‘The Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘On the Inside’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 1106 of ‘The Walking Dead’.
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The final season of a television series can be quite the unique affair. Simply because, it can go in so many directions. For some shows, treat their final year as nothing more than another season and offer up their standard fare before bidding farewell in a manner that does indeed feel final and satisfying. While others take advantage of the goodbye tour and bring together every single plot point and concept, they’ve ever introduced into a tour de force final season, one that ends in an epic fashion. As for the rest, well… they just... end, with no real understanding of the opportunity afforded to them in their final season and really, 'how is it going to end' is relevant to our discussion today, simply because that question is top of mind regarding The Walking Dead.
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Because in many ways, this is a series that is seemingly wrapping things up in that ‘business as usual’ fashion. Since thus far, these first few final episodes are revolving around the fight for survival, a staple of the show. But the hint of days gone by and the lessons our heroes have learned along the way keep sneaking into the fabric of this tale and adding the Commonwealth into the mix and more wild villains, makes it appear as though something epic is waiting in the wings and well, at long last… it would seem we finally have an idea of how The Walking Dead is going to end. For the next episode in this long and storied franchise, more or less tipped its hand that this series, is going to find a way to blend together its traditional style of storytelling all while bringing a great deal of what our characters have learned along the way together, giving this story meaning and depth on a level that’s not been seen since George Romero’s heyday.

A feat that ‘On the Inside’ accomplished, by outright terrifying us and leaving us uncomfortable courtesy of two key storylines. One that involved Connie and Virgil in fact. For when we catch up with them here, they’re being chased by forces unseen and are forced to hide within the confines of a seemingly safe and grandiose home in the middle of nowhere. But alas it doesn’t take long for Connie to realize that there is something that is a little too peaceful about his house and that something doesn’t quite add up in its appearance and sadly, she is right. For behind the walls of this quaint little place, are people… but not people we would recognize. For these human beings have been in the thick of the apocalypse for so long that they’ve gone feral and to make matters worse, being cut off from civilization has motivated their nutritional tastes to change as well.

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For now, they crave what the dead crave, human flesh, and they purposely chased this duo to their home to trap them and feed upon them and well… that led to the terrifying moments in question. Since Connie and Virgil had to fight to survive creatures that were as hungry as the living dead, but far more cunning and that brought about one tense moment after another. The kind that paid homage to Night of the Living Dead and The People Under the Stairs before this violent and creepy journey finally came to a close on a high note. For just when it seemed as though these heroes were done for, Connie improvised and used the dead to her advantage and made these creatures pay, and thanks to the fact that Kelly tracked down Connie and Virgil’s old campsite… she was reunited with Connie at last, injecting some joy into this tale.
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But there was mention of another intense and unsettling storyline and that was handled by way of Daryl and the Reapers. Because Pope wanted to put an end to Maggie once and for all, and opted to have his boys torture Frost to try and get information as to where she might be hiding or what she might be doing and of course, since the Reapers are about as mad as they come… they opted to get Daryl in on the fun and since he knew that he needed to prove his worth to them to survive another day, he went along with their requests. In fact, he took cruelty to a new level by slicing a bit of Frost off to get him to say something and to sell that he was as evil as they were and that led to another harrowing set of moments for Daryl, wherein Pope asked him to accompany a strike force to take out Maggie. An act that forced him to think fast in ways he hasn’t had to do for some time.

For he had to find a way to help his friends above all else, and that really did bring about some serious tension. Especially when the Reapers searched the safe house that was harboring Maggie and her team. Primarily because, they had to hide in the house when the search began and that meant that Daryl had to do everything in his power to protect them. Which included preparing to throw down and potentially sacrifice himself when it appeared his friends were discovered. But thankfully, they managed to escape and head out into the world, buying Daryl more time to work on a plan to help to defeat the Reapers… hopefully. For in the closing moments of this tale it was revealed that Pope killed Frost while they were all gone and got ‘the information’ he needed from him. Putting Daryl’s future in jeopardy. 

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But while all of these moments left us on edge with their quality tension and horrifying scares, you’re likely wondering how that kind of terror really relates to an endgame for the show and what that endgame might be and well, it’s there… subtly buried within the awful moments we have shared in over the past couple of years, really. For ever since the Saviors arrived on this series, we’ve seen nothing but humanity’s worst, and heard about the atrocious acts other survivors are stooping to as this new dark age continues along, and we’ve even seen it in person as evidenced by this episode. Which means that the arrival of the Commonwealth and the struggle happening now, is likely going to lead to a grand exploration as to whether or not humanity is worth saving and if so… what makes us worth saving? Which is a powerful idea to slip into this final season, but it is quite fitting none the less.
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Because zombie stories have always worked toward exploring something grander concept wise, especially in regard to humanity and who we are and where we are going and what we are about, and while The Walking Dead has indeed explored those elements when it can, it hasn't ever dug into it with this level of detail until now. A move that likely means the show’s legacy is designed to be a fascinating exploration on what we are as a species in a time of crisis and what we could be if we truly let go of our past and worked toward a better tomorrow and that is going to make for a fascinating finale. One that will bring together the quality elements that we love about this series while taking it into new and memorable territory. But while we wait to see how that all comes together in the next two segments of season eleven, we can bask in the wonder of one of the show’s scariest tales.

For this really was a waking nightmare, one that injected inventive ideas into how to scare us by way of the creep house sequence and those scares were damn impactful. Because they truly motivated one’s heart to race and the sheer unknown of what was going on, really ignited the imagination in a terrible manner and that was extended to Daryl’s journey as well. Since he was constantly at risk here and we really didn’t know if he or anyone else would come out of this okay since all bets are off during a final season and once again, director Greg Nicotero deserves a round of applause as does writer Kevin Deiboldt for assembling a powerhouse story, one that truly reminded us why we fell in love with this series in the first place and well, now that we’ve reached the end of this fascinating and uncomfortable journey, it is definitely safe to say we are all eager and nervous for next week’s entry. Since season eleven of this storied franchise isn’t messing around and that could mean, some intense times are on their way as we close in on the end of Act One of the final chapter The Walking Dead.    

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