The Walking Dead Coverage: The Hilltop Gets the Finger                                   

For comic book fans, The Hilltop Colony is a large thriving 200 member society which becomes integral to the Survivors. But as we know, the TV series periodically reworks details. One individual will face death as a substitute for another, character roles and traits are spread among the players and new characters have been introduced.

Will the TV series follow suit with the communities and cause The Hilltop to go the way of Sophia? In the comics, Sophia grows into a teenager and develops a relationship with Carl. But on the TV series, she met an early demise back at the farm in Season 2, which contributed to one of the worst episodes in the show’s history.

Almost all signs point the finger of liability, betrayal and expend-ability to The Hilltop. When Rick and company first witness the brutality of the Saviors in the series at The Hilltop, it is already in the Saviors’ bullseye. Their production has been substandard, one of those who deliver goods to the Savior outpost has been murdered and the head of the Hilltop leader, Gregory, has been demanded.

In the comics, the first direct attack by Rick Grimes and his Survivors is after Negan’s visit to Alexandria. On the tv series it is at the behest of The Hilltop. After the attack, Negan has successfully blocked all routes to The Hilltop, begging the question how much Negan knows about the arrangement between Alexandria and The Hilltop? Did he know who incited the hit on the outpost? Was he already encircling The Hilltop before he determined the Alexandria survivors required a course correction?

Carl’s stowaway trip aboard Negan’s trucks also begins at Alexandria in the comics but at The Hilltop in the series, further implicating The Hilltop for punishment. In addition, Simon’s visit to Gregory appeared to indicate more than once that fallout may be pending. Noting their sudden evolution and ability to fend off walkers before Simon’s Saviors could act, and pushing Gregory to reveal “something,” it’s easy to infer their betrayal is known and they may be ripe for total destruction.

And after all, what does Negan do with a community that no longer pulls it weight? Was the destruction of the library and the use of its leader’s death in taunting the Survivors as they tried to find a path to The Hilltop at the end of season six foreshadowing of a similar destruction of The Hilltop? And might Negan truly be enamored of the suburban sprawl of Alexandria, his “vacation home,” and prefer to trash the trailers of the Hilltop?

But perhaps more importantly to the TV series cannon, season six belabored the homage to Deanna’s plan to expand Alexandria and develop more self-sufficiency with fields of crops. Instead of destroying Alexandria which we’ve already seen suffer and rebuild once, perhaps destroying The Hilltop where episode 5 introduced almost no residents, is the answer. The fickle finger of fate rests upon The Hilltop and seems to be morphing into the beckoning finger of the reaper.