The Walking Dead season 11, episode 21 review: "Well-paced and propulsive"

Warning! This review contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 21.

"People remember the last thing that you do", Seth Gilliam's Father Gabriel tells a dying, repentant Commonwealth trooper in The Walking Dead's latest episode. After Daryl's intimidation tactics fail to pry information out of the soldier, the priest tries a softer approach, urging the gang's nameless enemy to tell them where Pamela Milton has taken their friends, as a way to atone for his former sins before he passes. "The end of each story is important," he adds before the man obliges – a clunkily meta line as the horror drama moves towards its own conclusion.

'Outpost 22' gets away with it, though, because the installment – written by Jim Barnes and directed by Tawnia McKiernan – is so clearly geared toward said finale. It's well-paced and propulsive, more so than any of its predecessors that have aired as part of season 11's last chapter, as it reunites a bunch of major players and sets them on a path to convene with several others. 

It opens with Maggie waking up in the back of a truck and breaking a drowsy Rosita and Gabriel free from their restraints as a trooper snores beside them – but their hushed escape leads to the trio getting separated. Wandering the woods, Maggie crosses paths with a child zombie – a somber reminder of the dangers beyond community walls, and an opportunity for the episode to deliver a memorably moving moment, too. 

Typically, when a walker pops up in the show, the characters dispatch it without a second thought, but the undead youngster triggers Maggie's anxieties over her missing son Hershel. Having spared it earlier, Maggie lets the walker distract a lone trooper before she attacks the latter, and in the tussle, she's grabbed by the snarling kid from behind. She wrestles it into her arms, before reassuring it that "it's alright" and putting it down. Lauren Cohan's near-silent performance here is heartbreaking, as you remember how much grief Maggie has had to navigate over the years or imagine what losing Hershel would do to her.

'Outpost 22' doesn't let up there. The very next scene is just as emotional, as Carol – having stumbled upon her in the wilderness with Daryl – consoles a tearful Maggie, urging her not to scold herself for moving Hershel and the rest of Hilltop to the Commonwealth. 

Cohan and Melissa McBride have always made for great scene partners – 'The Same Boat', from The Walking Dead's sixth season is a prime example – but they rarely share the screen, so it's a treat to see them together again. "After The Fall, we were forced to become family. That's a good thing. It's a gift that's held, even in that place," Carol tells her old friend. "They had to come at us when we were separated, what does that say to you?" she continues, to which Maggie replies: "That we scare the shit out of Pamela."

"Exactly, and she failed. We're not alone anymore, and we're gonna make it right," Carol says confidently. An endgame is finally in sight, and it (rather predictably) revolves around our heroes coming together again – not just to best an enemy this time, though, but because their bonds are what makes the new world worth sticking around for.

Alongside the tearjerks, the episode boasts decent action. Carol, Daryl, Maggie meet up with Rosita and Gabriel, and attempt to save a kidnapped Connie while hijacking the Commonwealth train. After jamming a railroad switch, the foursome sneak up on as many of the train's operators as they can before a shoot-'em-up breaks out. It's a thrilling sequence but, admittedly, wraps on a bit of a bum note as Daryl pursues a fleeing trooper through the trees on a motorcycle and the camera starts flitting between normal angles and cringeworthy, shaky close-up shots of both riders' faces.

Elsewhere, the likes of Ezekiel, Kelly, and Negan have been put to work on the train tracks and are weighing up their options. Kelly wants to flee, but Ezekiel knows better – and is proved right when a bunch of runners are gunned down by those in charge. Later, an exchange between Negan and Ezekiel suggests that the former is planning to spark an uprising, inspire hope (the latter's “thing”), and sacrifice himself to save the gang and his pregnant wife ("For the shit I've done, I probably deserve to be in a place like this", Negan mumbles). In the comics, Rick Grimes and co let Negan live after they take down the Whisperers, but they ultimately send him away from Alexandria. In the show, he's stuck around, and the writers haven't really known what to do with him or how to justify him being there. Might this be the start of a worthy redemption arc at last?

The Walking Dead's disjointed narratives are still a big issue, however. We've not checked in with the likes of Aaron, Jerry, and Lydia for two weeks, despite that shocking 'smart zombie' reveal, and the new installment features no Yumiko either. An odd decision, given her personal rebellion against Pamela last week, when she vowed to defend Eugene in court following the death of the Commonwealth governor's son Sebastian. It's hard to visualize the show managing to do both of these storylines justice while seeing through the main Daryl, Carol, and Maggie one, too. As a reminder, there's now just three episodes left…

'Outpost 22' ends strong, at least, with Rosita – pretending to be a jeopardized trooper – radioing the titular base and asking for directions on how to get there. After the woman on the other end responds with instructions, our heroes learn that the colony their pals have been taken to is actually Alexandria. Incensed their old patch is being used as a hard labor camp, Maggie growls: "Milton has underestimated us since day one. We are gonna get our kids, take back our home, and make it right," echoing what Carol said to her earlier, and teasing one hell of a showdown. "Pamela's never gonna see it coming," she finishes." The fight is on – and we can't wait to see how it plays out.

Make sure you never miss an episode with our The Walking Dead season 11 release schedule, and check out our how to watch The Walking Dead guide if you're wanting to watch/rewatch the main series and its spin-offs.