The Walking Dead S6E16: Last Day on Earth

A primary complaint against The Walking Dead has been that it is slow paced, drawn out, repetitive drama that uses shocking deaths to make you forget about how slow and plodding it actually is. In the past I have defended the times it has been very slow. Many of those moments are used to build existing characters or reveal more to the audience about new characters. But if I’m honest, there are plenty of times when the show succumbs to this criticism. Working up to the season six finale, it felt like this should have been one of the more memorable finales in show history. Instead, we got a microcosm of those primary complaints played out through an extended 90 minute episode. Spoilers ahead.

I suppose the writing was on the wall. The opening scene featured Morgan walking, finding a hose and the horse walking, and a following behind him… walking. Morgan is of course looking for Carol. He finds her curled up in the fetal position due to an injury, and he quickly nurses her back to health. Elsewhere, Rick is putting together a crew to take Maggie to Hilltop for medical attention after she collapsed with stomach pains. Carl is coming along. Abraham and Sasha insist on coming (they’re a package deal, after all). Aaron, for some reason, feels an obligation to go. Considering all the people we already have absent from Alexandria, and the fact that Gabriel is left in charge of its defense, it would seem a perfect storm is brewing. There is a storm coming, but it’s not one of those storms that scares the crap out of your for two straight hours. It’s more like the moderate to high winds and rain that knock your power out, then it comes back, then its knocked out again, then it comes back, then out again, back again… to the point where you wish something would just get completely destroyed already and quit with this indecisiveness. Only, with this episode, the power going out over and over is like what Rick and his group are put through. And for my own part, it got boring real quick.

The first run-in with the Savior road blockade was somewhat tense. The Saviors drug a man they had just captured out onto the road and just waited for them to come. Clearly the organization and communication of this group is far greater than Rick or even the audience had originally assumed. Once Rick arrives, they meet on the road and exchange threats. The Saviors, of course, want everything. Rick makes idle threats in return, but with Maggie on board they’re in no position to shoot it out. They leave and find another route. They’re blocked again by another group of Saviors. This time larger than the previous group. They find another route. Blocked again, now by a chain-gang of walkers with clues that both Michonne and Daryl are captives. Rick finds a way through while gunfire rains down on their feet. As they drive through the opening now, they realize they’re being forced onto a specific route. They’re blocked again by a pile of logs, and again by a larger group of saviors. I’ve just covered about 35 minutes worth of content in this paragraph. And I’m really not over-simplifying anything. There is no major dialogue happening, no attempts to negotiate with the groups blocking them. Just driving, turning around, and driving some more. The closest we get to some meaningful content is the erosion of Rick’s sense of confidence, and his assurance that together they can do anything.

Even with THAT, the show wears it on its sleeve. Rick tells Spencer before they leave not to attempt to talk with the Saviors if they show up at Alexandria. Instead, wait for him, “I’ve got a deal for them” he says confidently. On the RV he assures Maggie that everything will be fine. That’s understandable. No reason to make her panic. But then he says it, “Together, we can do anything.” And the finishing touches are being put on this picture. As icing on this cake of irony, Maggie says “I believe in you, Rick”, and in the middle of their last ditch effort to get her to Hilltop, Carl says “I’m never letting anything hurt us like that again.” I couldn’t even tell you what he was referring to. The sound of my palm slapping my face was too loud. This episode basically dove head first right into every main criticism laid against it over the last six years. Be that as it may, there’s a lesson there in Rick’s over-confidence. This is something that all of us are susceptible to, not just group leaders of a zombie apocalypse. We can all come to the mindset where we’re sure things are going to work out, we have a handle on it all, nothing can go wrong. The mindset of Rick in the past few episodes has been that nothing can touch them. He has achieved some level of mastery in this world that has him feeling invincible. What he’s going through is truly the embodiment of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a proud spirit before a fall.” We’re warned in scripture to guard ourselves from pride and overconfidence. We’re told those things will be our downfall. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:12). While our natural inclination is to become comfortable in our maturity, or our strength, or our knowledge, God’s word warns not to take solace in such things. Even the mightiest among us can be brought to their knees. It’s too bad Rick doesn’t have a pastor around that might be mindful of what scripture says about his attitude… hmmmm.

