Here we are. The last episode. The grand finale. At least for the flagship series. The series that launched a cultural phenomenon ends after over a decade on the air, and turning a random Image title into a multi-media franchise to rival Marvel’s Avengers. While the series isn’t truly over yet (more on that later), the ensemble we’ve followed for eleven seasons will see their stories reach a conclusion. Good or bed depends entirely on the miles long swarm of walkers that just broke through the gates.
Spoiler alert for the literal end of the series.
1. Hey, there’s no Judith voiceover! I wonder why that– Oh, that’s why…
The episode opens with Daryl bursting into the hospital with a wounded Judith in his arms. We get the snippets of the action as Judith fades in and out of consciousness. It’s effective and chaotic. But not as chaotic as literally everything happening outside the hospital. Luke and Jules go down almost immediately. The rest either try to climb up the gutters or fight their way through. One of the smartest moves of the episode is having all the scattered pockets meet up at the hospital. It’s a great way to get everyone together for the final showdown. And a logical stop, since everyone is pretty beat up at this point.
We get another brief quiet moment to set up the ending to everyone’s arcs. Maggie’s still mad at Negan. Daryl attempts a risky blood transfusion to save Judith’s life. And talks Judith down after she wakes up thinking she’s dying. After a genuinely intense opening, it’s nice to have a moment to catch your breath and take stock of everything before the final. Especially after how hard the opening hit.
2. Didn’t take long for them to catch Mercer
So… the timeline’s been a little better in this leg of the season than earlier on. Although I do have to ask… when did Mercer get arrested? In what feels like maybe hours tops, Mercer has been arrested, taken to the one prison cell set they have, and even given a prison uniform. Hornsby and Eugene didn’t even get one of those! Last we saw Mercer, he was commanding the Commonwealth forces against the oncoming swarm. And while Milton was aware of his double cross, she wasn’t making her move yet. So something changed real fast.
But he’s not in prison too long. Princess and Rosita bail him out with an explosive. And we get a rare movement of Mercer being genuinely happy. He even smiles and everything! This leads up directly to—
3. We ain’t the walking dead
Pamela Milton is holed up in The Estates as the citizens of The Commonwealth beg to be let in. She stands and watches at they beg to be let into her gated community. And while the mission originally starts as a plan to arrest or kill Milton, it quickly turns to a rescue. Mercer does arrest her on the spot, with the help of the rest of the guards (who aren’t thrilled about her letting everyone in town die). Even the spy from the last episode flips eventually. Daryl is the one who prompts this, pointing out that they only really have one true enemy. Adding “We ain’t The Walking Dead.” A bit of a cheesy line, clearly riffing on Rick from the comics, but I appreciate the sentiment. The show was so often about how quickly things get ugly when it came down to survival. But the other side of that was finding people you could trust and rely on in the bad times. And this close to the end, it pays to lean into the more optimistic side.
They even stop Milton from committing suicide by Walker after she sees zombie-Lance Hornsby. Side note: Josh Hamilton? Great zombie.
Everyone comes together to form a new plan. One that involves blowing up a decent portion of the town with walkers inside. And distracting them with loud Living Color blared over the PA system. I’m not saying they picked that song because CM Punk is a TWD fan. But we’ve already had one wrestling reference this season.
Continued below4. Wrapping things up
Milton is in her own prison cell, half taunting her replacements. Asking how they’ll handle the tough decisions like “Who gets the biggest house.” Carol replies that they’ve already made one difficult decision: Letting her live.
From there we start to rebuild. Maggie takes Negan aside and gives the closest thing to forgiveness she can. It’s not actually forgiveness, since Negan did straight up murder Glenn. But she at least acknowledges that he’s trying. And he’s earned his place here. He still skips out of their family “we survived” dinner.
We’re then taken to Rosita, who lays dying in bed. She was but during the opening chaos. And while saving the children. Including her daughter CoCo. Gabriel gives her last rites and Eugene thanks her for making him the man he is today. We fade away from her death bed to a memorial, along with another time jump (haven’t had one of those in a bit). We see that one year after the fact, things seem okay.
5. One Year Later
We actually got a happy ending. Ezekiel is the new governor. Mercer is his lieutenant governor. Carol has taken Hornsby’s job and hopefully operates it in a much nicer manner. Eugene and Max even have a daughter named “Rosie.” Daryl and Carol even have a genuinely sweet moment on a park bench. Somehow we have found a happy ending for our Walking Dead.
Except it really isn’t. The last few minutes are essentially spent setting up every single Walking Dead Universe spin-off in the horizon. The helicopter that’s been hovering around since season one catches Rick, while heavily implying he’s in deep with the CRM. Michonne and Daryl are wandering the countryside. And Negan is… I don’t know. In a city, I guess. A Dead City. Whereas the comic wanted to give us a definitive ending for the series, the show can’t really do that right now. And that may actually work in its favor, considering how many mixed reviews the finale has gotten. The image of Judith (a character who was killed off as a baby in the source material) looking out over an idyllic farmland resonates plenty well without the decade-long time skip and hard genre shift.
Even if this isn’t the end-end, and even if it’s arguably undercut by AMC’s need to franchise the hell out of it, we do end this episode with a sense of closure. Whatever Daryl, Maggie, and whoever else do now is up to them. The ensemble at least got things worked out.
