UK TV review: The Walking Dead: Season 11, Episode 18 (A New Deal)
Review Overview
Fairground games
7Political games
7Mind games
8Neil Brazier | On 13, Oct 2022
Season 11, Part 3 will premiere with episodes arriving weekly on Mondays. Read our other Season 11 reviews here.
Following the energetic episode Lockdown comes pandemonium as The Walking Dead continues to spurt blood and ooze drama in its final ever run. After another walk-down-memory-lane-montage opening (which are really fun to watch and twang memories you thought you’d forgotten), the episode becomes rather a slow-burner as the characters are all moved into place for their final journeys. This is bookended with some intense scenes and the episode crescendos into chaos that will change the landscape forever… with only six episodes remaining.
Episode 18 of Season 11 begins right where Episode 17 left off: with the sewer standoff. Tensions are eased when, with unbelievably convenient timing, Pamela Milton (Laila Robbins) and Mercer (Michael James Shaw) turn up to save the day. Carol (Melissa McBride) has brokered a “new deal” to save her family but it means aligning herself with the Miltons and turning on her secret boss, Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton). Obviously, this arrangement leaves the survivors, especially Daryl (Norman Reedus), feeling uneasy, but he’s known Carol long enough to trust her judgement or know that she probably has a plethora of backup plans should something go wrong.
The deal allows safe passage for the survivors to go home, with supplies and a truce between the communities. Not everyone is on board. They’ve tasted this new way of life and are enjoying it; what prospect does a collapsing Alexandria or a blown-up Hilltop have to offer? The Commonwealth, although shady, has helped people, like Ezekiel (Khary Payton) or given them a purpose again, like Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). But despite the apparent utopia, there is something uneasy going on with the powers that be that would behove our survivors to make a hasty exit. It is this cloud over the Commonwealth that Judith (Cailey Fleming) plainly sees – and she thinks that it is the job of her family to ensure that they don’t leave anyone in trouble.
There is a section with Daryl talking about the complications of parenthood when Judith gets in a grump, rejecting taking ownership of her father’s pistol because she believes in his legacy. She wants to forge a path without violence, to help those in need without having to fear each other. This grouchy child plotline doesn’t really need to be said, but Fleming is engaging in a way that none of the other child actors seem able to match. As the episode ends, Judith, although doing the right thing, may have put her family in a spot of bother if her actions are misconstrued by the community.
Political games between Hornsby, Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson) and Pamela dominate the episode, showing that the Commonwealth isn’t all cotton candy and ice cream, although they are in plentiful supply as the community celebrates their Founder’s Day. With Hornsby on trial for his crimes and taking the rap for Sebastian’s too, this is Pamela’s opportunity to show the Commonwealth that her son is ready to lead them, even if it is a role that Sebastian doesn’t want.
Pamela was adamant that Hornsby was out of the game but he proves that he is right in the thick of it and – thanks to his lackeys, and maybe with some manipulation of Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Max (Margot Bingham) – he sets about the undoing of the Miltons and perhaps the demise of the Commonwealth altogether, all from behind bars so nobody could possibly suspect him.
The chaos within the walls might be the final tipping point for Mercer, who rejects protecting Pamela, saying his loyalty is to the Commonwealth. The fright as Founder’s Day flounders is beautifully shot as the frenzied crowds cause claustrophobia during a foot chase. The aftermath of such disorder has led the series down its own path to its finale, away from the comic books. The series has already taken a different route away from the source material and – although we don’t always agree with some of their decisions – the way Season 11 will end will very much be the series’ own. From what we’ve seen compared to other TV series, this could be a good thing.