Lockdown

Hiding from Lance's soldiers in an abandoned town and concerned for those in the group still at the Commonwealth, the group decides to send Negan in as a spy since no one knows him there. Together, Daryl and Negan ambush a group of soldiers with the help of Negan's old Whisperer mask and Negan steals a vehicle. Negan arrives at the Commonwealth where he is privately interrogated by Mercer and reveals his identity to him. Negan then is reunited with Carol. Meanwhile some of the citizens turn rogue and begin hunting Sebastian. Desperate, Pamela strikes an uneasy deal with Carol. Carol and Negan locate Sebastian and safely deliver him to Pamela. At the same time, the others engage in a cat and mouse game with Lance's soldiers, killing several before they end up in a standoff.

In this episode, tensions rise as the Commonwealth enforces a lockdown following the discovery of an escaped prisoner, leading to a series of dramatic events that challenge the survivors' trust in their new community.

The episode begins with the discovery of the escaped prisoner, triggering a lockdown that causes panic among the survivors. As they try to navigate the chaos, they are forced to confront their fears and doubts, leading to moments of introspection and conflict.

One of the standout scenes in "Lockdown" is when Daryl and Rosita discover evidence that the prisoner may have had help from within the Commonwealth. This revelation shakes the survivors' trust in their new community, raising questions about the true nature of the Commonwealth and its leadership.

Thematically, "Lockdown" explores the idea of trust and betrayal, highlighting the challenges of rebuilding society in a post-apocalyptic world. The episode raises compelling questions about the nature of community and the lengths people will go to protect their own interests.

In conclusion, "Lockdown" is a tense and gripping episode that explores the complexities of trust and betrayal in the post-apocalyptic world of "The Walking Dead." With its dramatic events, intense scenes, and thought-provoking themes, this episode is a standout in the final season of the series.

Like most fans i was hoping we'd see a return to form like the early seasons, but there's very little sense of drama or fear or tension. Each scene just seems to slope along one after another without anything to really grab you. Whatever magic this show had in the first 5-6 seasons went byebye some time ago. We can only hope that the directors/producers rediscover some form before the end and wow us with a decent ending, but i'm not that hopeful on current form. It will be a strange feeling when this show ends. On the one hand it'll be a shrug of the shoulders, on the other hand it'll leave a big void (the show that it WAS back in the early days). I wonder what the TV gods have in store for us.

The premise of episode 11.17 titled "Lockdown": Daryl and Negan rush to the commonwealth to stop Hornsby from going after their families. Pamela deals with protesters demanding justice for Sebastian's crimes. Mercer needs Rosita's help to fight a swarm. This episode contains some brilliant editing, transitions and pacing. Julia Ruchman penned the script for 11.17 and I have only good things about her work in this episode, the overall writing was brilliant and the dialogue felt right. Overseen by Angela Kang, the writing for this episode is consistent of the previous episodes in Part 1 and 2 if not better. The episode uses the big budget wisely, making it brilliant both technically and the acting and so on, the camera work are brilliant and visually a great episode, an overall impressive production. This is also the first episode of Part 3 and honestly, everything just looks better like they got a much bigger budget to work with and I loved the extended intro sequence.

Greg Nicotero directed "Lockdown" and honestly I don't think he have directed one single bad episode in the entire series run, 11.17 is no different as there are superb drama full with suspension and tension. There are so many great scenes in this episode and there's not one single bad performance throughout the entire episode. Scenes that are beautifully shot, scenes that are acted with such brilliance, and every other department and people working on the episode, terrific work. The close ups used, the attention to detail and all the shots in the nature, they nailed it on the camera side of things. The cinematography is once again breathtaking and incredible, just right for the show, the way it was shot and so on, simply brilliant. The sets were detailed and perfect, and so are the art and production design. I also found the effects to be fantastic in this episode, practical effects always makes it so more real, and The Walking Dead is known for their practical effects and they didn't let us down for this episode. 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.

