[Warning: The following consists of MAJOR spoilers for The Walking Dead Season eleven, Episode sixteen, “Acts of God.”]
The Walking Dead has been recognized to have a few quite cliffhanger-fueled midseason finales (Sophia, anyone?) so we’re pretty excited to see how the events of 11B’s finale flip out while the AMC zombie drama returns for its very last 8 episodes.
In “Acts of God,” locusts descend upon our survivors presenting cowl for an extreme hunt among Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and former Reaper Leah (Lynn Collins), the latter of whom is later shot and killed. Meanwhile, another group of our favorite apocalypse survivors assembles to show the truth about the “idyllic” society from the inner. We also see Daryl (Norman Reedus), Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) truly get beneath the pores and skin of the Commonwealth’s slimiest government legitimate, Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton), whose devilish coin turn closes out the episode. We can only consider what torment he has planned for our survivors, specifically now that his effective reach has claimed Hillside, Oceanside, and Alexandria as Commonwealth territories.
It’s a midseason finale in which a gaggle of tiny triggers are pulled at once, leading to what we are able to most effective believe may be an explosive return. Showrunner Angela Kang exhibits all about the series’ final midseason ender.
By the quit of this episode, all the collection’ essential characters locate themselves — extra or less — physically unscathed. Did you have got any hesitations about killing off any of the show’s longer-going for walks characters earlier than we get to that final 0.33? And can we see greater dying shifting forward?
Angela Kang: I think without getting into whatever that’s spoiler-territory, the characters which have survived this long, had been via a lot. Our heroes have simply survived some not possible odds, and come out on the opposite aspect, so I suppose for us telling the story, there are instances while it makes feel to kill off a prime man or woman, after which there are times whilst we’re attempting to inform a different sort of tale. In this case, we were truely looking to deal with this unique person that has been plaguing them for some time and what you do there, so that certainly became the vital awareness.
The locusts — turned into that something you’d wanted to do for a while? How did that concept arise?
It became some thing that got here out of the writers’ room, author Nicole Mirante-Matthews [who wrote “Acts of God”] pitched it, but it fits with some thing we were doing thematically all through the season. Every time [these characters] think they’ve figured some thing out, there are these items which might be larger than them, which humanity has faced for all of time — excessive climate, locusts — these items that simply maintain pushing them lower back on their heels again and again again. And it’s only a reminder that we’re so lucky in contemporary times that we have methods to cope with these items. It became one of these matters that we in reality attempted to consciousness on in the remaining years. So, I suppose it changed into a absolutely cool pitch from a writer who had that in thoughts whilst she was shaping the story.
Something else that felt nearly biblical become Maggie and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) making a first-rate stride on this episode where she admits that she’s “starting to” trust him. Are we edging closer to the newly-introduced derivative Isle of the Dead territory? Where do they pass from right here?
I suppose we’re going to peer with these that they’ve a totally complex dating and interactions with each other. Negan has made a few strides with her, but that doesn’t suggest that each one is forgotten. They’re both very pragmatic leaders as properly, and she is aware of that he has carried out proper with the aid of her infant, at least within the short time period, so that’s were given to matter for something. I never need it to experience like Maggie’s forgotten what has been executed to her and her own family, but there’s an arc within the show, and Isle of the Dead will choose up where it selections up and run with that ball.
Daryl, Aaron, Gabriel, Maggie — they’re all basically waging a tactical war with Hornsby. What do they should fight returned with? It feels like they’re truly unrivaled.
I think for our humans what they surely have that has helped them is, that they’re clever, they may be scrappy and they’re determined to assist every different regardless of what. You can’t understate the significance of the bonds of own family that go beyond blood bonds, and I suppose that’s what makes this organization unique and has saved them together via so many one-of-a-kind demanding situations. They just want to live to tell the tale greater. They are absolutely outmatched in terms of equipment — they don’t have the armor or the automobiles, but they’ve were given every different and that’s going to be counted for a lot.
Daryl taking pictures Leah of their cabin must’ve been devastating for him. Will we see him method the ones feelings and feelings in 11C?
Daryl truly has mind and emotions approximately this. This is someone that he once cared about and who he notion would possibly have a risk to return lower back from the varieties of choices she become making when she was with the Reapers, however I assume on the same time, Daryl knew this became a quite poisonous state of affairs that he turned into in, and he’s focused on his own family and so he offers with matters in a completely Daryl-esque manner. He’s a man of few words for the maximum component, however the whole thing is usually affecting him, it usually sits and informs choices that he makes as he is going alongside on his adventure.
Jace Downs/AMC
Now, via the quit of this episode, Hornsby is furious. He’s been shot and he’s leaning into this vibe that nearly appears like Two-Face from Batman, specially with the coinflip. Was that an thought or some thing that you have been thinking about?
You know what’s humorous is that I can totally see that, however it turned into no longer our direct concept. The coin stuff befell due to the fact in our backstory for Hornsby we had been like, ‘What does this man like? He’s a gambler. He likes taking dangers and big dangers from time to time.’ So, we didn’t play a number of that directly in the show, at one factor, we idea to have a tale approximately that, but you understand one of our writers decided, ‘how do I positioned that vibe into the tale with out it being at once seeing him gambling?’ So, we invented this coin that he had. So that’s how that every one took place – a totally separate set of conversations about the reality that this guy loves to roll the cube, you already know? And then the gunshot became, we appreciated the concept of him having a close name. But yeah, upload it together and it’s a little Two-Face. We clearly tried purposely not to make it an excessive amount of in that route, however we got here on the ones two things thru separate paths.
Max (Margot Bingham) is now officially using her connection to Commonwealth chief Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) from the inner. How dangerous is that this going to be for her transferring forward?
It’s honestly risky for Max. I think as is the case when every person comes to a decision to tackle a whistleblower position, or a spy function, there’s simply inherent hazard both for her, however additionally for the human beings she cares about. Her brother is in that authorities, Eugene [Josh McDermitt] is any individual she cares about, and our human beings are all concerned, so it’s a extraordinary kind of risk than the zombie danger, but we know that human beings in this international are more risky than the monsters outdoor our gates. She’s surely getting into some very elaborate, risky situations.
And the paper with that massive “Pamela Milton is Lying to You” on the front page… that is a very huge, public declaration that Connie (Lauren Ridloff) is making. How a good deal must we fear about Connie? And how effortlessly do you observed that the general populous of the Commonwealth will start to mistrust the region that they’re in?
This is simply something that’s going to have a massive effect at the tale. One of the things that we have been considering, is when you’re in something that resembles our current civilization, there are instances whilst the pen really is mightier than the sword. Connie doesn’t constantly should be available fighting with a weapon. She can use her words to transport the needle. And in order that turned into one of the stories that we definitely desired to tell — the things that humans say, the truths they find, the reporting that they do, honestly can make a difference. Connie in that way is a superhero when she’s at the Commonwealth, but it does put her in danger!
Jace Downs/AMC
How does it feel to have handiest 8 episodes of The Walking Dead left after this?