With four episodes left to go, this hour slows things down. A lot.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: “What’s Been Lost”
Season 11, Episode 20
Airdate: 10/23/2022
I don’t want to say this episode was terrible. I’m not going to tear it to shreds. But, I will say that this was the most that I have disliked an episode of The Walking Dead in quite some time.
That’s quite a shame, because there are a couple of pivotal, shocking moments that move the story closer to its endgame. It is an important episode, but it just feels so… empty. There were certain choices made in this episode that seemed like the wrong ones. Primarily, killing Lance Hornsby. It’s not just because I really liked Josh Hamilton’s acting. It’s because there was plenty of story potential in keeping him around. Killing him off with an arrow to the neck seems like an anti-climax of a moment. It’s a shocking moment and yet another comic diversion, but it seems like a wasted end. While seeing Daryl and Carol turn completely into cold psychopaths in that moment was kind of cool; the whole thing felt like leaving money on the table.
To recap… Daryl and Carol are the only members (at first) of our group that appear to have escaped the clutches of the Commonwealth militia. Everyone else, even the children, that were still inside of the Commonwealth’s walls, other than Yukimo (likely because she’s earned acceptance into Pamela’s cabinet somehow) have disappeared. That is, except for Connie, who subdued her attacker and is still hiding out in the community. As the end of the episode shows, everyone seems to have been loaded on buses and are being shipped out of town, but to where? My guess? Back to their homes in Virginia… which may look radically different. The Commonwealth didn’t forcefully colonize the communities for nothing.
Yukimo, rightfully, is pissed. When she confronts Pamela in front of her entire cabinet, Pamela essentially tells her to play ball or face the consequence of never seeing her friends and family again. “Playing ball” means prosecuting Eugene in what would likely amount to be a sham trial. Yukimo, at the urging of her brother and the approval from the jailed Eugene, at first agrees. But during a press conference, she completely changes tune, and announces that she’ll be defending Eugene at his trial instead. No one in the Commonwealth cabinet looked pleased, especially Pamela. But Pamela has other issues as well.
Namely, Daryl and Carol continuously thwarting their forces and escaping the city. They spring Lance from jail so that he can help them navigate their way out, they finish off walker Sebastian for good, and they leave a trail of blood and guts everywhere. Daryl gets separated from Carol and Lance fairly early on, but Daryl stows away under a Jeep in order to save the pair when the Commonwealth catches up to them. Again though, they off Lance when he’s no longer of use to them and after he brings them to a working train that will take them where they need to go. I know Lance probably needed to die, and he had some good scenes with Carol that subtly telegraphed his final fate, but I wish he got a much bigger and better exit than this.
Overall, this was an action packed, yet slow episode of the Walking Dead. Despite everything that happened, it felt underwhelming.
There are now just four episodes left of “The Walking Dead” and there’s quite a lot to wrap up. Can they even get anywhere close to doing that? We’ll see.
SCATTERED OBSERVATIONS AND NEWS UPDATES:
– The Daryl/Carol montage narrated by Judith at the beginning of the episode really hit all the right notes in terms of nostalgia. They really are the dynamic duo of this show. It’s a shame this episode wasn’t really worthy of that pairing.
– Also worth noting about the time jump from Season 9 to the present: seeing Carol’s old hair makes this show feel like it‘s been on the air for ages. Longer than it actually has been on the air, even. Also her new, current hairstyle actually makes her look 10 years younger.
– Wait, has Carol still been working in the bakery during this entire story arc? When did she find the time?
– DOG IS STILL ALIVE. THANK GOD.
– Hearing Daryl say “Pamela” is so weird. It’s like the most country person you know speaking a foreign language. It feels… strange.
– Lance really took so much abuse in the last few episodes. It’s almost a miracle he’s lasted this long.
– Where is Maggie? She just vanished off the face of the planet after the opening scenes of “A New Deal.”
– Seeing Yukimo walk through the large crowd of people while following one of Pamela’s men was one of the first times that the Commonwealth has felt like a modern American city. It was very good camerawork on the part of the show’s crew.
– The next episode is called “Outpost 22” and spoiler alert: that’s Alexandria. Here’s a fan photo confirming it:
