The Walking Dead – Outpost 22 review S11 E21

Like djblizzard said it’s getting harder to justify the first half of this season wasting so much time on The Reavers. They really could have been a two-to-three-episode pet project of Hornsby’s that failed miserably when crossing Maggie, Daryl, etc.

There’s three episodes left of the series and it legit feels like there’s enough subplots that need an entire episode to conclude.

It’s why the introduction of the train and Outpost 22 at this point feels like a curious choice. Unless showrunner Angela Kang has been doing a massive troll job and there’s no spin-off series, just a 12th season with everyone back.

This episode ignored the Aaron, Jerry, Lydia and Elijah subplot and kept the trial of the century on pause as well given how widespread the Commonwealth’s control is over the region you could make an argument that it would take three episodes just to show our heroes getting a significant victory.

That marks the challenge for this episode. There’s no shortage of intriguing subplots, but precious little time for them now.

Negan proposes a truce with Ezekiel to help rally the others before they get broken in the labor camp. This was a well-done scene between the two archenemies showing that some wounds don’t heal over 10+ years.

Maggie breaks her restraints and frees Gabriel and Rosita, before getting distracted by the guard and separated from them. They jumped out of the truck so tracking them down might be tricky.

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Ezekiel, Negan. Annie, Kelly and some random Alexandria residents are in another truck where the taskmaster commonwealth officer gives them their new orders. No names, work hard for the benefit of the good people of the Commonwealth and they’ll see the kids again.

Carol and Daryl are stalking the convoy, finally tracking down the train and spot Connie getting tossed into custody. This feels like the ideal time to upload the Terminus program, Carol. Or maybe not as they reunite with Maggie, Rosita and Gabriel.

For all their bullying tactics and seemingly effective armor, The Commonwealth guards are worthless in an actual fight. There was a nice little motorcycle chase through the woods for a slight Return of the Jedi homage. Daryl using a lightsaber instead of his crossbow would be pretty cool though.

Not surprisingly, it doesn’t take long for them to take them out, rescue Connie and seize the conductor.

He’s reluctant to give up the outpost for fear of the reprisal against his family and opts to kill himself instead. Time for Plan B — have Rosita use the radio and pretend that her convoy squad is killed. Where should she go for aid? Outpost 22 of course and after a few dramatic pauses, the big reveal is that Outpost 22 is their old home — Alexandria.

Maggie vows revenge as the team preps to take the fight to Pamela and the commonwealth.

This was a solid episode, but the ticking time bomb of the series’ conclusion is weighing heavily on the end game. Is there any chance this series’ finale can work to neatly wrap everything?

Rating: 8 out of 10