Foothold

Foothold
Season 2, Episode 2
Air Date	October 10, 2021
Written By	Carson Moore
Directed By	Loren Yaconelli
U.S. Viewers	0.81 million
Episode Guide
← previous	"Konsekans"
next →	"Exit Wounds"
Cast Guide
Starring Aliyah Royale as Iris Bennett Alexa Mansour as Hope Bennett Hal Cumpston as Silas Plaskett Nicolas Cantu as Elton Ortiz* Nico Tortorella as Felix Carlucci Annet Mahendru as Jennifer Mallick** Joe Holt as Leopold Bennett Natalie Gold as Lyla Belshaw Jelani Alladin as Will Campbell Ted Sutherland as Percy* Julia Ormond as Elizabeth Kublek
Also Starring Maximilian Osinski as Dennis Graham Anna Khaja as Indira Lee Spencer as Brody Will Meyers as Mason Beale Robert Palmer Watkins as Frank Newton * does not appear in this episode ** photograph

"Foothold" is the second episode of the second season of AMC's The Walking Dead: World Beyond. It is the twelfth episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 10, 2021, the same night as "For Blood", the first-part finale of the eleventh season of The Walking Dead. It was written by Carson Moore and directed by Loren Yaconelli.

Plot

While some members of the group enact a plan to cover their tracks, others attempt to acclimate to their new surroundings.

Synopsis

Felix finds Iris in the woods after she kills the CRM soldier. They hear CRM soldiers approaching and hide. They kill empties quietly to avoid detection.

Hope uses the bathroom at Dr. Bennett's apartment and finds Lyla's earrings in a cabinet.

Dr. Bennett tells Lyla that he's worried about Iris, but Lyla assures him the CRM will bring Iris and Felix to the facility. She apologizes for telling the CRM about Hope. Dr. Bennett points out that if Hope and Iris hadn't left Omaha, they would be dead.

Over breakfast, Dr. Bennett asks Hope if her journey on the road was dangerous. Hope avoids the subject. Dr. Bennett worries about the situation he has entangled her in.

Iris, Felix, and Will search for an empty that looks like Will. Iris apologizes for causing their predicament, but shares her belief that the CRM was responsible for Omaha's destruction. Will admits the same idea crossed his mind. They find an empty that resembles Will.

Felix steadies an empty that they wrangled with rope. The empty is wearing Will's leather jacket. Felix tells them to grab the dead CRM soldier and meet him at the drop-off.

A CRM mechanic, Dennis, drives Silas in a truck. Silas asks where they're going. Dennis doesn't answer.

Dennis pulls up to a CRM facility and gets out.

Dr. Bennett visits Elizabeth in her office to inquire about Iris and Felix. Elizabeth says she dispatched a search team. Dr. Bennett threatens to quit if she doesn't bring Iris and Felix by nighttime. Elizabeth reveals that they knew about his secret transmissions to Omaha, and advises him not to make any further errors in judgment. After he leaves, she asks her deputy about the search for Will and the missing CRM soldier. The deputy says they have no leads.

Hope walks through the CRM facility and quietly takes notes on the building's security. Lyla introduces herself as Dr. Bennett's colleague and offers to take Hope on a tour. Hope agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to surveil restricted areas of the facility.

Dennis brings Silas to a culling facility full of charred empties. Dennis gathers his work crew — Webb, Tiga, and Grady — and announces that Silas will be joining them. He gives a sharp tool to Silas and instructs him to kill an empty. Silas rams the tool into an empty's face.

Lyla takes Hope on a tour of the facility and explains that they're researching what makes people turn, with the goal of figuring out how to turn off those triggers. Hope tells Lyla she needs to use the bathroom, then secretly starts to open the door to a restricted area. A young man named Mason catches her, and reveals that it's just a supply closet. They flirt.

In the Perimeter, a resident tells Indira that Felix's group has endangered them by killing a CRM soldier. He also reveals the CRM code books, which he confiscated from Iris' room. Felix, Iris, and Will assure Indira that they have a plan to protect the Perimeter. A CRM convoy pulls up outside. Felix's group hides. Elizabeth enters the room and tells Indira they are looking for a missing soldier. She instructs CRM soldiers to search the village, but leaves when a CRM soldier reports over walkie that they found the missing soldier.

