User Reviews

11x09 is without a doubt the best episode of Season 11 so far. It features nonstop action that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. This is one of the few episodes where you can actually feel the tension, dread, and horror. I loved what they did with Daryl, Maggie, Negan, Aaron, & Gabriel in this episode. The reunion scene towards the end was so heartwarming, followed immediately by an INSANE ending with Eugene showing up to Alexandria with the Commonwealth army. There's so much to look forward to now with the full group being introduced to the Commonwealth and I can't wait to see how the show deviates from the comics here. The six months later final scene was WILD with Daryl now being a Commonwealth soldier storming the gates of Hilltop with Maggie overlooking. Crazy how little of new episodes there are for the show, so I'm doing all I can to cherish each one.

11x09 was definitely the best episode of the season to me & one of the best ones in the past few seasons!

No Other Way is full of thrills and action. It's been a long time since I've been genuinely that afraid for a character, but what they did with Aaron was absolutely nerve racking. He survives, but Alden doesn't, and Maggie's reaction to it is tear jerking. Can she catch a break ? She's losing everyone, it's tragic.

The Meridian Battle comes to a close, and we get a fantastic hallway scene. Carver has way more skills than I thought, and the actor is sensational. That smug face he has. Holy smokes. The highlight of the episode for me comes when Elijah asks Maggie to get justice for his sister and you feel the wheels turning. Everything slows down for a second, and you know you're about to witness something huge when the music kicks off. Maggie goes on a killing spree, and god is it hypnotizing. I actually felt bad for Leah at that point.

Negan goes on its own, which makes total sense at that point. You know he knows Maggie won't stop thinking about killing him. It's all the more natural. Once again, the tension is there, but when he walks away, you're just like 'Oh that makes sense !'

The episode is great at showcasing different points of view. Gabriel is outstanding once again. Daryl's philosophy suggests that they're doing it wrong and should stop killing and fighting. Maggie goes deeper in this path, and justifiably doesn't trust Lance Hornsby, and probably never will, which makes for a fantastic reveal at the end of the episode, when you find out there is a time skip. Daryl is now with the Commonwealth and states there is no other way.

I want to end this review by mentioning the cinematography. Everything in this episode is top notch. From the camera shots, to the transitions, you are never disappointed. The music enhances it all, and the tension is real. The flood scenes are well done and well lit. Meridian has its own vibe and atmosphere. Oh, and on a brighter note... Daryl and Connie's reunion will put a huge smile on your face. Well done.

But I'm gonna talk more about some things that bothered me.

First of all, I think it's a great second part opening with some not-that-great conclusions to the loose ends of the last episodes.

What I liked about this episode was how badass Gabriel has become and what a far cry he is from season 5. Great character development for Gabriel. And Maggie looks like that she doesn't give a sh anymore and it makes her more unpredictable and interesting.

The ending scene of "Six Months Later" with Maggie vs Daryl that's now a Commonwealth soldier was also really interesting but it's obvious that they're trying to mislead us and it's not actually what it seems. Because I don't think this matches the personality of Daryl. He might be undercover or they probably work with each other but Daryl is starting a rebellion against Commonwealth and Maggie is opposed to that. I don't know, we'll see.

So what actually bothered me in this episode?

Well, I gotta say that this is a thing that has bothered me for quite a while, and it's especially more apparent and obvious for me in season 11 from the beginning.

It's the feeling that some scenes are just phoned in and they don't flow naturally.

For example, Aaron needs to get into the basement through a window from outside. What happens next? They just cut to a scene of him already inside the basement. Doesn't it really feel like they cut the shot of him going through the window?

What about the next scene with him on the pipe? He needs to get out, but we again cut to the next scene focused on a rope and we see Aaron is outside now without any establishing shot of him actually getting out through the window.

Like is it a budget thing? Did the actor not fit through the window? Because the window seemed big enough. Is it a time constraint thing? Like you couldn't include the 2 second shot of him going through the window? At least do some cuts and editing like Edgar Wright does (which he actually includes the establishing shots I'm talking about in those quick cuts) so the transition from "he's inside" to "he's outside now" isn't jarring.

Like do you get what I mean? It's like if we saw Daryl and Beta staring off and lunging toward each other, then it cut to a scene where the dead body of beta is in the arms of Daryl. See what I mean?

This might seem a really small nitpick, but these little things altogether break the natural flow of the scenes and make some events and actions of the characters seem artificial and phoned in, instead of the writers coming up with something that feels more natural.

Another thing that bothered me, is how in the hell did Maggie know about the hidden door in the infirmary? Does Daryl know and he told her? We don't know! Maggie has been here before? We don't know! Not even Carver knew, because if he knew he would've checked, so HOW does Maggie know about that?

After that, we suddenly transition from Gabriel killing the other priest to Maggie running from Carver? Hello? Did I watch a bootleg version of this episode or what? Did they just cut 2 or 3 minutes of Maggie and Negan coming up with a plan and how even Maggie got Carver to chase him, and said "yeah, it's fine, it's more surprising for the audience"? That's not how you make a surprising scene! At least show Maggie getting out of the hidden wall trying to grab something and Carver finding her and trick the audience into thinking she's done goofed.

