User Reviews

When I heard about this episode, I had thought that this episode would be centered around the evolved walkers, hence the episode's title "Variant". But 88% of this episode was centered around Eugene and Pamela, like I get it, but I think they should have shown the variant walkers more. It was just stupid to only put about four short scenes in about them.

However, I can say that the scenery in this episode is pretty much consistent to the title's episode. From the bright cheery atmosphere in last episode to the gloomy and dreading scenery in Commonwealth. It is quite nice.

And also, we finally see Princess. Nice!

This was probably the best episode since episode 14.

I think every subplot was interesting and not a waste of time if some of them only half-interesting like the Princess part which was a nice little characterization and backstory for her character, but it wasn't as interesting as the others I guess. But it was part of multiple subplots and characters that are close and around Mercer to convince him this regime he's serving is no good and we slowly see him mellow a bit about this new group.

I like that we're finally getting some snippets and pieces of who Pamela Milton really is and how ruthless and villainous she is, which feel it's kinda too late that we're getting this now, but it's interesting nonetheless and I'm looking forward to seeing where they'll go with this character.

Another big part of this episode, and to whom they dedicated this episode's narration intro, is Eugene and what he's doing after the events of the last episode and he's on the run now. And his conflict in this episode is about bravery/stupidity, which I think they have kinda already redeemed him from this scared no-balls character to a strong and brave one, but I don't think the focus was so much on him being brave and more so about him finally finding his soulmate and not wanting to leave her side which I think is admirable and suited to his character. Abraham would be proud.

One of the most interesting things in this show as a whole also happens, a new variant of the walkers that seem to have a semblance of their past existence's consciousness or at least maybe the muscle memory that can turn the door knobs and climb walls which finally! About time I guess. I just don't get why we're just getting this now when there are only 5 episodes of the show left. The different variants should've been in the show in every season to spice things up and walkers don't become more of a background and secondary characters as they were.

The reveal of this new type of walker is really well-done and I'm glad it's Aaron they did the reveal with, but I still have some problems with this scene and once again with the episodes as a whole and I've been complaining about this for god knows how long. My problem with the new walkers reveal scene is firstly how suddenly a hundred walkers are in the Kingdom 2.0 with no sound until you see them - for dramatic effect obviously - and how they just cut after the reveal and Aaron's exposition and they show anything else about how they killed all the other walkers and got out of there, which makes it feel artificial and forced writing that the only reason they situation was created was to reveal the walkers and be done with it as quickly as possible after the exposition which they did.

And my other problem which includes the whole season and other seasons too and is related to the previous one is that some scenes are just cut a little bit too soon and the transition is jarring and feels like there's something missing in between and something has been cut. I just think they should linger on some scenes a little bit and not cut quickly to the next scene like they're doing a powerpoint presentation.

Not to mention that they just skipped the part where Jerry with his injured legs just teleported on the rooftop that had no stairs, and Aaron too who has a fake hand. Reminded me of that one episode, probably from this season, where there was a storm and the water was rising in the basement and Negan or someone else was coming out of the basement through a window but they just skipped to him suddenly being outside. Like these things make the editing and the flow of the sequences and make the transitions feel awkward and weird and make us think the writers and the director and the editor couldn't think of another way to and they just said "F it, cut it out and cut to the next scene, we don't need to see how they got up there or through there or how they were surrounded by 100 walkers while on the roof, just cut to the next scene where they killed all of them off-screen." All in all, I think this episode was really solid and every subplot was done decently. Pamela's character is getting more interesting and the show definitely got more interesting with the introduction of the new walker variant which I wish happened like 7 seasons ago, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger, which we have to wait and see what happens next week. Hope the show goes out with a bang and not a dud.

Love that this episode starts with flashbacks. It's kind of hard to believe that in such a small town they can't find Eugene. Like they found Max fairly easily so... Aaron has to be one the most likeable ''newer'' characters. I kinda feel bad for Mercer, it feels like he doesn't know what he should do, he is conflicted. Did they just introduce a new kind of zombie? What? And they do it in the final season? Come on... they could have done it long ago, that would be so interesting. I really hope that things will work out for Eugene and Max. The relationship between Eugene and Rosita is beautiful. Damn what was that ending with Rosita fighting these two dudes? Nice cliffhanger. Where is Negan though? Decent episode overall, my rating is 7/10.

We're constantly talking to a friend about what The Walking Dead could be and won't be. I have a feeling that the writers have the same feeling, they have resorted to the old plot of the first season, nostalgic, the variant walkers, but it's nothing new, they have publicized this as something new but for the true fans of this series, we know that it is totally false. I will tell you what happens next, these variant walker will run and take weapons, they will attack our heroes and that's it, too obvious?

What is the point of the new walkers?

