Out of the Ashes (The Walking Dead)

"Out of the Ashes"
The Walking Dead episode
Mercer and two Commonwealth soldiers approach the train station.
Episode no.	Season 11 Episode 5
Directed by	Greg Nicotero
Written by	LaToya Morgan
Original air date	September 19, 2021 (2021-09-19)
Running time	45 minutes
Episode chronology
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The Walking Dead (season 11)
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"Out of the Ashes" is the fifth episode of the eleventh season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead. The 158th episode of the series overall, the episode was directed by executive producer Greg Nicotero and written by LaToya Morgan.^[1] "Out of the Ashes" was released on the streaming platform AMC+ on September 12, 2021, before airing on AMC on September 19, 2021.^[2]

In the episode, Aaron (Ross Marquand), Carol (Melissa McBride), Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and Jerry (Cooper Andrews) interrogate a Whisperer left behind in Hilltop's destruction; Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) wait at the satellite outpost for the others to regroup; Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Princess (Paola Lázaro), and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) are accepted into the Commonwealth, as Yumiko reunites with her brother. The episode received positive reviews from critics.

Plot[]

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Aaron (Ross Marquand), Carol (Melissa McBride), Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and Jerry (Cooper Andrews) arrive at the Hilltop, broken and destroyed from the Whisperer's attack. The group scavenges through the rubble when Lydia notices walkers circling the way Whisperers used to herd them. They go over to investigate, finding one Whisperer still alive, who insists that he's the only one left. Aaron doesn't believe him and thinks he should be killed, while Lydia voices that he could be telling the truth. They take the Whisperer to the Hilltop dungeons, where they find several other people hiding. In an attempt to protect his allies, the first Whisperer lunges at Aaron with a knife, allowing the other Whisperers to escape. Aaron and Jerry proceed to violently interrogate the Whisperer and threaten him with a walker, with Lydia refusing to watch. Aaron lets the Whisperer become bitten by the walker, until Carol kills the walker and begs Aaron not to journey down the vengeful path she followed during the Whisperer War when Henry was killed. Aaron spares the Whisperer, who amputates his arm and reveals to the four that Connie is still alive.

At the satellite outpost, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) arrive to find that nobody else regrouped there. Maggie promises that the rest of them will come in time, but Negan is skeptical, saying that if the rest don't arrive by sundown, they aren't coming. Later, as Negan prepares to give up and go home, Maggie aggressively stops him, before Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) arrives with Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari). They decide to wait for Daryl and Frost to regroup with them.

At Alexandria, part of the wall falls down and walkers breach the community, but are quickly put down. Judith (Cailey Fleming) is teaching the children of the community how to protect themselves with weapons when she spots some local teenagers provoking the walkers through the hole in the wall. Judith runs over to stop them, but they refuse to listen to her. Later, in a house, Judith finds the handprints Carl made with her on the deck broken, and immediately suspects the teenagers, though they deny it. Judith confides in Rosita (Christian Serratos) about how she feels like everyone is leaving her, but Rosita tells her not to worry, offering to help her put the broken pieces of the deck back together.

At the Commonwealth, Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Princess (Paola Lázaro), and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) watch an introductory video on VHS and are given their job assignments and housing information. Eugene worries that the Commonwealth intend for them to live there permanently, while they would like to get back to their own group at Alexandria. Yumiko reunites with her brother at a local bakery. Eugene gets familiar with the Commonwealth while walking around with the woman introduced to him as Stephanie. Eugene tells her that he'd like to radio back to his group at home, but Stephanie reveals that the radios are labeled as government property and that getting authorized to use them is a process that could take five weeks. Princess distracts Mercer while Eugene and Stephanie contact Rosita and Judith back at Alexandria, although the connection dies as Eugene and Stephanie are arrested. Eugene, Princess and Ezekiel are threatened with deportation from the Commonwealth, but are saved by Stephanie as she calls in a favor.

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

The episode received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, "Out of the Ashes" has a score of 75% with an average score of 7.5 out of 10, based on 12 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Commonwealth gets explored and proves too good to be true while 'Out of the Ashes' is a believably fine table-setting installment, befitting a season that has been more solid than gutsy so far."^[3]

Writing for Forbes, Erik Kain criticized the episode's pacing, writing of the season thus far: "The whole thing is just a little dull when you come right down to it. A little dull, a little uneven, and shockingly slow-paced for the final season of The Walking Dead."^[4] Alex McLevy for The A.V. Club rated the episode a B-, praising the Commonwealth storyline, calling it "an intriguing new world to explore".^[5] However, McLevy criticized the repetitive nature of Maggie and Negan's strained relationship, writing that: "The tension makes sense—Maggie’s never going to forgive Negan, and understandably so—but that doesn’t mean it’s fun to watch them hash out the same conflict, episode after episode."^[5]

Ron Hogan for Den of Geek gave the episode 3.5 out of 5 stars. McLevy praised Nicotero's direction, writing: "One of the best things to say for Greg Nicotero as a director is that he always seems to understand the assignment", and continuing with "Nicotero’s greatest strength still lies in his sense of the visual."^[6]

Ratings[]

The episode was seen by 1.91 million viewers in the United States on its original air date.^[7] It marked a slight increase in ratings from the previous episode, which had 1.88 million viewers.^[8]

References[]

External links[]

• "Out of the Ashes" at AMC
• "Out of the Ashes" at IMDb