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14 details you may have missed on Sunday’s episode of ‘The Walking Dead’

Sunday’s episode made subtle changes to a scene from season 11, episode five to show scenes from Max’s point of view.AMC Warning: There are spoilers ahead for season 11, episode 12 of “The Walking Dead.” Insider rounded up a few details you may have overlooked on Sunday’s episode with Margot Bingham. There are numerous callbacks to season five. The protagonist of Eugene’s novel has a familiar name. Max is seen wearing a series of headwraps at the episode’s start. Margot Bingham weighed in on the choice.Margot Bingham plays Max on “The Walking Dead.”AMC”They were very gracious with allowing me to create this look for her at home so that we could really create the most authentic at home natural look and environment for her,” Bingham told Insider of collaborating with the show’s costume, hair, and makeup departments.Bingham said wrapping her hair at night is not only something that she does, but that a lot of women do so it was important to show this side of Max on screen.”She wants to look good for not only herself, but for a potential partner,” Bingham said of Max’s feelings for Eugene. “So it was something that I thought was really necessary and I’m happy that they allowed me to do it.”Max is an amalgamation of two characters from the comics: Stephanie and Maxwell Hawkins.Max on “The Walking Dead” vs. Maxwell Hawkins in the comic.Josh Stringer/AMC, Skybound/Image ComicsStephanie is the name of the comic character who Eugene speaks with over the radio and falls in love with. On the show, Max reveals that Stephanie was her mother’s name. Instead, this version of Max is Pamela Milton’s assistant, a role which Maxwell Hawkins has in the comics.”I think you’re gonna see a lot of similarities in a lot of ways with Max, but it’s really all up for interpretation and fans will be able to see that as the season progresses,” Bingham told Insiderwhen asked about Max’s comic connections to Maxwell.Aaron confirms and reminds us that the Commonwealth has around 50,000 citizens.Aaron tells Maggie that at least 49,900 of them seem “like decent enough folks.”AMCLance later reiterates this number to Maggie late in the episode. That’s the same amount of people the Commonwealth has in the comics and it seems like more than a coincidence that the number is mentioned twice on Sunday’s episode.Lance is very keen to add more numbers to their community. Is his shady, secret organization within the Commonwealth aware of the Civic Republic Military’s existence? That group has 200,000 citizens.Aaron tells Pamela that they received plans to rebuild Alexandria from Maggie.Aaron is using Maggie’s “A Key to a Future” binder to rebuild Alexandria. It was given to Maggie on season eight, episode 12.Gene Page/AMC, AMC. composite by Kirsten Acuna/InsiderHe’s referencing the “Key to A Future” plan that Georgie presented Maggie with in season eight, episode 12. The binder contained plans for windmills and more to help build a community.Aaron channels his first appearances on “TWD” right down to his flannel shirt and khakis.Aaron on season 11, episode 12 vs. one of his first appearances on season five.Josh Stringer/AMC, Gene Page/AMCIn order to try and impress Governor Milton, Aaron purposely dresses similarly to his season five self.”Vera Chow, our costume designer, did a fantastic job of introducing that,” Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron, said on aftershow “Talking Dead.””I’d always pushed for a little bit more of a badass Aaron, but I know that that’s not who Aaron is initially, but as time has gone on, I think he’s definitely gotten more gruff and I love that transformation,” Marquand added of returning to his former look. “To put that plaid shirt back on and tuck it under the khakis, I was like, ‘Oh man. This feels wrong,'” “He’s going full Bob Vila again,” joked Khary Payton, who plays Ezekiel, who was also on “Talking Dead.”Max never spoke to Eugene a few episodes ago so he didn’t recognize her voice.Eugene briefly tried to speak with Max on season 11, episode five, but she didn’t respond.Josh Stringer/AMCSunday’s episode flashes back to season 11, episode five when Max first encounters Eugene at the Commonwealth. At the time, it wasn’t confirmed that she was the real person Eugene had been speaking with on the radio.You may have thought it was weird that Max never responded to Eugene when he asked her about a flavor of ice cream. Instead, she just looked at him and walked away awkwardly. Max never said anything to Eugene because he seemed so happy and she didn’t know what to do. She also likely didn’t want him to question if she may have been the real voice on the radio.”She has a lot at risk. There’s a lot at stake,” Bingham told Insider of why she waited until now to say something to Eugene. “She works for a very powerful woman [Pamela Milton] and she has family in the Commonwealth.”There’s a lot of people that she has to think about, including herself and now Eugene,” Bingham added. “I really think that as we move to the finale, you’re gonna see that she’s trying everything that she can to do what she can for the people that she loves.”The ice cream scene from the start of the episode is slightly different than the one we saw earlier this season. That’s on purpose to view the scene through Max’s eyes.Did you notice the subtle differences between this scene on Sunday’s episode and the scene on season 11, episode five?AMCIn a behind-the-scenes feature on AMC+, showrunner Angela Kang says that they filmed the ice cream scene over again for Sunday’s episode.”We’re not reusing footage,” Kang said in the featurette. “We wanted to let Max have her version of the story, too. So, this is her experience of what that moment was like.”If you rewatch the scene from season 11, episode five over again, you can see some of the small differences in Eugene and Max’s facial expressions. Eugene’s