The Walking Dead changed up the comic books in Sunday’s 1010, “Stalker,” when Rosita (Christian Serratos) took on Beta (Ryan Hurst) after the Whisperer infiltrated a largely unguarded Alexandria. Sent by Alpha (Samantha Morton) to hunt the traitorous Gamma (Thora Birch), the spy who revealed to Aaron (Ross Marquand) the location of Alpha’s walker horde, Beta slaughtered a half-dozen Alexandrians and left them to reanimate as a distraction to free the jailed Gamma. Allowed to escape by Laura (Lindsley Register), who died attempting to halt Beta’s rampage, Gamma was harbored by an armed Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming), herself rescued by Rosita when she appeared with a studded baseball bat-like weapon.
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Beta unsheathed a knife and met Rosita’s wooden blade, held like a sword waiting to strike. The towering Whisperer slashed at the air, taking a blow to the gut before punching her and slicing her arm. Beta drew blood, but Rosita didn’t freeze.
She swung at him again and missed. Beta slashed again — he didn’t miss. The ridged end of Rosita’s weapon cut into Beta’s armored body, but before she could finish him off, the hulking Beta snatched her weapon and blocked the blow.
His powerful force sent Rosita to the floor, ready for the death blow that never came: Beta’s attack was called off by Gamma, knife pressed to her throat, knowing Alpha wanted her returned for punishment.
Rosita’s injuries forced her to ride along with a small crew headed for Hilltop, where she can receive treatment from Alex (Austin Freeman). There she’ll find herself in another fight for her life when the community currently led by Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) and King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) is attacked by the Whisperers.
In the comic books, where a pregnant Rosita was among the victims murdered by Alpha, it was Aaron who had a near-fatal encounter with Beta. Issue #154 saw Michonne and Aaron trespass into Whisperer territory when hunting a fugitive Negan, by that point already collected by Beta and a band of Whisperers.
A brief scuffle ended with Beta stabbing Aaron in the gut and moving to finish him off when the kill was stopped by Michonne, who fended off walkers and Whisperers alike before being tackled and pinned by the brawny Beta in issue #155.
Michonne and Aaron were rescued by ex-Savior Dwight and an armed militia, whose firepower forced Beta to flee into the woods. A similar scene played out in Sunday’s episode, where it was Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) who took aim at Beta as he escorted the captured Gamma back to the Whisperer camp.
Unlike Rosita, who was not left with life-threatening injuries in “Stalker,” Michonne raced a gravely wounded Aaron to the nearby Hilltop for medical care. Aaron ultimately recovered, but his hospitalization meant he was present at Hilltop when Whisperers assaulted the colony with flaming arrows.
As revealed by spoilery synopses for coming episodes, a similar attack is imminent on the television show.
New episodes of The Walking Dead Season 10 premiere Sundays on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.
