The Walking Dead: First Final Episodes Reactions Are In

The first reviews are in for the last episodes of The Walking Dead. AMC Networks released episodes 1117 (titled “Lockdown”) and 1118 (titled “A New Deal”) to press and TV critics, previewing the midseason premiere airing Sunday, October 2 at 9 pm ET/8c on AMC. (Both episodes will stream together as a two-episode premiere that same night on AMC+.) First reactions are mostly positive — praising the cast of characters and an epic scope and scale — but criticize a lack of feeling of finality with just eight episodes until the end. 

Read ComicBook‘s full review and excerpts from other early reviews: 

ComicBook.com: “While ‘Lockdown’ is no ‘No Way Out’ — the epic, explosive midseason premiere that launched the second half of Season 6 with all of Alexandria fending off an invading walker horde — the Greg Nicotero-directed episode is intense and compelling, a thrill ride from start to finish.”

GameSpot: “Through two-thirds of its elongated final season, The Walking Dead hasn’t really felt like it’s coming to a close. Sure, the surviving heroes have once again been facing down extinction at the hands of a seemingly insurmountable threat, but the feud between them and the Commonwealth hasn’t felt any more dramatic than past conflicts with the Saviors, the Whisperers, the Governor, and so on. Now with just eight episodes to go, I’ve been eager to get to the part of the season that illustrates this drama as the true last act of the show. After watching the first two episodes of season 11C, I’m still left waiting for the train to feel like it’s pulling into the station. I think the issue stems from AMC’s plans for a much grander Walking Dead universe — it’s even marketed as the Marvel-like ‘TWDU.’” 

Insider: “I’m fearful that certain stories will get skipped over and truncated in service of setting up the show’s three future spinoffs featuring Daryl, Maggie, Negan, and the long-awaited return of Rick and Michonne. These next two episodes of TWD don’t feel like the start of the end. They simply feel like mid-season episodes.” 

WhatToWatch: “What we can say is that these two episodes exemplify everything we love about The Walking Dead, including lots of walkers, explosive kills and tons of blood, guts and gore. Team Family comes together yet again to fight the true evildoers of the apocalypse: other people who would exploit others for their own gain. And if you’re wondering about whether or not you’ll see your favorite characters, based on the first two episodes we can safely say that yes, yes you will.”

AMC describes The Walking Dead’s final episodes: “On the heels of the oppressive presence of locusts, an even greater force is bearing down on every single member of each community. With Commonwealth flags raised at Hilltop, Alexandria, and Oceanside, there’s no time to strategize for those on the road. It’s a race against the clock to stay alive and extract those still living in the Commonwealth before Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) can execute his revenge. Inside the Commonwealth, Connie’s (Lauren Ridloff) article has created more chaos than planned. By exposing Governor Milton’s (Laila Robbins) corruption, their hope to create a better, more equal, life for all may instead put everyone at risk. With the vast debt our group owes and no other viable place to live, simply leaving has never been an option. But if their next move fails, staying won’t be an option either. 

“What they’re about to embark on will only invite more danger with massive consequences. The clock is ticking for our heroes inside the Commonwealth as well. As each group continues to get caught in uncontrollable situations, threats lurk around every corner, dead and alive. The looming pressure is cresting towards a day of reckoning for all. Will the sum of their individual journeys cumulate into one, or divide them forever? The fight for a future continues to be exasperated by the ominous population of walkers. Not all will survive, but for some, the walking dead lives on.”

Season 11 of The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus (Daryl), Melissa McBride (Carol), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Christian Serratos (Rosita), Josh McDermitt (Eugene), Seth Gilliam (Gabriel), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Khary Payton (King Ezekiel), Cooper Andrews (Jerry), Eleanor Matsuura (Yumiko), Nadia Hilker (Magna), Cailey Fleming (Judith Grimes), Cassady McClincy (Lydia), Lauren Ridloff (Connie), Angel Theory (Kelly), Paola Lázaro (Princess), Michael James Shaw (Mercer), Margot Bingham (Max), Josh Hamilton (Lance Hornsby), Laila Robins (Pamela Milton), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan).

The Walking Dead: The Last Episodes begin October 2 on AMC and with a two-episode premiere on AMC+. 

Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long.