
 * Last appearance of Frankie.
 * Last appearance of D.J.
 * This is the eighth episode to share its name with a comic volume, after "Days Gone Bye", "Made to Suffer", "This Sorrowful Life", "Too Far Gone", "No Way Out", "A New Beginning", and "What Comes After".
 * This episode's title is similar to the following episode, being put together to form the common phrase "the calm before the storm".
 * This episode will mark Oceanside's return since their disappearance in "What Comes After".
 * This is the fourth time that two main characters die in the same episode. The other times were in "Too Far Gone", where Hershel and The Governor died, "Four Walls and a Roof", where Gareth and Bob died, and The Day Will Come When You Won't Be where Abraham and Glenn died.
 * The reaction of Carol and Ezekiel to Michonne and Judith shows that its been years since they've seen each other, especially Judith.
 * Michonne reminds Tara of how in the past, the two of them were in the same position as Lydia: distrusted by the others due to their pasts but proved themselves trustworthy in the end.
 * Michonne's charter is finally signed by Ezekiel, Carol, Rachel and Gabriel, officially forming The Coalition.
 * Tara's theft of the charter and supplies in the flashback in "Bounty" is mentioned. Its revealed that Michonne never noticed that it was gone.
 * The scene of Michonne's group fighting off the herd is similar to the slaughter of the herd in "No Way Out."
 * This episode marks the first time the Whisperers are called by name: Alpha calls her people the Whisperers while talking to Daryl.
 * Tammy Rose Sutton is the only victim of Alpha that is consistent between the TV series and the comic series.
 * Rosita, Ezekiel, and Luke who were killed on the pikes in the comics, survive this fate.
 * With Tara's death, any connection left to The Governor's Militia against Rick's group has been erased.

Comic Parallels

 * The fair is adapted from Issue 142, where in the show it takes place at the Kingdom, in the comics it takes place at Alexandria.
 * Alpha infiltrating the fair is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 142, where in the comics she meets Earl Sutton, she's greeted by Ezekiel in the show.
 * Alpha showing Daryl the herd is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 143 and Issue 144, where Alpha shows it to Rick from atop a four-story building, rather than from a cliff.
 * The heads on pikes marking the Whisperer's Border is adapted from a very similar scene to Issue 144, where instead there are twelve victims instead of ten, and Rick, Lydia, Carl, Andrea, Michonne, and Dante discover the pikes.
 * Alpha's victims in the comic series, as revealed in Issue 144, are Olivia, Josh, Carson, Tammy, Luke, Erin, Ken, Amber, Larry, Oscar, Rosita, and Ezekiel.
 * Siddiq's speech at the end of the episode is adapted from a slightly similar scene to Issue 145, where Rick addresses the deaths of the pike victims.
 * Alpha killing the Whisperer who saw her cry is adapted from Issue 148.

Goofs/Bloopers
TBA