11.12: The Walking Dead - The Lucky Ones

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Aaron and Maggie meet Gov. Pamela Milton as she tours Alexandria, Oceanside and Hilltop; Ezekiel finds himself lucky during a routine checkup; Eugene processes Max's story.

 

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Apologies for not posting last week after I cocked up by reviewing a wrong episode. I was already biased so I couldn't post with extra information, didn't wanted to. So, I watched the last one and this one back-to-back.

First things first, Maggie is absolutely right for saying no to Governor Milton's offer. The Commonwealth is way too dodgy for accepting their terms. In one hand they offer good things, even help both Oceanside and the Hilltop on their struggles, but the way I see them doing it reminds me of throwing pearls to the pigs.

They don't really need to the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth doesn't need them. Hornsby with his ideas about the glorious future is the one that should go, but I'm afraid he's going to be the last one in this madness that goes down. It's far more likely in my mind that he soon takes out the Governor and her annoying b*astard son, and declared himself as a dictator.

He even might have Mercer in his pocket, although I cannot be certain of it as something bugs me about him. And one of those thing is that he's far from being a yes-man. He either in the Hornsby's plot up to his ears, or then he a useful fool, who walks around while wearing blinders. Although I'm not fully committed to that as Mercer has seen and he knows way too much, so the only conclusion I have is that he's innit completely.

Eugene, I don't know what to say about him as he's broken down and he doesn't even to hear about the real Melania, because it brings back all those haunting memories about his failure. That's what Hornsby called him in the last episode without voicing it out loud. But I agree on Hornsby's statement that he's paranoid.

We have seen it many times. Sometimes it pushes him to produce miracles, but most of the time it makes him an utter fool. A useless person who couldn't kill until over the half way into the series. And even then only when he had to, while the normal people just get on with it or they join the Dead.

What I am scared is that dark side of the Commonwealth. It's definitely there and I still strongly believe that a lot of them are cannibals. A lot of them are classically denying it, even dodging the odds questions, but when you think about Taylor's disappearance and the list girls got in their hands it's not like they were moved to some other community. I strongly suspect that they've been put in the freezer to wait to be served as a dinner.

The things like curing Ezekiel's cancer is just one of those illusions they cast around to keep the people believe in the fairy tale. The Commonwealth most certainly is one and I don't like them one bit, even though I should for them offering hope for our community.

Question in my mind is should they believe in it, even though the heart of the Commonwealth is rotten? Sometime you'll have to struggle to keep the good thing going.

 

[Dave]

There just has to be some deep dark secret in the Commonwealth. It's all too good, even without the "disappeared" people. However, even if everything good about it was true, and all the critics have just made up stories, and the reports of missing people are total lies, then they can still never escape from the Civic Republic and it's only a matter of time before they find them. Even quicker if Alexandria, Oceania and Hilltop were to join them.

 

[REBerg]

Hornsby's ambition to form his own little political empire is puzzling.
He dodged the question when Maggie asked, "What's in it for you?" Even Milton recognizes that Hornsby is working on a side project of his own, but she doesn't care as long as he continues to perform his day job.
Hornsby knows that Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside would get Commonwealth material support -- the carrot he repeatedly dangles as an incentive to join. Maggie seems to be the only one who anticipates the proverbial stick behind the temptation.
Hornsby's aspirations for power would appear to be better served by undermining Milton's administration from within. I don't think that leading the collective populations of the three settlements would add enough to his power base for a Commonwealth coup.

 

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Hornsby's aspirations for power would appear to be better served by undermining Milton's administration from within. I don't think that leading the collective populations of the three settlements would add enough to his power base for a Commonwealth coup.

Is there a possibility that Milton is serving some higher ups? Could that be the source for his motivation?

There just has to be some deep dark secret in the Commonwealth. It's all too good, even without the "disappeared" people.

How far they can poke before the ugly secret is revealed?

 

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"I'm Max. There is no Stephanie," reveals Max (Margot Bingham) when identifying herself as the mystery voice on Eugene's (Josh McDermitt) radio. After arriving at the Commonwealth to meet the woman he fell in love with over the radio, Eugene learned his first-ever girlfriend was a fiction: the Steph-phony is really Shira (Chelle Ramos), a covert operative working for Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton). In "The Lucky Ones," Eugene meets Max — the real Stephanie he connected with over the airwaves back in Season 10.

Max reveals she used dumped radio parts to call out live on the open air in the Season 9 finale and again in the Season 10 episode "Bonds." Using the alias "Stephanie" — her mother's name — and the call sign "Blue Weevil," Max makes contact with Eugene "Tater Bug" at the Hilltop, and the two plan a rendezvous in Charleston, West Virginia.

But the transmission is intercepted by Hornsby and investigated by General Mercer (Michael James Shaw), Max's brother. This unauthorized contact with a rogue community leads Mercer's white-armored troopers to ambush and apprehend Eugene and traveling companions Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and Princess (Paola Lazaro) at the rail yard, later processing them for admittance into the Commonwealth.

Why didn't Max tell Eugene about the Stephanie imposter sooner? When I called out on the open air to ask Bingham about the Max-Stephanie twist, Bingham explained the executive assistant of Commonwealth Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) is cautious to protect herself and her brother — and Eugene.

"I think Max knows her place in this hierarchy and in this classism that is the Commonwealth, and she's very cautious with her moves. She also has a lot to gain, and she has a lot to lose, because her family is also on the inside," Bingham told ComicBook in an exclusive postmortem. "So, she's cautiously aware of every move that she makes. I think she knows to keep Eugene as safe as she possibly can, but there's really only so much that she can do, so she's trying to do her best. She really is trying to do her best."

The Walking Dead's Margot Bingham Explains Eugene and Stephanie Twist

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Sunday's 'The Lucky Ones' episode of The Walking [...]

comicbook.com

 

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Rick Grimes meets Governor Milton and her New World Order in the comic books, but it's Aaron (Ross Marquand) who gives Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) the grand tour of Alexandria on The Walking Dead. In Season 11 Episode 12, ambitious Deputy Governor Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) arranges meetings with the leaders of the allied communities: Aaron of Alexandria, Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) of Hilltop, and Rachel (Avianna Mynhier) of Oceanside. Hornsby plans an expansion of the Commonwealth empire, but the joint agreement hinges on Maggie's approval — if Hilltop declines the offer, so does Oceanside, and the Commonwealth cuts off Alexandria from its resources and supplies.

In the comics, it's Eugene who leads Governor Milton's delegation back to Alexandria in The Walking Dead #180. Under the command of General Mercer, the Commonwealth's armored military force accompanies Eugene, Siddiq, Magna, Yumiko, and Princess to Alexandria, still recovering from the devastating Whisperer War.

Aaron Replaces Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead

Warning: this story contains spoilers for Sunday's 'The Lucky Ones' episode of The Walking [...]

comicbook.com

Interesting. Also #180 is close to the end. I haven't read it, yet. They had #193 issues in total. I would have loved having Rick in here, but there hasn't been anything on that front. If we would have had him instead of Maggie it would have made clear that Rick could not trust anyone to do the good thing. Now it's more like Maggie seeing through Horsby's and Milton's lies and putting an hard end to it. Also Daryl didn't show any signs of twisting to the other side, he's just doing a job.

 

[nixie]

The poison in The Commonwealth I feel is Lance Hornsby, he wants an empire. Pamela Milton, her concern is her own kingdom, she couldn't care less about our people, although I do think she'd like Maggie to join, probably to replace Hornsby.

Daryl isn't on board, he is getting close to the enemy, he will do what's needed to protect those he cares about.
Somehow I can't see Eugene having a happy ever after.