The Walking Dead Season 11 Episode 1 Scene That Has Fans Scratching Their Heads
"Acheron: Part I," the Season 11 premiere episode of "The Walking Dead," has two main storylines. One focuses on the Maggie (Lauren Cohan) led mission to take out the Reapers and salvage much-needed supplies from her former community of Meridian and the other follows the arrival of Eugene (Josh McDermitt), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Ezekiel (Khary Payton), and Princess (Paola Lázaro) at the Commonwealth.
The group's introduction to the secretive community isn't exactly a friendly one. Upon arrival, each member is subjected to a lengthy and invasive round of questioning that leaves them feeling more than a little uneasy about the situation. It doesn't help that they are locked in a chain-link holding cell surrounded by other would-be citizens of the Commonwealth, some of which have been enduring the grueling admittance process for months.
After some serious discussion, it's decided that they will try to escape and a plan is hatched thanks to some useful intel gleaned from Princess' close study of the guards' behavior. She believes two of them are slipping away to have clandestine hookups while on break, which would leave two sets of loose armor available for the taking. So, all they need to do is 1.) wait for the guards to slip away together, 2.) ?????, and 3.) steal the uniforms and sneak out.
If those question marks have you wondering exactly how the group managed to get out of the heavily guarded cage they were locked away in, you're not alone. The episode cuts directly from the impetus of Princess' plan to armor-clad Eugene and Yumiko leading the others out of the holding area. On the show's Reddit board, those glossed-over details didn't go unnoticed.
How exactly did Eugene and Yumiko sneak out to steal the armor?
On the Reddit discussion thread for "Acheron: Part I," user u/JoeStorm took issue with the fact that the episode didn't bother explaining how Eugene and Yumiko were able to get out of the holding cell they were in and steal the guards' uniforms undetected.
"UM WHAT?? How the heck they get the suits?" they wrote. "Was there a scene missing or something?"
That kicked off a mini-discussion within the discussion about the missing part of the escape plan. User u/dan-o07 tried to follow the plot as far as they could, writing, "It was from the 2 that sneak off but how the hell did they make it happen."
Others, though, recognized the moment for what it was: a detail left unexplored in the interest of narrative convenience. "This was one of those things that doesn't get explained and makes no sense but we role with it anyway," wrote u/Capt3vi. "How they got out of that spot while being heavily monitored to stealing the suits seemed strange. But it gets the story going so whatever lol."
Meanwhile, other fans such as u/philomaxik saw it as part and parcel of "The Walking Dead" universe's occasional yada-yadaing of important details. They compared it to spin-off series "Fear the Walking Dead," writing, "FTWD level writing. You can't just skip the scene where they escape a heavily guarded cage..."
Season 11 of "The Walking Dead" is currently airing on AMC.