Review: #TWD Season 11 episode 11: ROGUE ELEMENT #TheWalkingDead

  Previously: Review: S11x10 New Haunts

            - S 11 x 11  ROGUE ELEMENT -

Directed by Michael Cudlitz

Written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick

So I was wrong about Eugene having sussed out Fake Stephanie, then... I wonder if Mr Cudlitz was assigned to direct this episode because it starred his old buddy?  And if he's tempted to leap in and become Abraham again, to show him what's what? 😄

A month has passed since the last episode, so everything has moved on ... Eugene and Fake Stephanie's relationship, Connie establishing herself on the Commonwealth Tribune, Carol getting friendly with and being of use to Lance Hornsby, no doubt to slowly and secretly further a future cause or two down the line, in the way we know and love so well.  Already she's made an ally out there: double-crossing opium grower Moto's lieutenant with the bandaged wrist.

Hornsby talked about giving them a 'raise', but I wonder what form that payment takes?  

For a while, when they were riding out and dealing with the Moto situation, I thought Cheesy Video Guy seemed not so bad; I almost started to like him.  The conclusion I've come to, with all his scenes this week, is that whether or not he likes Pamela Milton or agrees with her strategies isn't the issue; his primary objective is looking after Number One, and he will do whatever is necessary to keep himself in clover.

Despite him coming clean to Eugene, I don't think we've learned anything like the whole truth; what exactly was the motivation for this plan to get them all to the Commonwealth?  It can't just be that they need more workers, and I'm sure altruism doesn't have a great deal to do with it.  

I liked how Eugene's 'lame-brained misadventure' was played out a bit like The Hardy Boys, with the spooky foreshadowing music, etc, and him seeing conspiracies where Princess thought he was simply unable to accept that Stephanie had just dumped him.  However, many so-called conspiracy theories have their root in truth, and of course Eugene ended up being at least partially right.

...and my guess is that Roman Calhoun has other responsibilities aside from those of a plumbing nature.

Princess was great this episode - I like her more and more all the time, especially how supportive she was when she tried to explain to Eugene the workings of the world and affairs of the heart, without being too brutal; I loved this: 'You can think you know someone then find out you never even met them'.  What a great line.

Poor Eugene reacted so typically to his first experience of heartbreak—the obsession, the reluctance to accept reality, going totally off the rails.  I hope he's got another copy of that novel.  Or that Shira (as we now know she is called!) made one.

...at least Real Stephanie has show herself at last!  And she appears to be Mercer's sister; didn't expect that.  I wonder if they're both being kept in some kind of stranglehold by the Miltons.  It gets more and more clear all the time that Mercer is not happy with how things are.  He doesn't seem like the type of guy to put up with BS in order to have a safe roof over his head; maybe he just accepts it for his sister's sake.

As for Connie, I was a little unconvinced by her actions this week.  She's smart as well as intelligent and a warrior for justice—as the new kid in town I thought it unlikely she would have been so outspoken with her boss, insisting that they reveal the true story about Tyler and investigate what's really going on.  She's no timid flower, but her style is usually one of diplomacy, charm and subtlety, especially as she doesn't yet know exactly where the other woman's loyalties lie.

Anyway... who do you think put the list of names under Connie's door?  I think it was Mercer.  I imagine that Eugene, Carol and Connie's investigations and questions will come together at some point to show us what goes on behind closed doors at the shiny happy Commonwealth - but not for a while.

And here's Rosita looking fabulous ;)

Other stuff I liked:

• Connie's boss's comment implying that the 'news' is nothing more than a paraphrasing of Pamela Milton's press releases - how art imitates life, eh?
• Eugene's totally OTT, Carrie Mathison type wall, with all the pins and connecting threads.

• Mercer splitting the Walker's head in two!

Next week: back to Alexandria - and Hilltop and Oceanside

Review #TWD S 11 x 10 NEW HAUNTS #TheWalkingDead

 Previously: Review S11x09 No Other Way

                    S 11 x 10  NEW HAUNTS

Directed by Jon Amiel

Written by Magali Lozano

What with the excellence of last week's episode and then this one, it seems criminal that TWD is coming to a close!

