Sunday’s new episode of The Walking Dead season 6 offered a couple of moments that we’ll probably be looking back on in a few weeks.
Episode 11 titled “Knots Untie” introduced viewers to the ammo-less Hilltop Colony led by Gregory, who falls victim to one of his own men thanks to an order from Negan. By the end of the episode we clearly knew what the goal would be for the remainder of the season: Kill Negan.
Welcome to Hilltop
After being introduced as a mischievous character on last week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Jesus finally explains his purpose in 6×11 to the people of Alexandria: He’s from the Hilltop Colony and thinks the two establishments can trade goods to help each other out. Intrigued by the prospect, Rick and company head with Jesus and a couple of his companions to Hilltop, a place that ran out of ammo months ago. The place is nice! Featuring a gorgeous brick mansion at its center, the establishment holds livestock, trailers, and decent people.
Jesus introduces them to Hilltop’s leader Gregory who’s played by Xander Berkeley. Unfortunately, they can’t come to a trade deal like Jesus was hoping. The problem? Gregory believes Alexandria needs food more than Hilltop needs anything else. In fact, Gregory believes that Alexandria has nothing to offer.
… Or do they? One of Hilltop’s men named Ethan returns from a supply delivery to the Saviors and says that his brother Craig is being held hostage with Negan until Ethan kills Gregory (that sentence is a tad confusing because this arrangement is a tad complicated). So, Ethan delivers a stab to the Hilltop owner, and Rick and company step in to get the shocking situation under control.
Yes, Negan is currently holding a scary amount of control over the Hilltop Colony. Well, maybe Hilltop can get something from Alexandria: Someone with big enough balls to kill Negan so they don’t have to keep dealing with this crap.
After the ordeal Jesus fills them in on Negan and the Saviors, and warns them that this is a dangerous man. Despite these new details, Daryl is confident in their ability to take this guy out and suspects all the big talk about Big Scary Negan is just that — talk. But Negan is still taking a lot from the Hilltop, so Maggie comes up with a great deal to put an end to his reign: Alexandria will take half of Hilltop’s food and medicine in exchange for eliminating Negan, who would continue to take more and more if he continues to live.
While Gregory was initially very resistant to Natalie’s Maggie’s offers, he can’t resist the promise that he’ll never be stabbed again by one of his own men acting on Negan’s orders.
Warning signs for Glenn?
While the surprise attack on Gregory gave me a fright, the scariest moment may’ve been when Maggie says of their upcoming battle with Negan: “It’s going to cost us something.” Rick replies with an incredulous look on his face, like he has no clue what she could be talking about. Hmmm, what could that cost be? Maybe her husband, Glenn?
(Spoiler warning! Dear reader: If you’ve heard anything about Negan, you probably already know that he takes Glenn out with a bat in The Walking Dead comic series. This attack was also hinted at in this episode when Jesus warns that Negan likes to deal with people “right off the bat.”)
That wasn’t the only sign of imminent death for Glenn. It happens again when Rick and Michonne discuss fighting Negan, and both of them tell each other they’ll win the war. The next shot in the episode? Glenn and Maggie checking out their baby in Maggie’s belly thanks to Hilltop’s available medical equipment.
Abraham and the Bisquick
Our favorite redhead took a little time to reflect on life and his two love interests in TWD 6×11. After using Bisquick and pancakes to metaphorically ask Glenn about having sex, he ultimately decides that Sasha is the one he wants to be with instead of Rosita. This whole arc got started when Sasha decided to stop working with him at Alexandria in light of his fling with Rosita, so it’ll be interesting to see how he gets Sasha back.
Richonne
Speaking of making the pancakes, Rick and Michonne aren’t hiding their Bisquick-positive relationship from anyone. Yep, they’re officially a couple. Sex, hand-holding, saving each other’s lives, etc.
Rick quickly comes clean about the relationship to Carl, who finds out thanks to Jesus referring to his dad and Michonne as his parents. Carl, by the way, approves of the ship. “It’s cool,” he tells dad with a smirk.
While the previous episode of The Walking Dead was fun and surprising (Richonne!), episode 11 was a little less exciting and definitely more serious. On the other hand, we did enjoy how straightforward this episode was, which was another benefit of episode 11. Sometimes the show gets a little dragged down when it tries to jump between too many characters in a single 44-minute timeframe. We hope the show continues to focus on a small group of characters, or just focuses on two to three arcs max, in the remaining episodes to come.
With five episodes to go before the season is over, The Walking Dead 6×11 offered fans and the characters a clear path forward: Negan.
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