This episode sees the return of Daryl and Carol, as well as a large chunk of screen time for Yumiko. And it’s about time!
We also see a much-hated character finally meet their end. But I’m saving the spoilers for down below so, follow along for a complete review and recap of the latest episode of The Walking Dead!
Warning! This article contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 20: What’s Been Lost.
This episode starts innocently enough with Carol sorting through her baked goods while chatting with Ezekiel. But when two men break in to kidnap Ezekiel, they’re not as successful with Carol’s abduction. She runs off to get help from Daryl but finds that he’s facing a similar problem.
Finding Their Friends
Daryl and Carol soon fend off the attackers (one gets eaten by his friend who turned into a walker a few minutes after Daryl presumably killed him) and head out looking to save the children that were kidnapped.
So who’s doing all this kidnapping? You might remember in the previous episode how Governor Pamela Milton’s son, Sebastian, was outed by Maxine and Eugene for generally being a little spoiled brat and being responsible for the killing of innocent Commonwealth citizens. So in retaliation, his mother vowed to blame the entire thing on Eugene and everyone believed her.
“These people are enemies of the state,” she says.
But that’s not enough for the governor as she orders all of the people associated with Eugene to be taken out of the Commonwealth and “dealt with.”
Daryl and Carol figure out that’s what going on, and they realize that the only person who might be able to help them find their friends is Lance Hornsby. Ugh. That slimy POS is being held in a cell with zombified Sebastian Milton, but Daryl and Carol break him free.
But during the escape, Daryl gets separated from the others and is forced to leave Carol alone with Hornsby while he leads her on a wild goose chase to find the others who were kidnapped.
I was really sad when I learned that Melissa McBride, who plays Carol Peletier in The Walking Dead, had been admitted into the hospital because she broke her back for single handedly carrying episode 20 and being the only bright spot of season 11.
Get well soon Queen. pic.twitter.com/MyBQpvRR1P— ℕ (@QueenOfTWD) October 18, 2022
Of course, Carol doesn’t listen to any of Hornsby’s BS while they’re walking together and she tells him in the most Carol way possible to shut the hell up. I found it interesting that in the after-show, showrunner Angela Kang commented that Hornsby might not even be trying to lie or swindle his way out of the situation on purpose; he might genuinely believe the crap that comes out of his mouth.
“Will you let the Commonwealth burn?” Hornsby asks Carol when discussing the result of overthrowing Pamela Milton.
“That’s not my problem,” Carol retorts. In addition to trying to sweet-talk Carol just because that’s what he does, Lance is also trying to get her to give him The Commonwealth so he can rebuild everything his way.
After fighting off some particularly gory walkers and being temporarily captured by the Commonwealth troopers again, the two are saved by Daryl and reunite to continue their trek to find their friends.
Yumiko Turns the Tide
Meanwhile, Yumiko is advised by Governor Milton to read a speech she prepared that would state Yumi’s intention to prosecute Eugene to the fullest extent of the law.
Of course, Yumi doesn’t want to do this, but Pamela even threatens her with an ultimatum: if you want to see your friends and your brother again, you will prosecute Eugene. So Yumi agrees to read her speech.
But during the assembly, Yumi strays from the speech just enough to let the citizens know that she will not be prosecuting Eugene and will instead be defending him in court. I’m honestly not sure how far that will matter to a leader who kidnaps and kills her detractors, but I guess we’ll see.
Back with Daryl and Carol, Lance is set free to do as he likes as the duo informs him that they don’t need his direction anymore. Hornsby let it slip out that there was a train going out of the city, so Daryl and Carol intend to find where that train goes and follow it.
Hornsby resists at first (“I won’t make it out here!”) but soon walks away. As he passes a military Jeep a few feet into his journey, he quickly reaches in, grabs a long rifle, and aims it at Daryl and Carol.
But he’s not fast enough. Carol was waiting with her bow and let an arrow fly directly into Lance’s throat. They drive away in the Jeep as Lance lies there, gurgling in his own blood.
Now my question here is why didn’t they give him a quick one-tap in the head to make sure he doesn’t come back as a walker? I feel like that was a big mistake on their part. Will we see undead Lance again?
In the final scene, we see a caravan of military Jeeps and a bus carrying the kidnapped folks away with burlap sacks over their heads. One trooper administers some sort of tranquilizer via syringe to someone with distinct grey dreads.
Final Thoughts and What’s to Come
In the preview for the next episode, we see Ezekiel teaming up with Negan and Maggie to escape their bondage. It looks like it works because we also see Carol chatting with Maggie later. So I guess we can expect Daryl and Carol to save the day in Episode 21!
I enjoyed this episode because it gave us more Yumi (yay!) and the end of Lance Hornsby (double yay!). It’s especially great to see the Carol/Daryl (Caryl) team at it once again. I can’t wait to see what they bring to the next episode when they save those hostages.
How did you feel about this episode and the direction of the show as it approaches its final few episodes? Let us know in the comments!
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