‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Midseason Premiere ‘Adaptation’ Recap: The Threat Revealed

The Walking Dead returns with a fiery episode tonight. Released a week earlier than the intended midseason premiere on February 10th, “Adaptation” brings the threat of The Whisperers front and center. Of course, if you still want to wait it out for next Sunday’s episode, I strongly advise you to skip this recap as it contains all the spoilers for it. But if you dare open the DON’T DEAD OPEN INSIDE chamber, then you are in for quite an interesting episode.

Seriously, I am warning you. All the spoilers are right here.

Okay, here we go.

“Adaptation” picks up from where we left our cemetery-trapped heroes—Michonne (Danai Gurira), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and Magna (Nadia Hilker) facing off against the Walkers AND the Whisperers. Jesus (Tom Payne) is dead, and there’s a brand new enemy. As they make their way back to the Hilltop, they sort of gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, after escaping from his cell in Alexandria, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) goes on a trip down memory lane.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

You Lose Some; You Win Some

The Walkers and the Whisperers surround Michonne and her group. But with the precision of Yumiko’s Green Arrow skills, they make it out of the cemetery with Jesus’ dead body in tow. Little did they know that the fun is just getting started. Meanwhile, the Hilltop dwellers are getting more worried about Jesus’ absence. Luke (Dan Fogler), being the newbie that he is, volunteers to join the search party. Alden (Callan McAuliffe) takes him up on his offer as they set out. They even encounter a few Walkers along the way, with Alden saving Luke’s ass when the attacker overwhelmed him.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Morning hits, and Michonne’s group need to bolt out of that area fast. When you have your ass being chased by zombie skin-wearing freaks, it’s a bit hard to see which is which now. As they make their journey back, another group of Walkers (with some Whisperers hiding among them) gain in on them. The group traps a small number of them on a bridge. True enough, all of them (except for one real Walker) turn out to be Whisperers. Michonne and Yumiko kill the others, while one of them surrenders. It’s then revealed to be a teenage girl (Cassidy McClincy) as Daryl takes off the Whisperer’s mask. Finally, their first Whisperer prisoner.

The group returns to Hilltop, much to the shock of the dwellers. Of course, much anger is directed (courtesy of Tammy) at the Whisperer, now being dragged to the cells to be interrogated. With Jesus gone, Tammy (Brett Butler) tells Tara (Alanna Masterson) that she is now the Hilltop’s leader. Oh, and they also want justice served, so they’re hoping for another Gregory situation here. As they strap the Whisperer to a chair, Daryl tells an alcohol-shamed Henry (Matt Lintz) that Jesus is dead.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Michonne, Tara, and Daryl interrogate the Whisperer, but all they get are a series of whimpers and fake crying. She’s obviously lying about their real number, and she refuses to tell them if her group knows about Alexandria and Hilltop. The trio walks out, and Michonne tells Daryl to do what he has to do to the girl if she doesn’t talk. And with Tara being elevated into the leadership role, Michonne was able to convince him to lead the Hilltop with Tara.

Oh, and yeah, Rosita is pregnant

Nope, I’m not kidding with that heading. It turns out that Rosita didn’t only fool around with Father Gabriel. There’s more to the story of her adventures. So as Eugene is brought to Hilltop, Siddiq (Avi Nash) tends to his broken leg. As soon as he cracks it back in place, Eugene then mans up to tell Rosita that he loves her (I’m guessing Eugene has no idea of what’s going on between Gabriel and Rosita).

But Rosita couldn’t take it. She runs outside and throws up. I mean, is Eugene THAT undesirable that it makes you puke? As Siddiq checks up on her, Rosita drops the bomb. “When we were having fun before Gabriel,” Rosita says to Siddiq. “I’m pregnant.” Holy. Shit.

The Judge of Character

As Daryl mulls over what to do with the Whisperer, Henry admits that he doesn’t know his place. But with these kinds of things going on, Daryl is the last dude you’d want to open up to—especially a teenager.

