The Walking Dead: Season 10, Episode 17 Review – “Home Sweet Home”

After COVID delays, The Walking Dead’s original season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom”, after several months, the franchise became its own form of damage control. As fall rolled around, AMC announced that instead of Season 11, which would have already been in production and already airing episodes, it will be. extend the show’s 10th season by six episodes (all in announcing the official end of the show and a Carol / Daryl spin-off While there is no longer a Whisperer War to speak of, these six episodes are meant to serve as a creative bridge for our characters as they sort through a bunch of their angry, resentful, and convoluted emotions before launching into season 11. That’s not to say that there won’t be some cool stuff going on during this mini-race, but overall these arcs just might be the things that usually occur offscreen, in weeks and months we tend to jump between seasons. At the very least when the dust settles we will have got long awaited Negan flashbacks.

Speaking of Negan, “Home Sweet Home,” the episode that kicks off this “Season 10C,” takes us a bit back into the Maggie / Negan drama, without any clear resolution. The last time we saw these two together was right before star Lauren Cohan dropped the show to try her hand at a less austere, more traditional network TV adventure series (the fleeting Whiskey Cavalier on ABC). Back in Season 9, Maggie visited Negan in his jail cell with the intention of killing him, but instead offered him her mercy.

Now Maggie is back and Negan is free, or “status on hold,” and she’s not too happy with the situation. Given that we’ll be getting into Negan’s backstory over the next few weeks, it looks like that, along with some upcoming drama from Daryl and Carol, will be the focus of these Bridge Chapters – because nothing will ultimately be resolved here. in “Home Sweet Home.”

We have some new villains, who sort of come out of nowhere and have been an integral part of Maggie’s saga and where she’s been for a few years. These villains also end up being a bit of a “watch” situation, though they do provide us with some great action moments to help spice up this somewhat sour midseason opening. Maggie’s story, and where she’s been, isn’t worth the long absence, plus the anger she feels towards Negan (which on paper is totally understandable) seems so far removed from our narrative situation these days- this. The “All Out War” -arc not only feels far away from viewers in real time, but in the show’s years, it’s even further away.

Most of this episode involves an edgy Maggie who gets distracted by a threat far more pressing and dangerous than her outrage at Negan. She and Daryl have heart to heart, but Daryl is a much better listener than he is a convincing talker. The plot of “Home Sweet Home” – which is a bit thin and brings up an old conflict for another round – would certainly never have cut it as a Season 11 premiere. And as an indicator of what the rest of these limbo episodes might deliver, it seems to suggest that we will have plenty of meditative moments of rebuke and redress; which is part of the usual DNA of the show anyway, but maybe not extended like that like some type of postscript.

“Home Sweet Home” involves Angel Theory’s Kelly a little more than usual, who is one of the many underserved characters in this show’s massive ensemble (honestly, most of them are from the band of Magda who arrived during season 9). Connie is still missing (as actress Lauren Ridloff briefly stepped away to film Marvel’s Eternals), so Kelly and Daryl, on and off, search for clues for her. That doesn’t mean Kelly is suddenly a fed character on the show, but it’s always good to see them spending more screen time than usual.

Usually, the anticipation of where The Walking Dead is going and how it lines up with the comic book series (still) keeps many fans glued to this show. The crux of it all is the thrill of seeing new adversaries, obstacles and tragedies. And we’re currently heading towards the big, final comic book setting – The Commonwealth. The new villains introduced here in “Home Sweet Home,” who are slated to be picked up before Season 11 officially begins, feel pretty attached. However, to be fair, you can’t really expect the show to run for six episodes purely on the stoicism and / or rumination of the characters, so it makes sense to have stalkers. None of them look as cool as Maggie’s cohort, Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari), who seems to function as The Walking Dead’s Snake Eyes at this point, slaughtering their enemies with Japanese kama blades. .

The fear, with these new antagonists, is that Maggie and Negan’s eventual reconciliation, or their version of it, will come by fighting those scarecrows – that’s exactly how Negan sweetened things, or his version, with all the world in Alexandria. It’s not the world’s most terrible trope from a storytelling standpoint, but it’s a well that The Walking Dead has drawn water from far too many times at this point.