Lyla plays a video for Hope in which Dr. Bennett summarizes his team's research. He explains that they are tracking data about empties' biological responses to environmental stimuli, and that he's personally researching a fungi that may accelerate an empty's rate of decay. Hope gets excited by his research.

The CRM deputy takes Elizabeth to a ravine, with what appears to be the bodies of Will and the missing CRM soldier at the bottom. He guesses that they fell over a cliff. Elizabeth orders him to dispatch a recovery team to confirm the identity of the bodies.

Back at his apartment, Dr. Bennett asks Hope what she thought of the facility. Hope admits it was more receptive than she expected. She guesses that Lyla is Dr. Bennett's girlfriend and expresses her approval. Dr. Bennett says the CRM hasn't found Iris and Felix yet, and asks Hope if she's hiding something.

Silas asks Grady what they do at the culling facility. Grady says a few times a week they lure the dead into the yard with lights and music, blow them up, then clean up the bodies and remove them off-site.

Dennis brings Silas to a garage full of RVs, where he will be staying. He explains that their job is to help eliminate empties from the entire state, while other teams keep empties out. He says their ultimate goal is to start all over. He leaves and says he'll be back in the morning. Webb tells Silas that Dennis is delivering an empty to the research facility.

Dennis secures the empty in his pickup truck. He looks at a photo of him and Huck together. He drives off.

Felix asks Iris if she's okay. Iris says she's angry at the CRM and declares war against them. They slaughter empties on a lake shore.

Lyla debriefs Elizabeth at the lab and says Dr. Bennett has lost some faith in the CRM because of what they put Hope through. She says they may need Hope's help to maintain his trust. Elizabeth points out that keeping Dr. Bennett's trust is Lyla's job. Lyla asks when she'll be receiving her next test subject. Elizabeth says she will get it soon. Lyla looks at an empty test subject strapped to a table in an adjacent room.

Other Cast

Co-Stars

• Jesse Gallegos as Webb
• Ry Chase as Tiga
• Kellen Joseph Quinn as Grady
• Wes Jetton as Robin

Uncredited

• S.J. Ovaska as Samuel Abbott
• Paul Teal as Walter (Archive Footage)
• Kara Reese as Nolan
• Jason Gupton as CRM Soldier
• Shane Carruth as CRM Soldier

Deaths

• None

Trivia

• First appearance of Dennis Graham.
• First appearance of Webb.
• First appearance of Tiga.
• First appearance of Grady.
• First appearance of Mason Beale.
• Only appearance of Nolan. (Unknown)
• Last appearance of Walter. (Flashback)
• The title of the episode, "Foothold", refers to Dennis telling Silas about clearing the state of the undead and gaining a "foothold".
• This episode was made available for streaming to subscribers of AMC Premiere on October 3, 2021.
• This episode is played directly after the first-part finale of Season 11 of The Walking Dead.

Episode Highlights

• Hope adjusts to living in the research facility and is shown taking notes on its security. She also makes a new friend.
• Lyla Belshaw reveals that the scientists are working on both trying to find out why humans turn into zombies and finding a way to get rid of the ones who have already turned and one day eliminate the undead from the Earth. Lyla calls it a big picture approach with the scientists taking what they learn and passing it down to the next generation and so on until a solution can be found. Hope shows an interest in her father's work.
• Having learned of the CRM's manipulations to get Hope to the research facility, Leo becomes angry and untrusting towards the CRM and demands that they find and bring him Iris and Felix.
• Hope learns of Leo and Lyla's relationship, but hesitates to share the truth with her father about the others.
• Silas is taken to work at a culling facility run by Dennis Graham where Dennis, Webb, Grady and Tiga work to clear New York of the undead. Silas learns that the culling facility is connected to the nearby research facility that the Endlings had been searching for.
• Dennis is revealed to be Huck's husband.
• Iris, Felix and Will cover up the murder of the CRM soldier by making it look as if he and Will had killed each other using an empty dressed up in Will's jacket, thus making the CRM believe that Will is dead.
• Iris shares her belief that the CRM was responsible for the destruction of Omaha and the Campus Colony, something that Will admits to having considered as well.
• After avoiding detection by the CRM and successfully covering up the soldier's death, the three are allowed to stay in the Perimeter and Iris declares that they are at war with the CRM now.
• Lyla is shown to be reporting on Leo and Hope to Elizabeth Kublek.