#felixcarlucci

10x11: When he yells at Mary and Aaron for fear that Adam is in danger. I think this is such a pivotal moment for him and really defines him as a father. He was clearly co-parenting with Earl by this point and they both had the same goal: to protect Adam and to make sure their home was a place he could keep living (Added to the fact that Alden was always trying to play mediator for Earl). Alden gets a lot of hate for this scene but that doesn’t make much sense to me, because if any other character saw one of the people they assumed left their kid to die walk up to their kid without permission, they’d be pissed too. It’d be weird if he wasn’t. He had no knowledge of what Mary did for them in Alexandria because they were blindsided by Aaron’s insistence she see Adam. And this scene comes after Alden offering to talk to Aaron about Mary so that Earl didn’t have to, which seemed to imply that he was willing to hear Mary out and try to calm down Earl himself instead of coming at him with no warning like they had done, because he’s always been rational. But his speech is my all time favorite of his because he’s angry, and Aaron tries to tell him not to be, and he continues to defend his emotions because as a father figure, he’s allowed to want to protect the baby. “If I die tonight, it’ll have been for everything we’ve been trying to build for him,” really touches on the two most important parts of his character, which is his family and his love for Hilltop (and he didn’t die that night, but when he does die, it is still for his family and community in the end). Also, this is the scene he actually calls Earl a father to him so it’s extra special to me - and a scene almost immediately following this is when Earl hands Adam to Alden, a foreshadowing that Earl is about to die and Alden is going to step in as Adam’s father. And everything with Mary following this is just so lovely to me, because as soon as he lets his guard down, he not only lets her spend time with Adam, but he asks her about her sister so he can have a better understanding about Adam’s family. She was very important to him and he was ready to welcome her in as family, which makes him putting her down later even sadder to me. 

11x03: The church scene. In some way, he was always a voice of reason for Maggie, even before they were friends, and he could always read her in a way that not many other people could. He can tell she’s struggling with the decisions she’s made along the way, and he once again reminds her what’s at the heart of this mission, and that’s their community they have to get back to. He’s literally dying and bleeding out yet he’s more concerned about how she’s doing mentally, which is just very fitting for him and that dynamic. Because he’s aware that soon, he won’t be there for her anymore and he’s trying to accept that and prepare her for that. Also, I just love the speech he gives her about why he chose her as a leader, because he was following her lead even when he was still her prisoner and I feel like a lot of people forget this. He was team Maggie/Hilltop the second he got there and it didn’t matter where he stood with them, she had his support, she had his rationale, she had his friendship whenever she was ready to take it. He has always been team Maggie and it’s really special to me that he spent his last few moments with her trying to give her one last pep talk, because he’s always good at that. So many people say his death was for nothing but I’d argue it’s so pivotal to Maggie in this regard, because he symbolized hope, and finding him dead after they “won” the mission was a reminder that there wasn’t actually any winning. It’s a tragic death but one that I felt said a lot about who he was as a character in general. 

8x13: Trying to calm Henry down. We get a lot of insight about him in this conversation, about his background, about the way he sees himself in Henry, about how he came about, etc. This is one of the multiple examples of him having no regard to the threats posed at him directly; Henry is pointing a gun at him but he still feels like he can reach him and he still tries anyway - because he’s just a kid who has this valid anger and Alden relates to that and knows that whatever Henry wants to do right now isn’t going to make him feel any better. I think this is probably one of the scenes that really solidified Alden as my favorite character. I just really like this dynamic and I feel like there was a lot of missed potential when Henry came to work at Hilltop years later. Really this whole episode is an Alden goldmine because of that, the “I’m glad you see them that way, as people” quote + the “Do you think we’ve got a reason to be loyal to these people?” 

