The season 11 premier did not disappoint! I have been waiting for months and the day is finally here. Before I give my overall thoughts and review of this episode I am bittersweet about the season finally starting. I know it is getting split up into three parts so The Walking Dead will be here for at least another year, but I can’t believe that it is going to end. I also know that you still have Fear, World Beyond, countless spin off shows, and the Rick movies but it is not going to be the same. However, I am excited for this season to kickoff and how the show is ultimately going to end. Episode 1: Acheron Pt. 1 started off with a bang for season 11!
There were two main storylines for the episode this week. The first story line had to do with Maggie’s group going on a run to her old community, Meridian. She explains that Meridian have a ton of supplies that a rebuilding Alexandra needs, that includes food, medicine, and crops. This is going to be a dangerous mission because the people living there were slaughtered by the Reapers. Maggie’s group: Duncan, Agatha, and Frost escaped from the slaughtering. Since this doesn’t sound like a good idea, Rosita and Aaron object to the idea, but a lot of people go on the run. The most important person that goes on the run is Negan. Negan and Maggie do not have the best history, with Negan killing Maggie’s husband, Glenn in season 7 but she needs him for his navigating through DC. It seems like it is Negan versus everyone else in the group. Whenever Negan says anything or suggests anything, Daryl or Maggie say nothing and keep going. Even when Negan saved Gage, no one did anything to help him, they just all stood there and watched it go down. Negan finally has enough and calls Maggie out for leading a “death march” and plotting to kill him one way or another out here. Daryl even agrees with Negan by not saying anything to Maggie and looking shocked. However, Negan pushes her too far by bringing up Glenn. There’s only a tiny sliver of the old Maggie from six years ago left inside her, and it’s all that’s keeping Negan alive. “So keep pushing me, Negan,” she says. “Please.”
The other main storyline in this episode is the integration between The Commonwealth and Eugene, Yumiko, Ezekiel, and Princess. The gang gets integrated for seven hours straight. They all meet Mercer, in the orange suit, and gets questioned things from where they went to school to how many times do you go to the bathroom. It is important during the questioning that Ezekiel does not bring up his cancer to anyone. He tries to tell off Mercer, but ends up coughing up a lung and blows his cover. I do not think that Mercer believes that Ezekiel has cancer, but that is an important thing to keep in mind. We also learn that Princess has a gift on reading people, which develops into Eugene and Yumiko stealing The Commonwealth’s armor. They are seconds on escaping when the group sees a “missing person’s board” and Princess notices that Yumiko’s photo is on it with her brother, Tomi. Seeing this, Yumiko has to stay put, so the whole gang stays with her. It is now confirmed that Yumiko is taking over Michonne’s Commonwealth storyline from the comic (which is something I called in one of my previous articles).
Mercer
Via: AMC
The biggest shock of the episode came at the end. Maggie’s group got into trouble with walkers inside of the train tunnel, prompting them to go over a train car. Daryl went another way because Dog went off in another direction so he had to save him. That was the last time you saw Daryl in this episode. Everyone got over the train car, except for Maggie. Maggie was hanging on and walkers were coming for her and Negan was on the top of the car, but he left her. I thought that Negan was going to be the bigger person and save her, but he did not. Maggie fell into the walkers and then it went to black.
Verdict:
I enjoyed the episode and I knew going into it that episode 1 and 2 were going to be two parts, but I don’t like the cliffhanger. We all know that Maggie is not going to die like that and it is pointless. I do believe that Negan is going to either go back and save her by the end of episode 2 or save her in a different episode to redeem himself, setting up a season-long tug-of-war as these two wrestle with trust, forgiveness, and the urge to murder each other. I do believe that this season is going to be one of the best, but I wanted more from episode 1. I know that this episode is setting up everything for the first eight episodes, but something was missing. This episode was also real dark at some places, especially when they were in the train tunnel. I give this episode a 7/10, but I am excited to see where this season goes and can’t wait for next week!