The Walking Dead: World Beyond season 2 episode 1 recap: What happened in Konsekans?
Welcome back to the final season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. The season 2 premiere delivered lots of answers about what happened in the first season but it also created a laundry list of new questions that need to be addressed. The biggest question of them all: “Why did they lie?”
A tearful Iris (Aliyah Royale) poses the question to Felix (Nico Tortorella) and Will (Jelani Alladin) after learning that both Campus Colony and Omaha have been destroyed. In Albany after a long helicopter ride, Hope (Alexa Mansour) and Jennifer (Annet Mahendru) learn the same information from Elizabeth (Julia Ormond).
Who are the CRM in The Walking Dead: World Beyond?
What neither group knows is that the day after Monument Day, the same day the teens left to find Dr. Bennett, the CRM led the massive herd of empties to Omaha and destroyed their fortifications so that the herd could run amok. The CRM did the same thing with the Campus Colony, which was destroyed.
All of the helicopters that arrived back in the series premiere, the ones with the shipping containers, were there because they were salvaging supplies (generators, computers and such) from the two communities.
Armed with this knowledge, everything changes for Hope and Iris. Their home is gone, they have been separated and their future is uncertain. The rules have changed and now the fight to survive is based on who can play by the new set of rules.
While Iris and Felix try to determine their next steps, Hope is put to a test when Elizabeth drops her off in Albany and challenges her to understand how fortunate she is to be alive. If she remains rebellious and combative, she won’t be accepted by the CRM. She needs to figure out what she truly wants if she’s going to survive.
Elizabeth tells Jennifer that her mission isn’t complete because Hope hasn’t been secured. Jennifer could relate to Hope and that’s why she felt the need to bring her across the country on foot to help her learn. If Hope doesn’t figure things out, then Jennifer’s mission will be a failure.
As season premieres go, “Konsekans” clears up many of the questions about the first season. Jennifer was pushing for the road trip so hard because she was trying to get the “asset” to understand how the world works. The CRM destroyed Omaha and the Campus Colony but no one knows that they were the cause.
Elizabeth is fighting to ensure that the CRM’s true mission isn’t revealed, and that remains the biggest question of them all.
The CRM is lying.
The CRM has ulterior motives.
But what are those motives?
That’s what I hope to learn as the season plays out. The foundation is set, and now this final season is a chance to deliver on those answers. The CRM is a huge part of the fabric within the TWD universe, so the information we learn now helps us to understand the future of the franchise.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond premiere takeaways
The season premiere yielded some big moments. There’s a beautiful moment when Felix and Will are finally alone and Felix breaks down in Will’s arms. The weight of his mission to protect Hope and Iris finally hits him and he takes comfort in the arms of his lover. There aren’t many happy endings in this terrible world but Will and Felix were able to find each other and that’s a blessing.
Jelani Alladin is phenomenal in the episode. Will knows that Felix and Iris want to rush in and find Hope and Leo but he’s careful to point out that they’re playing the “long game” now and they have to be careful about their next moves because there are lives on the line. Alexa Mansour also delivers a powerful performance as she struggles to survive Elizabeth’s test. Julia Ormond is quietly brilliant as Elizabeth. Give her a spinoff right now.
Fans hoping to see growth from the characters won’t see too much because not enough time has passed between seasons. It has only been hours, perhaps a day, since Hope left with the CRM. Iris is still headstrong and making rookie mistakes because she is, in fact, a rookie. She’s still new to all of this, and it puts her in danger time and time again.
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“Konsekans” is a great start to the season. World Beyond has its own pace and its own vibe. With 20 episodes, 10 per season, the series looks and feels different from The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead and that’s by design. But it’s changing the future of the series in a big way, and that’s very important as The Walking Dead comes to an end after season 11 and the new era begins.