The ruthlessness that lurks beneath the veneer of Hornsby’s welcoming persona comes into stark relief in Warlords when an outreach mission to an isolated settlement spirals out of control. In terms of action, plot twists and unsettling thrills, this is the strongest instalment since No Other Way, the opening episode for the middle segment of The Walking Dead’s final season.
At the Commonwealth, Aaron and Gabriel are reluctantly recruited as ‘ambassadors’ joining a diplomatic trip to an insular and closed community named Riverbend. Hornsby insists that this is an attempt to open up dialogue and encourage cooperation. Arriving at the group’s sealed-off base deep in the woods, the accompanying Commonwealth troops are instructed to hang back while Gabriel, Aaron and Hornsby’s delegate Carlson make first contact.
Ushered inside the building, the group are brought before Ian, Riverbend’s hostile and suspicious leader. When Gabriel’s attempts to reassure this implacable stranger of the Commonwealth’s delegation’s good intent are jeopardised by Carlson’s blunt intervention, even Aaron cannot salvage the situation. Suddenly, all those in the Commonwealth party are forced to switch to survival and escape mode.
Making good use of some cleverly positioned shifts in time and perspective, the writers Jim Barnes and Erik Mountain carefully construct a tense and unpredictable plot. The story makes time to integrate the deteriorating situation at Maggie’s Hilltop settlement, and to draw in the always volatile agency of Negan. But the focus is on the dark and claustrophobic interiors of Riverbend, the intensity of its head honcho, and on Hornsby’s Machiavellian schemes.
There are great performances from the guest stars. As Riverbend’s zealous leader Ian, genre legend Michael Biehn is as mesmerising as you’d expect, channelling more than a little of Apocalypse Now’s Colonel Kurtz. As the slippery and duplicitous Carlson, Jason Butler Harner makes an especially convincing chameleon. Ross Marquand (Aaron) and Seth Gilliam (Gabriel) are always a great pairing, and they’re both well served by this rollercoaster story.
The episode ends with surviving groups trapped in bloody standoffs throughout the building, as allies race through waves of walkers to come to their aid. It’s the kind of exhilarating cliffhanger that, even in its closing season, The Walking Dead still delivers so well. And it means that next week’s follow-on The Rotten Core can’t come soon enough.
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 1, ACHERON: PART I
Season 11, Episode 2, ACHERON: PART II
Season 11, Episode 4, RENDITION
Season 11, Episode 5, OUT OF THE ASHES
Season 11, Episode 6, ON THE INSIDE
Season 11, Episode 7, PROMISES BROKEN
Season 11, Episode 8, FOR BLOOD
Season 11, Episode 9, NO OTHER WAY
Season 11, Episode 10, NEW HAUNTS
