Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead concluded with Daryl, Maggie, Gabriel, Aaron, and Annie locked in a standoff with Lieutenant Governor Hornsby and a squad of Commonwealth soldiers. Meanwhile, Carol delivered Sebastian to Governor Milton along with a pledge to help get him out of trouble for his heinous crimes. That type of shadowy assistance will come with a price, but Milton is likely to pay it — especially with the Commonwealth citizenry on the edge of revolt after the publication of Connie‘s story exposing her son’s misdeeds.
This week, the preceding conflicts are resolved in some completely unexpected ways. If you’re a Walking Dead comic book reader, prepare to have any semblance of foreknowledge about the television show’s conclusion get blown to smithereens.
As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers. The sequence of events has also been streamlined for the sake of clarity.
One Devil For Another
The Walking Dead (AMC)
The episode opens with another voice-over from Judith, this time explaining how important it is not to forget the people they’ve lost. We then cut to where things left off last week with Daryl holding a knife to Hornsby’s throat. The standoff is interrupted by the surprising arrival of Mercer, Milton, Carol, and Negan.
*Side Note: Either Mercer & Co. made amazing time getting there or the continuity issues from the last episode were even worse than we thought.
Daryl initially refuses to let Hornsby go, but relents after Carol asks him to. Carol also reveals that she made a deal with Governor Milton, which Daryl isn’t thrilled to hear. Hornsby barely has time to flash a smug grin before Daryl jams his knife through the lieutenant governor’s hand, delighting Negan and horrifying the others.
With that bit of awesomeness out of the way, Carol takes her people outside and explains the deal:
In addition to wiping everyone’s debts/records, the Commonwealth will hand back control of The Coalition‘s homes (Alexandria, Hilltop, and Ocean) and even provide them with supplies to rebuild. In exchange, Hornsby’s crimes will be exposed along with Sebastian’s crimes getting pinned on him, as well.
The group is understandably hesitant to take the offer — especially Negan and Annie, whose people (Riverbend) were recently massacred by agents of the Commonwealth. After some discussion, however, they appear close to deciding that it’s the best course of action.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Meanwhile, Mercer guards a bound Hornsby, who has no qualms about being sassy with him. The Commonwealth army general is tempted to let a pair of walkers eat the lieutenant governor, but dutifully takes them out when he notices Milton watching him.
After Mercer leaves, Milton informs Hornsby that he’ll be transported to the Commonwealth and put on trial. He may end up surviving, but his days of being part of the community in any capacity are over. Hurt and confused, Hornsby begs his boss to recognize all the good work he’s done for her. Milton coldly responds that Hornsby was never as important as he thought he was.
As she leaves, Hornsby tells the governor that many of the Commonwealth’s alliances will fall apart without him. He also assures her that whatever game she’s playing, he’s still very much a part of it.
Making Peace
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Milton holds a town hall in Union Station to announce Hornsby’s arrest (and pin Sebastian’s crimes on him) while crediting the Coalition folks with his capture. She also uses the gathering to promote the upcoming Founders’ Day celebration.
As the governor basks in her revitalized PR, Max expresses her sadness over Eugene and his people leaving. Eugene assures Max that he’s still with her before asking if she’d consider possibly coming back with him to Hilltop. Max considers it, but explains that she still has unfinished business in the Commonwealth — a point that’s driven home when she glares directly at Sebastian.
Later, Aaron, Jerry, Elijah, and Lydia gear up to visit the other communities. When Carol playfully remarks on Lydia and Elijah’s closeness, Lydia promises her that she hasn’t forgotten about Henry. Carol responds by hugging Lydia and assuring her that she doesn’t need to be sorry for finding happiness.
After a few more tearful goodbyes, the group heads out. As they’re leaving, Daryl tries to give Rick’s old gun to Judith, which she turns down. The young girl then proceeds to give Daryl a brutal guilt trip about leaving the Commonwealth without fixing things.
Daryl tells Judith to stop, but it’s clear her words have had an effect on him.
