The Walking Dead review: Episode 1112, “The Lucky Ones”

The Walking Dead Episode 1112 has some great interactions: between Eugene and Rosita, Pamela and Maggie, and Daryl and Mercer, just to name a few. With each community having different goals, tensions are beginning to rise. How long will it be before war breaks out? And when it does, which former allies will be forced to fight each other?

Now that our group has been introduced to the Commonwealth, it’s time for the Commonwealth to get acquainted with Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside. In “The Lucky Ones,” Aaron (Ross Marquand) joins Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) and Lance (Josh Hamilton) as they embark on a tour of the three communities. Meanwhile, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) finally gets a medical checkup… and learns something very interesting.

Here’s your SPOILER warning for the week.

Pamela Milton goes on a tour of the communities

As Alexandria is in the process of being rebuilt by the Commonwealth, Governor Pamela Milton decides it’s time to leave her community and embark on a tour, beginning in Alexandria. Upon arriving, she meets Aaron, who seems to be taking on Rick’s story from the comics, what with his metal arm and beard. Of course, in the books, it’s Rick who gives Pamela the grand tour of Alexandria.

We see that Alexandria is in the process of being rebuilt, but it’s still far from complete. In fact, Pamela is pretty unimpressed, especially when a walker leisurely strolls into the heart of the community. This sort of thing is unheard of inside the Commonwealth.

We learn that Pamela actually knew Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) — the former leader of Alexandria — before the apocalypse broke out. While knowing this doesn’t add much to the story, it makes the world feel a little more connected and fleshed out.

Anyway, Lance convinces Pamela that Alexandria could prove a great addition to their portfolio of communities, so she agrees to move on to the next destination: Oceanside, which may actually become relevant again. The community has been in the background for so long that I’m sure some viewers have forgotten about it. Here they meet Rachel (Avianna Mynhier), the leader of Oceanside who refuses to be tied to the Commonwealth. Or at least, she’ll only consider the proposal under one condition: Maggie accepts the same offer at Hilltop.

So Pamela and Lance travel to Hilltop and bump into Maggie on the road. Before they make their way up to the community, it’s suggested they go hunting. This allows Pamela to get some time alone with Maggie to try and talk her into a deal.

We begin to see a slightly different side to Pamela Milton in this episode. So far, we’ve only seen her give speeches or hang out with Commonwealth socialites. However, here we get a glimpse of what she’s like away from the crowd. The dynamic between Pamela and Maggie is fascinating. They’re both leaders with completely different outlooks on the world. Given how Maggie has seen promising communities come crashing down so many times, there’s no wonder why she’s apprehensive about handing power over to people she’s just met.

The people of the Commonwealth really show the Hilltop folk what they’re missing. For instance, when a horde of walkers attack, the military obliterates them in seconds. They give weapons and supplies to Hilltop as a friendly gesture.

It all seems too good to be true…which is why Maggie declines the offer. There’s always a cost, after all. Interestingly, Maggie’s own community isn’t happy with her decision. Some of her most trusted residents even leave; I can see Hilltop struggling in future episodes.

To be fair, it’s Lance, not Pamela, pushing for the communities to merge, most likely because he wants to be the one in power. I think we can expect Lance to become one of the primary antagonists of the season, more so than in the comic books.

I really liked the interactions between Mercer and Daryl in this subplot. Again, they’re opposite sorts of people; Mercer is a strict military leader, while Daryl goes for his tried-and-tested lone-wolf approach. It’s cool to see them bounce off each other. I also liked seeing some of the stares Maggie gives Daryl now that he’s now a bona fide member of the Commonwealth. This, of course, is planting seeds for their future conflict teased in the season 11B premiere.

Ezekiel goes to the Commonwealth hospital

In Episode 1110, you’ll remember that Carol was on a quest to get Ezekiel bumped up the patient list at the Commonwealth hospital. She helped out Lance with some mundane tasks and he used his power to pull some strings and get Ezekiel the treatment he desperately needs.

Now, Ezekiel gets the VIP treatment at the Commonwealth hospital. And in a rare piece of good news, we learn that the doctors are able to remove the tumor inside him. I had to laugh at how Ezekiel’s right-hand man Jerry (Cooper Andrews) is even more delighted at the news than Ezekiel is. Jerry is the sweetest.

It’s also worth noting that Yumiko’s brother Tomi is back working as a doctor, even though he wanted to live a quieter life.

Ezekiel suspects that something fishy has gone on for him to be treated so quickly, and he correctly assumes that Carol has something to do with it. Interestingly, Ezekiel is angry at her for getting him early treatment. He believes there are people in the hospital who deserve it a lot more than he does. He even calls her strategy “cheating.” But Carol prefers the idea of only looking out for the people she cares about.

How will this affect their relationship moving forward? Life in the Commonwealth is splitting up our group.

Eugene tries to make sense of “Stephanie”

Since the Commonwealth was introduced, Eugene has been on a rollercoaster of emotion. At first, he thought he had finally found his true love in a community that seemed too good to be true. Then everything came crashing down around him. The “Stephanie” he thought he loved turned out to be a Commonwealth agent named Shira (Chelle Ramos) hired to pretend to be his lover in order to gather as much intel about him and his people as possible.

However, there is a beacon of hope. We now know that the person he spoke with over the radio was real. Her name is Max; she was using the alias Stephanie for her own protection. The only reason Max didn’t introduce herself to Eugene was because she was caught talking to him over the radio by her brother, who happens to be Mercer, the leader of the Commonwealth military. After Mercer found out, he took control of the situation and worked with Lance to hire Shira to impersonate Stephanie.

Hoping to clear his mind, Eugene meets up with the one person he can trust: Rosita. I really enjoyed the scene between these two. They know each other so well after everything they’ve been through together. Rosita comforts Eugene. They talk about the past and their dreams for the future. Even though the two can clearly trust each other, I did find it interesting how Eugene tells her that he and Stephanie broke up as opposed to telling her the true story.

Max now tries to bring back the chemistry she and Eugene once had. It’s nice to see them bond again over Eugene’s novel. Hopefully, he isn’t pushed around anymore…but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Verdict

I’m tempted to say this is the best episode of season 11B so far. It has a little of everything, constantly switching focus to different locations, keeping things fresh and engaging. There’s a lot going on, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

For me, the MVP is yet again Josh McDermitt. He’s really taken Eugene to a different level this season.

Lance is all set up to be a big baddie going forward. He’s got his own agenda, and despite making people believe that he’s helping everyone, he only wants to help himself. I’m sure it won’t be long before everyone begins to turn against him. The question is: how much power will he hold when that happens?

Grade: A

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