The Walking Dead season 11, episode 16 recap: Acts of God

The Walking Dead mid-season finale aired last night, and it delivered all the action, emotion, and then some. Season 11 episode 16 titled, “Acts of God” wrapped up the final piece of The Reaper Arc all the while confirming our fears about Lance Hornsby and setting the stage for a possible downfall of The Commonwealth.

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 16 recap – The Commonwealth Scandal

The episode opens with Lance Hornsby at The Hilltop several hours before the episode even begins. The terrifying sound of locusts fills the air he looks very displeased.

Want some good news? It looks like Max and Eugene are officially a couple! (Yahoo!)

After the two spend a romantic night together, they have to address the issue at hand. Max is still unsure if she will help Eugene and his friends with the files they need.

But it wouldn’t take much for Max to make her final decision. Even though she’s visibly distracted at work, she suggests to Governor Pamela Milton if they can use the extra grant money on the less fortunate families.

Pamela immediately ignores her suggestion. After she leaves for the day Max retrieves the file, scanning it in a panic when a drunken Sebastian Milton barges in.

Max tries to cover the file she’s reading as Sebastian becomes irate at the fact he can’t just visit and talk to his mother whenever he so pleases. He thankfully leaves without causing more problems and Max gives the file to Eugene, Magna, Kelly, and Connie.

The names in the file seem to the match the list of names they received from an anonymous person but there are also numbers. Ezekiel arrives not long after and the group has to make a decision about what to run in the paper.

Without more information about the numbers, they decide to talk about Sebastian and the money incident knowing this will put a dent in Pamela’s reputation. The group agrees and by the end of the episode the article is run leaving audiences to wonder what will happen at The Commonwealth now?

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 16 recap – Lance vs Everyone

The scandalous newspaper article will be the least of The Commonwealth’s problems. Lance Hornsby separates The Commonwealth soldiers as some will follow Leah, some standby with him and the others are with Daryl, Gabriel and Aaron.

The trio find themselves clearing out random locations, killing walkers but remain on high alert. They are ordered to clear out one more area before they can return home.

Once they arrive the trio attack the soldiers and an all-out fire-fight ensues! They manage to survive and find out that Lance is trying to kill Maggie.

The repeated sound of locusts makes a reappearance several times in this episode. (It brought me back to last summer when the Brood X cicadas emerged and swarmed several areas of New Jersey.)

Maggie in the meantime had taken proper precautions by leaving The Hilltop with her son Hershel, Elijiah and Marco. They meet up with Lydia to the secret underground hole where Negan, Annie and their people from Riverbend are hiding.

Hershel is far from pleased that his mom is sending him to Negan and Annie for protection for what will surely be an upcoming horrific fight. But it is within this brief moment that Maggie finally begins to let her wall fall around Negan.

She may not forget what he did in the past but she’s willing to finally forgive him. (Finally!)

When Lance finds out that his soldiers are dead and Daryl, Aaron and Gabriel are still alive he rushes forward with his attack at The Hilltop. His bargain with Leah however may cost him more than he realizes.

As a small group invades the mansion at The Hilltop, they trip a booby trap and multiple soldiers die. Thinking it’s over, Maggie, Lydia, Marco and Elijah attempt to leave when Marco is shot and killed by Leah.

The group disperses, leaving Maggie to deal with Leah. After several anxiety-inducing moments Leah gets the upper hand and kidnaps Maggie.

They are now at Leah’s home; not an ideal situation for Maggie. She is able to distract Leah long enough to break through the ropes tied around her and the chair and the two women fight it out.

Leah almost kills Maggie if it wasn’t for Daryl who kills Leah. He figured out she was involved the moment Gabriel found a weapon of hers in the woods.

(Regardless of how we felt about Leah, Daryl did have feelings for her at one point, so this was tragic.) Maggie is saved, her son and the people of Riverbend are safe, but the episode isn’t over yet.

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 16 recap – The Commonwealth Takeover

Lance is nearly killed as he and his soldiers descend upon Leah’s cabin but Daryl and Maggie escape. (If only Daryl spent one more second on his shot.)

Leah is dead, a lot of his soldiers are dead, but he hasn’t lost just yet. The end of the episode reveals the remnants of The Hilltop with a Commonwealth flag hanging outside the fence.

The same flag is hanging outside of Alexandria’s walls. Commonwealth soldiers gather members of Oceanside as Lance Hornsby smiles wickedly with that coin he’s been flipping throughout the episode.

Now what?

The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 16 review

We can rest easy that the only real casualty this episode was Marco. Rest in peace dear fellow, you did well.

With it being the final season and all, I was thinking more of our beloved characters would tragically meet their end. But there is still one last part of season 11 left and honestly, no one is safe.

Well, except Daryl, Carol, Negan and Maggie but that’s beside the point. With any safe haven option now a Commonwealth territory where will Maggie and the group go for safety?

There is a fair amount of them who will need shelter and food. Now that Lance Hornsby has successfully taken over the communities, what does this mean for The Commonwealth?

I really don’t think Pamela knew about any of this and while her methods can be a little cutthroat, she probably wouldn’t have agreed to all this. Is Lance going to build his own army and try to take power for himself?

If so, what will the survivors do? You can’t choose Lance, but Pamela isn’t a great option either.

Is Max going to be suspected now that the article has been printed? A lot of characters are going to be acting out of anger and frustration in these last few episodes which doesn’t bode well for everyone else.

The cards are stacked against our heroes for the moment but there will hopefully be a way to turn everything around. Hopefully.

What did you think of The Walking Dead season 11, episode 16? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Rewatch the final season of The Walking Dead thus far at your leisure.