Episode eleven picks up exactly where we left off, with Jesus walking in on Rick and Michonne, and saying it's time they spoke. I've been surprised so far with how they've handled Jesus, as the TV version is a lot smaller and I want to say sneakier than the comic book version. Always a good thing when they mix things up a bit though, can't have everything by the book. The intro involves Maggie and Glenn tending to some crops in Alexandria, Sasha and Abraham sharing an awkward moment, Abraham and Rosita in bed, and then Jesus sitting everyone down to let them know that their world "is about to get a whole lot bigger". Cue music.
Rick and the group, accompanied by Jesus, are setting out to his community to talk trade with his leader. There's a nice moment when Rick says to Carl he was going to tell him about his relationship with Michonne, but Carl is cool with it. He seems over the moon with it actually. Someone who's been with the group for a long time who he can look at as a real mother figure. On the road, they come across an upturned vehicle, and Jesus immediately recognizes it as one of his own.
Rightly suspicious, Rick tells Jesus that if it's another trick it won't end well. Tracking Jesus' people to a building, they leave him with Maggie, who is given instruction to shoot him if things go south. Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Abraham find the other survivors and bring them to safety, dispatching some loose walkers as they do so. On the way to Hilltop, Maggie and Glenn find out one of the men they saved is a doctor, who has medicine and equipment for pregnant women at his disposal.
The revealing of the Hilltop community may have been a bit surprising at this point in the season, with many people thinking that they'd drag it out until nearer the finale to bring this new community in, but that's just testament to the awesome pacing of season six as a whole. The survivors are introduced to Gregory, the leader of Hilltop (played by Xander Berkeley) who tell them to get cleaned up and then come talk to him. Immediately, Rick takes a disliking to him, deputising Maggie as the person who should talk to Gregory because he "probably shouldn't". The initial conversation with between Maggie and Gregory is an interesting one, with Gregory trying to charm Maggie at first to open negotiations, but upon realising she's a tough nut to crack, he changes his tune and states that there can be no deal because our group "ain't got shit" to offer to trade with Hilltop.
Some other members of the community return, stating that Negan killed some of their men and is holding others hostage. Blackmailed to do so, one of the men, Ethan, delivers a message to Gregory from Negan by stabbing him, immediately Rick and the others jump to the save, with Rick stabbing Ethan's throat and killing him in the scuffle. Abraham almost gets strangled, realising in his near death experience that he is in fact in love Sasha, not Rosita. This scene is where Rick realises that the group Daryl, Sasha and Abraham ran into earlier was more dangerous than he suspected, and demands Jesus tell him more about Negan. He explains that Negan's men turned up and killed one of their own, a sixteen year old boy, before taking half of their belongings in return for keeping them alive.
Perplexed by the whole situation, Rick and Daryl put to Jesus that the deal they can cut in return for the Hilltop helping Alexandria out with food and supplies would be that the survivors would hunt down and kill Negan. Foolishly so, of course. I couldn't ignore the sick feeling in my stomach listening to the confidence coming from Rick and Daryl. Bad times are on the horizon. After discussing the deal with a recovering Gregory, Jesus tells Maggie that Gregory wants to talk to her. By this point, and realising she has more leverage than Gregory, Maggie demands that if they take care of Negan and the Saviors for good, they want half of their supplies, without the same threats of violence administered by Negan, of course. Coming to the realisation that there isn't a better offer on the table, and it could potentially rid the communities of Negan for good, Gregory accepts the proposal.
Loading up their van with some of the traded supplies, the survivors enlist the help of another Hilltop member, who knows his way around Negan's compound. Jesus asks to accompany the survivors, insisting that Rick still has his knives in any case. Talking about what they're setting out to do, Maggie ominously tells the others "it's gonna cost us". Sick feeling intensifies. As they are about to set out, Michonne reminds Rick that it's going to be a fight, to which Rick replies "we'll win... we have to." Oh if only it was that simple. The closing scenes done a good job at building all the survivors, meaning no one is any closer to working out who Negan's first victim is going to be. Maggie and Glenn received a baby scan from the doctor before they left, and as they passed their scan photo around for the others to see, everyone watching teared up a little bit. Everyone has something to lose.
The entire feel of the episode of a whole was tense. From finding the upturned bus to the confrontation with Ethan, and the decision to go after Negan before he goes after them, this week's Walking Dead is leaving us dreading what is to come in the next few weeks. We'll keep watching anyway, when and if the unlucky ones meet their tragic end. This is the best show on television, without any doubt in my mind. Considering what we saw in terms of character development, it made up for the lack of action, though we understandably are still receiving some respite after the events of No Way Out, if I had to score this week's episode it would have to be a generous 7/10. Really enjoyed it in parts, with Maggie coming into more of a leadership role which will be a fantastic decision for the future of the survivors. I'll probably have a preview of episode twelve up either tomorrow or Wednesday, until then though, see you again!