love how they're really digging into their relationship this season. Maggie starting to see events more thru Hershel's eyes and him trying to protect her. #DeadCity
“I don't know why, but I honestly can see the walking dead ending with everyone going their own way. Like Negan will get exiled (permanently). Maggie and her group (and of course her son) will leave. Carol and Daryl will go. I just feel like the group can't stand each-other anymore and everyone will go their ways.”
I went into this thinking I’d come out feeling pretty apathetic, but to my pleasant surprise, there were actually a lot of strong moments in this episode that I think may actually stick with me.
I realize I’ve established myself as a Caryl blogger, but surprise, I’m a fan of the show overall too, so I have things to say about the overarching story and different characters. Don’t worry, I have things to say about Carol and Daryl too, who actually had a pretty heartfelt scene. Spoilers below the cut:
I wanted to start off with a few comments about Lydia, because her contribution in this episode is bound to get overlooked. We may not see much of her, but if you pay attention to the recap in the beginning, you’ll notice that she is the one narrating. As one of my new favorite characters, I can’t tell you how much it delights me to experience the emotional journey of season 10 through her perspective. It’s only fitting, right? She drove a lot of the plot, particularly “A Certain Doom,” which I like to think of as her episode. I can only hope that this is a testament of how important she has become to the story as a whole, and that we can expect a lot more from her in season 11.
Continuing onto the MVP of this episode, and no, it’s not Maggie or Hershel Jr, though their scenes did warm my heart. I’ll get to them soon, but first I need to talk about Kelly, who is also a new favorite character of mine for reasons that come across crystal clear in this episode. Connie has been her guardian angel her whole life, but that protective nature runs both ways. Kelly’s so determined to find her big sister that she even leaves her post to track a possible clue (with skills she’s picked up from “Uncle Daryl” as Angel Theory points out on Talking Dead). The search ultimately turns up nothing and while some characters like Daryl accept the possibility that “sometimes someone is just gone,” Kelly is keeping hope alive, which Maggie also encourages in an emotional bonding moment between them later on. She tells Kelly she hopes to meet Connie one day, and Kelly responds, “You will.” Even at this stage, it’s incredibly satisfying to watch Kelly on this particular journey. I see it as a consolation prize for the journey we never got when Maggie and Beth got separated.
Kelly is just one of several characters Maggie interacts with in significant ways. Her much anticipated run-in with Negan does it’s job of setting up their tension in no more than ten seconds, but leaves A LOT to still be explored. A lot, a lot. This scene is followed with a casual “Hey” to Carol and Daryl, which is disappointing considering these three are so close and it’s been ages since they’ve seen each other, though I realize this is not meant to be the very first time they meet up since the events of “A Certain Doom.” But that also raises the question of why Maggie wasn’t already aware that Negan was out. Oh, well? I’ll forgive the slightly offbeat reunions because the next scene had my heart ready to explode for a couple reasons. You could see the guilt and concern written all over Carol’s face when she tells Maggie how and why Negan was let out while simultaneously showing her what remains of the Hilltop community Negan helped destroy. Maggie is understandably upset, but is grateful to Carol for at least telling her the truth.
That heavy feeling carries into a brief, but still very touching conversation between Carol and Daryl. He tells her “you didn’t have to do that,” and that he plans to accompany Maggie to find her people in order to “try to smooth things over,” and try he does. While holing up for the night, Daryl starts to tell Maggie, “What Carol did, she didn’t mean--” before Maggie assures him she “gets it.” Despite the emotional roller coaster Daryl and Carol were on throughout season 10, it’s plain as day here that Daryl is still very much in Carol’s corner. It makes me all the more curious and a little wary to find out how they land in a very different emotional space in “Find Me.” All I’m hearing so far is that Daryl blames Carol for Connie, but there has to be more to it than that, or at least I really hope so. Their relationship is way too deep for a major fight between them to center around anyone other than them. What about Carol lying to him? Not having more faith in him? Not talking to him? Not treating him like a best friend? If none of that is addressed, I’m going to feel pretty let down, but might also have to assume that the deeper underlying issues are being saved for Season 11.
But back to “Home Sweet Home,” I loved hearing Maggie tell Daryl about the place by the ocean she and Glenn once talked about going to, which to me parallels Daryl and Carol wanting to go to New Mexico together. You really feel that closeness between Daryl and Maggie when she starts to open up about where she’s been, but there’s clearly still a lot she’s not ready to tell (because this is Season 11 stuff). Daryl doesn’t push her, only let’s her know she’s more than welcome to come home, differing from his approach with Carol in 10x01.
We’re introduced to a new group called “The Reapers” that are apparently targeting Maggie’s people, many of which we see get taken out in a contrived and fairly predictable action sequence. I’m personally pretty worn out from these kinds of villain arcs, but what can I do? One thing that did stand out is that the reaper we briefly meet before he blows himself up seems to have military training and is even wearing camouflage. It reminds me of the walker we see Daryl tussling with in one of the promo photos for Diverged, so I wonder if there’s a connection there.
Other new characters we’re most likely going to learn more about in Season 11 are Cole, who comes across as Maggie’s right hand man, and Elijah, who does remove his mask in a really heartfelt moment between him and Kelly. Least I forget Hershel Jr., who is Glenn’s son in seemingly every way. The look Daryl gives him when he sees him sitting up in a tree is adorable.
Though the structure felt a little off, the emotions in this episode hit exactly where they needed to, which is a success in my book. Now can I please watch 10x18? Please??
Maggie’s crying as she holds him tightly which breaks my heart 💔uh makes me wish Glenn got to see what his child look like but I know he would be proud of Maggie :’D
