Andrew Grevas
It’s time for the final eight episodes of The Walking Dead. After several months’ hiatus, The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17, entitled “Lockdown,” got straight into the action, picking up the conflicts from the mid-season finale and really delivering an action-packed hour of television. We’re about to get into heavy spoiler territory here, so if you haven’t seen The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17, proceed either caution.
The End Looks Nothing Like the Beginning
The opening of the episode included a montage featuring many faces from the series’ past. It really made me stop and think about how far this show has come. Not only are so many characters gone now as well as so many staples of the series, but the stakes are also now different. The stories are different. The pacing is much faster. Long gone are the slow character-based episodes. Long gone are the simple problems of years past. Now, we have shootouts like in blockbuster films. We have jam-packed hours of television with little breathing room. We have an end in sight.
We all know that many of these characters are headed onto spin-off series. Daryl. Maggie and Negan. But even knowing that this universe will outlive the flagship series, The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17 did feel like the beginning of an end.
For years, our characters have just wanted safety and stability, to have a community without external conflicts threatening their existence. A place to stop running and build. And they’ve got close several times now. But none of those opportunities came as close as the Commonwealth to being like the old world. A place that has everything you would want or need in the apocalypse. But as we saw in The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17, those dreams are being destroyed and a large fight is on the horizon.
Getting the Band Back Together
The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17 started with Maggie, Daryl, Negan, and company on the offense in their pursuit to get away from Hornsby and his soldiers so they can get back to the Commonwealth and tell their friends that they’re in danger. Our main characters are as scrappy as ever and have a big fight against the well-armed soldiers, feeling the scene en route to saving their friends.
Hornsby does appear to be rouge, placing a giant spotlight on leadership issues within the Commonwealth. Pamela Milton is in charge but is preoccupied with the mess her son Sebastian has caused. Hornsby seems to be taking advantage of this distraction, trying to assume power of his own within the ranks, conquering additional camps along the way.
Sebastian Milton, the spoiled rich son of Commonwealth leader Pamela Milton, was eventually brought to his mother by Carol, in an attempt by Carol to negotiate with Pamela. Carol knows she needs to help get her people out. The streets are filled with rioters, and Hornsby wants our people all dead. Negan makes it to the Commonwealth and our characters appear to be in the favor of the growing more and more disgruntled head of security, a scary man if there ever was one. But a good friend to have in situations like these.
The Walking Dead, since Angela Kang has become a showrunner, has begun incorporating more political and societal themes and topics. The people of the Commonwealth protesting outside of Pamela Milton’s home, demanding the arrest of her son Sebastian, is certain to trigger some real-life comparisons. The eventual treatment of those protestors is likely to trigger some real-life fears of how protestors could be treated and how a rogue government can behave. It’s a subtle touch but one that’s likely to strike a nerve with some viewers.
Where Are We Going?
I’ll avoid spoilers from the comic series here, but it’s safe to say that Sebastian is going to be a part of the battles to come. My gut says that Hornsby isn’t long for this world—he’s already overstepped his boundaries, and if it’s not our characters who kill him, Pamela Milton will. As seen in The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17, Pamela has a lot of problems facing her, and the last thing she’s going to want to deal with is the possible mutiny Hornsby is trying to pull off.
With our characters wanting to exit the Commonwealth and there being a leadership struggle there, it begs the question of if our characters could “take over” the Commonwealth and still have some kind of happily ever after. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility here. Our people have settled in. Seeing Carol make the kids pancakes here in The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 17, it felt like home. It felt like the kids could finally be kids. To upend that after years of setbacks and struggles, well, it feels wrong. Can our show really end with our characters on the run again?
My gut says no. I see our characters capitalizing on the upcoming conflict between Pamela Milton, Sebastian Milton, and Hornsby and trying to carve out a path to make the Commonwealth not only their home but truly a place that betters the lives of those there. Which honestly would be the happiest possible ending to a story like this. Knowing that Daryl, Maggie, and Negan are moving on to spin-off series means that all might not be well at the Commonwealth (Megan’s wife, Annie, strikes me as a possible heartbreaking casualty), but I think there’s room for both spin-offs and also for some of our characters ending this series with some sort of peace.
Perhaps the biggest question of all is if we’ll get any cameos (looking at you, Rick Grimes) to end the flagship series. My gut feeling is no, but I do think we’ll get strong hooks sending our characters in different directions to end this series, all while leaving some safe in their newly won home.
Future articles for this season will be more focused on the narrative of each episode. Here, I found myself in the weeds a little bit, covering what could happen and such. But I think that’s the sign of a quality show, getting the viewers to daydream. And make no mistake about it: The Walking Dead the last few years has been really good. The show has made the most of cast changes, didn’t let declining viewership derail or discourage them, and kept on moving forward towards a satisfactory conclusion. Now, with only seven episodes left to go, we see if they can stick the landing. I’m betting on them, too.