I don't know why they decided to cut those shots or even not film them at all, but they are necessary into making the scenes transition naturally and not be immersion-breaking. I mean the camera already stayed for a long time on Maggie crying for Alden, which I don't remember if she was that close to him or not to cry like this for him. But they definitely could've included those shots in here too. It also seems like some people had an issue with her just putting her hands on his face, and I didn't even think of it when watching the episode. But yeah, it kinda stupid to do that.

Those were the only complains I have and I hope as we go forward, we have less of these scenes that feel forced and artificial, and more of natural flow of scenes.

What an amazing episode.

The action was nuts with it being so tense with maggie going savage mode on all the reapers. And im glad the negan and maggie feud is practically over now. Its ramping up now!

Remember when this show used to shockingly kill our favourite characters and we would watch each episode in fear? I do. What happened to that? The action is great, camera work and cinematography on point, but where are the consequences? I watch every action sequence almost bored cause I know that none of our protagonists will get hurt, it's so predictable... No one of importance has died in the final season of TWD? Do you need all of those characters for the upcoming spin-offs?

I love this episode but i wish rick grims is back but maggie do everything thing good in this episode am happy to see the walking dead like that and great job angel kang for tihs.

What a excellent episode. I think so this episode is one of best episodes of whole series. There is so much action and character devalopmant. Gabriel's moment was such a good. I was sad for what happens to Alden. I liked him.

Questioning and the testing Father Gabriel's beliefs and commitment- Bad Idea- even for a fellow man of the cloth.

Negan fights best when he improvises and fights dirty especially against a martial artist like Carver.

Maggie seems to be worse than a starving shark when she starts to smell blood and I'm starting to wonder if deep down inside she is starting to enjoy killing people. Perhaps partially inspired by the fact that she outlives all of her boyfriends.

Snipers should always have a spotter watching their backside.

Its difficult doing acrobatic types of stunts with only one good hand.

Daryl assuming the role of the moral compass of the group takes a little getting use to, but his change from loner to leader feels organic for the most part. Sometimes you just have to thin out your potential girlfriend herd.

Per usual Negan reads Maggie likes a book and having the utmost sense of self preservation he takes his leave before Maggie slits his throat while he is sleeping or something similar.

The burning piles of bodies felt a little like it might have been COVID inspired.

Eugene finally makes himself useful for the group as a whole, even though the 6 month time jump cliff hanger reveals apparently not everyone was on board.

Best Line: "Nope, this isn't Jenson"

9.5/10 Great way to start the end.

Everything was great except Nigan's departure - Common Wool give a community, Nigan might save them. Make-up, stage directing, writing, all of these topics being great. There was no problem except short time. It felt like the last season but it was the best part. Negan is as great as ever. Thank you Walking Dead. Morsi Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

The episode isn't terrible but it isn't one of the best. The reviews are making it seem as if this episode was so great and one of the best but it really wasn't, firstly I don't get the point of letting Leah live if you're gonna kill all the reapers why leave a boring character like her alive. Secondly, I think more ppl from Maggie's group gotta die like the dude with the mask it's so obvious which character is gonna live and which ones gonna go.

At least "The Reapers" arc was mostly wrapped up by the end of this episode, thank goodness for that.

I didn't like the incredibly lazy (off camera?) way they wrapped up Alden's arc, I'd be pretty upset if I was that actor. I guess he can join the "Walking Dead did me wrong" club with Carl, Noah, and Beth (and many others).

I also don't like how this series is heavily relying on CGI for zombie effects now, they look so bad compared to the zombies from season 8 and earlier.

My biggest issue with this series as it stands, though, has to be the plot armor.

No conflict involving Negan, Daryl, Maggie, Carol, Judith, or Grace, has any actual tension, because "we know" they can't die. AMC broadcasting that this franchise will never end, means certain characters "can't" die.

The "Daryl dies and we riot" crowd won, and we are all worse off for it.

Great Episode loved most parts of it. Seeing Daryl wearing the Commonwealth Armor looks weird lmao still nice. But I don't like that Negan parted ways in the first episode of the 2nd part other than that great.

*heavy spoilers*

Maggie did what she did because Negan told her that if he could go back he would kill all of them. Maggie has become a great character again

There was great action in the classroom with the chokehold and with Maggie, Elijah and Negan struggling against Carver in a small corridor which gave Negan a great knockout one liner with the bell.

There was suspense throughout. Especially with Gabriels scenes in the church and as the sniper. Adrians death kept us guessing for the emotional walker scene

The effects of the fireworks exploding in walkers and the reaper looked like a top 5 walker kill of twd.

Aaron's walker kills were also brilliant to see. They were personal as only he can use his weapon and it was to save his kid and it's rare to kill them in water which made it a great scene. The acting to save the children and the children's acting was perfect aswell.

The reunions were a great touch to an already top tier episode to have it end on but wait it got even better.

They introduced the commonwealth and then gave us a 6 month later scene with Maggie at hilltop and Daryl in commonwealth gear and with them butting heads to instead have it end in even more shock and excitement for the future of twd.