The midseason finale of The Walking Dead season 11, “Acts of God,” was perhaps the most explosive episode of the final season so far. Our group within the Commonwealth attempt to expose governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) while Lance (Josh Hamilton) launches an assault on Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside.
There are tons of questions going into the final batch of episodes, and one in particular has fans talking: What was the meaning of Lance’s coin flip?
To put that into context, at the end of the episode, when Lance has conquered the three communities and draped the Commonwealth flag over them, he finds himself with a tough decision to make at Oceanside. He lines up the entire community — yes, another classic Walking Dead lineup — and flips a coin. The credits roll before we’re able to learn what the result of the flip is, or even its meaning. Does he plan to kill them? Is he deciding whether they should relocate to the Commonwealth?
It turns out that the meaning is just about as sinister as you can imagine. According to showrunner Angela Kang, the flip decides their fate. “He’s flipping the coin to decide whether they’re going to live or die,” Kang told Entertainment Weekly.
Of course, there’s a 50/50 chance that the Oceansiders come out the other side of the Commonwealth invasion, but even if they do, Lance has shown his true colors. He’s currently the main villain of the series, and completely different from who he was in the comics. And what we’re currently seeing is just the beginning. The next eight episodes will reach new levels of crazy. As Kang says:
"Things are going to continue to get increasingly more intense. There are going to be some really surprising turns for people that they won’t see coming. And it’s emotional. We really are focusing on a lot of our characters and getting into some of their various stories."
Sounds like we’re in for a wild ride!
Lauren Cohan “felt like throwing up” after one scene
One of the most surprising moments in the midseason finale saw Maggie (Lauren Cohan) tell Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) that she’s “starting to” trust him. Not only that, but she allows Negan to look after Hershel while she fights the Commonwealth. After everything they’ve been through it feels bizarre to hear Maggie say something like that. I mean, he’s the same Negan that brutally killed her husband.
Even Cohan herself couldn’t believe what her character was doing. “It felt like throwing up,” she said. “It just came at a time when I had to leave. I was not willing to let anybody come with me. And I knew the only place I could leave Hershel was with them.”
While she hated the idea of putting Negan in control, Maggie had to acknowledge that he was the lesser of two evils:
"I absolutely hated it. And I was like, ‘I think the reason I hate this is also why she hates it.’ ‘She’ being Maggie. It’s like ‘Ugh, this is this moment, and this is what this is, but I’m going by myself, and I have to finish this, and you have to take care of my kid. And right now you’re the best person for it.’ And, you know, he’s not going to be alone with him. I feel like I’m just justifying all these reasons, but it is true. So yeah, it’s huge, that moment."
The Walking Dead season 11 will return for its final eight episodes later this year. In the meantime, Fear the Walking Dead will return later this month, and we’ve also got Tales of The Walking Dead arriving later this year. That’s a lot of zombies!
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