Not only to introduce the new spin offs of the franchise but to strengthen the weak arc of the commonwealth, and this is what is disappointing, it seems that the writers are afraid to kill a main character, absoluty. This episode is a story around Eugene and the plot of the commonwealth, and the variant walkers are just decoration, this episode seems more like a filler episode of the first season, Darabont now you can laugh and I with you.

The Walking Dead is in free falling, dying and without any dignity.

To be honest, I haven't been the biggest fan of Season 11 so far, other than the first two episodes. It feels like a rehashing of previous themes, characters, and settings. And I can't believe they decided to introduce the Commonwealth in the last season, a location which needs vast world-building and character establishing -- so much so that the regular characters -- the reason most fans are still watching the show -- get lost in the mix. I find myself unable to care about the Commonwealth and its conspiracies, and am critical of the characters for trusting such a place to begin with and not leaving as soon as the cracks began to show.

So the main plot of this episode -- about the characters deciding whether or not to leave the Commonwealth -- while not awful, wasn't very interesting to me.

On the other hand, I love the substory following Aaron and co. The abandoned renaissance faire is such a COOL setting, I really wish they'd utilised it more honestly. If this wasn't the last season it would have been interesting to see them spend more time there. The way this segment is shot is beautiful too, with all the vibrant fall leaves a welcome contrast to the Commonwealth -- which really just looks like a normal town. Lastly, the conversation Aaron has with Lydia while on watch was beautiful -- The Walking Dead writing at its best. I wish the whole season could have been more like that -- just focusing on the characters we love, their relationships to one another, and their survival, which all three of which have been the heart of the show since the beginning.

However, I do think the door-opening/rock-smashing walker was absolutely ludicrous.

To be honest I had no clue to how they're gonna introduce the Variant Walkers and deep down I was keeping my fingers crossed .. hoping they don't mess this Arc up. Introducing something new is always a nerve racking process theres a lot of things to consider when introducing something or someone on a Show, in my opinion they have always outdone themselves when it comes to introductions let it be Negans or the Whisperers .. i loved them both and now with the Variants i think they have done a good job giving us a little glimpse as to what to expect when these bad boys are around it isn't something over the top and I'm sure that people are going to enjoy this cause it definitely adds a breath of fresh air on the show, you know Walkers are going to be scary again .. and I'm all in for it lets go The Walking Dead 9/10 !!!

I have to give Season 11 of this series credit for certainly being more watchable than the last year was, but not by a wide margin. The episodes fly by, but I just have to wonder where the danger and excitement is supposed to come from.

The Commonwealth is pretty much the exact same bad guy we are getting night in and night out, season in and season out. I just wish that we could have something shocking happen, have a major character taken out, have a formula to stop zombyism found, anything that is a bit unexpected. We have not had anything unexpected in a long time on The Walking Dead, that's for sure.

Eugene is on the run. This creates a snowball effect and Mercer has to deal with it. The stakes are heightened beause our protagonists get thrusted at the center of the plot. The investigation is on and Rosita is on the line. So is Max. A lot happens in here creating interesting dynamics between people.

Princess comes in and tells a fantastic story about her childhood and how she can't stand here letting stuff happen, because that would make her her mother. The wind of change is there, and Rosita and Daryl actually want to go and move on, providing a heartfelt goodbye between Eugene and Rosita.

Gotta admit I didn't expect to shed a tear about Eric. Aaron mentioning him again and how he was afraid at the beginning and kept saying no was really well done. Lydia was awesome this episode, and her relationship with Aaron is touching.

The variant storyline is interesting and didn't jump the shark like I feared. It was very limited and it actually can be explained canonically in the context of The Walking Dead by watching or looking back to the very first episodes of the series (Guts and Days Gone Bye). I hope it stays there and doesn't grow out of proportions and we actually get an Evolution storyline or smart walkers everywhere at 5 episodes of the end.

Overall, it's a good continuation and aftermath of the last episode, and provides some interesting questions about the future. Like what is going to happen with Hornsby or when Oceanside is discovered.

I'm honestly surprised there are so many negative reviews. I don't think any of these people have been watching the spin offs. Which is fine. The spin offs are freaking terrible. BUT - the end cut scene of World Beyond - scene in France - I was THRILLED to see that.

Am I laughing because they just now... a mere few episodes before the end of the series... decide to comment on the continuity errors of the walkers in the first two episodes of TWD? Yes. Yes I am.

BUT! I like it. We all got a bit too used to these slow *** zombies and having variants does make sense. I hear whispers that the France variant will get addressed in a spin off and I'm super onboard with that - since IMO that and Jadis were the only good things to come out of the World Beyond series.

Besides the awesome variant story line - I really love the transition to shooting digitally. It looks GORGEOUS on my 4K TV. I can see every damn pore. Every bead of sweat. I like the angles of the camera work too - very "comic book" like.

Just... so interesting to see these super negative reviews. This isn't season 7 and 8 of TWD. The show has been loads better since Kang took over. I'm just annoyed they couldn't put this same effort into the spin off shows (World Beyond and FTWD) cause those shows were ****.

