The Walking Dead: 5 things to know about Alpha

Alpha is the new Big Bad on The Walking Dead, but we don’t know much about her quite yet. Here are five things to know about the mysterious bald baddie.

One of the most terrifying villains to ever grace the comic cells of The Walking Dead has finally landed on our TV screens. As portrayed by Samantha Morton, Alpha made an indelible impression on viewers in mere seconds.

From her fiercely feral outlook on survival to her soul-crushing acts of casual violence, comic readers know that Alpha is certainly to be feared. Only fools wouldn’t be intimidated and horrified by a woman who’s not only willing to wear the skin of a dead man – which Silence of the Lambs taught us is the literal stuff of nightmares – but also wields the massive power of an endless sea of rabid walkers. In the world of The Walking Dead, that’s the weapons equivalent of a nuke. And it’s all hers.

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Armed and very dangerous, it’s uncertain how closely Alpha on The Walking Dead TV series will follow her comic counterpart. However, we do know some things about her character that will help us understand the whirlwind of insanity that’s about to come our way. We break it all down below.

Warning: Below are mild spoilers for Alpha’s character in The Walking Dead comic series. If you haven’t seen the “Omega” episode of the show (S9E10) and/or would like to remain naive of all Alpha chatter, I’d suggest you turn back now. Don’t Open, Spoilers Inside. 

Animal Planet

Alpha and the Whisperers ain’t nothin’ but animals, so they do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.

All riffing aside, Alpha’s literal survival move in the zombie apocalypse was to just live off the land, wandering in lawless and emotionless packs. They mirror the lives of the walkers as closely as possible, protecting each other in a weird symbiotic – yet terribly psychotic – relationship.

Quite honestly, I don’t watch enough Discovery Channel to tell you if any other mammals behave in exactly this way, but my heart tells me that adopting this behavior is definitely not a viable way to retain humanity in any spiritual or emotional sense. Thus, the Whisperers are not people. They’re animals. Alpha says as much in this thrilling clip from next week’s Walking Dead.

Right Hand Man

Every good villain has to have a henchman. And Alpha certainly has hers. He’s a dude that she aptly calls Beta. In the comics, Beta is second-in-command, and is devoted to Alpha’s every move and viciously protective of her bald bod.

Beta has already been cast on The Walking Dead and is slated to make his debut in next week’s episode, entitled “Bounty”. And, in a bit of exciting casting news, he’ll be played by beloved Sons of Anarchy alum Ryan Hurst. 

Gimmie Some Skin

Newbies to the Whisperers must earn their skins and weapons over time, and these milestones happen mostly at Alpha’s discretion. A suit takes a long time to make (::shudder::) and so once a person is outfitted they must prove their worth by staying strong and adhering to the code of the tribe. If not, they’re out.

Backstory Bonanza

While Alpha didn’t get much of a backstory in the comics, the TV series welcomed her via a series of trauma-laced memories, as recalled by her daughter. The backstory altered elements of Alpha’s comic persona by swapping out a narrative focusing on rape for a different narrative that depicted Alpha as a serial abuser.

In the comics, Alpha allows the rape and murder of members of her tribe as being attacked is a sign of weakness. This animalistic credo extends to everyone, including her own daughter. Comic Lydia admits that she’s been raped more than once, and her rapists were never disciplined by her mother. This horrifies Carl, who is motivated to help her.

In the show, Alpha is painted as an emotionally and physically abusive woman, even before the apocalypse. Clearly this penchant for authoritarian order gave her an advantage at survival and she was easily able to corral a large group of followers, including her daughter. We know Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Henry (Matt Lintz) want to protect Lydia from her mother’s continued abuse, but its unclear what price they’re willing to pay for her safety.

There Can Only Be One

If an Alpha of the tribe is killed, the person who committed the murder ascends to the position of leader. So not only do potential threats have to be prepared to take on the formidable Alpha herself, but they also have to be prepared to assume a whole heap of problems – including a literal sea of rotting bodies – if they kill her.

Alpha has remained leader since the inception of the Whisperers, and for good reason. She created this monster by her own twisted set of rules, and she’s the one who knows how to wield its power most effectively. What will happen when and if the power balance tips? Only time will tell.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.