Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet watched The Walking Dead's "A Certain Doom."
Though it was delayed by around six months due to pandemic shutdowns, the 16th episode of The Walking Dead Season 10 finally dropped on AMC, and with it came all kinds of big reveals and noteworthy moments. While the installment is no longer the season finale as it was originally intended, "A Certain Doom" definitely still felt like one, and it served as an interesting lead-in to the latter six episodes that will be the bridge to the final season.
Below, we're going over the biggest takeaways from "A Certain Doom," from returning characters to exiting characters to ones we've never seen before in The Walking Dead's live-action universe. Let's kick things off with arguably the episode's most anticipated reveal, which involves Lauren Cohan rocking a new hat.
Maggie's Back!
Though she made her well-documented exit from The Walking Dead in the midst of Season 9 at the same time Andrew Lincoln bowed out, Lauren Cohan made her most triumphant comeback in "A Certain Doom," and she'll presumably be sticking around until the end of Season 11. Though Maggie's big return wasn't necessarily complicated, she did help save Father Gabriel from being killed off by Whisperers, she showed off her bow-and-arrow talents, and she also shared a very sweet reunion with Cailey Fleming's Judith. Now if only we knew what she was up to in all her years away from Hilltop and Alexandria...
Mr. Metal Mask Man Is Pretty Badass
Lauren Cohan's return didn't just bring Maggie back into the narrative fold, but it also introduced a mysterious new character that hides his identity behind an intimidating metal mask. Cohan told CinemaBlend that this new character is extremely loyal to Maggie, and vice versa, and that they've been through some hectic situations together. It's quite obvious that anyone who tries to mess with this masked badass will get their guts sliced right out of their bodies, but what isn't obvious is whether or not the face beneath that mask is a familiar one to longtime fans. Facial coverings aren't usually employed on TV for complete strangers, so there's a good chance that viewers have already met this character in the past.
Beta Is Dead, And The Whisperers Are No More (Probably)
It's almost hard to believe that when Season 10 started, it wasn't too long after Samantha Morton's Alpha and her Whisperers clan had beheaded that large group of protagonists. So much changed during the year, with Negan killing off Alpha, leaving Ryan Hurst's Beta to slowly lose his mind as the villainous group's de facto leader. In the end, his giant horde plot was mostly thwarted without causing too many fatalities, and Beta eventually met his own fate at the pointy ends of Daryl's knives. While most Walking Dead characters scream bloody murder when getting killed off, the blinded Beta chose to quietly embrace his death in a Buddhist-like manner while calmly allowing himself to be consumed by his rotted flock. It's likely Beta's death means the absolute end of the Whisperers, but I won't be surprised if there's at least one loyal follower still out there somewhere.
Carol Found Catharsis With Lydia, Carol And Tons Of Dead Walkers
This could obviously be said for several other seasons, but Carol has had a rough go in Season 10 so far, from mourning Henry and her relationship with Ezekiel to building her rivalry with Alpha to fighting her more suicidal urges. (Not to mention being largely responsible for setting up Connie's disappearance, which caused weird friction between her and Daryl.) By the end of Episode 1016, though, Carol seemed to cross an emotional chasm as she and Lydia cried together while all those walkers moronically kept walking off the edge of that cliff. Plus, she and Daryl seemed to knock the uncomfortable cobwebs off of their friendship, which will be at the heart of the Walking Dead's upcoming spinoff built around Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride. Will she continue holding her head high in future episodes, though?
Connie Is Alive!
Huzzah! After going missing within the cave system for the midseason premiere back in February, Lauren Ridloff's Connie remained completely absent – probably due to Ridloff's commitments to Marvel's Eternals – despite Magna finding her way back to the survivors at one point. Thankfully, though, "A Certain Doom" updated fans by confirming that Connie is still alive out there, even if she's looking worse for the wear. It's not clear exactly what's wrong with her, beyond a probable lack of water, food and good health, but here's hoping she can find food and a hot shower soon.
Virgil Is Back!
If anyone's going to be able to help Connie find that hot shower, it's Kevin Carroll's Virgil, who was last seen in Michonne's big farewell episode, in which he held her captive and sent her on a drugged-out trip back through her memories. Though it seemed like Virgil was going to stay holed up in the military building he'd lived in for years, it appears as if the character found a reason to leave "home," and also a reason to nab a horse and head to the other communities. It would be great if he had some kind of an update about Rick, or about that massive group of people we saw Michonne starting to follow back in Episode 1013, "What We Become."
Eugene's Group Met The Commonwealth Soldiers
Though Eugene was out in the world trying desperately to meet up with his radio buddy Stephanie, that's not who actually showed up to the meeting. Instead, he and Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess were quickly surrounded by a large group of soldiers decked out in stylish armor that indicated a pretty advanced post-apocalyptic community was responsible for crafting them. The suits were probably instantly familiar to fans of The Walking Dead comic book series, who have no doubt been waiting to see exactly how the TV show would handle The Commonwealth, the franchise's first mega-community populated by thousands and thousands of survivors. While I would be bummed out if the live-action Stephanie set Eugene up, it'll still be awesome to see the introduction of Governor Milton and her underlings. But will that happen in the latter Season 10 episodes, or will we be waiting for Season 11?
For now, The Walking Dead is back on hiatus as the cast and crew prepare to go back into production on the final six episodes of Season 10. While waiting to hear when those episodes will debut on AMC, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule to see when other new and returning shows will be debuting in the near future.