Good move to jump straight to Day 30 of our crew's stay in the Commonwealth—we've already seen the initiation process with Eugene's group, and we saw 'acclimatisation to the ways of an established community' when they moved to Alexandria back in 5B.  This is different for Daryl, though, in particular; having taken on responsibility for RJ and Judith, he can't semi-opt out like he did before. 

It was hard to know what he was thinking when they said they'd want to stay at the Commonwealth even when Alexandria is fixed up.  He looked sad, though, like he wished home and connections to the past mattered as much to them as it does to him.  I assume he wants to go back, but he's got to bear in mind what they want now, as well.  

Something about the way Pamela Milton mentioned 'the Alexandria thing' sounds like its 'fixing up' isn't happening any time soon, though.  Can't see her providing labour and materials to set them back on their feet, then waving cheerio and leaving them to go their own way.

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So Carol's looking great and making cookies again, but in spite of her saying to Daryl 'Maybe we won't have to do anything to make it work' (Daryl: 'No, there's always something we gotta do to make it work'), she's up to her old tricks, doing her innocent, friendly 'I'm such a klutz' thing to get what she wants on the QT—this time, stealing keys so she can find out about Ezekiel's treatment, and being her usual resourceful self in order to bribe Cheesy Video Guy with the decent wine he needs for Pamela Milton's Hallowe'en party.  

She's alert, taking everything in as usual—remember in 6x01 First Time Again when Morgan asked her if she was a cop; he said, 'You're always watching.  You always seem ready.  You know ... how to handle things.'  Spot on.

I know everyone wants Daryl and Carol to be together (as do I), but there is something I love about her and Ezekiel's relationship.  The easy affection.  Their scenes together this week were so touching—I love his open, kind, honest face, and it was heartbreaking to see Carol finding out the truth from Tomi, but deciding to keep it from Ezekiel.

Love this scene, when they're together...

I'm not going to comment on Daryl's happy face when he talks to Connie (oh dear, I just did); I don't have any predictions about what's going to happen there. Though we know Daryl's not going to end up with Connie because of the Caryl spin-off, right?

Aside from affairs of the heart, though, I am sure Connie will do her job as an investigative journalist a lot more thoroughly than Pamela Milton realises.

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Sinister undercurrents apart, there is something I find kind of saddening about most of our friends being at the Commonwealth.  Yes, it's great that they're out of the reach of people like Pope, they have food and shelter, it's a delight to see Jerry and Nabila doing normal family stuff with their children, RJ and Judith having a carefree childhood, etc—but you can't go back, Bob, and to try to recreate life-before-the-Walkers will probably not work for those who've been 'out there' all this time, because their experiences over the past twelve years have made them different people.

This was epitomised by Rosita saying it was weird to be worrying about money again—with all the dangers and hardships of life from Atlanta to Hershel's Farm, to the prison and Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom, came real freedom, the strength that evolves from making your own life or death decisions, and the discovery of inner resources that would have stayed forever hidden had the world not changed.  

Look at the abused wife who became the super-smart apocalyptic warrior.  The 'redneck asshole' who found a brave, honourable leader in a corner of his psyche.  The socially inept nerd who was scared of everything, but dared to play Negan at his own game, and set off on horseback to find the woman he'd fallen for over the airwaves.  The self-serving priest who learned the meaning of self-sacrifice.  Can they surrender their new improved selves to the petty whims of Lance Hornsby?  They don't need anyone telling them how to live...  

So no, I didn't like seeing Daryl in his Commonwealth soldier get-up (though his legs did look good in the white shiny stuff!), or Judith in her girlie frock.  It felt like it's just temporary, until they can get back to freedom and living life on their own terms.

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Teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs time: Mercer organising Daryl and Rosita into Walker-slaying practice teams in the 'kill house', reminded me of Aidan and Nicholas showing Glenn and Tara how to do supply runs in 5x12 Remember.   Rosita's mature, wise personality was inclined to just do what she had to and keep it zipped, but Daryl is more stubborn and confrontational.  (btw, something I've always loved about Rosita is that there's never any ego stuff going on.  There's never any fuss or drama, no unnecessary confrontation or drawing attention to herself; she just gets on with it.)

Despite this daft exercise, Mercer obviously saw that Daryl is The Man when it comes to dispatching hostiles.  Something the loathsome Sebastian doesn't want to admit - props to Daryl for letting him pretend he'd captured Tyler, later, to impress his mother who clearly isn't that impressed by him, generally.  Nice move.

