Season 11 of The Walking Dead premiered on Sunday, set to close out the acclaimed series, adapted from the Image comic series. And at the start of this final season, things are bad for our friends down in Alexandria. Food is scarce. The last horde chased away most of the animals in the area. Ezekiel, Eugene, Yumiko, and Princess are held captive by The Commonwealth. And oh yeah, Negan’s there too. Considering that Maggie was just elected leader, it gives him reason to be paranoid. She’s mad at him for some reason. Wonder why?
Just a heads up, there will be spoilers below. But it’s Walking Dead, so you know things probably won’t end up going too super well for anyone.
1. Maggie Gear Solid
(I wanted to call this section something like “Daryl Gear Solid” at first, but then I realized that was just Death Stranding. I’m very proud of this joke)
The episode opens with Daryl and Maggie leading the raid on the old Army base mentioned last season. The mission demonstrates their efficiency and competence from years of experience. They repel in, dispatch the sleeping walkers (they do that now) before they can wake up, and almost make it out without too much disturbance. Almost. After catching a broken pulley cord, a single drop of CGI blood shakes the zombies awake. But our heroes leap into action, dispatching them with silent weapons like arrows and throwing knives. Carol doesn’t mess around, and mows a few down with an assault rifle. The team barely escapes with the MREs they came for, but sustain zero casualties. Carol even returns Daryl’s thrown knives. It’s a great introduction to the group, establishing their sharpened skills, while illustrating the threats they’re up against.
If this is your first episode of The Walking Dead, you instantly know what to expect from these characters, and the world that surrounds them. But while they successfully retrieve the food rations…
2. AlexandriOH NO
…Alexandria only has a week of food left. Even with the rations just scavenged from the fort. Fights break out in the dinner lines, as Gabriel tries to keep a brave face on the situation, falsely assuring everyone that there’s plenty of food for everyone. But as everyone returns, Lauren runs into some old friends from Meridian, giving her an idea. Meridian has plenty of food. It’s all just a matter of clearing out the Reapers. Which is much easier said than done. Most of the group agrees it’s a suicide mission, but enough volunteer to go. And when they leave, they bring Negan with them.
While there’s a mountain of legitimate reasons for no one to trust Negan, Jeffery Dean Morgan’s performance almost makes you feel sorry for him. He drifts between the bombastic psychopath and why is everyone so mean to him with remarkable ease. There’s a moment at the end of the episode when I legitimately thought he and Maggie would make amends. I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t, but I briefly thought it was a possibility. Part of it may that earlier in the episode, Negan accused her of bringing him on this suicide mission solely to kill him “in the jungle.” And following exchange (consisting mostly of Negan egging her on) ends with Maggie pulling a gun, yet choosing to spare her husband’s murder, claiming there was still enough of the old her left.
3. Raindrops keep falling on my dead
All of this happens in an old Washington DC subway tunnel. The group heads underground for shelter when a storm drives them out of the streets, The subway scenes are some of my favorites in the episode. The sound of air forced through the pipes almost grind through the scene as they enter. Negan calls it “God telling us to turn around.” Gabriel follows it with a very sullen “He would have run that by me first,” which is the kind of cheesy I personally appreciate. Further down the line, there’s water lines on the tunnels, letting us know this tunnel is prone to flooding. It’s not overly subtle since Negan explains it to the audience, but it still raises the stakes, and lets us know their shelter isn’t nearly as safe as they hoped.
Continued belowThe dozens of walker filled body bags they find also help raise the stakes. Just a bit. What’s strange is these zombies all have their throats slit, nearly to the point of beheading. There’s questions about whether or not these bodies were from the before-times. What this is establishing remains to be seen. But if they’re going to drop a random mass grave into the plot, I’m going to be real sad if it doesn’t get something towards the end.
4. There’s a B-Plot too
Ezekiel, Eugene, Yumiko, and Princess are held by the Commonwealth. Each is brought into an interrogation room, put before a man and woman in suits, while guards clad in white cosplay armor escort them around. Mercer, the most important one, has orange armor. At first I thought it was red, but Ezekiel called it “pumpkin colored,” so I was clearly mistaken. Each is subjected to a series of questions over the course of seven hours. Often these questions are repeated. Many times, these questions are weirdly personal. They’re asked about their arrest records, health records, and even how many bowel movements they have a day. Ezekiel challenges Mercer, asking if he was an “asshole beat cop” in his old life. He also chooses to hide his cancer, despite coughing up blood in front of the pumpkin-armored guard.
The questions themselves are supposedly just “level one” of the Commonwealth’s entrance process. Those that pass will be moved up to “level two.” Those that don’t will be “reprocessed.” It’s worth pointing out that interviews like these are typical cult recruitment procedure. And judging from the guy who was taken from his cage and “reprocessed” after saying he was here for somewhere between four-to-nine months, this may not be a coincidence.
5. Cults and Cheese
I don’t know if the way the four of them escape is tonally appropriate or not, but I kind of love it. Princess has somehow managed to figure out that two of the guards are lovers, strictly through just paying attention. The two are carrying on an affair, having sex during shift changes, leaving their armor out in the open for anyone to take. So, they simply grab the unguarded armor and walk out the backdoor. But they turn back as Yumiko finds a letter addressed to her on their Wall of the Lost. The armor fits perfectly, in case this wasn’t B-movie enough. Again, this is cheesy in the best way. For an otherwise strong opener, I did appreciate a few otherwise uncharacteristic bits of camp charm. I won’t say it didn’t take me out of the episode somewhat. But I do like how Princess’s super power is just noticing stuff.