9x11: Alpha’s bringing Alden and Luke to Hilltop, and they see Adam for the first time. Something so brave about screaming at his captor who has no real reason not to kill him, all because of a baby he’s just seeing for the first time. To echo my number 1 scene, how could he not be overprotective of Adam after what they went through in this episode? Obviously the Whisperers were already terrifying and had him captive for who knows how many days - but there’s a new level of disgust for the way they disregard human life that he reaches in this episode (which isn’t too far off from his own experience, given that he was a worker at the Sanctuary and we know they weren’t even called by their names). I just feel a lot of things about him silently following Alpha’s lead to try to calmly get back home, but the second he hears the baby, he refuses to be careful anymore.  I know that we never actually get to see Alden with Adam once he is officially his only parent, but there’s just so much evidence of how he’s looked out for Adam all this time and I think it’s a really neat narrative that starts with this scene.

8x16: Telling Maggie he wants to stay in Hilltop. Like I said earlier, his relationship with Maggie is so important and it’s based on the fact that they both see the potential and the magic in Hilltop and they both want to build it up to be something really special - Maggie with the heart of the place and Alden in the physicality of it all.  Going back to the Sanctuary was clearly not ever something he cared to do; he saw Hilltop for what it was and wanted to be a part of it, but he was willing to work for it. Being a worker at the Sanctuary vs. working for something special at Hilltop was so different and he believed in Hilltop and wanted to help it keep growing. And this is the basis of his entire character - everything he does, he does for Hilltop and the people in it.  If Maggie hadn’t left, we would’ve gotten to see their friendship really grow - but I enjoy that we see evidence of that in season 11 anyway. He’s by her side, but he doesn’t blindly agree with her on everything; he’s not afraid to push back if he feels he has to and I think that’s part of what’s really strong about their friendship. 

0.  Yes I’m cheating with this but I’m making the rules. Jesus and Aaron / Siddiq and Rosita are my favorite ships on the show but neither were confirmed / had the chance to go anywhere. Trying to list only the canon ships but it would be wrong for me to NOT say something about these two, you know me, you get me.

I don’t know if the rest of these are ordered correctly but whatever!!

1. Eric and Aaron.  Literal apocalyptic husbands, there’s so much love there  even if we don’t see them often, I feel like we learn so much about their relationship anyway just based on certain little moments between them. They’re so special to me.

2. Bob and Sasha.  I think Sasha and Abraham were exactly what the other needed at the time they got together and in the end he was probably the best match for Sasha, but every single scene of Bob and Sasha just gives me so much serotonin, I can’t not put them here. BOTH these ships are so good to me and so fitting for Sasha for different reasons imo.

3. Tara and Denise. They balanced each other so much oh my god oh my god I will always cherish those little awkward moments at the beginning of their relationship that just felt so much like normal life. 

4. Rosita and Gabriel. I know this ship gets a lot of hate and there was a time when I was very frustrated by things happening between them, but people who say this came out of nowhere and makes no sense are simply incorrect <3. They balance each other well and the way he stepped in and changed plans in 10x10 so she didn’t have to admit she was scared is always so special to me + everything he said about her in 10x16, my biggest chef’s kiss. Honestly I liked all of Rosita’s canon ships for different reasons, excluding Abraham. I love them but in a way that I am Fine if they are not endgame.

5. Magna and Yumiko. I put them here with the disclaimer that I thought their breakup was necessary, both for their dynamic and for the narrative given that they were split up, but I do hope there is some resolution for them by the end, where they can find their way back to each other with the right footing. I do feel like there’s a lot of missed potential in 11B to just showcase how different their lives are at the Commonwealth to really add to it, but alas. Regardless I’m excited to see what happens for them next. Also they’re two of my favorite characters, so really <3

Honorary mention to Dwight/Sherry because they’re one of my favorite ships in the whole TWDU, but because of Fear, not necessarily because of TWD. Obviously what they went through was horrible and it’s difficult for me to watch any of Sherry’s scenes in TWD at all because, well, obviously - but it’s because of all they went through and the way they’ve found each other again in Fear that makes them one of my favorites.