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Mercer seems like he's one of the good guys underneath the pumpkin coloured space suit, and I reckon he'll turn out to be an ally.  I liked what he said to Princess before inviting her to be his plus one up the red carpet, and the way in which he rebuffed the steward who called her out about dress code.  Love them as a couple!

I thought at first that he and Daryl were going to be locked in the Battle of the Alpha Males forever, but I think it might evolve into mutual respect.  Not least of all because Mercer clearly thinks Sebastian is a dick, too.

(Incidentally, have Rosita and Gabriel split up?  When she talked to him about looking after Coco, it sounded as though they have separate abodes: 'I'll come by tonight to pick her up.'  'You know, why don't I just keep her overnight?'  Have I missed something?)

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And so to the exclusive party, and I'm pleased that we're being given big hints that all is not fine and dandy, straight away—from Connie asking Pamela Milton about the class divide and not receiving a proper answer, to lottery tickets that allow lowly workers to party with the elite, to Real Stephanie being called 'Max', to Tyler shouting that that's how it is—you screw up, you lose everything.

What with the regime sounding a bit like a social credit system, and Milton's speech ('Brick by brick, block by block, we're putting the world back together') a longer version of the 'Build Back Better' slogan of our world, it does sound as though the Commonwealth is something of a totalitarian regime—and we can't imagine Daryl, Carol, Rosita, Magna, etc., putting up with that for very long!

Other Stuff I Liked:

• When Ezekiel gave Shiva's collar to Ezra - everyone say aaahhh!  Also sad, because it gave the impression that he knew he wouldn't need it for much longer.

• Discovering that Daryl's spiky ball on chain weapon thing is called the Morning Star—I always wondered why 10x11 was thus named!!
• That Judith's introduction to the world of pre-Walker music was Motorhead's 'Eat The Rich'.  Bet it reminded Daryl of the old days with Merle.

Here's a good trailer for what's coming - appears that Maggie's crew are not having such a great time of things, Leah's still around, Princess appears to be locked up and looking a lot less princessy, while Eugene is in emotional tatters....

Is the Resistance an actual movement?  Are there people who have been cast out of the Commonwealth?  I've got a feeling this third-of-a-season is going to get better and better—I just want to see them all living happily at Alexandria again, really!  We'll see...

Review: #TheWalkingDead S11 x 07 PROMISES BROKEN

 Previously: Review: 11x06 On The Inside

- S 11 x 07  PROMISES BROKEN - 

Directed by Sharat Raju

Written by Julia Ruchman

One of those lovely moving-all-the-storylines-along-nicely episodes, with loads of stuff to mull over!  A friend on Twitter told me that some viewers are getting frustrated with the pace of the Maggie-Negan thing, but I think it's a necessarily slow development; the resolution will mean much more if the suspense/path has been gradual.  As for the Reapers, as soon as we saw their faces they became less frightening, but that's the nature of the beast—the unknown is always more terrifying.  It will all pan out beautifully and the story arc will work its own magic, I am sure, because the writers and story editors of TWD are just the best.  Ditto the Carol and Daryl thing that so many are waiting for - a journey, not a destination!

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Promises Broken ... some in the Commonwealth, Daryl's to Leah, Leah's to Pope, but I believe the most important was that made by Gabriel to Maggie, i.e., that if he saw any Reapers on his scouting mission he would kill them.  That he was unable to kill a fellow man of the cloth will, I think, have dire repercussions somewhere down the line.  Something about the way in which Mancea asked God to guide him, then said 'Thank you' as he looked in Gabriel's direction.  Did he see him?

Then there's the promise that Maggie and Negan shook on, but she hasn't broken that one yet.  When Elijah asked her if Negan has changed, it seemed like she thought he had, but made a cautious reply to keep herself on guard.  Maybe also because she needs to maintain her hatred of him or she would feel she'd betrayed her son, and Glenn's memory.

The trailer for this episode implied that they might be about to reach a new understanding, but this is TWD and this is Negan—nothing is ever going to be as you think.  

When Maggie was visibly upset (great bit of acting by her) at him saying that if he could go back and do things differently he would have killed them all, you can understand her shock, but I think he was showing respect for her, in a twisted kind of way, by being honest.  Showing himself, cards on the table, no smoke and mirrors, warts and all, because, as he said, that is the only way things will work.  It doesn't mean he's going to kill them all now; Season 7/8 were many years ago and a different world.  Now it's up to Maggie to decide whether or not she can accept his honesty.

