There are only 16 episodes left of The Walking Dead, the former-megahit series that once ruled TV. But even if viewership has declined, the show’s final season looks like it’s going to go out with a bang, beginning when the second of three sets of episodes premiere next month, at least according to this new trailer. Several bangs, in fact. Many, many bangs.
Let’s see… when the first eight episodes of season 11 finished, things were not looking great for our protagonists (not that they ever looked good, I suppose). Over at the clearly fascist dystopian pre-apocalyptic civilisation of the Commonwealth, Eugene had been arrested for punching Governor Pamela Milton’s douchebag son Sebastian, a.k.a. Kingsley St. Buffingsworth, in the face. Yumiko’s brother Tomi had been dragged off by goons, most likely for hiding the fact he was a surgeon. Elsewhere, Daryl’s former love interest Leah had taken control of the Call of Duty LARP-bros called the Reapers, and will most likely seek revenge on Maggie for her assault on their ersatz HQ at Meridian.
Again, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s watched more than a few episodes of TWD, but things look like they’re going to get significantly worse:
Most of the clips in the trailer are about a second long, and mostly involve various characters attacking or killing various people and things, but there are still some details to note. A lot of Alexandrians, such as Carol, are going to make their way to the Commonwealth, where Stephanie has apparently been disappeared. We get our first appearance of Governor Milton, who will almost certainly be the show’s new main antagonist alongside Leah. There’s a group of Commonwealth stormtroopers leading an assault on Alexandria (or at least a show of force) but we also see people like Gabriel and Aaron standing besides the white-armoured soldiers, too. And then there’s Commonwealth general Mercer absolutely covered in blood.
Frankly, I’m kind of stoked? The first few episodes of season 11 weren’t great, but the series picked up pretty well afterward. Plus, the Commonwealth is a great antagonist — while they’re clearly fascist arseholes, they also represent a life that many characters would surely love to be a part of, which should generate some interesting conflict. I mean, no one’s ever truly wanted to be a Whisperer, Reaper, or Saviour before.
The second eight episodes of The Walking Dead’s 24-episode final season begin February 20 on AMC, or a week early on the AMC+ streaming service, which you almost certainly do not have.