hair even looks a bit different as if to make him appear a bit more idealized in Max’s mind.”We actually linger in a different expression on her when she and Eugene meet eyes, before she has to go away because we just felt like this is a subjective montage and so she’s having a slightly different experience of the same scene,” Kang said.Pamela Milton knew Deanna because they both had ties to Ohio.Deanna Monroe told Rick Grimes on season five, episode 12 of her political history, something Pamela Milton was quite familiar with.AMCIt’s not said on Sunday’s episode, but Deanna was a Congresswoman for Ohio. In a departure from the comics, the show cleverly uses Deanna’s political background that we learned about on season five to make a connection between the former Alexandria leader and Pamela Milton’s political family before the world fell.Pamela tells Daryl that the two ran into one another in philanthropy circles. Not only does it create a nice through line, but it also shows the stark differences in how these women chose to lead separate groups.Deanna decided everyone she welcomed into Alexandria should live as equals. Before her death, she provided everyone with a large house and a job assignment at her discretion after getting to know Rick, Michonne, and the others.Milton divided the Commonwealth into social classes to try to return the world to the way it was before. The community assigns jobs based on people’s professions prior to the zombie apocalypse. These decisions may come back to bite her later in the season since we’ve seen hints of civil unrest brewing at the Commonwealth.Lance and Pamela feel like a direct inverse of Aaron and Deanna.Lance and Pamela Milton’s working dynamic feels like an unhealthy version of the partnership Aaron and Deanna shared as leaders of Alexandria. Lance feels like a twisted version of Aaron.AMCIf Deanna is Pamela’s equal, Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) is certainly Aaron’s counterpart. Hornsby has been searching for communities to join and grow the Commonwealth in the same way Aaron used to search out individuals to join Alexandria.However, Lance’s intentions are less pure of heart than Aaron’s ever were. While Aaron never sought out other groups or survivors for personal gain (he previously worked for a non-government organization to help others), Lance has made it clear that he very much seeks power.While there was always a complete level of trust and respect between Aaron and Deanna, it’s tough to say the same for Lance and Pamela.As we’ve seen, Lance is running some sort of secret organization within the Commonwealth and starts to lose his cool a bit at the end of Sunday’s episode. Though he tells Aaron everything’s OK, he might not mind usurping Milton to run the Commonwealth on his own.In a different world, Deanna, not Pamela, likely would’ve run the Commonwealth.Deanna Monroe discusses how she wound up stuck in Alexandria, Virginia on season 5, episode 12.AMCOn season five, episode 12, Deanna told Rick that she was trying to return home from Washington D.C. to Ohio to help her people during the fall of the world. However, she was directed into the Alexandria safe-zone and soldiers never returned for her.If she made it back to Ohio, there’s a chance that she, not Pamela, would’ve been in charge of the Commonwealth. On Sunday’s episode, Pamela says she never used to have any interest in politics, but notes that Deanna “was born to run things.”The photo of Deanna and her husband in the frame on Sunday’s episode is a press photo.If the photo in the frame looked familiar, it’s because it was a press photo.Josh Stringer, Gene Page/AMCThe photo in the frame was a behind-the-scenes photo for season five, episode 14 of “The Walking Dead.” Production made it black and white for this episode.There’s a reason Daryl shrugs off Mercer’s question when he asks what his job was before the apocalypse. He didn’t really have one.Mercer seems surprised to learn that Daryl is a respected leader of his communities.AMC, composite by Kirsten Acuna/InsiderDaryl quickly tells Mercer it “doesn’t matter.” That’s because everyone at the Commonwealth is assigned a job based on their former life. In seasons three and four, we learned Daryl was simply a drifter, living with his brother Merle, who was a drug supplier. Daryl really didn’t have much of a job. He just learned to become a great hunter.It’s kind of funny that Daryl winds up being part of the Commonwealth’s militia. Back on the season four premiere, Beth’s old boyfriend Zach tried to guess Daryl’s job before the apocalypse. His guess? “Homicide cop.”Daryl played along with it and said he was an undercover cop, before eventually telling Zach to keep guessing.Pamela seems surprised that Daryl admires Deanna and it may be because she’s not regarded in the same way at the Commonwealth.In this moment, Pamela Milton may be wondering how Deanna won the people’s trust and respect while she hasn’t been able to do the exact same despite building a more successful community, in her eyes.Josh Stringer/AMC, AMCWhen Pamela asks Daryl if he admires Deanna, she acknowledges that with a hint of surprise. That may be because it’s been teased that not everyone at the Commonwealth respects and loves Milton’s way of running things. As Sunday’s episode shows, unlike the leaders of other communities (Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside), Milton doesn’t seem to get her hands dirty often.She’s put off when she sees one of the undead roaming into Alexandria.Eugene names the main character in his sci-fi novel after himself and “Stephanie.”Eugene discusses his sci-fi book with Max.AMCHe tells Max, who he believed to be named Stephanie at the time, the protagonist’s name is Steph Porter. It’s a combination of Stephanie’s first name and Eugene’s last name.Read the original article on Insider
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Written by: kacuna@insider.com (Kirsten Acuna)