I was a bit disappointed with the Negan/Whisperers/Beta interactions.
I thought he was going to provide more lolz, say more outrageous shit like in the one comic bit, and then get beat down for it.
Perhaps that's coming.
One thing I found odd, and maybe it is similarly confusing in the comics...
Negan seemed to escape with no real plan, then he decided to go join up with the Whisperers by attacking them (sorta)?
One wrong swing of that bat and they may have just killed him instead of giving him a shot to join.
Fast forward and he makes it clear he wants to join, which in itself seems very odd to me.
He was a prisoner at Alexandria, yes... but he was treated fairly well considering what he did, and he did establish some relationships in Alexandria, most notably with Judith, but I am to believe he decided on a whim to go join Alpha and the Whisperers and wear zombie skin and work towards murdering her?
Seems likely his whole thing this last episode will be revealed to be a ploy... he will get inside and help destroy the Whisperers and earn his freedom.... either death or real.
Negan is no dumbass- Like him or hate him, he is crafty.
Killing that lady accidentally puts him back at evil negan status.
Michonne barely has a handle on things.
He also likely knows from Lydia and his own assumptions that the whisperers are coming.
He also understands psych ops- he used them himself. He likely knows Alpha is going to crush the communities spirit and then crush the community the moment lydia comes running back to her.
He made mention in the first couple episodes that uneasy citizens would inevitably lead to a dead Negan and the writing was on the wall.
So- He is in a bad light once again, he has no ability to talk lydia in to staying, he sees her persecution, and he knows lydia has one foot out the door.
He takes off.
He obviously had no intentions of going far. He was going to take the woman and the kid back to the community. (he would not go himself, but he would get close enough)
In the comic, he was joining the whisperers specifically to destroy them and gain ricks trust.
It looks to me like they are presenting it on the show as a result of 8 years of bullshit treatment... only to reveal it was his effort to single handedly do what the council seems unwilling to do.
To be honest, Michonne appears paralyzed with fear and none of them are really good at planning much. Rick was the logistics expert.
Negan destroying the whisperers fits him- crafty, psychotic, and most certainly self serving when he comes back. It saves him from having to go off and start from scratch, and he likely does care about the people in alexandria to a degree. He bought in to the life if not necessarily the leadership.
Perhaps we see the whisperer carol caught escape- perhaps we see daryl try and get him before he gets back to the camp. perhaps that leads to a daryl beta showdown, and a last minute Negan intervention when daryl is beaten. Seems par for the course.
As far as LOLS on the Beta Negan meetup- Negan did push his buttons enough to get him to attempt to kill him- The comic was funny but in reality Negan still pushed him over the edge comically enough.
I think the interactions become much better now that Negan has status. As a peon, he was at the edge of getting his throat cut several times.
