It’s time to press rewind and go back to the Whisperer war arc of The Walking Dead. When all hell broke loose, and we witnessed some of the most bizarre villains in the series. As a fan of the comics (I’ve said this a lot by now) I really wanted to be satisfied with this arc, as it’s such a memorable part of the comics (especially Alpha’s death). Sadly, I can’t say I was as impressed with the direction the show took. But at least Beta (Ryan Hurst) was a menacing enough villain in the end. Who was he exactly? If you’re looking to be reminded, you’ve come to the right place.
Who was Beta in The Walking Dead?
In the show, Beta’s a country singer (he was known as Half Moon), whereas in the comics he’s a former athlete and actor. Although the series gave him more background, it wasn’t as critical considering he didn’t want anyone to recognize him. I mean, the man literally killed people for even recalling that he was a country singer (not that I fully blame him…yes that’s shade). Most importantly he developed an intense dynamic with Alpha (Samantha Morton) and was incredibly loyal to her as the right-hand man.
Throughout his time on the show, he was a very vicious character. He was physically large, possessed extreme endurance when it came to pain, and was very violent. Considering the deranged ways of the Whisperers, he wasn’t your average post-apocalyptic survivor. Everything he did was in service of his group, what they believed, and Alpha as their leader. And ultimately that lead to his demise because he was overcome with revenge over Alpha’s death.
His character was your typical man filled with anger from loss and wanting to escape himself. Thankfully, Ryan Hurst knew how to capture his character and embraced the ridiculousness of his death, caused by Daryl (Norman Reedus) and a horde of walkers.
(featured image: AMC)
