Yesterday’s Walking Dead midseason premiere delivered a major shock to fans that left us all pretty traumatized. No, it wasn’t another gruesome death. Instead, the most talked-about part of the episode was that Negan and Alpha had sex. This is an original development to the TV show, as the former Savior leader and the Whisperer queen’s relationship takes a very different route in the comics. And it’s horrified everyone.
These two villains joining forces in this sort of way is gross enough, plus Alpha keeping her zombie mask on for the whole thing is seriously disturbing. That’s not the worst of it, though. One wide shot revealed that the pair left their socks on. And that’s where fans are drawing a line.
What’s sad is that the most disturbing thing to me about the Negan/Alpha scene is the fact they both kept their socks on!! #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/ziGduaoHBX
— Jen Patrick (@jenpatrick7742) February 24, 2020
*Carol screams*
Alpha & Negan didn’t take off their socks & shoes!#nalpha #twd #WalkingDead pic.twitter.com/SZI2nsIQuo
— Jen 🍪 The Book of Carol #twdcaryl (@zedwordjen) February 24, 2020
In the immortal words of Raven Symone, you nasty!
Let's get something straight… It's not the actors bodies AT ALL that make our gross, it's the characters that make Negan/Alpha disgusting… And the mask… But mostly the black socks 😂 #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/Iu101HxQ7j
— Cat 👩🎤🎭 (@blissfullycat) February 24, 2020
It cannot be unseen.
https://twitter.com/tlpumpkinbug/status/1231777860710551552
They said what they said.
https://twitter.com/protsky1/status/1231773733188177920
We are all speechless.
https://twitter.com/michonnesrj/status/1231774148596248576
Don’t bring Ernie into this!
Alpha and Negan kept their socks on? OMG. 😂 #TheWalkingDead #TWD #TalkingDead pic.twitter.com/dh9v7iK25S
— Meredith Nygma (@SpoonyLupin) February 24, 2020
For the love of Grimes, why? WHY?!
The most chaotic thing about this episode wasn’t the fact that Alpha and Negan bumped uglies…but the fact that they LEFT THEIR SOCKS ON!! #TheWalkingDead @JDMorgan WHYYY pic.twitter.com/hamhl4tNsU
— scooby boo (@PeytonOfficial_) February 24, 2020
In the episode, titled “Squeeze,” Negan informed Alpha that Gamma was the Whisperer spy feeding intel to the Alexandrians. As a reward, she marched him into the woods. Though he was expecting an execution, Alpha ordered Negan to take off his clothes. When he turned around, she had done the same. She explained that as he was a crass man, she thought he’d appreciate a crass reward. He agreed and, well, you know what happens next.
Showrunner Angela Kang has explained that she wanted to put a new spin on Negan and Alpha’s “strange relationship” and tasked writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick to insert a sex scene between them into this episode. This is a big change from the comics, in which Negan beheads Alpha in a sequence with a similar set-up to this one. Of course, there was a reference to praying mantises decapitating their lovers after sex, but it’s unknown if this is just an easter egg to how things played out on the page or a bit of foreshadowing.
The Walking Dead continues with episode 10×10 “Stalker” this Sunday, March 1st on AMC.
