The Walking Dead review, Episode 1020: “Splinter”

“Splinter” is one of the shortest episodes of season 10 so far. It’s a direct continuation of the final scene from Episode 1016, “A Certain Doom,” where our survivors — Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess — are ambushed by Commonwealth guards after arriving at a rail yard to meet Stephanie. When Princess fights back, the group are thrown in boxcars and forced to await interrogation. Princess is full of anger and regret. Enclosed in a dark space, she also struggles with her past traumatic experiences.

Like most of these extra episodes, “Splinter” focuses on one character. And because we don’t know a lot about Princess, a lot of what we see is new and surprising.

There are SPOILERS beyond this point. Be warned!

The Commonwealth is here!

This episode marks our first real look at the Commonwealth. As in the comics, they’re very sophisticated compared to what we’re used to seeing after the zombie apocalypse. The members of their military wear Stormtrooper-esque armor and they’re in constant contact with each other via walkie-talkies.

That said, throwing our heroes in boxcars doesn’t endear us to this new group, and the rest of the episode doesn’t make them look any better.

It’s worth noting that the word “Commonwealth” is not actually used in the episode. However, when we look at the comics, this particular storyline is almost exactly the same, and actors from the show have referred to it as such, so I think we’re safe using the name, unless the writers come up with a better one.

Princess

This episode is really a deep dive into the mind of Princess. As well as being a cool, eccentric badass, she’s also a very interesting character with a complicated personality. Sometimes she can be serious, other times childish. She talks to herself, verbally describing everything that goes through her head. Paola Lazaro plays the part well, hitting a huge array of emotions in 40 minutes.

Princess immediately starts searching for a way out of the boxcar. She was all alone in Pittsburgh for years, and now she’s with a new group and they’ve been captured by a mysterious community. She’s locked in a dark, enclosed boxcar. It’s enough to make anyone stressed.

She finds comfort in talking to Yumiko through a crack in the wall…a splinter, if you will. It’s nice to see how much compassion Princess has towards Yumiko. She wants to help. She blames herself for what happened. I liked hearing her anecdotes about her past. She remembers a time when she got a splinter that got infected, and her stepfather bullied her about it. He was abusive towards her, and her mother wasn’t interested in helping. Once Princess finishes her traumatic story, Yumiko is taken away by Commonwealth guards.

We don’t actually see much of Eleanor Matsuura (Yumiko) in the episode. We hear her voice, but the rest of the time we’re looking at a stunt double. That’s because Matsuura was not able to travel to the US to film her scenes, since she’s a UK native and the country was in lockdown at the time. I give the crew credit for finding a workaround. If I didn’t know what was happening, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Fearing for the group as well as for herself, Princess seeks out Eugene after breaking out through a loose wall. But Eugene is not keen on joining her escape plan. He believes this community means well. He was speaking to Stephanie for a long time over the radio — it was his idea to meet them. He encourages her to play along, but she has other ideas.

The interrogation

Princess is eventually questioned by a grumpy, stoic man who bears some resemblance to Lance Hornsby from the comics, except this guy is far less welcoming. He asks a range of questions, including classics like “How old are you?” and “Where are you from?” More show-specific questions include, “Where were you when the fall happened?”

As you might expect, Princess doesn’t reveal much, and the interrogation ends abruptly. The interrogator even calls her a “bitch,” which is rather uncalled for. One thing I’ve noticed thus far is that the Commonwealth appears much less cordial than they do in the comics. I’m curious to see whether they’ll continue to be portrayed like this in season 11.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s role is very weird in this episode: he exists only in Princess’ head. I’m always down to see something different, and I thought this was bold and ambitious.

He arrives shortly after Princess is thrown back into the boxcar after her interrogation. His entrance reminded me of a superhero, jumping in through the roof. While not actually there, he appears to be passionately on Princess’ side.

When a Commonwealth soldier brings Princess food, she takes him down. She handcuffs and questions him, demeaning to see her friends. He tries to convince her to remain calm, that his people are good. In her anger, she beats him…but we see Ezekiel throwing the punches. It’s all rather confusing, but the episode makes it clear that Ezekiel is not actually there.

Once the Commonwealth guard is down and out, Princess steals his gun and decides to flee the train yard. Ezekiel is standing at the gate with two walkers at his side. He encourages her to follow through with her plan and leave, but something inside her encourages her to stay and she returns to the boxcar.

Ezekiel is not there when she returns, but the wounded guard is. She strikes a deal with him: she’ll free him and tell him about herself if he frees her friends. He agrees, and as she takes away his handcuffs, her splinter falls out, which is symbolic of her letting go of her childhood trauma, or at least making progress. She begins to trust the guard.

But things escalate again when he throws a black hood over her head and takes her out into the train yard, where the rest of her friends are lined up.

What is it about The Walking Dead and lineups? Anyway, that concludes the episode. It’s another cliffhanger. We’ll probably have to wait until the season 11 premiere to find out what happens next.

Verdict

“Splinter” doesn’t have a lot of action — perhaps a consequence of filming during the pandemic — but it makes up for that in other ways. I can appreciate the ambition of telling a story so tightly focused on a relatively new character. The episode is just as much about Princess’s mental state, her past and how she deals with adversity as it is about the Commonwealth. It was a brave move and I think they pulled it off.

I was impressed with Paola Lazaro’s performance. Princess is a difficult character to portray. She’s intense, sometimes immature, and very expressive. Lazaro nailed it.

Going into season 11, I feel like I know Princess much better. It was the perfect launchpad to explore her more in the final season.

Grade: C

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