Daryl and Dog reunite with an old friend, and we get a more complete look at The Reapers
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: “Rendition”
Season 11, Episode 4
Airdate: 9/12/2021
Maybe it was just because of the way she was introduced and then hastily discarded, but I never liked Leah all that much. I guess she was an important character because she was the one who finally got Daryl to open up romantically, but I was never given proper time to care about her, so her brief stint on the show did nothing for me. But hey, without her, we wouldn’t have Dog, as she was the dog’s original owner.
Leah returns in “Rendition” with much lighter hair and surprise, surprise: she’s a Reaper. Not just any Reaper though… it looks like she’s among the higher euclpon, calling many of the shots.
She still appears to have a soft spot for Daryl though, despite the fact that she willingly tortures him. It appears that Leah’s old group, the mercenaries that she traveled the world with before things went bad, was what became the Reapers. It also appears that their religious cult-like mentality and general brutality hasn’t always been their calling card… it’s a recent development.
Their actual leader, Pope, looks like a small town hardware store owner, but he sounds and acts absolutely terrifying. And it’s even more terrifying that he seems to have full knowledge of Daryl and Leah’s romance. There is absolutely nothing more terrifying than a villain that knows that kind of information.
What the Reapers’ undoing will likely be, however, is the fact that they don’t know of Daryl’s actual connection with the rest of our survivors. He does the best he can to convince Leah and the others that he doesn’t know Maggie and company, and it appears to have worked, as he’s accepted into the group’s ranks near the end of the hour, after saving Leah from a fire that they set themselves.
Daryl and The Reapers get the full hour this week, and I’m not sure if that was for the best. I think that the last thing that this final season needs is character focused episodes, but this one does what a lot of others didn’t: it appears to move the story forward. Despite this, I’m hoping this Reaper business gets wrapped up before the end of this third of the season.
After all, the Commonwealth is still out there. And as we’ll see next week, it’s a lot more interesting.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS:
– Meridian is an absolute dump. Alexandria looks better, and that place is in complete ruins. I can’t believe Maggie set up shop there.
– Also, where are all these supplies Maggie was going on about? The Reapers look like they’re in rough shape too.
– Next week, in addition to getting a better look at the Commonwealth, we check in on some of our survivors as they sift through what’s left of the Hilltop Colony in the latest stop on The Walking Dead Community Ruins Tour.
– Daryl, I understand the need to get out of that burning wooden room, but maybe throwing the discarded wood into the flames wasn’t the best idea in the world.
– Pope is delightfully creepy. That actor (Ritchie Coster) plays unhinged so well, especially in that final scene where he kills one of his own men with only his boot and a campfire.
– Dog was a bad dog this episode, and should get no treats.
