The Walking Dead is back! Season 11b kicks off right as it left off back in October. Alexandria’s ravaged by storms. The cracks are showing in the Commonwealth’s facade. And Leah has taken over The Reapers from my favorite evil Ned Flanders. Plus there’s still a Massive Firework Cannon to worry about. And that’s before we factor in the interpersonal messes. Negan and Maggie have gained a weird respect for each other thanks to The Reapers. And Leah may still have feelings for Daryl, even if they’ve grown a tad murdery as of late. After all, nothing says “I love you” quite like a good makeshift missile launcher.
**Spoiler Alert** for other similar romantic gestures.
1. Get Right Back to Where We Started From
We pick up minutes after our last episode. Leah watching like a cold tyrant as her super firework cannon explodes both zombie and occasional human. Maggie does manage to escape, finding shelter behind a hidden door. Negan brings a wounded Elijah along with him. Apart from Negan suggesting they gather the food they can and run, it at least sets up the dynamic that’s carried through the first part of the season. These two may hate each other, but they can work together.
2. Alexandria… Not Much Better
Anyway, it’s day now. Wonky Walking Dead timeframes return. After the harsh storm, Alexandria is still battered. Enough for the walkers to get into homes. Gracie and Judith fight off what they cat, before Aaron rushes in for the save. The flooded basement gives us that great close quarters tension. And props to Ross Marquand for his physical work in the scene, Spider-Man-commando crawling on a ceiling pipe to avoid the walkers. He does manage to crush one of their heads underwater (with his bare hands too).
Bit of a note on the gore, I don’t know if Greg Nicotero picked up some new blood packs or something over the break, but both this scene and Meridian had some A+ viscera. The underwater effect looks great in particular. But bear in mind that standard violence disclaimer applies. If the crushing head doesn’t freak you out, the floating eyeball following it might.
3. “You Save Your Family. I Save Mine.”
Maggie and Negan take down Carver. But Daryl stops them from delivering the killing blow. Much to the chagrin of Elijah, who wants revenge for Josephine Instead Daryl uses him as a bargaining chip with Leah, ensuring that both “families” get to walk away. It seems to go smoothly, until Maggie takes matters into her own hands. She takes down the Reapers, wounding Leah in the process. Mostly to help give Elijah some sense of closure, but greatly disturbing Negan in the process. This scene’s a nice bit of character work, riding on the very complicated feelings Leah and Daryl have for each other, but with the added ingredient of Maggie’s increasingly swift and brutal methods.
Gabriel watches over the action in the sniper position, taking down Leah’s guy on the roof. He gets his own bit of character work the scene before, exploring his crisis of faith with the Reaper zealot Mancea. The preacher dwells on the fact he no longer feels like he can hear God as the murderous death cultist espouses his personal relationship with The Lord.
This show’s at its best when the characters are in focus, And these scenes gave us some of the best character driven storytelling we’ve seen all season. So far at least.
4. Alden..?
Maggie may have dispatched The Reapers with no problem. But returning to the church and finding Alden turned was rough. Both on her and on us as the audience. Lauren Cohan’s still great, and selling the killing of her friend very well. But then Negan confronts her, making it clear he knows she’ll off him at the first opportunity. But while the dramatic music builds this up as their final battle, Negan instead chooses to walk away. I doubt Negan will stay gone. Jeffery Dean Morgan remains a fan favorite. But it was an interesting moment between the two characters
5. Wait a minute! A happy ending? In The Walking Dead?!
Continued belowThe Alexandria crew is runited. Even with the loses and Negan’s departure, it’s still a rare sense of joy for these characters. Especially with Daryl finally back in the settlement after a tense stay with The Reapers. It’s easy to forget in these moments that you’re watching a show where things routinely get worse with every episode.
But then things get worse.
The Alexandria crew take to their battle stations as a white armor clad battalion of Commonwealth soldiers march into the settlement, But maybe it isn’t a frightening as we’re led to believe, when Eugene runs out to talk his old friends down. He introduces Lance Hornsby to everyone, who speaks highly of their work (both past and present). He offers the Commonwealth’s assistance in rebuilding, much to the excitement and relief of the entire populace.
But then things get worse.
The scene gets a blue filter and a title card tells us it’s “six months later.” Maggie finds herself face to face with an oncommoning Commonwealth army.
But then things get worse.
The leader pulls his helmet off to reveal Daryl Dixon has seemingly joined the other side. How this happened will hopefully be explained in the coming episodes. Whether they stay with the time jump or were just offering a teaser, it was certainly an intriguing ending to a solid opening kickoff.