Doing What’s Best
The Walking Dead (AMC)
During the Founders’ Day celebration, Carol realizes that Ezekiel has no plans of leaving the Commonwealth. When she tells him that the Coalition will have enough medicine for his treatments, Ezekiel explains that he wants to stay because the Commonwealth gave him a second chance to help people in need. He’d also like to help the people he’s grown close to instead of watching another kingdom fall apart.
Meanwhile, Governor Milton struggles to make Sebastian understand how important it is for him to give an inspiring speech at an event later that day. As far as he’s concerned, being the grandson of the Commonwealth’s founder (William Milton) should be enough to make people respect him. Milton counters that being his grandson means he has a legacy to uphold. She also says that he was born to lead the Commonwealth, causing Max to leave the room in disgust.
Later, Max secretly meets with Eugene to visit Hornsby. On the way there, she explains how guilty she feels about not holding Sebastian accountable. She used to enjoy how much the Commonwealth was like the world before, but the Sebastian case made it feel like they were doing something to make it better. She can’t give up on that now — even if it means taking a huge risk.
Eugene is nervous about meeting with Hornsby, but agrees to help.
With Max standing nearby and out of sight, Eugene goes to Hornsby’s cell (which you figure would be better guarded) and asks if he can help them take down Milton and her son.
Hornsby responds that Governor Milton is likely the only reason he’s still alive. He also tells Eugene that he’s better off trying to be on good terms with the Miltons. Otherwise, he and anyone who goes after them will be crushed.
Before Eugene leaves, Hornsby tells him to warn Max that she should continue making sure she’s not in Governor Milton’s crosshairs. Otherwise, they’ll both end up in a cell like him. He also says that whatever the pair does, it needs to be something they can live with unless they’re willing to burn the whole system down.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Over at the Commonwealth Hospital, Annie receives some badly needed prenatal care. The doctor manages to catch a minor issue that could’ve turned into a big one, but will now be taken care of. Annie can tell Negan wants to stay for the safety of their child, but declares that it’s not an option. They have people from their community who are still looking to them for leadership.
Negan responds with something his father used to say about how once you have a child, your life isn’t your own anymore. Annie counters that they can do better for their child than living with the community that killed so many of their people.
Negan agrees and gives his wife a kiss.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Elsewhere, Daryl packs to leave for Alexandria. After putting on his old jacket, he walks out into the living room to find that Judith is gone. Things become even more concerning when RJ reveals that his sister told him she wasn’t going with them (and not to say what she’s up to).
Daryl enlists Carol’s help to find Judith. As the pair searches for her, they discuss how scary and challenging it is to be a parent.
Meanwhile, Gabriel practices his final sermon before he, Rosita, and Coco leave the Commonwealth. While discussing how thankful he is to have found his faith again, the couple hears a sound in the next room, which turns out to be Judith. They call Daryl, who comes down and has a heart-to-heart with his adopted daughter about how difficult things have been. Judith’s still not happy about the situation, but assures Daryl that the two of them are okay.
While all this is going on, Roman and Shira murder a bunch of workers at the Founders’ Day festival. They leave the bodies behind an unlocked gate, all but guaranteeing a zombie incident in the very near future
Off the Record
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Governor Milton leaves her office to get ready for the annual Founders’ Day speech, a recording of her father that’s played before the drawing of an annual lottery. Meanwhile, Sebastian angrily struggles with the introduction he’s supposed to give before it.
After Milton leaves, Max secretly turns on a tape recorder and goads the Little Prince into saying how he really feels about things. Since Sebastian’s words are going to end up being very important by the end of the episode, I’ll quote them here:
The Commonwealth is built on buying into bulls***. The desperate need to believe that the ol’ American dream is still real. You know, “Anything is possible!” “We could rise above our station!” It’s a friggin’ joke.
The reality is that the poor stay poor so that the rich can do whatever the hell we want. The game is rigged. There are no bootstraps to pull up. Christ, my mom hand-picks the lottery winners. And none of it matters, and nothing will ever change. But those people that you think want “honesty.”
Yeah, they’re just too stupid to see it. It’s pathetic.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Back outside, Daryl and Carol walk with Judith through the Founders’ Day festival. Judith sees Mei (the friend who hooked her up with the Motörhead album a few episodes) and goes to hang out with her. Meanwhile, Max brings the recording of Sebastian to Eugene, who is setting up a sound system next to a major wrestling match that’s about to begin.
