The Walking Dead S11 E3: "Hunted" Review

 The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 3: "Hunted" Review

[WARNING: Major spoilers for The Walking Dead seasons 1-10, spoilers for season 11.]

The biggest lie I could tell you right now is that I know where The Walking Dead is headed in its final season. But I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that regard. Following a fairly strong--or at least entertaining--second part to the series premiere, the third episode of the show's super-sized ending takes us into a rather messy episode that jumps all over the place in terms of both location and presentation. After being chased away from Meridian by the Reapers, Maggie's group is scattered to the wind. Daryl all but disappears as unnamed characters are picked off by this new threat. All the while, the audience watches as Maggie, Negan, and Gabriel are separated and injured in the assault, forced to flee into the forest. Our major focus is on Maggie, who still wants to continue the mission of getting food from Meridian despite being unprepared for the cost it will bring.

This episode slowed things down for many of the characters, especially after Maggie comes across Negan and an injured Alden. While this doesn't happen until closer to the episode's halfway point, it feels like less of a spoiler because of just how slowed-down this episode in particular is. While the show continues to make Negan's lines entertaining as usual and manages to make the conflict between him and Maggie feel a little more understandably developed, there's not really much in the way of overall new content. Maggie does struggle with the realization that she can't protect all of her people, that sacrifices need to be made on the way to retrieving the food Alexandria so desperately needs. But this idea that people are going to die no matter what a leader does has been a staple of the series since its second season. While I understand Maggie's struggle and do believe it was well-written this episode, I feel like such a storyline should have been reserved for a newer character. Not someone who has been presumably off leading multiple groups of survivors for the last several years.

Though I will admit the series does deliver some good moments in this episode. Notable ones include a wordless interaction between Negan and Alden, one that almost feels like it breaks the fourth wall in terms of Negan's knowledge of what the "plot armor" trope is (being that a character is effectively invincible because the writers need them alive for future storylines). There's also a great scene between Maggie and Negan that transpires in a church, one that I hope points toward some level of resolution to their conflict in the near future. Though given how their part of the episode ended, that idealization of a show where this sub-plot has been resolved may be another dozen or so episodes off.

In the midsts of this episode are also a few scenes with an injured Gabriel, separated from everyone in the group and sporting a new scar on his neck. While we only see Gabe for two scenes, I have to say that I'm starting to enjoy the direction the writers have been taking his character. Ever since last season where he killed Dante, a Whisperer spy, in cold blood, Gabriel has grown on me. No longer is he the skittish priest blaming himself for his own cowardice in the wake of the initial outbreak. Now he's a full-fledged survivor hell-bent on doing everything he can to keep his group safe. It feels like the writers want to give him some of Rick Grimes' energy while keeping him unique. And while I think his lines in this episode were great and entertaining, nothing will ever top his line from last season: "I spoke to God. He told me to hang you."

On the other side is the sub-plot for this episode. In a desperate attempt to get both more strength to repair Alexandria's walls and, yes, to get more food, Carol leads a mission into the forest to try and find the horses that escaped during the Whisperer's attack on Alexandria. This sub-plot isn't anything special story-wise, but it does have nice cinematography and practical effects throughout. The desperation of the group is on full display here, but so is some level of hope that things can return to borderline normalcy so long as they keep pushing for it. Though how long that normalcy will last remains to be seen. It was nice to see Carol leading a mission and to see Rosita again after what felt like an elongated absence. But, in the end, this side-plot was more flavoring to spice up the episode outside of Maggie's group wandering around in the woods wondering how they'll ever get food out of a Reaper-controlled Meridian.

Outside of what was presented, though, this episode did indicate a possible direction the series will be headed, something that will act as its grand finale. So far, we've got three major groups being juggled in the main show: Alexandria, the Reapers, and the Commonwealth. Given that Eugene and his group has been let into the Commonwealth--for orientation, at least--they can now feel things out and see if they would accept a larger settlement that could come in. Alexandria is starving for food, and the Reapers will only make things worse if they happen to follow Maggie's group back. It seems the only thing that can save Alexandria right now is a miracle. And I think that miracle will come in the form of the Commonwealth. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for the show to introduce two antagonistic factions at once, so it's safe to presume that, despite their overcautious behavior, the Commonwealth can be considered a "good" group. They will probably be the ones who save Alexandria from their problems when the plots inevitably converge.

But that doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon. At least, not in this first batch of episodes. For now we just have to keep watching our heroes plod along in the woods until something happens. Hopefully the show doesn't spend the next five episodes on Maggie's food mission and tries to make the Reapers feel like a bigger threat than a group of mercenary-like Jason Voorhees role-players. But, given the current pacing, it wouldn't surprise me if the Reapers acting as a threat to Alexandria isn't more direct until closer to the middle of the season. Which is a shame, because I would like to know what makes these guys so unique and destructive that they're able to take down large communities in the blink of an eye. As it stands right now, they seem like they'd have nothing on the Commonwealth, but I suppose only time will tell if we're given any information that indicates they pose a major threat. Hopefully their smaller stature is just a rouse, and we can be treated to an explosive finale for this very long series.

***

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