‘The Walking Dead’ Mid-Season Nine Finale Preview Released

AMC has released the preview for The Walking Dead Season Nine mid-season finale, "Evolution." Per the official synopsis:

A small rescue mission braves a dangerous herd in their hunt for a missing comrade, only to discover a surprising threat that could doom them all.

The search is on for the injured and missing Eugene (Josh McDermitt), who was tucked away and left behind in a barn by Rosita (Christian Serratos) amid a herd of walkers. Leading the hunt is expert tracker Daryl (Norman Reedus), who has set off from Hilltop with Dog, Aaron (Ross Marquand), and Jesus (Tom Payne) in tow.

That "surprising threat" is new enemy group the Whisperers, whose sudden emergence "opens up a Pandora's box of other things," teased showrunner Angela Kang.

"This is part of the mystery of the story of the Whisperers that we're starting this season. What I'll say is there are some twists and turns to this story, but there will be some answers by the time we get to the mid-season finale," Kang told THR.

Episode 908 could see the long-awaited debuts of Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton), daughter Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and vicious second-in-command Beta (Ryan Hurst).

"Hang on," Kang warned, "it's a really cool ride."

"It's a type of threat that he's never really experienced before. So, that's kind of the scariest part of it, is not knowing what the heck is going on," McDermitt told EW of his Eugene, who now faces the greatest danger he's ever known after coming into his own over the course of a six-year time jump.

"In terms of Eugene, he's going to try to figure out exactly how to survive, how to get free from these walkers that are on his tail and hopefully, since he's a man of science, figure out exactly how they are able to talk and how they're able to move faster, and kind of figure out where they are and cut them off at every turn. I mean, it's a very scary threat that I don't think we've seen before on the show, at least from the character's point of view. It's an exciting place to be because there's so much unknown."

The Walking Dead premieres its final episode of 2018 Sunday, November 25 at 9/8c on AMC.