Review: #TWD S11x16 ACTS OF GOD #TheWalkingDead

Previously: Review 11x15 Trust

- S 11 x 16  ACTS OF GOD -

Directed by Catriona McKenzie

Written by Nicole Mirante

How I love a mid-season finale that brings some plot lines to a conclusion while digging others even deeper - I don't think it was the best of 11b, but there were some moments of real TWD excellence (my favourite episodes were No Other Way, Warlords and The Lucky Ones).  

We started with Hershel channelling the young Carl Grimes when told he had to stay behind while Maggie and her fearless crew of Lydia, Elijah and Marco went off to save 'some shit-hole of a home that's not worth saving'... though of course it is.  

I'm sure Negan understood that really - that Hilltop is precious to her for reasons other than Barrington House, which was worth blowing up to get rid of a few Commonwealth soldiers (Lancers?!).  Like she said, Hilltop is the people, not the buildings, a place where both her crew and those formerly of Riverbend can live - and she's not going to give up the place where Glenn is buried, without a fight. 

That said, it was sad to see the inside of the house now burned out, dank and dark, and imagine the ghosts walking down that grand old staircase, as it was back then: Tara, Jesus, Enid... and equally sad to see Maggie forced to leave Marco's body where it lay.

Incidentally, I was unimpressed that only Negan and (pregnant) Annie offered to go with Maggie to help—what about all those Riverbend men down in the Whisperer Wormhole?  She would have said no, but they could have offered, right?

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At least we've finally seen the last of Leah, possibly the most universally loathed character since Ed Peletier.  Sadly, though, I found myself a little unconvinced by the scenario.  For a woman known to off people without a second thought - including Pope, who was like a father to her - I thought it odd that she bothered to knock Maggie out, then drag her goodness-knows-how-far to the house, sit her up in a chair and, despite being a black ops style mercenary, tie her up in such a pathetic fashion that that Maggie could get her hands free in minutes.

Then, after the talk that baddies always have with the main character they're going to kill, just long enough to allow rescue to arrive, she gave the impression she was debating whether or not to pull the trigger.  I predicted the whole Daryl-arriving-in-the-nick-of-time thing before I even saw Maggie in the chair.  Of course he'd read the signs and knew where Leah was, and he had to be the one to kill her, but it just seemed a bit ... y'know.

Then again, maybe I'm being too cynical. Maggie surmised that Leah wanted her to suffer, rather than just die. Leah wanted her to know that she was going to kill everyone who mattered to her, like Maggie's people had killed Carver and co.

Maybe she looked hesitant about pulling the trigger because of what Maggie said about revenge not bringing satisfaction, or because Maggie's a mother (thinking back to when she couldn't kill that woman in 11x07 Promises Broken) ... or maybe (stretching it a bit here) she subconsciously wanted Maggie to kill her because she had nothing left.

Anyway - hopefully it went a little way to relieving the guilt that has plagued Daryl since the death of Glenn, one of the most pivotal points in his life, what with him considering it his fault (and we will never know if Negan would have killed Glenn anyway - will we?).

S7x14  The Other Side, when he apologised to Maggie about That Night.

Incidentally, I've always thought that part of the chip on Leah's shoulder - the bit that changed her from just fairly objectionable to the Wicked Witch of the East - is about Daryl dumping her for his old friends, Maggie included.

I liked the locust storm ... reminded me of Rick's last episode (except then they changed into helicopters).  Also, the subtle way Daryl, Gabriel and Aaron signalled to each other that their arrival at the vehicle graveyard heralded the right time for their mutiny to take place—the little looks between them.  

Something about they way they executed the assault felt a bit like the old days, and the vehicle graveyard setting was one of those perfect TWD sets; I'd so love to explore them.  

Just before Daryl put the final bullet into Romano's head, the information that Lance's plan was to 'clear the field' was surely the final confirmation of his true agenda - that no community refusing to be allied to the Commonwealth will be allowed to exist.

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Meanwhile, back at the Commonwealth, Eugene and Connie's Resistance gather to investigate the secret files stolen by Max, namely a list of all missing people with what appear to be co-ordinates showing where they are locked up/hidden/imprisoned.  I was rather disappointed that the files didn't have 'Top Secret' emblazoned all over them, like in a 1960s spy film, but it was good to see that Max was able to find exactly the information they wanted in the first file she opened, within about three minutes of Pamela leaving 😉.

