The Walking Dead/What It Always Is

What It Always Is
Season 10, Episode 5
Airdate	November 3, 2019
Written by	Eli Jorné
Directed by	Laura Belsey
Stream
← 10x04 Silence the Whisperers	10x06 → Bonds
The Walking Dead — Season Ten

What It Always Is is the fifth episode of the tenth season of The Walking Dead, and the one hundred thirty-sixth episode overall.

Starring: Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon), Danai Gurira (Michonne) (credit only), Melissa McBride (Carol Peletier) (credit only), Christian Serratos (Rosita Espinosa) (credit only), Josh McDermitt (Eugene Porter), Seth Gilliam (Gabriel Stokes) (credit only), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Khary Payton (Ezekiel), Ryan Hurst (Beta), Samantha Morton (Alpha)

and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan)

Also Starring: Callan McAuliffe (Alden), Avi Nash (Siddiq), Eleanor Matsuura (Yumiko), Cooper Andrews (Jerry) (credit only), Nadia Hilker (Magna), Cailey Fleming (Judith Grimes) (credit only), Cassady McClincy (Lydia) (credit only), Lauren Ridloff (Connie), Thora Birch (Gamma), John Finn (Earl Sutton), Angel Theory (Kelly), Blaine Kern III (Brandon), Karen Ceesay (Bertie) (credit only)

Co-Starring: Anthony Lopez (Oscar), Austin Freeman (Alex), Camille Robinson (Brianna), Virginia Newcomb (Amelia), Roman Spink (Milo), Ross Crain (Whisperer)

Plot Overview

Negan encounters an Alexandrian who reminds of his glory days with the Saviors.

Connie and Daryl go out looking for Kelly.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• It's confirmed that the Whisperers are indeed responsible for downing the tree. It and expanding the border to the creek are part of a long-term strategy. While the waves of walkers is still unconfirmed to be from them, their latest is damming the creek, contaminating it.

• Gamma encounters Aaron after he gives her gauze for her wound. She tells this to Alpha who tell her that Aaron might be useful and suggests Gamma might have to "wear a new mask."

Characters

• Negan is found by a young Alexandrian who found his jacket and wraps a new baseball bat with barbwire for him. After finding a mother and son, he dismisses the young man, only to find he returned and killed them, thinking it was a test. Negan kills him and after taking the new Lucille and donning his jacket, enters Whisperer territory where he is confronted by Beta.

• Siddiq learns that Ezekiel has thyroid cancer. Despite its ordinarily high survival rate, the current world makes him believe its terminal. Siddiq arranges for him to talk with Carol over the radio, but he changes his mind before she answers.

• Already becoming distant from Yumiko, Magna reveals she did kill them man she was accused of and that Yumiko defended her on. Hurt, Yumiko suggests she finds somewhere else to sleep.

Referbacks

• When Negan crosses over into Whisperer territory, he sings the same song he did when he first appeared at the gates of Alexandria in "Service".

Trivia

The Show

• The song Magna listens to is a song recorded by former star Emily Kinney entitled "The Turtle and the Monkey". However, it's a cover by an unknown male singer. Many have linked this to the Fear the Walking Dead episode "Today and Tomorrow" where a shot of Daniel's records littering the ground shows a man who looks suspiciously like Ryan Hurst, reinforcing that Beta was a celebrity before the apocalypse.