The Walking Dead is never afraid to go in new directions, and “On the Inside” takes the show to terrifying places it’s never been before. It has all the elements of a classic horror movie with plenty of shocks and jump scares, but also a lot of heart.
This episode marks Connie’s (Lauren Ridloff) return to the forefront after being on the back-burner for some time. Of course, she was presumed dead after Carol blew up the cave in the season 10 episode “Squeeze,” but she managed to survive after bumping into former antagonist Virgil (Kevin Carroll). Now they’re on the run from walkers and find themselves in a house occupied by strange…are they walkers or humans or something else entirely? Meanwhile, Pope puts Daryl in various difficult situations to test his loyalty to the Reapers.
Before we get into the details, here’s your SPOILER warning!
Connie and Virgil seek refuge in a house of horrors!
Our main storyline begins as Connie and Virgil are on the run from walkers and seek refuge in an old house…but unbeknown to them, they’re not alone. Everything unfolds like a classic horror movie, with Connie getting glimpses of strange sub-human monsters lurking quietly in the shadows and trying to convince Virgil of their presence. Of course, because she is deaf, it’s difficult for her to get across what’s happening, which is something the episode plays on well.
Meanwhile, after learning that Connie is indeed alive in “Out of the Ashes,” our group — Carol (Melissa McBride), Kelly (Angel Theory) and Magna (Nadia Hiker) — goes out looking for her. Kelly goes it alone.
Back in the house, the monsters begin to strike. As Connie and Virgil explore, one of them begins to chase Connie. I really liked how everything went dead silent, giving us Connie’s point of view and building tension. There are jump scares, an rare occurrence for The Walking Dead, but they are executed perfectly.
So who/what are these things? They don’t really talk, but instead growl. They’re incredibly pale and crawl everywhere. I found them reminiscent of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, or something out of The Conjuring. They’re not zombies because at one point one of them jumps on top of Vigil and whispers the word, “hungry.” Most likely, they’re survivors who have become too far gone from humanity, kinda like the Whisperers but much more extreme. I have to wonder how they’ve managed to survive all this time, especially without our group meeting them.
Eventually, the duo is split apart. There’s a fantastic scene where Connie is trapped behind a wall and is banging on it to try and get Virgil’s attention. But Virgil takes her for an enemy and stabs the wall, narrowly missing her on the other side. This was probably my favorite part of the episode. It was such clever writing and Ridloff’s acting was outstanding.
It takes one of the classic Walking Dead survival tips to get them out of this hell. As the monsters close in on them, Connie splits a walker open and covers herself in guts. Then she opens the front doors and lets the zombie flood in, killing everyone inside except her and Virgil. It’s a clever twist, even if it has been done several times before.
Seeing Kelly and Connie reunite at the end was a fitting end to this storyline. Connie was put through hell for so long — and Kelly had gone through such a struggle to find her — that it felt right to bring them together. At some point, both had presumed the other was dead. The scene was is emotional and touching, providing some much-needed relief at the end of this terrifying episode.
Daryl embarks on a difficult mission
We haven’t seen much of Pope (Ritchie Coster) since he was introduced in “Rendition,” but it already feels like we know him pretty well. Perhaps it’s because we’ve seen villains like him in the past. He’s unpredictable, powerful, intimidating and manipulative.
We get more familiar with the Reapers here. We get to know Carver (Alex Meraz), who’s very hostile towards Daryl. In one scene, Pope makes Daryl take over from Carver to interrogate a prisoner. Daryl knows he has no choice but to obey, even if he has reservations. It’s pretty brutal to watch as Daryl chops this guy’s fingers off.
Daryl goes about his interrogation like a seasoned professional because, well, he is. In the end he gets the information he needs. While Pope is impressed, Carver doesn’t seem too happy.
After that, Daryl, Leah (Lynn Collins) and Carver travel to the house where some of our group — including Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) and Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) — are staying. Daryl knows this is where our group is hanging out, so he waves a power line to get their attention so they can hide under the floor.
I found all of this to be a bit predictable. Daryl tries to convince Carver and Leah that the house is empty and Carver doesn’t buy it. There’s a good moment when Daryl admits that he’s terrified of Pope. Other than that, everything works out pretty well.
I do find it entertaining to see Daryl play both sides. He’s already trying to damage the Reapers from the inside, which I can continuing as the season goes on. However, I would’ve liked this episode to have a bit more action. Maybe Carver could have found one of our survivors. As it stands, everything goes down as neatly as possible for Daryl. I expect upcoming episodes to fully test him.
Verdict
Even though she’s been around since season 9, we haven’t seen enough of Lauren Ridloff. And this episode shows just how fantastic she is. It’s great to see a deaf actress shoulder an episode, and the silent scenes did a great job of putting us in Connie’s shoes. It was also nice to see Virgil back in the picture. However, I would’ve liked a bit more backstory between him and Connie. It felt like the writers breezed past their relationship.
As for Daryl, I enjoyed watching him deal with complicated situations. Pope is trying to catch him out at every turn, but Daryl has the experience to know how to survive.
And finally, I can’t review this without mentioning the score. From the silent scenes to the classic horror movie vibes, this episode sounded glorious. Compared to other episodes this season, this episode had its own unique tone and it worked immensely well. You could definitely feel that director Greg Nicotero was drawing from his past working with zombie movie legend George A. Romero. He got the tone just right.
Grade: B+
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