It has been a pretty long time since the last time The Walking Dead graced our screens on Sunday nights. But the wait is finally over. The Walking Dead returns on February 28th on AMC (February 21st on AMC+) and there is a ton to look forward to. I recently got the chance to watch the first two of six episodes of the extra episodes of season 10 and I will review one of them in this article. Be warned that there are spoilers ahead for these episodes of The Walking Dead.

10×17: Home Sweet Home

“Home Sweet Home” picks up right where “A Certain Doom” left off. The long awaited return of Maggie Rhee has been anticipated for a long time and she is the central focus on this episode. Her and Daryl even caught up as Maggie told Daryl everything that happened with her and Georgie over the last five years. We learn that Maggie and Georgie eventually went to Tennessee with a group to live there for a few years until their community was ambushed. They have been hunted down ever since and Maggie has not seen Georgie since the attack. I also started to feel for Maggie again when she talked to Daryl about Hershel Jr. asking her about Glenn and what happened to him.

I like that there was a big story for what lead to Maggie returning with her original family. There was no delay to it as Daryl wanted to know right away after the walker conflict. Maggie is not only joined by Elijah who debuted on “A Certain Doom”, she is also accompanied with Cole. Negan and Maggie with Hershel Jr. crossed paths at the beginning, and at the end of the episode. Their tension is really building for a big conversation between the two. It was quite fulfilling to see Negan at the end of the episode watching Maggie and Hershel Jr. enter Alexandria while he is still doing yard work as a prisoner over there compared to earlier in the episode when Negan had his badass jacket on talking to Maggie.

I am a Negan fan, but I felt it from Maggie when she seen him. The first thought that must of ran through Maggie’s head would be “who in the hell does this man think he is talking to me at this moment.” I do have a strong feeling that Maggie and Negan will have that scene within the next few episodes, or sometime in season 11. If there is one thing that you should know about The Walking Dead, it is that Maggie and Negan will never work together clearing walkers. Overall, Their encounter from their first meeting in years should have been a bigger deal than it was. But I am open to see the next time they have an encounter.

There is also a good amount of action on “Home Sweet Home” that I like, but also rolled my eyes on one of those scenes. The walker clearing in that enclosed area, and with The Reaper sniper. The Reapers is the group that Maggie mentioned that are hunting them down. They kidnapped Hershel Jr. during the episode and it is time for Maggie and everyone else to get him back. Now the battle with that sniper gave me flashbacks to The End boss battle from Metal Gear Solid 3, or Quiet from Metal Gear Solid 5.

He is unseen at first as he took out two members of the group and I liked where they were going with the battle as it really got me engaged to see what happens next. The battle becomes a full fledged fight once he reveals himself. But then my brain started to kick in when he killed himself with the grenade.

I watched too many war movies, and know first hand knowledge of grenades due to one of my family members serving in the army during the late 1980’s. Maggie, Daryl, Kelly, and everyone else were too close to the sniper when he exploded himself. One of the members of the group should have been part of that explosion in that range because how it happened on that episode, is just not realistic. It looked phony and ridiculous when I watched that happen.

There are some dialogue coming from the characters that I did like. Kelly and Elijah are relatable since they both lost their sisters (P.S Connie is alive) so they have something in common. Kelly also assured Elijah to not be scared facing the current threat. I did not expect to see Elijah unmask for that brief moment, but it added more context to how much he is scared on the inside compared to how much of a badass he is on the outside while masked. A small bit of Elijah is learned through the conversation Kelly and Maggie had towards the end of the episode. There is also a quick funny moment involving Daryl and another character that had me laughing as well.

“Home Sweet Home” is a decent episode as it laid the groundwork for the upcoming extra episodes, and for the next season. I do however feel that the structure of this episode is too outdated by The Walking Dead standards, but I believe that fans will be happy either way that the show is back on Sunday!

And finally, Hershel Jr. talks and he is adorable!

Also to note, the episodes were filmed on digital instead of film for the first time. My MacBook has 4K settings and I used it while I watched the two episodes and it looks crisp and sharp. The quality is amazing and I hope that the next two home releases of The Walking Dead seasons 10 and 11 will have an optional 4K feature for the episodes!

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