Home Sweet Home (The Walking Dead)
| "Home Sweet Home" | |
|---|---|
| The Walking Dead episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 17 |
| Directed by | David Boyd |
| Written by |
|
| Featured music | "You Want It Darker" by Anita Lester |
| Cinematography by | Duane Charles Manwiller |
| Editing by | Alan Cody |
| Original air dates | February 21, 2021 (AMC+) February 28, 2021 (AMC) |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Home Sweet Home" is the seventeenth episode and third-part premiere of the tenth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, and the 148th episode overall. Directed by David Boyd, and written by Kevin Deiboldt and Corey Reed, the episode was released via the streaming platform AMC+ on February 21, 2021, and aired on television on AMC on February 28.[1]
Plot
As Maggie kills a zombified Whisperer and talks with Judith, Negan appears and explains he was released. Maggie later learns that the Hilltop Colony was destroyed by the Whisperers. Carol reveals to Maggie that she released Negan and that he infiltrated the Whisperers, accompanied them in the attack on Hilltop, and finally murdered Alpha after gaining her trust. Carol returns to the Alexandria Safe-Zone, while Maggie, Daryl, Kelly, and two of Maggie's people, Cole and Elijah, head off to find the rest of Maggie's group at a rendezvous point.
With nightfall approaching, Maggie's group finds shelter in a shipping yard. Maggie talks with Daryl and reveals her son asked her about the man who murdered his father; she tells Daryl she can't live with Negan. The next day, Maggie reproaches Kelly for having left her post, but Daryl explains that she is looking for her sister. Upon arriving at the rendezvous point, they find the camp has been burned down. Cole tells Daryl about the Reapers, a group that destroyed their former home, before beginning their search for Maggie's son, Hershel Jr..
Maggie reunites with three members of her group, but all three are swiftly killed by a Reaper using a silenced weapon. Daryl and Maggie catch up to and fight with the Reaper; Maggie is temporarily caught in a trap, but is rescued by Daryl. Kelly wounds the Reaper with Daryl's crossbow, but the Reaper blows himself up with a grenade before Maggie can interrogate him. Soon after, Maggie finds Hershel Jr. and later bonds with Kelly about their sisters. With nowhere else to go, the group heads to the Alexandria Safe-Zone, where Carol, Negan, and several others are rebuilding the walls that were previously destroyed by the Whisperers.
Production
Beginning with this episode, Ryan Hurst (Beta) was removed from the opening credits. Other changes include Lauren Cohan (Maggie Rhee) being promoted back to the main cast as her name appears in the opening credits.[2]
Reception
Ratings
"Home Sweet Home" received 2.89 million viewers, up from the previous episode's rating.[3]
Critical reception
"The Walking Dead returns with plenty of compelling questions attached to it, and one has to hope that they get meaningful answers lest these bonus episodes descend into time-wasting filler territory ahead of the season 11 main event."
In its initial broadcast, "Home Sweet Home" received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 88% with an average score of 6.94 out of 10 based on 16 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "It remains murky whether these bonus installments will have a life of their own, but "Home Sweet Home" gracefully returns Lauren Cohan into the fold."[5]
Forbes's Paul Tassi said that "Home Sweet Home" was a "pretty solid episode", even if it didn't fully explain "where Maggie was".[6] From Comicbook.com, Cameron Bonomolo gave the episode four stars out of five, writing that it was able to highlight "the humanity of the people surviving in a world of the dead."[7] IGN critic Matt Fowler gave it a 6/10 rating, saying that the episode was a "somewhat dull revisiting of Maggie's resentment and anger toward Negan. It's an understandable emotion for her to continue to wallow in, sure, but as viewers we're years beyond this now, in the show, and in real life, leaving this attempt to recapture the thread sort of toothless."[8] Comic Book Resources found the episode to be unnecessary, and questioned if the last episodes of the tenth season would be "simply treading water waiting for the final season to begin".[9]
Alex McLevy for The A.V. Club gave the episode a grade rating of a "B-", and said that it contained both "awkward introductions" and "interesting aspects" for an episode made during the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Den of Geek writer Ron Hogan gave "Home Sweet Home" three stars out of five, writing that "season 10's strong writing continues forward after a solid, but unspectacular, reintroduction of a fan-favorite character".[11] From Vulture.com, Richard Rys also gave the episode three stars out of five, and said that the episode left him with many questions.[12]
References
- ^ Cameron Bonomolo (February 1, 2021). "The Walking Dead Season 10C Premiere Will Release One Week Early". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ Dalton Ross (February 28, 2021). "Lauren Cohan reacts to Maggie and Negan's reunion on The Walking Dead". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ Mitch Metcalf (March 2, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.28.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ Jonathon Wilson (February 22, 2021). "The Walking Dead season 10, episode 17 recap – "Home Sweet Home"". Ready Steady Cut. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "Home Sweet Home". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ Paul Tassi (February 15, 2021). "I Have Seen The Next Two Episodes Of 'The Walking Dead' Season 10". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ Cameron Bonomolo (February 16, 2021). "Daryl and Maggie Are Hunted in The Walking Dead's Haunting Season 10C Premiere". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
- ^ Matt Fowler (February 21, 2021). "The Walking Dead: Season 10, Episode 17 Review - "Home Sweet Home"". IGN. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; February 22, 2021 suggested (help) - ^ Cynthia Vinney (February 22, 2021). "The Walking Dead Season 10C Is an Unnecessary Stop On the Way to the Final Season". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; February 23, 2021 suggested (help) - ^ Alex McLevy (February 28, 2021). "The Walking Dead welcomes back Maggie with its first bonus season 10 episode". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Ron Hogan (February 28, 2021). "The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 Review: Home Sweet Home". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Richard Rys (February 28, 2021). "The Walking Dead Recap: New Sheriff in Town". Vulture.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
