A suspenseful moment becomes unintentionally comedic in The Walking Dead season 11, and Shaun of the Dead is to blame. The Walking Dead has long established that by covering themselves in zombie guts, characters can more or less avoid being detected by the undead. The Whisperers pushed this notion further by donning the skins of the dead and mimicking their behavior to fully blend into The Walking Dead's zombie hordes. In The Walking Dead season 11's final episodes, Lydia suggests she, Aaron, Jerry, Elijah, Luke and Jules use Whisperer tactics to hide from Commonwealth soldiers and avoid being eaten by the swiftly-amassing dead.
The pressing situation leaves little time for needlework and tailoring, meaning Lydia's survivors must hide inside the horde with their bare faces exposed, but while still copying the sounds and movements of the surrounding dead. When the Whisperers performed this zombie trick, their masks made for a brilliantly creepy visual. When Aaron and co. attempt it sans masks in The Walking Dead season 11, the famous zombie shuffle scene from Shaun of the Dead springs to mind. Led by Dianne the drama student, Shaun and his friends awkwardly faked being zombies to reach the Winchester. The Walking Dead falls much closer to this scene than it probably intended.
Why Don't The Commonwealth Soldiers Notice Humans In The Herd?
A potential plot hole in The Walking Dead season 11's herd camouflage is how the Commonwealth soldiers somehow overlook the smattering of human faces among the dead. When Aaron's group began their deception in The Walking Dead's "Faith," the nighttime cover of darkness at least allowed for the vaguely plausible possibility that Commonwealth soldiers would be unable to distinguish rotting faces from the likes of Dan Fogler as the returning Luke. The Walking Dead season 11, episode 23, however, shows Commonwealth troopers barely a few meters away from "zombies" with human eyes, rosy cheeks, and healthy beards. That the soldiers somehow overlook the cuckoos in this nest is almost miraculous.
Making matters worse, these soldiers should already be on alert for survivors matching Luke and Jules' description, but despite looking directly at the herd their unmasked targets are hiding inside, the runaways remain weirdly undetected. The only possible explanation is that The Walking Dead's Commonwealth soldiers fail to consider the notion that living people would, or even could, hide among a herd, so ignore potential red flags like the big bearded guy wearing his hood up. Nevertheless, Dianne from Shaun of the Dead would be proud of how Aaron's group dedicate themselves to staying in character.
Is The Walking Dead Making Commonwealth Soldiers Bad On Purpose?
Not spotting very-obviously-alive humans among zombies in broad daylight is just the latest example of Commonwealth incompetence in The Walking Dead season 11. Pamela's soldiers have repeatedly made fools of themselves, whether through their apparent inability to avoid getting eaten or by falling asleep on the job. Strange though it may seem for The Walking Dead to make its final villains comically weak, there may be a logic behind this decision. The Walking Dead has teased the CRM for upcoming spinoffs, and this military force boasts an army of its own. Making Commonwealth soldiers appear useless may be a deliberate tactic to show the CRM's troopers as even more fearsome.
The Walking Dead concludes Sunday on AMC.