"Lockdown" has lots of things that fans of The Walking Dead will like. It's the mid-season premiere of S11C and I anticipated it to be big and it was, building upon the events of the previous episode and thus giving us a memorable and brilliant episode, an action packed one. There were lots of things happening in this episode and no performances truly stood out but I found Josh Hamilton as Lance Hornsby and Michael James Shaw as Mercer to be among the best. But honestly, it was so great to see almost everyone of the cast in the episode, though they didn't get much screen time they were not ignored and I like that. But the action in this episode, the gore and violence, Greg Nicotero directed the hell out of this episode. Simply brilliant.

I hope S11C will be great, it sure started off strong, but I have one criticism in this episode and it's how the Commonwealth soldiers are dumbed down pretty immensely which I didn't feel on quite the same level before. I also got a feeling this story arc will be rushed, but I hope not. "Lockdown" was a great episode of TWD.

We are in the final stretch now. The last batch of episodes for The Walking Dead. The beginning of the end... and honestly, this was pretty damn great.

This feels like a final season finally. The new intro adds a lot, and so does the general scope and tone. The pace is thankfully different from Season 11B.

We get some amazing action here. Daryl and co. Fighting troops was super exciting, and so was Mercer and Rosita battling the horde. We also got a lot of really badass kills with some awesome teamwork from Negan and Daryl.

It's so satisfying to see that no matter how well-armed the troops are, they're no match for our much more experienced group.

Finally having the riots back at the Commonwealth advances the plot and adds a lot of necessary tension to make this feel like a big final storyline. We get so much more of Pamela, and seeing her try to defend the Milton name is compelling.

Another great addition to this episode is Negan meeting Commonwealth characters. His sly nature and Mercer's stonecoldness are a great contrast. I hope we get more of them together. I love that Mercer is learning that bending the rules is what's gonna keep the Commonwealth standing. Negan meeting Sebastian was arguably even cooler. Having these two interact is long overdue.

Carol and Jerry hiding the kids from Lance's people adds even more thrill. I was genuinely frightened for them throughout. Part of what makes Commonwealth so interesting is seeing out group handle these sticky situations without just killing.

The troops tear-gassing the citizens builds up this divisions between the people and the government. S*** is finally hitting the fan within the Commonwealth, not just outside its walls!

It's fantastic to see Negan and Carol reunite. Both their chemistry and Daryl and Maggie's is making it sink in how much I'll mist seeing them all together. Fantastic premiere, and one of the best episodes of the season.

I'll admit, my expectations were low. The final season had had some great episodes but has fell pretty flat sometimes too.

This episode was action-packed and fast-paced, and its great to see the Commonwealth story coming to an end soon. It leaves the door open for more fresh, new story not from the comics. Daryl and Negan teamed up, which is great to see but I wish we had gotten it sooner! There was also plenty of blood and gore, which is what we love.

That being said, there were still many eye-roll moments, as is typical of TWD.

The Commonwealth soldiers have pinpoint accuracy against walkers but not the main characters, of course. Daryl got shot at like 100 times this episode, and never even looked like he might get hit. HIs invincibility is getting out of hand. Not only is he bullet-proof but apparently head-on car crashes don't even phase him.

Also, for the love of God, stop baiting us with flashbacks of Rick. It seems pretty clear that he won't show up until the spin-off, so it bothers me that the main series is still baiting us with the hope that Rick will show up.

Also, Lance is not a great villain. He was useless in this episode, and all he does is get ambushed and shot up by the main characters without ever achieving anything. Its a bit of a waste of a great actor and an interesting character, he just seems like a cartoon villain now. So do the Commonwealth soldiers.

However, we got some more Negan scenes. I don't care what he does, but everytime that man is on screen I am excited. We really need to see more of him.

All that being said, it was a promising start and I really hope they keep it up, but I doubt it. TWD always starts strong and then loses steam in the middle.