‘The Walking Dead’ Returned With the Least Sexy Sex Scene of All-Time

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Spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 9, “Squeeze” past this point.

Let’s be clear on one thing up front: Decider is not in the business of kink-shaming. So if your kink happens to be getting your bone on in the woods while your partner wears dead human skin, well… You know what, I take it back, that’s gross, (probably) illegal, and certainly worthy of kink-shaming consideration. Why do we bring this up? Well, the sexytime situation as described above is exactly what happened on the The Walking Dead Season 10 midseason premiere, which featured arguably the least sexy sex scene of all-time.

I say arguably because certainly there have been creepier or grosser sex scenes in film and TV history. But in terms of The Walking Dead, at least, the long awaited coupling of Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was nothing but recoil fodder. While most of the running time was spent on Daryl (Norma Reedus) and Carol’s (Melissa McBride) group’s harrowing escape from a collapsing cavern full of Alpha’s undead herd, up on the surface things were getting fraught in the Whisperers’ camp, as well.

Though it probably wasn’t too difficult to figure out, Negan managed to get in Alpha’s good graces by revealing that Gamma (Thora Birch) is the mole who told Daryl and company about the zombie herd. With Gamma on the run, Alpha brings Negan into the woods all by himself — and for a moment, at least, we see Negan as scared as we’ve ever seen him. He blubbers and begs and peacocks a bit as Alpha makes him face away from her and strip off his clothes, sure this is the moment he’s going to finally die.

…And then when she asks him to turn around, she’s completely nude, as well — except for the aforementioned human skin mask. She tells him that a crass man deserves a crass reward, which is to say she’s going to take the skin mask to Whisperer town, if you know what we mean. Almost immediately, Negan adjusts his demeanor, turning into the snaky macho man we hate to love. He asks if she’s going to take off the mask; Alpha asks if he wants her to take off the mask. He decides that no, it’s kind of kinky and he likes it. Besides, it’s been a while (he’s been in prison for a decade, so not many chances to lay the barbed wire bat, so to speak), and he’ll take what he can get.

The final shot of the duo in the episode is the two from the side, completely naked (except for the skin mask), kissing in the woods.

negan and alpha sex scene the walking dead
Photo: AMC

It’s all pretty gross, but what’s most fascinating about it from a fan perspective is that it’s a riff on something that was implied, but never happened in the comics. There’s a classic cover to The Walking Dead #156, an issue that solely focused on Negan’s efforts to join The Whisperers, that featured Alpha in the skin mask and Negan holding her like they’re on the poster for Gone With The Wind. The implication to readers was clear, that two of the biggest villains in TWD history were going to form an alliance, both physical and spiritual.

That’s not how things went at all in the book. The cover was a swerve, and in the comic Negan slowly ingratiates himself towards Alpha, until he discovers that The Whisperers — who view themselves as no better than animals — allow rape. Say what you want about Negan (and there’s a lot you can say about him), at least in his mind rape is a step too far. He storms off, Alpha follows him, and the scene that follows (the issue was written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Charlie Adlard) is paced out so that it seems like things are leading up to the moment you see on the cover. Alpha breaks down, recalling her own rape, and how she drove away her daughter. Negan almost comforts her in this moment of weakness — when suddenly he pulls out a knife (the same one she gave to him earlier in the issue once she trusted him enough) and decapitates her. It’s revenge for what Alpha did to the heroes, cutting off their heads and putting them on pikes; but it’s also a trophy Negan can use to bring to Rick Grimes (who is still alive and present at this point in the book) to prove he’s trustworthy to their side.

The decapitation is also one of the more shocking moments in a book that has a surfeit of shocking moments. Alpha had been built up as the next big uber-bad, someone with even more resources and strength than Negan. And in one moment, he took that all away.

Will the TV show go a similar route? Possibly, particularly since Alpha finally trusts Negan in the same way she trusted him in the comics; and similarly, Alpha’s resolve on the Whisperer way of life seems to be wavering. On the other hand, the show has also been clearly building up Carol as the main antagonist for Alpha. So to take that revenge out of Carol’s hands, and put it in Negan’s, would be dramatically unsatisfying.

Whatever does happen, one thing is clear: hooking up with someone while they’re wearing dead human skin is real, real gross.

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

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