The Walking Dead - Season 10, Episode 11: Morning Star
Trailer
Season ten begins with a new drama, where Carol is trying incredibly revenge with the need for revenge. During that period, the group at Oceanside continues training which may seem quite different especially with the return of whisper, which comes suddenly.
I liked the battle scene a lot. Very exciting and a great cliff-hanger. Daryl continues to be a great character and they've done a pretty good job getting me to care more about several other characters as well.
It is a tremendously great battle and a great cap to the end of the episode, which otherwise trafficked in some nice character moments, particularly those of Rosita and Eugene.
Knowing the Whisperers were on the march to Hilltop added a needed dose of adrenaline to all the ponderous speechifying and character beats that would have felt far too clumsy without it (i.e., like lots of other episodes of the show).
This is the type of battle I expected on The Walking Dead in the war with Negan. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the writing is so much better. Perhaps the best it's ever been.
While it felt a little jarring for the episode to end just a few minutes into the battle's duration, the intensity and confidence of its opening moments bodes well for an action-packed follow up that won't pull its punches.
"Morning Star" told one story, and told it well. It gathered the entire cast into one spot and forced them into battle against staggering odds. It felt big and important enough to be the final "brawl to settle it all" when it comes to the Whisperer War.
So many of the season's issues, even things that have been left unsaid for so long, are blossoming into character redemptive arcs that fix a lot of the problems.
Probably the most important thing the episode does right is that absolutely none of the characters make bewilderingly stupid decisions. Everyone's been taking their smart pills for a change!
It was a pulse-pounding installment from start to finish. What could have been a straightforward battle between the skin freaks and the Hilltop was so much more.
There are too many characters featured in this episode to get more than a few minutes of screen time, and most of these characters haven't had much development in the past, so there's little this rushed episode can do to change that.