A blink-and-you-missed-it scene in Fear the Walking Dead may have given away a major plot reveal for The Walking Dead season 10, as the series may have teased the true identity of Beta (Ryan Hurst), one of the current antagonists on the flagship show. Season 9 of The Walking Dead kicked off the Whisperer War, which will continue into season 10. The two main villains of this storyline are Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Beta. The Whisperers are responsible for the deaths of multiple main characters.
In Fear the Walking Dead season 5, episode 14, “Today and Tomorrow”, Daniel (Ruben Blades) and Grace (Karen David) are gathering supplies when Daniel comes across several old vinyl records. Daniel tries to take them back with them so Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) can listen to the Traveling Wilburys. In their rush, the records are dropped, and for one brief moment, the cover of one of the albums can be clearly seen. It shows the face of a bearded man with a hat.
A new theory on Reddit suggests that this person may be an existing character in The Walking Dead universe. Though this doesn’t look like anyone viewers have seen on either show, it does look a lot like actor Ryan Hurst, who plays the character on The Walking Dead. As one of the Whisperers, Beta wears a zombie mask which hides his identity. Since it never comes off, Beta’s face has never been shown on The Walking Dead, which is why it would be surprising if Fear the Walking Dead showed it first.
Unlike Alpha and other members of the Whisperers, Beta never takes off his mask, and for a very important reason. Being a Whisperer is a part of who Beta is now. It’s so wrapped up in his identity that he keeps it on at all times. In the comics, Beta is so protective of it that he will not hesitate to kill anyone who dares to remove it. But when Beta’s mask is finally removed in the comics (and for a very good reason), people recognize him as a famous basketball player. Perhaps instead of being an athlete, The Walking Dead TV show makes him a former musician.
Beta is Alpha’s most loyal ally and, hence the name “Beta”, is her right-hand man. Beta’s ruthlessness and willingness to follow Alpha’s orders shows that he is one character who has totally accepted his life as a Whisperer. Given his importance to the current storyline, how he came to be this way is a mystery that season 10 may explore. If it’s true that Beta was a blues singer, country singer, or some other kind of musician prior to the zombie apocalypse, this reveal could shed some light on why he never takes his mask off. Being famous could cause Beta to be recognized just like in the comics, which would make it more difficult for Beta to completely disassociate himself from his past life.
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