Things are getting intense on The Walking Dead. In “Acts of God,” Maggie (Lauren Cohan) fights to keep her family safe as Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) makes his move on Hilltop. Eugene (Josh McDermitt) continues his mission to expose what’s really going on in The Commonwealth.
RECAP
Just some things to remember, a conflict is brewing with the Commonwealth. Hornsby is determined to make his alliance with Alexandria a success. He also wants Hilltop and Oceanside, and the only person standing in his way is Maggie.
Meanwhile, Team Family is starting to see signs of just how corrupt the Commonwealth really is. They have a list of people but don’t know what the significance is. After Sebastian Milton (Teo Rapp-Olsson) sent Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) on a money heist, they fear these people are in danger or dead. Eugene found out the hard way that the people of the Commonwealth are not who they say they are. And Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) started helping the less fortunate families with their healthcare needs. All of it leads back to Hornsby and the Miltons.
Last week, Hornsby put Daryl, Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Gabriel (Seth Gabriel) to the test after hearing their side about what happened at the Riverbend apartment complex. He knows they are lying and thinks Maggie is involved somehow. They all passed his test. Now he’s turning to a more deadly solution to his problems. Leah (Lynn Collins) … Daryl’s ex-girlfriend. Leah stole the supplies and weapons that Hornsby thought Riverbend took. Now he wants to offer Leah a job.
A LOT happens in this episode, so buckle down!
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The episode actually begins with Hornsby in Hilltop, but it’s empty. We see a flash from a building as Hornsby steps in a puddle of blood next to a dead body with arrows. He looks up and sees a swarm of cicadas flying around the place. Let’s back up …
19 HOURS AND ONE ACT OF GOD AGO
Maggie decides to leave Hilltop. She is taking Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller) somewhere safe, but he doesn’t want to go. He wants to help her. Hershel gives her a little attitude about having to hide, but it’s for the best. Meanwhile, Hornsby flips a coin to determine his troops’ latest assignments.
Eugene and Max (Margot Bingham) spent the night together. The next morning, Eugene can see that she’s in deep thought about something. He tells her that it’s okay to back out. She’s not backing out though. Max is concerned about what will happen afterwards. The Commonwealth pushes to keep everything the same. She is worried that they will all be pushed until they break.
Daryl, Aaron and Gabriel are with a group of Commonwealth soldiers, still searching for the Riverbend residents. They quickly pick up that the soldiers are up to no good. They don’t feel safe and need to find a way to escape.
ACTS OF GOD
A swarm of cicadas enter the area. Maggie hears them and gets worried. Hershel picks up on it and asks what’s wrong. Maggie tries to say everything is fine but he knows her too well. She says everything she has done is to make sure they have choices. He won’t like where he’s going, but it’s the best choice right now. They keep walking and run into Lydia.
Hornsby hired Leah to kill Maggie. Maggie is the only person standing in the way of Hornsby getting what he wants. He sends some of his men to assist her to look for Maggie. They notice the cicadas nearby, but only Leah reacts with a smile. (She’s the religious type, remember.) The only thing Hornsby asks for is to see Maggie’s dead body.
Lydia (Cassady McClincy) leads Maggie and the others to a hidey hole where Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his people are hiding. Maggie is leaving Hershel with them, despite the fact that Hershel hates Negan. Maggie says she’s beginning to trust Negan (WHAT!). She says it’s because he saved Hershel at Riverbend. Negan wants to help her now in her fight against Hornsby, but she asks him to let her handle things. Negan says Maggie has big balls and he’s got her and Hershel’s back. Annie (Medina Senghore) says they will be waiting for her to return. The cicada swarm blocks out the sun. Negan calls it a sign from the man upstairs.
DANGER ZONE
Hornsby keeps in radio contact with Daryl’s group. He tells his troops to finish and return to base camp. They walk through an area with lots of abandoned vehicles. Aaron, Gabriel and Daryl go through the middle of the area, while the soldiers surround them on the outside. This is it. This is when they will attack, so Daryl shoots first. He is able to get a weapon for Aaron, while Gabriel secures his own. The shootout attracts a group of walkers.
After the shootout is over, they find one soldier still alive. Daryl asks for Hornsby’s location. The soldier won’t say at first but then more walkers appear. He can either tell Daryl what he needs to know or be eaten by the walkers. He tells Daryl that Lance is about ten miles away. Lance said he wanted to clear the field.
Aaron asks what clear the field means. Gabriel says Lance only wants to leave allies behind. They realize that Lance is going after Maggie. Lance calls the soldier over the walkie and Daryl picks it up to let Lance know his soldiers are dead. Lance gets scared and tells the rest of the troops to move.
TOO MUCH CAFFEINE
Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) is practicing a speech while Max anxiously taps her pencil. Pamela asks her if she’s okay and Max insists that she is. Max tells Pamela that they have a surplus of money in the Founder’s Day Celebration budget. She suggests they create a scholarship to help the less fortunate families. Pamela shoots down the idea because Founder’s Day is their biggest event of the year. Max reminds Pamela that she has dinner plans and needs to go.
