The Walking Dead season 11, episode 6 is one of the show’s scariest in years, and it’s made all the more terrifying by having Connie at the center of it. The Walking Dead season 11 finds its main characters separated from one another, with some working to salvage Alexandria, others on the run from the Reapers, and more at a new community, the Commonwealth. Now, Walking Dead checks in with yet another separated party – Connie, who only recently teamed up with another wayward traveler, Virgil.

Connie and Virgil meet each other in the season 10 episode, “A Certain Doom,” and have since been working together to reach Alexandria. As Connie is deaf, communication hasn’t been easy but they’ve managed. It’s in season 11 that The Walking Dead check back in with them, and they’re shown fleeing from unknown assailants. At first, it appears to be walkers who have them on the run, but soon it’s revealed to be something more sinister. They seek shelter in a nearby house and it’s here that things get really scary.

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In The Walking Dead season 11, episode 6 “On the Inside”, Connie and Virgil are being hunted by a group of feral human cannibals. The house they’re using for shelter is actually a trap, and they’ve been lured there to become this group’s next meal. Already a terrifying premise, The Walking Dead makes the episode all the more scary by emphasizing Connie’s deafness for the audience. In several scenes where Connie is alone there is no sound at all, like when she’s separated from Virgil by the feral humans closing her off in a servant hallway. This enhances the feeling of isolation we get from the scene and makes the idea of being hunted all the scarier. The silence is, of course, how Connie experiences the world every day, but in these specific situations, it makes an already terrifying experience even more so. When the Walking Dead season 11 episode chooses to have the sound return also heightens the scares, with it often coming back at jarring moments that shock both viewers and her.

While it’s no secret Connie is deaf (as is actress Lauren Ridloff), The Walking Dead has taken great strides to never portray her lack of hearing as a weakness. On many occasions, Connie is shown to be just as capable a survivor as any other, and if anything, her use of ASL and teaching it to others has been a real boon. Even in this season 11 episode, Connie isn’t really shown to be at a disadvantage because she’s deaf. In fact, she is who first recognizes there is a threat within the house and is who ultimately saves Virgil (although he’s stabbed) and herself from the feral people.

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Still, the choices made in terms of how “On the Inside” is shot and how it uses silence or sound makes for a more terrifying episode. When Connie reaches the basement, for instance, there’s no sound until she steps on the bones littering the floor, with the crunching under her feet cutting through the silence and making her discovery even more horrifying. The scenes of her being stalked are another good example, with the camera silently revealing there’s someone there while she has no idea. It’s all done to not only heighten the tension and deliver some of The Walking Dead‘s best scares in years, but it also gives viewers a small sense of how Connie perceives the world. And honestly, she comes out looking like even more of a badass because of it.

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Sarah Moran
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Sarah Moran is a news editor for Screen Rant and has been contributing to the site since 2014. She primarily writes features and covers the ongoing development of current movies and television shows. Sarah is a graduate of THE Ohio State University where she earned her B.A. in Film Studies in 2009.

Sarah’s favorite movies range from studio era classics to the latest sci-fi and superhero blockbusters. Her favorite TV shows are animated, and she’s always up to watch a documentary. Sarah spends her free time playing too many video games and proudly supporting the Columbus Crew, the greatest team the world has ever seen.

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