Milton, Sebastian, and a large portion of the town cheer as they watch some dudes beat the heck out of each other inside a ring. Afterward, Governor Milton brings out the lottery ball spinner to select one lucky resident for a huge cash prize. Before the drawing, however, she calls up Sebastian to introduce the recording of her father’s speech.
Instead of reading his prepared remarks, Sebastian gives a surprisingly eloquent speech about understanding how he’ll need to earn everyone’s trust. When he introduces his grandfather’s speech, however, the recording Max made of him begins to play over the loudspeakers, instead. The crowd quickly deteriorates into a mob and begins pelting Milton & Co. with debris. The Commonwealth soldiers nearly fire their weapons into the crowd, but are stopped by Mercer.
Over at the jail, Roman and Shira whistle to Hornsby and signal that things are going as planned.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Back on the streets of the Commonwealth, the already chaotic situation gets exponentially worse when the undead festival workers shuffle out for an all-you-can-eat buffet. That still doesn’t stop Sebastian from going into a blind rage and chasing after Max, though.
Mercer begins directing troops to contain the zombies before they kill and turn more of the townspeople. When Milton chastizes him for not protecting her, he responds that his duty is to protect the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, Judith is about to get attacked by a zombie when Daryl shoots it in the head with Rick’s gun.
*Side Note: I understand not wanting to cause even more panic, but Daryl shouldn’t have been the first person to fire a weapon by this point.
Judith asks Daryl for Rick’s gun. After he gives it to her, the pair head into the crowd to kick some zombie ass along with Mercer. Unfortunately, they don’t see Sebastian catch up with Max and push her into a walker. Thankfully, Eugene does see this and shoves the walker right back into Sebastian, who falls on the ground and starts screaming for help.
Instead of doing anything, Eugene and Max leave while a bunch of panicking townspeople stop to watch Sebastian get his neck torn open. Judith shoots the zombie, but not before it takes a giant chunk of Sebastian’s flesh, who dies as the recording of his voice repeats over the town’s sound system.
The Verdict
The Walking Dead (AMC)
If you read the comics, then you know it’s just been guaranteed that the show won’t have anywhere close to the same ending. That already seemed likely due to Carl and Rick not being around, but Comic Sebastian played a HUGE part in how the series wrapped things up. Now there won’t even be a mirror of that pivotal moment on screen.
Whether you think this is a good thing or not, that was one heck of a satisfying death. Yes, it required a bunch of terrified people to stop fleeing for their lives, but it was still good.
I’m also not sure why the Commonwealth soldiers who were so eager to fire into the crowd before suddenly got trigger shy. The troops didn’t seem too concerned with collateral damage and innocent lives when they were getting pelted in the wrestling ring.
I also struggled to buy Hornsby’s part in all this. Even if his agents knew to do something drastic if he was arrested, there’s no way Hornsby could’ve known how perfectly Roman and Shira’s plan would work with what Max did — especially with so many Commonwealth soldiers in town.
To be fair, there’s a decent chance that they just went and visited him since no Commonwealth soldiers could be spared to guard such a high value prisoner.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Those complaints aside, Sebastian’s downfall and the events leading up to it were a thing of beauty. In addition to how gloriously the Milton family’s plan unraveled, it was great seeing so many of our main characters grappling with such an awful compromise. That narrative is likely to be tossed in the waste bin next week, but it was fun while it lasted.
I also really enjoyed Daryl recognizing how difficult it is to be a parent. We’ve seen it before, but hearing him verbalize it in such a heartfelt manner really brought it home.
The episode actually was filled with nice moments like that, including one between Carol and Lydia that could have been all types of cheesy. Thankfully, Melissa McBride and Cassaday McClincy played it perfectly.
The best one, however, was the conversation between Annie and Negan. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was great as always, but Medina Senghore has been brilliant in her short time on the show. In addition to making Negan’s redemption feel a lot more authentic, she adds a welcome outside perspective on everyone who’s compromising their principles.
Next week, we’ll get to see just how bad things can get when you make a deal with a vengeful person in a position of power.
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