Maggie, Lydia and Elijah return to Hilltop. They go to the main house where Lydia lights a lantern, even though there’s still daylight. The three of them gather weapons, getting ready for a fight.
Max goes through a bunch of files. She is almost caught by Sebastian who needs to speak to his mother. Max tries to quickly get rid of Sebastian but she drops a file in the process. She plays it off like she had too much caffeine. Sebastian doesn’t look at the file but insults Max instead and leaves. Max hides the file in her jacket and leaves.
Later that night, Leah and her troops walk into Hilltop. They see a light in the main house and head toward the room where the light is coming from. When they open the door, the room explodes.
Maggie, Lydia, Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) and Marco (Gustavo Gomez) are watching from outside. After the room explodes, Maggie instructs her team to take the weapons from their people, follow their trail back to their camp and end this conflict. Marco stands up to leave and is shot in the head. Leah walks out of the main house with a gun in hand. Maggie knows how dangerous she is and makes Lydia and Elijah run.
RIP Marco
BACK TO THE STARTING POINT
Hornsby shows up with his security team and they kill the walkers left behind in the main house. He walks outside and steps in a puddle of blood next to Marco’s dead body. He looks up and sees a swarm of cicadas flying around. Hornsby calls Leah and asks what happened. She says she drew them out and is doing things her way. His dead men were just collateral damage. Hornsby gets angry and continues his own search for Maggie.
Daryl, Aaron and Gabriel make their way to Hilltop. Along the way, they find several dead soldiers and traps. They eventually find a campsite and a knife that Daryl recognizes. It belongs to Leah. He tells the others to split up to cover more ground.
Maggie sends Lydia and Elijah to safety. She wants to deal with Leah alone. Elijah refuses to go. Lydia says they will lead the Commonwealth away and when they are safe, they will find the others. Maggie doesn’t verbally agree but says she will find them. Leah isn’t too far behind her.
CONSPIRACY THEORY
Max takes the file to Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory). Magna (Nadia Hilker) and Eugene are there to help them go through everything. They find a list with Tyler Davis and April’s names on it. There are also some numbers that could be codes or coordinates. Max thinks these people are hidden away somewhere and suggests that Connie write about that, but she declines.
Connie says they need concrete proof for something this big. For now, she will write about Sebastian’s money heist and connect it to Pamela. That will at least get everyone to see that things in the Commonwealth aren’t so great.
Someone knocks at the door and everyone freaks out. Magna invited Ezekiel to join them. Ezekiel knows the Commonwealth is rotten. And he has a network of people who are ready to help him in whatever cause he’s fighting for. Connie asks if they are really doing this. They all agree that they are.
SHOWDOWN
Maggie and Leah walk through the woods trying to find one another. Daryl is also looking for Leah. The cicadas are gone and the woods are quiet. It’s not long before Maggie and Leah find each other and start shooting. Maggie even shoots Leah’s leg. She goes to find Leah, knowing that she’s injured. Leah is waiting for her though and hits Maggie in the head, knocking her out.
The next morning, Maggie wakes up in a cabin tied to a chair. Leah is sitting in front of her with a gun pointed at Maggie. She says she’s waited for this moment for a long time (six months). Maggie says if Leah wanted her dead, Leah would have killed her already. She knows Leah wants her to suffer. Maggie says making her suffer won’t take away her pain. Leah says she’s going to kill everyone Maggie loves.
Lance and his men continue their search for Maggie and her people. Lance finds a bloody rag on a tree. He motions for his men to keep going.
Maggie says she gets it. She killed Leah’s family. And she did it because she wanted to. Maggie tells Leah to kill her because it’s what she wants. Leah raises the gun to Maggie’s head. The whole time they are talking, Maggie is untying the ropes around her hands. She gets loose in time to kick the gun out of Leah’s hands. The two women fight. The fight ends with a gunshot to the head, as Daryl shows up to save Maggie.
TAKE OVER
Daryl sees Lance and his troops ride up. He shoots one shot from the front of the cabin. Maggie gets up and they make their way to the back of the cabin. A bullet grazed Lance’s cheek. He goes inside the cabin to confront Maggie, only to find Leah dead on the floor. Maggie and Daryl escaped out a window in the back of the cabin. Lance is upset but says to himself, ‘now we take it all.’
Daryl, Maggie, Aaron and Gabriel are reunited. Lydia and Elijah make it to the hideout where the Riverbend residents emerge for some fresh air. Hershel pushes Negan away after he helps him out of the hole.
Max returns the file to its place in the office. As soon as she sits down, Pamela bursts in. She throws a newspaper on Max’s desk. The headline says, “Pamela Milton is lying to you.”
The Commonwealth displays their flag in Alexandria. Hilltop has one too. The Commonwealth soldiers are in Oceanside. They round up the residents at gunpoint. Hornsby flips a coin to determine their fate.
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The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC. You can watch the entire season 11 on AMC+.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
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