Gilbert Speaks on The Walking Dead S11 E16

Why do I feel that TWD universe is on a parallel path as the war between Ukraine and Putin? It sure feels that way in this week’s episode of The Walking Dead.

Acts of God

The season finale did not disappoint. I knew where this was headed. Maggie saw the demon in Lance Hornsby, and she didn’t bite the damn apple. Maggie knowing that Lance would return with the sole purpose of destroying Hilltop, Maggie, Elijah, and Marco take Hershel to a safe place. Negan and his tribe are hiding in an abandoned Whisperer hole in the ground.

Negan and Maggie have finally come to terms. There is a guarded respect between these two enemies. Maggie has trusted her child to Negan, and we all know that Negan is very protective of children. Maggie and her group along with Lydia plan to track down Lance….what she doesn’t know is that Lance has an extra ace up his sleeve.

While Maggie sets on her journey, Daryl, Aaron and Gabe are pretending to help the Commonwealth troopers search for apartment dwellers but they know it’s a trap. Lance wants them dead.

Back at the Commonwealth, the revolution is growing, and Max must risk her life to get information from Pamela’s files. Connie has a newspaper to put out, and they must find out what has happened to missing citizens.

Conclusion

Maggie lost another good friend, Marco, after Leah made her appearance on the scene. Was Leah’s hate so strong that she would trust Lance to allow her to live if she succeeded in killing Maggie?  Leah does capture Maggie with the intent of torturing her, killing her, then killing everyone Maggie loved…but at the last moment, after a well fought battle, it was left to Daryl to put an end to Leah.

Poor Daryl didn’t have much time to grieve for his ex-lover because Lance and his men had arrived at the scene. Daryl does get a good wounding shot in at Lance before he and Maggie escape and return to Negan’s hideout…but things will never be the same.

Lance is a corrupt, little man. He wants to conquer everyone who stands in his way. I almost thought that his boss, Pamela was different, but when it comes to greed or using extra money towards a scholarship for the poorer children at the Commonwealth…Pamela’s greed won out.

Lance had conquered Oceanside, Hilltop, and Alexandria. Maggie’s explosion at Hilltop did not kill the invader. It just made him angrier. The Commonwealth banners now drape the walls of the three compounds. The lives of the citizens of Oceanside all hinge on the flip of a coin.

Like I said in the beginning, The Walking Dead final season has been mirroring what is happening in real life between Ukraine and Putin. Lance wants to conquer and control his world, while Putin intends on taking over all of Europe and then some. I have a bad feeling that Lance won’t hesitate to commit genocide with that flip of a coin…and we have all witnessed the atrocities committed by Putin on the Ukrainian people. When a world leader resorts to the rape and assassination of infants…it’s time for that person to be put down. PERIOD!

Fortunately, in TWD universe, Eugene, Max, Connie, Kelly, Magna and Ezekiel are planning on taking down Pamela and Lance with their first headline. Let’s pray that NATO grows a pair of balls as big as Maggie’s and hits Putin with everything necessary to save Ukraine.

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Gilbert Speaks on The Walking Dead S11 E04

In last week’s episode everyone was worried about the whereabouts of our number one favorite person of TWD universe. This week we find out what happened to Daryl and Dog.

Rendition

Well, we finally find out who the Reapers are, and who knows Daryl. After being surrounded by Reapers, Daryl learns that his former lover, Leah (Lynn Collins) is an important member of the Reapers. The leader is called Pope (Ritchie Coster) who, along with his team is not only former military, but also a mercenary. This explains their ninja abilities to attack unseen. Pope is also a religious nut job, so there is that.

Pope wants to know who Daryl’s people are. Daryl denies that they are his friends which gets him waterboarded. When that doesn’t work because Daryl is the poster child for loyalty…Leah tries to sweet talk him into giving Pope the needed information. Finally, even though Daryl doesn’t tell the truth, Leah vouches for him, and Daryl is put to one final test. The test of fire.

