Did you guys like the season 11 part 1 finale? I know I didn’t. The whole episode was underwhelming and I am starting to think that the season so far was just an extension of its usual 16 episode season. I am not just saying this because of my death predictions being all wrong expect Pope. We didn’t even get to see a Pope versus Maggie standoff. We really didn’t even get a Negan standoff either. He was just in the hoard the whole time. I’ll get into this at the end but I HATED the cliffhanger. I give this episode a 2 out of 10. I thought that the Reapers arc would be done in episode 8 and wasn’t going to be extended through episode 9 but I guess it is going to be. I know the Commonwealth is going to be the main storyline for the next batch of episodes but I don’t know how long the Reapers will be around. My hope is it be over by the end of episode 9 but a part of me is going to spill over into part 2 and Leah might be around until the Daryl and Carol spinoff, which is far from what I thought, since I have been predicting her to die for weeks now…
The Reapers storyline did not end in episode 8 but Pope’s time on The Walking Dead sure did. He is the only character that died in this episode. In the beginning of the episode, they all saw the hoard that Maggie and Negan were controlling from episode 7. Pope and the others did not know why the walkers were doing this but obviously Daryl knew because of his time versus the Whisperers but did not say a word. Pope told a Reaper to go out there but he died in the process. Leah finally had enough with Pope and she lashed out on everything he did to the “family” to this point. Daryl finally turned back into the good side and killed one of the Reapers before he came clean to Leah. He told Leah everything about Maggie and the others being his family. He asked her to help him kill Pope and she did. She stabbed Pope right in the head. After this I thought that Leah was going to run away from Daryl but she did quite the opposite. Daryl killed the other Reaper that was setting up the bomb but she was outraged that Daryl has been lying to her for six plus years and killed that Reaper in cold blood, since they are still “family”. With no other choice, Daryl had to escape because Leah told Carver and the other Reapers that Daryl was the one that killed Pope. Leah seems like the new leader of The Reapers and wants revenge against Daryl and the others for causing pain against her family.
Mean while in Alexandra, here is a storm brewing and walkers are getting into their home. The group that is there has to split up into three teams to keep the threat at bay. Aaron, Magna, and Kelly take a group to kill the walkers inside the walls, Carol and Connie take a group to fix the wall that broke, and Rosita, Lydia, Virgil stayed at the house to protect the kids and others inside the house. Episode 8 was focused on the people inside of the house. We did not see Aaron or Carol throughout the rest of the episode. An important note about Carol and Connie, I think this is where they are going to air out their grievances with each other. Connie is going to talk about her experience in the cave and what she did after with Virgil, to make Carol not feel as guilty as she does because Carol thinks its her fault that she went missing and almost died. They are setting this up so when Daryl comes back home from the Meridian, he can have a reunion with Connie and not be so awkward with Carol when they make up from their fight from season 10 C. A lot of stuff wasn’t important inside the house, it was just the stuff they set up for episode 9 that was important. Judith was talking to Virgil about Michonne and where she went. Aaron also had a lengthy goodbye with Gracie. As we all know, whenever a character says a lengthy goodbye with someone else, one of them are going to die. From the cliffhanger between Judith and Gracie, I think Gracie is in some trouble in part 2 of season 11. And with everyone still asking, no Michonne did not return in episode 8. It was Rosita at the door, after she killed a ton of walkers outside to buy them sometime. She always will be a badass and I think has a great chance to live all the way till the end of the show.
Oh AMC you never learn with cliffhangers do you… I thought you would have learned from the season 6 finale cliffhanger with Negan’s victims but I guess you didn’t. Not only I hate cliffhangers but now I have to wait until at least the middle of December to find out if the Reapers storyline is officially over or they are going to drag it on for awhile. When episode 8 ended I was thinking, “Really that’s it? It is over already” They left the episode off with two cliffhangers, a minor one and a major one. The minor one was with Gracie and Judith stuck in the basement of the house and the room starting to flood because of the rain. I expect Judith to survive because of plot armor but Gracie could die in episode 9. I believe they will get out of the room with ease and have no payoff for the added wait. On the other side the other cliffhanger was with Leah becoming the new leader of The Reapers. She ordered the fireworks bomb to set off at the horde where Negan, Maggie, and Daryl are. They all have plot armor so I do not think any of them will die from the bomb. Elijah could die but I want to see at least one of the people from aggie’s old group stay alive, since everyone else has died. Gabriel could die in the watchtower from another Reaper but that also seems unlikely. I am just frustrated that I have to wait several months to know how The Reapers storyline ends. I wanted it to be all wrapped up in episode 8 so AMC can give us the full Commonwealth storyline from episode 9-24. With season 11 being the last season of The Walking Dead, all episodes are precious since we aren’t getting anymore. The first 8 episodes have just seemed like an added on bonus to the season 10 C episodes we got during the pandemic. Some episodes were great but if you group them all together in part 1 of season 11, they have been disappointing and season 11 has been a gross underachievement so far. Episode 9 better have a Gabriel death or an Alden death inside of the Church because if Maggie’s group has a war with The Reapers and comes out of it unaffected and the only characters that die are characters that the fans “do not care” about, it will come off unrealistic and AMC just playing it safe. This is The Walking Dead, anything goes. They kill off anyone and everyone. I don’t want them to go soft now since it is the last season. I hope they can redeem themselves with the season 11 part 2 trailer and episode 9 in early 2022.