The eleventh and final season of The Walking Dead kicks things off with what’s a strong opening instalment of a scene-setting two-parter. The events of Acheron (Part 1) seed the critical fault lines of this first batch of episodes. There’s also some reassuring evidence of the showrunners’ commitment to staging zombie confrontations in new and never-before-seen ways (which is no small ask, more than 150 episodes on from Rick Grimes’ first encounter with the animated undead back in 2010).
The story rejoins the action not long after the murderous showdown with The Whisperers. Although those skin-wearing freaks were vanquished, the costs were high and a scorched Alexandria is straining under the pressure of an influx of refugees and a lack of food. When some of Maggie’s old compatriots arrive at the settlement, she convinces enough of the group to set off on a raiding party to take back Meridian – the well-stocked community that soldiers of The Commonwealth took from them.
Many miles away, Eugene, Ezekiel, and the others are being interrogated by the captors who seized them towards the end of season ten. Each of them avoids revealing too much and, while they try to learn more about their likely fate, they begin to plot an escape. The episode flips between these two settings as the script, penned by Angela Kang and Jim Barnes, builds the tension to a mid-point double cliffhanger.
Along the way, there are a couple of very well realised set pieces. The opening sequence offers a tense and entertaining take on a familiar motif: the raid on a zombie-infested building in search of supplies. The sight of a facility entirely full of ‘lurker’ walkers (at rest on the floor) might surprise those viewers less familiar with The Walking Dead comic book series. But it’s a scene of satisfying scale and energy and – as drops of blood tumble from the ceiling to the floor – there’s more than a little homage to the visuals of the graphic novels in evidence too.
After a fabulous shot of Maggie’s troops stomping through night time city streets in the teeming rain, the tunnels of the subway they descend to are suitably cramped and menacing. As well as unseen threats skulking in the shadows, a power struggle between Maggie and Negan also threatens to derail the group’s efforts. There’s claustrophobia aplenty in the darkness, both in the guise of the plastic-wrapped and the shambling undead and in the about-to-explode tension between an uncompromising, fuming Maggie and a combative, mouthy Negan.
Back in the prison setting, director Kevin Dowling makes the odd-choice to use the first-ever four-way split-screen seen in the show: a technique that ‘breaks the fourth wall’ to no useful effect. It’s a visual trick that there’s no need see repeated, but it is an isolated misstep in an episode that’s otherwise well framed and shot.
In contrast to the small-scale, Covid-conscious episodes that wrapped up season ten, the first part of Acheron presents a story that’s very much an extended ensemble piece. The producers seem keen to remind viewers that, despite the recent high-profile departures from the show, the series’ large pool of well-established characters lives on.
The revelation that closes the prison segment can’t hope to match the impact of the shocking final moments on the Metro line. But this assured opening instalment shows that there’s still plenty of life in the drama of The Walking Dead, as long-simmering conflicts and brand-new antagonisms begin to shape the show’s endgame.
New episodes of THE WALKING DEAD – SEASON 11 premiere weekly on DISNEY+