Ezekiel's promise that he has a whole network ready to ride at dawn, and Max's low-key 'Let's Ride' would imply that, come 11c, this group will go AWOL on a mission to release many non-compliant former Commonwealth citizens back into the wild.  Will Mercer go with them?  I'm thinking reluctance at first, but joining them at the last minute.  Connie, in particular, needs to have a go-bag at the ready, if Pamela's fury about her Sebastian's heist article is anything to go by.

The way that Max's 'out of the box' idea for using the budget surplus to help the less fortunate was dismissed in such a patronising fashion suggests that Pamela contributes more to the Rotten Core of the Commonwealth than might have been evident previously; instead, she wanted to keep it for some upcoming 'event', which, presumably, is to show off the glittering façade once more.

Her statement 'We've found a reason to live when everything outside these walls is dead' was a pertinent one, I thought—bearing in mind one of the two highlights of this episode: that brilliant, horribly sinister and terrifying ending.  The way those red and black banners were unfurled was reminiscent of the Nazis, as was the rounding up of the Oceansiders.  Everything outside the walls isn't dead, Pammy, though it will be if Lance has his way.

Now all pretence is over, and Lance doesn't care who knows that his plan was always to take control of any independent communities.  Excellent, excellent ending. Seeing Commonwealth soldiers on watch at Hilltop was as impending-doom-laden as the trying-to-get-to-Hilltop sequence of the marvellous 6x16 Last Day On Earth.  Like, we've dealt with some bad stuff before, but this...

Judging by the state of Hilltop, this move by Lance can only be to show Maggie who's boss, though it has value as an outpost, a look-out, if Barrington House is not beyond repair - when Jesus first took everyone there, he said that the windows enabled them to see what was coming for miles around.

And once again our people meet up post-battle: bloody, tired, hungry - but alive.  This time, though, Daryl, Aaron, Maggie, Hershel, Gabriel, Elijah, Lydia, Negan, Annie, and everyone else who was involved now have nowhere to go.  Before, they could regroup back at Alexandria, but not any longer.  And the Resistance will have burned their bridges too, if they're riding out at dawn—but let us not forget that they still have Carol on the inside.  Everyone needs a Carol on the inside.  Before she does the sort of things that only she can do, I'm sure she can sneak them out a few cookies.  I wonder if she'll make use of that old winery she found in 11x10 New Haunts?  

As a Twitter #TWDFamily friend Charli said, it's in Part C that the magic will happen!

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The other highlight of this episode was, of course, Maggie finding common ground with Negan, at last.  I thought it was a perfect scene, touching but not over the top, and all the better for having been such a long time coming.  Means they can now work together, properly, without 'that' hanging over their heads, constantly.  Maggie and Negan make a great team, and with Annie a great three.

'You have big balls, Maggie Rhee.  I got you, and I got your boy'.

And as Daryl knew that he owed Maggie, Negan does too.

(ps, can I be really superficial for a moment and say that I loved the leather jacket Maggie wore in this episode?)

~ RIP Marco ~

Trailers for Episode 17!!!

See you in the autumn, thanks for reading, and I hope whatever you wish to happen in the final eight comes to fruition!

Review: #TWD Season 11 Episode 15 TRUST #TheWalkingDead

   Previously: Review: 11x14 The Rotten Core      

                                      

                     - S 11 x 15  TRUST -

Directed by Lily Mariye

Written by Kevin Deiboldt

I just love this picture of Ezekiel

I would love to be the person who designs Lance Hornsby's wardrobe - that waistcoat has to be the worst yet.  Also, isn't Gabriel getting more badass (and more handsome) with every episode?  'We're not going to take the fall for this' - ice cold!

Of course Cheesy Video Guy guessed exactly what went on at Riverbend, especially after finding Hershel's cap and seeing the tyre marks, but our crew are far too clever to allow him to prove it. 

When Lance pounced on Maggie's truck at Hilltop, so sure it would spring into action, I must say I wondered why Maggie didn't point out that her property is nothing to do with him and that the Commonwealth's laws don't mean sh*t at Hilltop - but yeah, I suppose better to let him look around, knowing that he wouldn't find anything, than to act like she has something she doesn't want him to know about.  

As for the location of Negan's group, I wonder if they've hidden down that tunnel at Hilltop that Sasha made in Season 7 (to hide from ... Negan). 

