The Walking Dead: Family (11x23)

Yeah, so here we are! Just one more episode left to wrap everything up. Let's talk about The Walking Dead's penultimate outing!

Cons:

There's still a bit of treading water, which is frustrating to see so late in the game. The main question I have for after this show ends is, what will the state of the world be in the aftermath of the finale? Where will our characters be living, how will they be building a future for themselves? And I don't think this show is going to give me that in the end. I think there are too many spinoffs in the works, I think there's too much that's going to be left hanging.

Like all the stuff happening in the Commonwealth, trying to get Eugene out of there, it all feels real pointless when you put it up against the Commonwealth's inevitable demise at the end of the episode. In the later seasons of this show, so many of the big status-quo changing moments are frustrating because they seem to make so much of the buildup pointless in retrospect. Why have we spent so long on the Commonwealth if it wasn't bridging us to something bigger? What, in the end, makes Pamela and all her cohorts any different than any of the other mini-bosses we've had over the years? Ah, well.

Obligatory statement that I don't care about Negan or his wife or his marriage or his redemption or whatever. The scene with Negan and Ezekiel was such a retread of something we've been seeing over and over. Ezekiel says he saved Negan because dying a martyr would be "too easy" and he needs to live and try to bring good into the world. Okay, whatever. I'm soooo over it.

Pros:

There was a lot of excitement going on here, though. I don't want to belabor every single point of conflict and action, but the parts that were supposed to be emotionally affecting to me very much worked.

Seeing Lydia get bit, and have to have her arm amputated, the way Jerry and Aaron supported her through that, was really moving. I loved how Aaron told her that she was loved, and encouraged her that she would get through this. Seeing these two men just torn to bits over the pain of this young woman, far too young to be suffering such hardships, was one of the high emotional points of the episode for me, just in terms of making me feel a connection that is lacking in so much of the show for me these days.

Similarly, Judith getting shot was a real... well, I was going to say a real shot in the arm. The absolute horror on Maggie's face, Daryl's terrified scream of denial... do I think they'll kill Judith off in the finale? Likely not. But honestly I felt a real spark of fear for her when this happened, and my heart is racing a little to see how it will all shake out. That's effective TV, if nothing else!

Other moments I enjoyed included Mercer and Princess coordinating on how they were going to take over the Commonwealth, that moment when Negan reacted with confused horror at the Walkers climbing the wall, and the utter bad-assery of Daryl shooting the fire extinguisher out of the air to cover their escape from the shootout. There's still some life left in this show, in certain moments of brilliance, and I'm glad some of those moments got to shine here as we wind down to the end.

And I'll stop there. Next week is the finale, and my lack of engagement with this show will finally be at an end. I feel bad that new episodes of this show lead me to feel more drudgery than anything else, I always want to be in the position to say a fond farewell instead of just being relieved it's over. I really do hope we stick the landing, and I'll tell ya one thing, if Rick and Michonne show up I will feel joy in my heart about that.

7.5/10