The Walking Dead may be on track to copy a story from Fear the Walking Dead season 6 when exploring what happens next to Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and his friends. Shortly after managing to get admitted into the Commonwealth, the characters have already gotten themselves into deep trouble with the community’s leadership.
While Eleanor Matsuura's Yumiko was reuniting with her long-lost brother, Eugene, Princess (Paola Lázaro) and King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) were busy breaking the Commonwealth’s rules in The Walking Dead season 11, episode 5, titled “Out of the Ashes.” Still determined to follow through with their original goal, the trio worked out a plan to contact Alexandria, only to be intercepted by Mercer (Michael James Shaw). Just when it looked like they were about to be kicked out for good, one of season 11’s new Walking Dead characters – Josh Hamilton’s Lance Hornsby – intervened. The episode ended before Lance’s intentions for the three could be revealed.
Comments from the fake Stephanie (Chelle Ranos) indicate that they’ll still have to answer for their crimes, and what that may lead to could be linked to a shot in The Walking Dead season 11 official trailer [via YouTube]. At the 1:23 mark, Ezekiel can be shown killing zombies, presumably outside the Commonwealth. This scene hints at them receiving a punishment that’s not at all unlike what happened to Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Strand (Colman Domingo), and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) in the beginning of Fear the Walking Dead season 6. Sometime after being forced into joining the Pioneers, the three violated Viriginia’s rules. As a result, they were punished with zombie clean-up detail. All three were assigned the difficult task of clearing out a warehouse full of zombies.
That could very well be what Lance Hornsby has planned for Ezekiel, Eugene, and Princess in The Walking Dead. After all, there likely is a need for people to secure the borders around the community. Yumiko could end up making a deal to get them off the hook, but this period could still serve as a teaching moment when it comes to understanding the Commonwealth and its class system, which was depicted as its biggest flaw in the comics. It could be that they’ll see other Commonwealth citizens being forced into doing this work, but possibly as part of their daily lives rather than punishment. This could be one of the first big warning signs about the issues with this community and how it works.
The Walking Dead doing a story that draws parallels to Fear the Walking Dead would make a lot of sense. Obviously, Virginia’s Pioneers and the Commonwealth have their differences, but both are large communities that absorb the main characters into their ranks, divide them, and sometimes give them roles they don’t want. Morgan’s group managed to break away from the Pioneers and take down the leader, but given the size and resources of the Commonwealth, the people of Alexandria will have an even more challenging path ahead of them.