The Walking Dead review: Episode 1116, “Acts of God”

The Walking Dead has left its best midseason finale for last. “Acts of God” is explosive and puts all the pieces in place for a chaotic final eight episodes. A battle is waged, blood is shed, and we’re left asking a ton of questions while we wait for the series to return.

In this episode, a swarm of locusts (literally) invade the Hilltop… but they’re not the only ones attacking. After failing to reach an agreement with Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) decides to take Hilltop, Oceanside, and Alexandria by force. Back inside the Commonwealth, the rest of our group plans to expose governor Pamela Milton for her bad management of the community.

Here’s your SPOILER warning!

The war

At the end of the previous episode, Lance (Josh Hamilton) offered Leah (Lynn Collins) a job. Now we know the details of his proposal: he wants her to be his private assassin and kill Maggie for him. Of course, she’s prepared to do it; after the Reaper war, Leah hates Maggie even more than Lance.

When Maggie hears word of an incoming attack, she and her team find Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Annie’s (Medina Senghore) hideout. They regroup and prepare to go back and fight the Commonwealth. It’s strange enough seeing Maggie and Negan working together, and on top of that, she actually lets him remain behind to look after Hershel. And she tells Negan that she trusts him. Yikes. Suddenly, the idea of them having a spinoff together is a lot more believable.

The “Act of God” from the title is a swarm of locusts that cover the land. They up the suspense and give the battle a unique atmosphere. For instance, the sound of the locusts masks out other noises like footsteps. They weren’t necessary, but they added an interesting layer.

Lance sends a group of soldiers out to scout with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). However, when it appears like the soldiers are about to turn on our group and kill them — presumably on Lance’s orders — our trio turns on them. I was impressed by the choreography of this fight. Kudos to director Catriona McKenzie for the use of slow motion. It’s not like they come out of the fight without a scratch, either. Most notably, Aaron takes a bullet.

There’s a really good scene where the Commonwealth soldiers infiltrate the Hilltop only to find that it’s completely empty. Not only that, but Maggie has left a hidden bomb they almost instantly detonate. Sure, the bomb may have killed off a few soldiers, but now the Hilltop house is in ruins.

The biggest casualty comes when Leah shoots Marcus in the head. A part of Maggie’s group in Hilltop, Marcus never really had much screentime, so it’s hard to feel too sad that he’s gone.

Maggie vs Leah

Fans have been waiting for a showdown between Maggie and Leah. We got that here. I liked the hunting in the dark as the two quietly try to scope each other out. Eventually, Leah knocks Maggie out and takes her to a cabin. I’m not sure if this was the same cabin from “Find Me,” but it would be a nice touch if it was. She straps Maggie to a chair and decides whether to kill her right away or make her suffer — this kinda reminds me of how Maggie used to treat Negan when he was in the cell. Of course, it’s not long before Maggie breaks out and the two fight. It’s super brutal: Leah is a trained killer and Maggie has a knack of staying alive against all odds.

Before long, Daryl arrives to kill Leah and save Maggie. That was pretty predictable, but a fitting end to Leah’s storyline.

Once again, I’m left impressed with Lance. He’s a totally different character from the comics; he’s manipulative, unhinged, and power-hungry. In the final moments, we see him take over Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside, draping Commonwealth banners over them. Our survivors are going to have a tough time getting the communities back.

Upon entering Oceanside, Lance lines up the community and flips a coin. We’re left wondering what will happen as a result of the coin flip. Is he really going to kill them all? Or will he send them away?

The Commonwealth

In the Commonwealth, Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Max (Margot Bingham), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Kelly (Angel Theory), Connie (Lauren Ridloff), and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) search for a way to expose Pamela Milton.

Connie works for the The Commonwealth Tribune, so the group thinks to print an article about the controversies within the community, even if it gets them into trouble. Perhaps if the people know the truth, there can be an uprising. Eventually, they print the headline, “Pamela Milton is lying to you.”

Verdict

“Acts of God” is such a satisfying episode. After tons of buildup, we’re finally getting a proper payoff. And with only eight episodes remaining, there’s still a lot to sort out before things draw to a close.

My biggest issue was the predictability of the episode, particularly the ending. It was pretty obvious that Daryl would end up killing Leah.

We have to wait a few months for the final episodes, and there remain plenty of questions to keep us thinking:

• What will Lance do to the people of Oceanside? What was the meaning of Lance’s coin flip?
• How will Pamela Milton respond when she hears of the war?
• What trouble will our group get into after exposing Pamela?

Grade: A

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