All you had to do was follow the darn train, Daryl!
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
The Walking Dead: “Outpost 22”
Season 11, Episode 21
Airdate: 10/30/2022
I correctly predicted that Outpost 22 was Alexandria. But viewers don’t find that out until the end of the episode, when the prisoner buses pull up at the gates. I’m not sure why this episode is called “Outpost 22” when it appears that most of the action there occurs next week. But whatever.
For an episode that features a literal train heist, “Outpost 22” felt like a lot of filler. There’s not much to talk about her, even if the episode wasn’t terrible. Negan and Ezekiel appear to forge a shaky alliance inside the work camp after Negan’s wife is taken, and Carol and Daryl catch up with Maggie, Gabriel and Rosita. The latter group tries to figure out where everyone (and Connie, who was captured by the Commonwealth after all) was taken, and after they capture a Commonwealth soldier and Gabriel gets through to them, they find out more information about the train. After hijacking and stopping the train, they find out that Outpost 22 is Alexandria.
What’s more interesting is when they find out that “Designation 2” is what Connie’s fate is supposed to be. What exactly Designation 2 is has yet to be discovered by our group, but my guess? It’s the Civic Republic.
The mentions and hints of Rick Grimes have been toned down a lot since “A New Deal.” But at this point, we’re extremely likely to see Rick at least one more time before things wrap up.
But before we get there, we’re finally heading back to Alexandria for a substantial amount of action! It’s been awhile! See you next week!
SCATTERED OBSERVATIONS AND NEWS UPDATES:
– The writers and actors of “Fear The Walking Dead” really should take notes on how Seth Gillam performed Father Gabriel’s religious monologue to the Commonwealth soldier. That’s how you deliver and write something that is incredibly cheesy without it coming off as silly.
– I appreciated how Ezekiel called out Negan for basically running a personal harem at the Sanctuary way back in Season 7. If Negan is to be a good guy and especially if you’re trying to redeem him, that has to be addressed at the minimum.
– I’m having trouble caring about Maggie now, and I think it’s because I know she’ll survive this series and get her kid back. There’s no tension with her story or her fate, and I think announcing her spin-off in advance really did Lauren Cohan a disservice.
– No mention of Lance, at least not one I heard. Bummer. He shouldn’t have been discarded like that.
– There are only three episodes left after this and I fail to see how any of this is going to be wrapped up satisfactorily. But we shall see if they can pull it off.
