The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 19 Bring Back An Ability For The Walkers Not Seen Since Season 1
Longtime fans of AMC's "The Walking Dead" will know that the series has gone through some pretty dramatic changes since its first season premiered back in 2010, both in terms of its characters and the overarching story of the series itself. For one thing, nearly every member of the original cast from Season 1 of "The Walking Dead" has either died or disappeared, as major character deaths within the series are nearly as frequent as they are in the world of "Game of Thrones."
Another major change within the series' later seasons is the fact that the titular "walking dead" pose almost no threat to the survivors anymore. From very early on, the show made it clear that the human beings who roamed this post-apocalyptic hellscape were much more dangerous than any of the walkers that caused the world to collapse in the first place. Nowhere is this more evident than in the series' later seasons, where the survivors have become so talented at killing walkers that the numerous zombie hordes are no more than a minor inconvenience.
That said, Season 11 Episode 19 reintroduces an ability for the walkers that we haven't seen used since Season 1 — an ability that makes them far more dangerous than they were before.
Walkers are able to open doors again
Season 11 Episode 19 of "The Walking Dead" introduced us to a new "variant" walker –- a zombie who displayed an unusually high amount of intelligence and hand-eye coordination, enough to use weapons during hand-to-hand combat and scale walls or ladders with relative ease. This new variant also displays a unique ability that we haven't seen a walker display since all the way back in Season 1 Episode 1: the ability to use a doorknob.
In the inaugural episode of "The Walking Dead," we saw Morgan Jones' (Lennie James) wife Jenny Jones (Keisha Tillis) return to her home after being resurrected as a walker — a sign that she was also a variant and remembered some of her life before she died. Despite being dead, she attempted to open the door to her home, turning the doorknob and finding it locked. The variant we meet in Season 11 does the exact same thing, hinting at the existence of other variants out there who possess similar abilities.
Although some "The Walking Dead" fans seem to believe that this twist is perhaps too little too late (considering the fact that there are only a few episodes left), it's still extremely interesting to see this dangerous ability return after so many years — especially because the walkers themselves have been completely non-threatening for so long.