Pamela Milton becomes more unhinged as Eugene becomes a wanted man
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: “Variant”
Season 11, Episode 19
Airdate: 10/17/2022
There are five episodes left of “The Walking Dead” after this, and I can’t believe that Eugene of all people is playing quite the critical role in getting the show to its endgame.
Indeed, Eugene and Max play that critical role in “Variant” as they are both wanted by the Commonwealth Militia for their role in Sebastian Milton’s death. Everyone in the group is detained about Eugene’s whereabouts, and no one budges. Max gets caught first, but Eugene holds on from Father Gabriel’s church until the end, when he makes the deliberate choice to stop hiding and be brave for once, turning himself in and making it clear (falsely) that he acted alone in order to protect the love of his life, Max.
Eugene’s sacrifice, while noble, is ultimately in vain. As the end of the episode with Rosita shows, the Commonwealth is coming after the members of our group anyway. What they’re going to do with them is anyone’s guess.
Pamela Milton becomes even more unhinged during this hour, submitting to her grief and allowing her darker instincts to consume her. After visiting Lance, she literally decides his fate with the flip of his coin (the same coin he used to decide the fate of the people of Oceanside), and while the odds were in his favor, she makes him feed the walker Sebastian with the corpse of one of Lance’s own henchmen. While Lance may be a “big bad” of the season, he may not be THE big bad after all, if things continue to go sideways for our group.
The episode’s other plot is seemingly standard fare, until one particular walker stands out. Aaron leads Jerry, Elijah and Lydia on a trip to get supplies to Oceanside, when the group gets diverted to the remnants of a Renaissance Fair. Having seemingly diverted a herd of walkers and taken shelter behind stable walls, they’re surprised to find them inside the walls of the complex.
Eventually, while fighting the herd off, they’re surprised to encounter a rather intelligent walker. At first thinking it’s a Whisperer, Aaron literally pulls its face off to discover a bloody human skull underneath. Shaken but undeterred, the group then continues on.
The variant walker isn’t nearly as big of a deal as the promos made it out to be, but it was an intriguing diversion and a unique way to tie the series to “World Beyond.” I’m not sure we’ll get more exploration of this kind of walker before the end of the show.
SCATTERED OBSERVATIONS AND NEWS UPDATES:
– The fact that we have yet to confirm Oceanside’s fate after “Acts of God” tells me they landed on the wrong side of the coin and they’re probably all dead.
– The lighting in the morgue made this look like a CW show.
– Eugene putting up his dukes to fight Daryl was hilarious, and I’d like to think Daryl was laughing on the inside.
– That scene between Rosita and Eugene felt like an unofficial goodbye between the two. If it was, it felt rather appropriate that Eugene made his own decision instead of being guilted into it by Rosita for once.
– I do not care about Lydia and Elijah as a couple, but Cassidy McClincy is still a great actress.
– Also a great actress? Lalia Robbins. She’s doing the role of Pamela Milton justice.
– WHERE IS DOG?
– Something I forgot to mention: during the last episode, Lance mentioned powerful alliances that may be jeopardized due to his fall from grace? Could he have been talking about the Civic Republic Military? Could this be the way to get Rick on the show one last time?
– Something else I forgot to mention: the opening credits have been extended slightly to include every main and supporting cast member. That’s super cool. Good stuff!