Conclusion

In the final season of TWD, we are learning that walkers are not the real enemy. Pope reminds me of the governor…he demands complete obedience and heaven help you if you try to save your own butt. Pope shows his craziness when he kills one of the Reapers by throwing the man into a fire and holds him down until he is a crispy critter.

Ritchie Coster as Pope- The Walking Dead _ Season 11, Episode 4 – Photo Credit: Josh Stringer/AMC

This was one of the better episodes for two reasons: Daryl might have gotten into a mess that he can’t walk away from…and we met a worthy enemy. I am hoping that Negan, having been a former dictator, will know how to deal with Pope and the Reapers.

Gilbert Speaks on The Walking Dead S10 E18

On this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Carol and Daryl go on a road trip to the past that gives us a peek into Dog’s origin and Daryl’s quest to find Rick.

Find Me

 For TWD fans as myself, who was hoping to see Carol and Daryl together as a couple in a version of a “Happy Everly After” apocalyptic fairy tale…this was not the episode. I was almost tricked into believing this was the moment when Carol hitched a ride on Daryl’s bike to go find food for Alexandria.

Alexandria, if you remember from last week, was attacked by the Whisperers, who not only knocked down a few barrier walls, but also destroyed the town’s veggie patch. While on this trip, we learn through flashbacks about a woman Daryl encountered while searching for his friend/brother, Rick.

Leah

Carol and Daryl talk about their survival prospects and, while Carol feels that the odds are against them, Daryl is more positive. I felt this was a time for Carol and Daryl to bond over past hurts and especially their widely different methods of handling danger, but it was not meant to be. Old memories come back to haunt Daryl.

While hunting, Dog leads Carol and Daryl to this old cabin. And this is where we get the first flashback. While living along the riverbank in a makeshift shanty that was definitely not waterproof…Daryl is startled to see a puppy run up to him. This puppy is Dog. Through Dog, Daryl meets the inhabitant of the cabin. Leah (Lynn Collins) is a survivor just like Daryl, and she is tough. She makes Daryl a prisoner even though he helped put down a house walker.

Daryl is such a loner, that his clumsiness to friend another human is pure comic relief. For example, Daryl’s dating technique is to throw a dead fish at Leah’s cabin door as a hello. Leah who is just as stubborn, walks over to Daryl’s came and throws the fish back. After several attempts at friendship, Leah invites Daryl to stay with her.

Leah has lost people in her squad, and she has also lost her son, Matthew. Although she did not give birth to this boy, she took him as her own when her friend died in childbirth. When the squad was attacked, the boy had been bitten. He looked to be around five years old. The very day that the boy had died, Dog was born. We don’t know what happened to Dog’s mom. Over the following months, Daryl and Leah became very close, but Daryl still needed to find Rick.

Conclusion

Daryl is afraid to make commitments when it comes to the heart. Leah told Daryl that he had to choose between Rick, Alexandria, and her. Why didn’t she go with Daryl back to Alexandria? We will never know, but Daryl returned to his search for Rick. Another thing that has bugged me since watching the show last night was this. If Carol had not decided to go live with Ezekiel and Henry, would Daryl have gone back to his friends? I keep feeling that Carol and Daryl are never on the same page at the same time.

When Daryl realized that he had walked out on a good thing, Leah was not at the cabin. Where did she go? Did someone take her? We only know that Dog was there to greet Daryl. Hoping that Leah would one day return, Daryl leaves a note for her, “Find Me.”

Now, Daryl has a chance to forgive Carol, but all he can do is to blame her for Connie’s death. When Daryl tells Carol that he should have never stopped her from running away, and that she doesn’t know when to stop…my heart broke. All these years it has always been these two solitary soldiers that TWD fans cheered on. They are the apocalyptic version of Captain America and Wonder Woman.

This was a very emotional episode. I don’t know when we will see Leah again, but I am really hoping that Carol wasn’t right when she told Daryl, “Our luck’s run out, you and me.” We can’t end this series without a Daryl/Carol team.