Cracks appear in the facade of The Commonwealth in the tumult of Faith as long-held loyalties are stretched beyond breaking point. The multiple personal confrontations and the moments of intense action in the episode contain elements of melodrama, as Faith adopts a heightened emotional texture. That makes for some fast-paced, entertaining storytelling, only some of which collides with the series’ trademark cynical sensibilities.
A key component of the plot is the prosecution of Eugene over the death of Sebastian. While there’s been no end of brutal “summary justice” in The Walking Dead over the years, a courtroom drama is a novelty – especially a trial that is completely rigged by the prosecution in cahoots with the judge. Eleanor Matsuura enjoys giving Yumiko a chance to try out her Perry Mason moves, while Josh McDermitt captures Eugene’s battle with his rising panic as a man teetering on the edge of an abyss. Laila Robins is great too, ensuring that there’s doubt in the public gallery about the truth of Pamela Milton’s testimony, as The Commonwealth’s leader turns on the waterworks in her condemnation of Eugene.
McDermitt is excellent too in those scenes in the cells where he urges his friends to accept the inevitability of a guilty verdict. And while Pamela gloats at the judge’s decision, she’s slow to realize that the foundations of her regime are already crumbling beneath her. The certainties of the trial provide a good counterpoint to the unpredictable events unfolding elsewhere.
Noah’s group’s mission to Oceanside is given new impetus and a changed direction by an unexpected reunion with a couple of old compatriots who bring alarming news. Daryl’s and Maggie’s group have the chain-gangs of Outpost 22 under surveillance, and mount probing raids into the settlement. But the balance of forces is against them, and too many of their unarmed friends and family are in the firing line. What turns things around is their ability to undermine the loyalty of Milton’s enforcers.
Events in Outpost 22 seeded the idea that Commonwealth soldiers might be more than armed automatons. They were shown to be grappling with conflicted motivations and desperate above all to survive and save their loved ones. In Faith, Negan uses his talents at manipulating people to amplify the existing resentments of one Commonwealth soldier, with life-saving consequences. When his ability to play all sides against one another is shown to be for the best of reasons, Ezekiel is convinced to risk everything in order to save Negan. It’s the catalyst for a moment of high drama, built around the themes of heroism and sacrifice, which ends in a powerful payoff. It’s an outcome that is the antithesis of most Walking Dead stand-offs. But while its conclusion might stretch credibility a little, it does dramatise a key plot-point in the series’ endgame: that the unity of The Commonwealth is fracturing.
The pressure piled on to Mercer in recent weeks finally pays off here, the result of a last-ditch appeal from Yumiko and anger at the outcome of the show trial. In last week’s story it was Maggie who settled matters with an inspiring battle cry. Here it’s Mercer’s turn, as he delivers a doozy of a final line (that showrunner Angela Kang reveals was the actor’s own invention). Although she’s yet to see it, Milton’s authority is eroding, leaving the fate of The Commonwealth’s supporters and critics alike an open question.
It is, of course, not the religious connotations of the idea of ‘faith’ that the episode title refers to. It’s the belief that, when the crunch-point comes, the right side will prevail. It will soon become clear if that sort of optimism is justified.
New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD – SEASON 11 premiere Mondays in the UK on DISNEY+/STAR
Read our previous reviews of THE WALKING DEAD below:
Season 11, Episode 17, LOCKDOWN
Season 11, Episode 18, A NEW DEAL
Season 11, Episode 19, VARIANT
