The Walking Dead Season 11 Review: 7 Ups & 2 Downs From "Rendition"

3. UP: The Reapers' Backstory

Aside from the performances, the shock twists, and Leah's return, one of the best parts of the episode comes from the Reapers themselves. More specifically, their backstory as shared to Daryl by Pope and Leah.

As it turns out, the Reapers were once soldiers who fought in Afghanistan and then felt abandoned by their government when they returned home. Before the world ended, they became mercenaries and many of them travelled the world together on a variety of assignments.

Not only is the group's backstory surprisingly timely, it also does well to make their strong, family-like structure more compelling and understandable.

There are some things that haven't been explained just yet, including the specific history shared by Pope and Leah and the ambiguous ritual one of the Reapers performs on the dead, but what we've heard so far has made them a very effective and complex group with heaps of potential.