Oh yeah, Morgan kills a guy in this episode too. What’s that? How can I say that so passively? Well, perhaps it’s because that’s how the episode treated it. After this season long battle of philosophies, after a whole episode given to Morgan to show how he got to that point, after direct confrontation with Carol and her eventual softening to the point of leaving town at the possibility of having to kill again to protect those she loves, we get six shots to the torso of some random savior threatening Carol’s life. Really? That’s the payoff? That’s how simple you’re going to make it after a season of parsing it out? What a shame and what a waste. Carol showed more hesitation in mowing down a truck full of guys than Morgan did in shooting one man. My complaint isn’t that he shouldn’t have killed the guy. He didn’t have a choice. Either kill him or he kills Carol. My complaint is it was too simplistic and didn’t reward all the effort put into this conflict throughout this season. This is TWD’s version of Daredevil and Punisher mentalities meeting their end. This should have been a choice on the level of Man of Steel snapping Zod’s neck. If you haven’t seen that, sorry. This should have meant more, it should have impacted Morgan more, it should have been a greater threat. Everything about this wreaks of lazy writing and I haven’t thought that once this season when it comes to Morgan, especially in his scenes parsing out his philosophy with the group.

Finally. Let’s talk about the end of the episode. This half of the season has been pointing toward meeting Negan. Readers of the comic know him as the most brutal, sadistic villain of the series. When it was announced that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was to play the role, I don’t know anyone that thought that was a bad fit. Finally seeing him on screen, it was perfect. His grin, his strolling around, his cocky speech… right on par. His reveal is one of the most intense scenes in

show history, but it might also go down as one of the most controversial. In typical Negan fashion, he resorts to a game of eeny-meeny-miny-mo to pick who is punished with Lucille (his barbed-wire covered bat) for all the death Rick and his group have brought upon the Saviors. Upon picking, the camera is in place of the victim as we’re looking directly at Negan. The bat goes up, and comes down with a crack. The camera sways and begins to slightly blackout. Blood trickles down as we look back up at Negan. Another blow comes falling and we’re completely out. The sound of ½ dozen more blows are heard with some muted screams and hollers. The episode ends and we never find out who was killed. Complete cop out. I don’t think I’ve ever been as angry with the show as I am after that. Once again it falls headlong into genre criticism that it refuses to rise above. Just for once, be content with a record setting season finale and reward the viewers with at least the knowledge of who was killed. Be content with a future record setting season 7 premiere without the click-baity cliffhangers that weaker shows need to keep their viewers. You’re better than this, and you’ve disappointed this fan.

My Rating: D

My gut reaction rating last night was a C. As I wrote this and thought more about the dissatisfying handling of Morgan killing someone, and the on the nose lines pointing to Rick’s confidence, and the drawn out repetition to make it a longer episode, I just became more frustrated with it. I hate when people watch the show and do nothing but rip apart every episode with what they would have done, or how the characters make bad decisions, but after last night I find myself squarely in that camp. I think season six has been pretty good overall, and the second half has been very good as evidenced by my ratings for the last 7 episodes. But that finale was not the one that this season deserved.

#WhoIsIt?

Okay, for what it’s worth, here’s my take on who was possible killed. When Negan finally picks he says “Anybody moves anybody says anything cut the boys other eye out and feed it to his father.” So from that it’s not Carl or (obviously) Rick. But watch his body language again when he says it. Facing the victim, he motions to his right when he says “the boy”, and then barely to his left when he says “his father”. So as he’s facing them, the victim is between Rick and Carl. Only Sasha and Aaron were between them. Of those two, Sasha would be the biggest impact. Abraham would go nuts so he’ll be killed in s7e1. I think that will be all that are killed from the group at this specific encounter.

I would LOVE to get your thoughts on this episode, who you think Negan killed, and this season overall! Please comment below.