Squeeze

"Squeeze" is the ninth episode of the tenth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the one-hundred and thirty-ninth episode of the series overall. It premiered in February 2023. It was written by Corey Reed and directed by Andrew Lincoln, who previously portrayed Rick Grimes in the series.

Plot
The Group plan their escape route from a hopeless situation while Alexandria receives a visit from an outsider.

Synopsis
Rhys, Carol, Aaron, Jerry, Connie, Kelly, and Magna recover from the fall in the cave where they are trapped by an enormous horde. Alpha, with a torch in her hand, looks at them from the top and Carol shouts at her in anger. Alpha leaves the cave, ordering the Whisperers to not let them escape. She drops the torch and walks away, putting her mask on.

In an effort to escape, Magna attempts to climb a wall, but fails. Aaron tells her it's too high to reach, so the group starts seeking other avenues of escape. Kelly points her flashlight on a boulder and Aaron suggests they move forward by jumping on the rocks. They make it to the other side. A walker grabs Kelly's foot and Jerry cuts its arm off, giving it to Rhys.

As the group moves through the cave, Kelly points out that they don't have enough food to stay there forever. Jerry assures her there has to be an exit since walkers managed to get inside. Connie asks Carol if she's fine, to which she agrees. Rhys notices that she has claustrophobia. Magna confronts Carol and Rhys about them pursuing Alpha and getting all of them trapped. Aaron responds that they don't have time for quarrels.

Back in the Whisperers' camp, Alpha informs Beta and Gamma that their enemy has crossed the border and they were heading to the National Park where the horde was located. Beta says they've underestimated them so Alpha assumes that they've sent spies beyond the border and assigns more guards, before sending Gamma to carry a message to their spy in Alexandria. Negan watches the exchange silently.

In the cave, the survivors rest and try to get together. Aaron tells Rhys and Carol he's tired of their reckless actions and wants them to stop seeking revenge. Rhys agrees and apologizes for how he's acted. However, Carol answers that she wants Alpha to suffer for all she's done, but Rhys reminds her that they're not fighting for vengeance, but for their future. Carol considers this then promises she won't fool them anymore. Meanwhile, Magna investigates the stone maze with a lit match and is ambushed by a Whisperer. The group engages in a fight and kills several Whisperers, before deciding to follow the ones who escaped to find the exit.

Elsewhere the next day, Negan encounters Alpha at the camp's latrine where he tells her about a possible traitor among them, and suggests that it may be Gamma. Alpha holds a knife to his crotch and tells him not to sow paranoia in the camp, warning if he’s wrong she’ll cut his balls off. She then tosses him into her bathroom ditch and leaves.

Back in the cave, Connie consoles Carol and the group starts to squeeze through narrow tunnels. Carol suffers from claustrophobic attacks, but overcomes them. Some walkers appear from the holes, forcing survivors to speed up. Jerry gets stuck in a hole and two walkers try to chew on his feet. Rhys tells him to remove his armor, and he successfully squeezes through. Kelly checks on his shoes and assures him he wasn't bitten. Magna spots sunlight and nearly falls into a massive hole. Rhys lights the walker's arm and drops it on the bed of the cave, displaying part of the horde.

At Whisperers' camp, Alpha asks Beta about Gamma's whereabouts. He notices she didn't make it to the border, so he's sent four scouts to help her in case she gets caught by the traitor. Alpha implies that Gamma is the traitor and wants Beta to track her down and bring her to the camp alive so she can kill her in front of the whole pack. In the cave, the group enters into an old mine station where they find a blockade and possible exit. Kelly finds a box of dynamite and Jerry asks her to lay it down carefully. Magna shares with Aaron her feelings about fighting with Yumiko.

Back in the Whisperers' camp, Alpha takes Negan deep in the forest. When they stop, she orders him to undress. Negan, thinking Alpha's about to kill him, admits the power he had over the Saviors turned him into a monster. Surprisingly, he turns around to find Alpha fully naked. She says he deserves a crass reward for detecting the spy. Negan's amused because she will keep her mask on and wonders if she'll decapitate him like a female praying mantis afterwards, but doesn't receive any answers. He says he'll take his chances and the two kiss.

In the cave, the group keeps digging for a way out through the mine ceiling when Rhys notices that both Carol and one dynamite stick are gone. He finds her all the way back, trying to climb a wall and find a good place for the stick to explode and destroy the horde. Rhys says she'll kill herself in the process and eventually convinces her to stop. He then tries to pull her up but the dynamite falls and explodes underneath them.

The cave begins collapsing while Jerry holds a beam to allow the others to escape. Kelly and Aaron make it to the surface and kill some Whisperers. Connie runs back to find Rhys and Carol, forcing Magna to follow her. They find them and help them escape but encounter more Whisperers coming from behind. Magna and Connie stay back and kill several Whisperers to protect Jerry, but he cannot hold the log anymore and leaves through the hole. The rest of the dynamite immediately explodes and the cave implodes, trapping Magna and Connie inside.

Aaron tries to excavate through the debris as Kelly falls to the ground in agony. Rhys tells Aaron it could take weeks to reach them as he starts to sob. Kelly states that the explosion will attract walkers and Whisperers in the vicinity and they should leave because they won't be able to help Connie and Magna if they die. Carol rants to Rhys, blaming herself for all their troubles and pleads him to admit that it's all her fault. He ignores her request and tells the group to head home and inform everyone they found the horde, while he'll find the other entrance to the cave.

Supporting

 * John Finn as Earl Sutton
 * Kerry Cahill as Dianne
 * Alex Sgambati as Jules
 * Avianna Mynhier as Rachel Ward
 * Kenric Green as Scott
 * David Shae as Alfred
 * Nadine Marissa as Nabila
 * James Chen as Kal
 * Anthony Lopez as Oscar
 * Gustavo Gomez as Marco
 * Margot Bingham as Radio Woman
 * Jackson Pace as Gage
 * Mandi Christine Kerr as Barbara
 * Tamara Austin as Nora
 * Karen Ceesay as Bertie

Co-Stars

 * Antony Azor as R.J. Grimes
 * Anabelle Holloway as Gracie
 * Heather Gilliland as Teacher
 * Austin Freeman as Alex
 * Camille Robinson as Brianna
 * Ross Crain as Whisperer
 * Rae Olivier as Jen
 * Vince Foster as Wayne
 * Marvin Lee as Kyle
 * Micah King as Lio
 * Autumn Azul as Azra

Deaths

 * Several Unnamed Whisperers.

Trivia

 * This is the second time in which there has been cast changes (which include additions) during the seasons run.
 * The Following are the changes made to the cast.
 * Avi Nash (Siddiq) has been removed from the opening credits.
 * Matt Lintz (Henry) has been added to the opening credits.
 * Lindsley Register (Laura), Thora Birch (Mary), Sydney Park (Cyndie), Dan Fogler (Luke), Angel Theory (Kelly) and Kevin Caroll (Virgil) have been upgraded to series regulars.
 * Despite being upgraded to series regulars in this episode Dan Fogler, Sydney Park and Kevin Caroll do not appear in this episode.
 * Alex Sgambati (Jules), David Shae (Alfred), James Chen (Kal), Anthony Lopez (Oscar), Gustavo Gomez (Marco), Jackson Pace (Gage), Mandi Christine Kerr (Barbara) and Tamara Austin (Nora) have all been upgraded from co-stars to 'Also Starring ' in this episode.