Eleanor Matsuura Teases Governor Milton v. Yumiko on The Walking Dead

By Cameron Bonomolo

Warning: this story contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 20, "What's Been Lost." Court is in session on The Walking Dead, and the verdict could mean life or death for Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Sunday's "What's Been Lost" saw Governor Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) pursue charges against the man who caused the unintentional death of her son, killed by the walker Eugene shoved away from Max (Margot Bingham) and onto Sebastian Milton (Teo Rapp-Olsson). "I want nothing more than to see justice prevail, to see order restored from chaos," says Pamela, hiring the top lawyer in the Commonwealth: Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura).

"I want to assure my citizens that the trial of the man who killed Sebastian will remain impartial. That justice will be served, no matter which side someone falls on," Governor Milton tells Yumiko. "Who better to bring that impartial justice than Eugene Porter's friend?"

In private, the governor wants to make an example out of Eugene. She coerces Yumiko into prosecuting Eugene on behalf of the Commonwealth, lest something happen to her brother Tomi (Ian Anthony Dale). Governor Milton has already disappeared Yumiko's friends — Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), and the rest of the new immigrants — rounding them up and "removing" them from the Commonwealth.

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At a press conference to declare Yumiko's intent to prosecute the accused, the criminal defense lawyer announces she will be defending Eugene, who "has been wrongly and unjustly accused by Pamela Milton and the Commonwealth."

"I think it's a really weird, bizarre environment for Yumiko to find herself in," Matsuura told PopCulture.com about Yumiko's role in Governor Milton's administration. "I've been rolling with the same crew for a long time, and our motto was always ride or die. We are really, really tight. So I think anything outside of that crew is always going to feel weird."

Yumiko and ex-girlfriend Magna (Nadia Hilker) began to devise an exit strategy should they need to leave the Commonwealth, which has been in unrest ever since Connie published an exposé revealing the Miltons' corruption.

"But the Commonwealth, as you know, is particularly bizarre. It's a whole new territory that no one's ever experienced before," Matsuura said. "So just because Yumiko has this past, which is she's found herself, she was a top lawyer, she's comfortable in these kinds of environments."

As Eugene's case goes to trial in the November 6th episode titled "Faith," the stakes are higher than ever as Yumiko fights for justice inside the courtroom. Outside of it, her friends fight for their own freedom as they fight to take back Alexandria: one of the communities colonized by Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton). 

"She's really used to those kinds of environments. She doesn't find a courtroom intimidating. But this is different," Matsuura said. "The Commonwealth just has a completely different twist to it. And I don't think Yumiko's unaware of that. I'm a smart cookie, and I'm trying to, I think, do the best to survive, both for myself and for the loyalty of my group."

Follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for TWD Universe coverage all season long. New episodes of The Walking Dead's final season premiere Sundays on AMC and AMC+.

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