This episode focuses a lot on Eugene but manages to not become a bottle episode. The plot moves forward with multiple arcs. While it's just focused on the group laying low while Pamela tries to contain things, the character writing is just fantastic.

I enjoy Eugene's final arc about his love for Max a lot more after this episode. They've implemented it into the main plot in a way that allows us to see him reflect on all of his actions throughout the series. It's great seeing him step up for himself. I love his conversation with Rosita, and the bravery he showcases when turning himself in. Plus, it gives us the absolutely hilarious and sweet scene of Eugene standing up to Daryl.

Having this drama over Eugene also instigated some great conversations between Princess, Max, and Mercer. Princess in specific gets some great additional dialogue to her already heartbreaking backstory. I love how they've succeeded in characterizing her.

It's compelling how Mercer's orders conflict with the morals of the two most important people in his life, even though he's following them to save their lives.

I was taken aback by how great Pamela is here. The reasoning behind killing Sebastian off early is starting to click for me. It gives us much more of an arc for Pamela that showcases a stone-cold side to her. This makes her immensely more intimidating as a final villain than her initial persona did.

The sexual tension between Lance and her is an odd addition to the story, but it explains why Lance is such a suck-up to her.

As for the variant walkers, it seems like a very sudden and random addition for viewers who do not keep up with the spin-offs, but it's much less of a focus than I thought it would be, and honestly, I prefer it that way. An entire episode on the discovery of variants would be really distracting from the main plot. Introducing them feels more like a back-door pilot for the Daryl spin-off than anything. I think how this is handled works. It's a good explanation for how certain walkers acted back in Season 1, such as Morgan's wife and the teddy bear girl.

I also love the decision to have Aaron find the variants. His belief that the Whisperers would return makes the reveal that they are fighting real walkers even more shocking.

It was odd to me that Jerry didn't die here. They've made it seem like he's a goner so many times already anyway. I think losing Elijah or him would've been a fitting way to better showcase the threat of variants. To be fair though, Ezekiel should witness Jerry's death. And now that he has survived this episode, I'm convinced the show will end with "King jerry" and we will lose Ezekiel instead.

Side note: I still do not care at all for Elijah and Lydia's relationship.

But all in all, another awesome episode. So much is covered and it's all really entertaining and impactful. I really think, so far, they are ending this show with some carefully constructed, high-quality episodes.

This Episode begins with Eugene, a recap of his adventure so far got shown. Meanwhile there riots at the Commonwealth. Pamele is really sad because her son Sebastian died at the riots. Eugene is responsible for Sebastian's death. Aaron's group is in the woods to work something uit. Everybody is looking for Eugene. Sebastian turns into a walker. Max got arrested. Daryl has a emotional conversation with Eugene. Aaron and Lydia fight with a bunch of walkers. Lydia kisses Elijah, they are in love. Eugene got arrested. Nice Episode of The Walking Dead Season 11, such another great Episode. I'm waiting for the end to come!

I wish this would just end. To say it's the last crop of episodes nothing is happening. They introduce a new type of Walker, I'm guessing it's for yet another spin off. Instead of ending the show it's obvious they're setting things up for spin offs. We will get the comic ending when it goes far into the future. So they won't do anything and have the spin offs cover the in between.

No main character deaths yet, with what is it 4 or 5 episodes to go? It's like a soap opera of boring dialogue then a tiny bit or something will happen. Like I don't even care about Rosita at this point. She has been an afterthought since season 7, she has been stretched with storylines there's no more interest. Obviously Eugene will end up fine, even Rosita will. We will most likely get one big death if we are lucky.

After a year or so aftee the final season aired, I made myself watch it because I just wanted to see what happens, I've spent more than 10 years watching TWD and it would be unfair to me to just skip the final season. Well, I should have skipped. The first part of the season was bad, but it had some good episodes. The second half (or exactly this episode, since I still have to watch the remaining) is not there. I mean, there are 6-7 episodes left, people who spent their youth (literally) watching TWD deserve some answers, not just new characters, new sub-plots and stupid dialogues. Not a living soul cares about Milton, Princess, the big guy in red armor, Commonwealth... We need to some closure, we need to have an ending worthy of the time and money we spent on TWD. It looks like we won't get that, guess a few years from now there will be new TWD, same characters, same stupid stories and no answers. And when you think that all the stupidity was already used by so called TWD writers, nope. The walkers are becoming smart, their brains are rotten, their flesh is full of worms, their muscles are jelly but they are evolving, a few episodes from the end. Wow. I will watch the remaining episodes of TWD but I WILL NEVER WATCH ANY SPINOFF, because they will do the same thing, hook us up and then piss all over us viewers. There is a reason why good TV shows such as BB and BCS end aftee 60 episodes, but there is definitely no Vince Gilligan behind this pile of crap called TWD.