And I don't imagine for one moment that Hershel would have been Lanced into giving anything up - he's much too sharp.

On the way there, when Lance demanded that Aaron, Gabriel and Daryl got rid of the Walker herd in their path - seeing as they know how to handle themselves - the look in his eyes was an interesting one.  Not irritated (like when the truck wouldn't start) or in awe about how efficiently they dispatched them, but gleeful; I suspect he was thinking 'that's my crack team of soldiers right there' - given that his opening line to the Wicked Witch of the East (Leah) was to offer her a job, I wonder if this will be the case.

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At last we saw exactly what the 'Six Months Later' thing from 11x9 No Other Way was all about, anyway - and why Gabriel was standing with a load of Commonwealth soldiers in a blood stained t-shirt - I've been wondering about that since I first saw a picture of it, weeks back.

Lance appears to think he's more clever than anyone, that he's so above them all that he doesn't even care if they don't trust him, so sure is he that he will always get what he wants.  But he gives himself away, without realising; that psycho look in his eyes when he said 'Shame we couldn't be friends', to Maggie, and the way in which, once more, he unwittingly echoed Gregory: 'I'm a nice guy'.  

Sad bit: Hershel crouching by Glenn's grave (another reason why Maggie is determined to stay there, I am sure...).  Then walking away, to show us all the other graves, too.

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Dialogue award of the week goes to Ezekiel: 'Darkness is heavy.  Some of us carry more than others because we're strong enough to take the weight.  But we make the light.  You make the light, Carol.'

No, I don't think they'll get back together again ('cause, you know, New Mexico won't explore itself!), however much he wants them to, but I am sure they will remain very dear friends; that was a beautiful scene in the veterinary centre, when they sat by the wall in the dark. 

That appendectomy scenario I thought was a bit peculiar, though - were we supposed to know who it was, or was that not relevant?  Seemed a bit hurried through as a plot line, and ditto the sudden appearance of the veterinary medical centre that for some reason Carol hadn't seen yet.

Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, the founders of the Resistance are coming together - when Eugene asked Max to find 'secret files', it occurred to me that life and the years have made our people fearless, determined to get to the bottom of what's going on and make it right, whatever the risk.  Like they don't even consider that something might be dangerous, if it's got to be done.

There is no doubt in the minds of Rosita, Connie, Eugene and Kelly that the 'rotten core' must be exposed, however perilous.  I'm still waiting for Carol to reveal this 'other thing' she's up to, which I'm sure is more that just playing 'friend' to Lance Hornsby.

... then we have Daryl, Gabriel, Aaron, Mercer, Princess, Max, Ezekiel, Tomi, all acting against the rules of the regime - will this bring Yumiko in, too, as she is in a position of some power?  Or has she, like Luke, Scott, Kal and Eduardo, fallen into the TWD Black Hole?  She hasn't been seen in 11B yet, and Magna's only had one small scene.  I wonder if they were not popular characters so have been removed from centre stage?

When Ezekiel said this to Carol: 'You'd think being here would make life easier, huh?  Feels like there's a lot more grey instead.' I thought, it's not only because of the corruption - it's because they've been out there for too long.  As I mentioned in my review of 11x10 New Haunts, you can't just go back to pre-Fall life and (click fingers) adapt - maybe they could have if they'd found the Commonwealth say, after the prison, but since then there have been years and years of Alexandria, Kingdom, Hilltop, and independence from the corruption and general BS of totalitarian regimes, which it is fast becoming clear that the Commonwealth is.

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'Drink deep from the cup of knowledge and listen to your teachers'

I did love seeing Carol delivering Judith and RJ to school, though, and meeting up with a nice man with an umbrella (clip below).  Though I wish Judith would put the hat back on, to go with the Rick-style cowboy boots she wears! 

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I thought the scenes with Princess and Mercer were most interesting - we saw yet more sides to him.  All the doubt that comes with his inner conflict about having killed Sebastian minions Alves and Castle, and generally what is the right thing to do; should he turn a blind eye to the corruption to keep himself and Max (and Princess) safe, or be a force for change?  

All in all very much 'the calm before the storm' as all good Episode 15s should be (preferably without too many heads on spikes) - next week looks like all out war - with the Wicked Witch of the East on the opposing side with plenty of weaponry.  Guess she hasn't forgiven Maggie for killing her chums...