Episode 11.12 titled "The Lucky Ones" is entirely focused on the Commonwealth storyline. The premise for episode 12 reads: Aaron and Maggie meet Governor Pamela Milton as she tours Alexandria, Oceanside and Hilltop; Ezekiel finds himself lucky during a routine checkup; Eugene processes Max's story. I think the editing and pacing was perfect in this episode, with some great transitions. Vivian Tse penned the script for 11.12, the overall writing is great. Overseen by Angela Kang, the writing for this episode is consistent of the previous episodes in Part 2. The episode uses the big budget wisely, making it brilliant both technically and the acting and so on, the camera work are brilliant and it's visually a great episode, an overall impressive production.
Tawnia McKiernan directed 11.12 "The Lucky Ones" and the direction is really fine, I loved some of the shots and there are so many great scenes in this episode. If you have read the graphic novel you'll or not, this episode is for everyone. But how Tawnia and the cinematographer shoots the nature in this episode, stunning is all, extremely beautiful shots. The cinematography is once again breathtaking and incredible, the way it was shot and so on, just brilliant. The sets were detailed and perfect, and so are the art and production design. Superb sound design and a musical score both gripping and dramatic. It's one of many things on the technical side of things that the show succeeds perfectly with.
As this was a direct follow-up to the previous episode which ended with Eugene finally learning the truth of the real Stephanie which turned out to be Max and the direction Angela Kang goes with their storyline is finally incredible, Max being the sister of Mercer was a nice twist, whilst Pamela getting the tour of Alexandria, Oceanside and Hilltop. Having almost the entire cast in the episode was a nice sight, and everyone has something important to do which Part 2 have really nailed. The best performances were Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene and Laila Robins as Pamela Milton. But the thing with this episode isn't how mind blowing and epic it was, there are lots of scenes when people are only talking and conversing, which in my opinion is needed in an episode like this. There's still plenty of zombie killing and it looks fantastic. I wouldn't say this was a slow paced episode, I honestly wish it was longer than 45 minutes as it felt a bit rushed but that's my opinion, it was at a fine length.
"The Lucky Ones" has lots of things that fans of The Walking Dead will like. Angela Kang is truly giving the Commonwealth arc a lot of depth and I'm liking it a lot, Part 2 continues to be amazing and "The Lucky Ones" brings the anticipated issue from the graphic novel to the screen and I think it's better because of how well thought and personal they have made it in regards of a big universe like a tiny bit of dialogue Pamela Milton has with Daryl in how she knew Deanna Monroe. Things like that made me happy. I think the dialogue was some of the season's best, with each bit of dialogue being meaningful, it's also huge thanks to the actors who deliver the lines, simply brilliant from a writing point of view. "The Lucky Ones" are an nostalgic trip for old and new fans, with its dialogue and character interactions that will easily make you smile and feel for the characters. This episode did the material justice to me as it gave us plenty of character development, story building and our characters getting closer to where they were in the flashforward we saw.
