The Walking Dead S11 E6: "On the Inside" Review

 The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 6: "On the Inside" Review

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

The Walking Dead is no stranger to throwing a curve ball at its audience every once in a while. Sometimes this is for the better, offering a new take on the old world by introducing some long-standing stakes like a new group or different location our heroes have to contend with. Other times, however, the show has a tendency to introduce interesting concepts that, while possibly sticking around for more than a single episode, instead take up only a single outing of the viewer's time. In this latest episode--well, by the time you're reading this it's more the second latest episode--the show does the latter, introducing some interesting and well-crafted ideas that I fear we aren't going to see much of after this episode.

The episode opens with something of a shock, as it's revealed Connie--a member of the group that disappeared during a cave-in the season prior--is alive, though not in the best of conditions. She has somehow managed to find Virgil, a character that was kidnapping people at a former military base in the previous season but who has since been searching for the main group in order to rejoin them, this time as a reformed man thanks to Michonne's intervention. The two are running, seemingly from Walkers, though the desperation and comments about "not sleeping in days" by Virgil indicate something larger may be at play here. What that is, however, is put into the background early on, as Connie and Virgil do their best to board up a seemingly empty house in the hope of finding some level of sanctuary. This, however, proves to be for naught, as there appears to be something the group has never seen before in this house: Feral humans.

Out of all the segmented character arcs going on in this episode, Connie and Virgil's was the best because it introduced something new. We've never seen near-animalistic humans on the show before, but given how many years we are into the apocalypse, it's not out of the realm of possibility for people who have regressed to their base animal instincts to be living sequestered in run-down houses. It was cool to see, especially because it feels like something that at least one group of people would eventually succumb to in a post-apocalyptic world. I have some doubts that they're going to reuse the threat; it seemed more like a one-and-done type of scenario (though it probably doesn't end the way you would expect). There's definitely a door open for them to use feral humans as a plot device again, but given the presentation--and how there are only 18 episodes left after this one--it doesn't seem like a subject they'll be revisiting. Which is a shame, but at least it was presented well in this one-off episode.

What also got me in this episode was just how much of a horror focus it had. Specifically with Connie, as the episode would occasionally cut to her perspective of how events were playing out. This included scenes that were void of all noise and music, mimicking her deafness, placing the audience in her shoes. It was interesting to see everything play out from her ears, as it made some of the more tense scenes all the tenser given the presentation. It was different, and because it was different, it caught me off-guard and ended up making a few moments very nail-biting. The Walking Dead has always been a show with horror elements, but this episode truly felt like a haunted house-type of terror. And it was done with very few cheap jumpscares. While I do wish the episode focused on more notable characters--I'll be honest, I mostly only care about Connie because Daryl does--it was still a nice change of pace from your typical episode.

Which is, sadly, something I can't say about the other two major running plot threads this episode. The first featured Carol, Kelly, and Rosita stumbling through the woods in search of Connie after a Whsiperer from the previous episode confirmed that she was spotted alive. This thread more or less acts as a parallel to Connie's horrifying encounters. While it's nice to know there might be someone on the other side if Connie and Virgil are able to make it out alive, it also feels like a bit of a moot point. There's little in the way of actual plot that we manage to eek out of these portions of the episode, more just the hope that Connie and Kelly can be reunited. However, given the largest issue in the show being the massive cast of characters now, it's difficult to feel much sympathy for the situation when it's been so long since the audience has felt a connection to either Kelly or Connie. It's a good story as a standalone, but overarching feelings toward these characters is absent given the lack of relative screentime we've had with them. Again, Connie's portion of the episode was well-presented and very frightening. But Kelly's felt like a bit of a waste, especially when there was little reason to care given how much these short scenes hinged on Connie's story arc.

On the other side of the coin is Daryl, continuing to navigate through the upper echelons of the Reapers' forces. In this latest excursion, he's been tasked with taking the Reapers to a nearby location to scout for Maggie's group. This is after a torture session with another prisoner, one who is used by Pope to gauge Daryl's loyalty to their group. While Daryl knows the tortured prisoner didn't lie about Maggie's location, he finds himself at a crossroads. Daryl must keep up appearances and pretend that he knows what he's doing in order to stay alive in the Reaper's midsts. At the same time, he has to make sure they're redirected from the truth, shielding Maggie and the surviving members of her group from their vice. It makes for an interesting cat and mouse game on the surface, though there were a few parts of this whole scenario that I found contrived.

My biggest personal gripe was with Brandon, a member of the Reapers who doesn't trust Daryl on instinct. Despite having proven his loyalty to the group time and again while also being devout to the group--going so far as to cut off the finger of his suspected ally--Daryl's unable to catch a break from Brandon's ire. While it's hinted that Brandon has a bit of a crush on Leah and the relationship between her and Daryl is why he's always questioning his loyalty, the pettiness appears to be something not even Pope is able to notice. Or, if he does notice, he doesn't see such possible in-fighting between astute members of his community as a problem. It's a very strange dynamic that feels like it belongs in a cartoon or on the CW, not in The Walking Dead. While the drama between the two adds some tension to the scenes where Daryl is misdirecting them, it does little to bolster the overarching narrative. But, even with Brandon acting as one of the most annoying antagonists on the show to date, his presence is more of a personal gripe than it is a comment on the episode's overall quality. I'm interested to see how this dynamic between him and Daryl plays out, and just how long it's going to last.

Overall, however, this episode felt like a mixed bag. We had great scenes with Connie and Virgil's storyline, some mediocre back-and-forth between Daryl and his new Reaper "buddies," and nothing of note with Kelly's search for Connie. I very much enjoyed the horror elements of this episode. But I do wish that had been the focus overall, as cutting away to Kelly and Daryl always felt like it killed the tension that was building up on Connie and Virgil's side of things. A good episode and a clear step in the right direction for the show, with a bit of a stumble that reverted back to an upright position by the end. I just hope the rest of the show is able to play out at this quality or better until the end. The Walking Dead appeared to slowly shamble it way out of a shallow grave. I just hope it's able to pull itself out just a little bit more.

***

If you like the blog and want to support me, consider buying one of my books here.

You can subscribe to The Crown Informer for blog updates and other projects.