I totally love Negan at the moment... great little scene here: 'This is not fun' 'Not with that attitude'.  Then the Whisperer Masterclass.  Every skill comes in useful in the apocalypse, and none more so, at times, than learning how to utilise a herd of Walkers as an effective weapon!

More than ever before, we were shown his side of the age-old rift with this question: 'How did Aaron get Gracie?'.  

Remember Rick killing a man presumed to be Gracie's father in 8x02 The Damned?  Also, as Negan pointed out, the Saviors massacred in their sleep in 6x12 Not Tomorrow Yet had friends, girlfriends, just the same as Glenn, Abraham and everyone else.  Negan wished he'd killed them all so that no more of his people would die.  Same as anyone, about their community.  One thing he's not doing that he should, though—he needs to show Maggie that he understand how she feels.  How he knows what it's like to lose the person you love.  Show just a bit of compassion for the fact that Hershel Jnr will never know his father.

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So to the Commonwealth, and it doesn't look like our four are getting help for Alexandria any time soon.  There is so much afoot that we're not seeing yet—no clues about about what's really going on with the clearly very scared Tomi who insisted that 'you have to know your place' before being hauled off by the white space suit chaps - for what?  The 2 x Stephanie situation is equally as baffling—though Real Stephanie is obviously concerned that Eugene is okay.

I wasn't convinced by Pamela Milton's son Sebastian—I thought his reaction to Eugene and Fake Stephanie made him more like a pantomime character than we usually see on TWD.  Comedy zombie apocalypse.  Twelve or so years in, surely he would have noticed Walkers so close to him (hearing them?  Smelling them?), and been grateful for being saved, and his girlfriend looked like she'd never seen one before, though granted if they've been hidden away somewhere like the place in World Beyond, or wherever Rick is, she might have been sheltered from them.  Sebastian is potentially a great character, but I think he needs making a bit more ... realistic.

As for Eugene in the cell, I don't believe for one minute that he's about to give up Alexandria.  He's way too sharp for that these days; he'll have something up his sleeve.  The cowardly cleverness that persuaded Abraham to act as his protector has evolved, in a good way; now, as was evident in the Season 8 finale, he is capable of working out detailed strategy—patiently, quietly and effectively.  

And I still think he's got the Stephanie thing sussed out.  But it looks like he might need Yumiko to do that favour for Cheesy Video Guy.

It's possible that Ezekiel's got something going on, too—the delight with which he returned from seeing the doctor seemed somehow faked, for the sake of the guards.  Btw, I like the friendship between him and Princess very much.  They seem to gel really well. :)

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Back at Meridian, Daryl is making friends and Leah is pissing off Pope by backing up the inept soldiers, who clearly don't have Daryl's tracking skills.  Pope accused her of doing so to make them like her, but I thought it was solely for Daryl's benefit.  

Though she kind of blew it all later, when she and Daryl were on the hunt and they talked about the Reapers' taking of Meridian; she appeared to think it okay to kill people and steal their home and food.  If Daryl had known she was like that before, I doubt he would have been with her at all, attraction or no attraction.  

In this world, what you will or won't do to keep your people safe and fed is what separates the good guys from the bad guys.  

Later, when she found the family and let the father and son go, then was unable to put the mother out of her misery, I thought that was more because of her memory of the boy she adopted, rather than genuine compassion for the people concerned.

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So the grave wasn't for Alden as I feared last week (phew), and Elijah wants to be the one to kill Pope, no doubt even more so after we saw what was clearly his sister, now a Walker.  Dodgy moment there, followed by a lovely one as Maggie took his hand.  Elijah seems far too switched on to have blown it by letting his emotion ruin the plan, though.

Episode sevens usually do a grand job of setting the scene for the part-season finale, and this was no exception.  The final scene promised great things to come for next week - a bit of déjà vu from 10x15 The Tower, too!

Next week:Various Trailers on Youtube

btw, I was wondering if Elijah's sister was the same Walker as the Michonne lookalike in 4x09 After.  If not, they look very alike.  Look at the cheekbones.

Elijah's sister - what a terribly sad scene.