As the community buries Jesus, Daryl wells up in anger and angrily interrogates the Whisperer. There’s some truth to what she finally confesses, but Daryl knows she’s not telling it all. Apparently, she lives with a group who always sticks together to blend in with the Walkers. She also has her mom to thank for that and that they were always going to kill Daryl’s group. Furious, Daryl drags her away so she could be sentenced to death, but after Henry pleads with the girl, Daryl lets go and locks her up. In anger, he storms away, telling Henry that he’s right where he belongs in the Hilltop—the cell.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Later, the Whisperer thanks Henry for “saving” her ass. Henry introduces himself, and the girl reveals her name as Lydia. Outside, Daryl eavesdrops. Was this his plan all along, to use Henry as his pawn? That could work. But we all know what happens to teenage boys who fall in love with prisoners in the world of The Walking Dead, right?

Meanwhile, Enid (Katelyn Nacon) is worried about Alden. They haven’t returned yet, but Magna knows that he’s in safe hands with Luke. If only Magna knew how wrong that assumption turned out to be.

As Alden and Luke plow through the forest, they encounter a Walker who stops dead in its track at the sight of them. More Walkers then appear, surrounding the two. It’s the Whisperers with their leader, Alpha (Samantha Morton).

“Trail ends here,” Alpha says, holding up her shotgun.

Negan Goes on a Roadtrip

Elsewhere in the episode, we see Negan finally escape from his cell. He shortly enjoys a walk in Alexandria, admiring the place for what it has become since the war. He even breaks into Judith’s (Cailey Fleming) room to steal her compass. Just when he was about to climb the walls to escape, Judith catches him at gunpoint. But Negan’s cunning sweet talk helped him convince Judith to let him go. After all, he promises not to hurt anyone. He’s a changed man, and Judith knows that. However, Judith warns him that if she ever sees him again, she’s going to shoot him.

Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

Negan goes on an exploration of the world that has changed since he was imprisoned for eight years. Of course, there’s the usual Walker encounter, with one even coming close to eating him. But as Negan fights his way through it, he realizes that not much has changed, except that he’s all alone.

Negan comes across a clothes shop and finds himself a new leather jacket. But his fun is cut off when three rabid dogs chase after him. And in one of the most painful deaths of The Walking Dead, Negan escapes by luring a dog to him and letting a Walker have its way on that fresh dog meat. What a cruel son of a bitch. And here I thought that his redemption arc is in full swing. This totally cancels everything!

After the dog fiasco at the clothes shop, Negan finally returns to the Sanctuary. But all hope for starting again slowly melted away when Negan realizes that there’s nothing left of the place. Not one of his men stayed (except for one who turned), so there’s no point in restoring Sanctuary to its glory. Come to think of it, Negan’s cell in Alexandria is way better than living alone at the Sanctuary.

So Negan retrieves a hidden motorcycle from his old stash and travels back to Alexandria. Along the way, Judith sees him, so she fires a warning shot. Negan falls off the bike, and Judith gives him another chance at being a better person. After a couple of expletives and witty remarks, Judith decides to take him back to his new home.

‘The Walking Dead: Adaptation’ Overall Verdict

“Adaptation” is a reference for two characters of tonight’s Walking Dead episode—the Whisperers and Negan. The former having the balls and guts to make the Walker situation work to their advantage—ultimately giving them an army that the survivors have never seen before—and the latter having adjusted to his life in Alexandria that he sees no point of going back to the Negan that he was eight years ago. It’s a strong episode that hints at a lot of changes that the show is employing after Rick’s exit and a well-written chapter that gives off just enough information to keep us longing for more.

With what the first half of The Walking Dead season 9 had to offer, I’m pretty sure that we’re up for an even more stressful and entertaining second half of the best zombie show on planet Earth.

Bring it on, Whisperers. We’ve got a Negan on our team now.

The Walking Dead continues Sunday, February 17th, with “Omega” at 9/8c on AMC.