The Walking Dead: Rest in Peace (11x24)

So... this finale suffered majorly for one big reason: the spinoffs next year. Let's just dive right in, shall we?

Cons:

Think about it. If this had been a true finale, if this had been the end of the universe of this TV show, we would have gotten so much content that the fans have been waiting to see. Instead, it's all teased out for us, trying to force us to tune in next year to see more Negan and Maggie, Rick and Michonne, Daryl... it's too damn much, y'all. I won't list all the missed moments, but if these spin-offs didn't exist, we definitely would have gotten Rick and Michonne reuniting with their daughter and son, right? A thing I think we've all damn well earned seeing? And if Daryl wasn't going off on his own without Carol, maybe they could have resolved that relationship in a way that would have made the fans happy to see. This is a finale. I want to feel big emotions, I want full cheesiness turned all the way up to eleven. I cannot believe that they had Rick and Michonne show up at the end in the form of letter writing, still not reunited, and we got no catharsis on any possible Rick reunion. With Michonne, with Judith, with Daryl? That man lived in the woods for half a decade being sad about Rick's death. I wanted to see them reunite, for fuck's sake.

But even setting aside the things I really wish we could have seen that just weren't there, there were moments that should have packed a much bigger punch, but were instead glossed over. The biggest one? Judith, in a moment of delirium when she believes she might die, tells Daryl that Michonne left to go find Rick, who they believe to be alive. I had sort of forgotten that Daryl didn't know this information, but it makes sense: Judith says she never told Daryl because she didn't want him to leave too. This should have been a huge moment. Daryl's love for Rick and his family is a cornerstone of his character; the revelation that Rick is still alive should have been earth-shattering for him. And, honestly, if they're going with all these spin-offs anyway, that should have been the impetus for Daryl to leave, not some vague idea Maggie has about wanting to find out what's out there.

And just, in general, this episode didn't have the epic-ness that one would typically associate with a finale of a show that's been on for eleven seasons. What are people going to be talking about in the aftermath of this? There was one big main character death, and it was well executed which I'll talk about in a second, but other than that it was all very low energy, nothing big, no huge status quo shifts in the way we understand this universe. Okay, so we defeated Pamela, great. What proof do we have that another group of baddies isn't just going to come out of nowhere and be evil nearby, leading to more chaos for our surviving characters? The problem with the spinoffs is that nothing can change in any sort of permanent way, because, gosh, what if we want to bring Lydia back for a cameo on one of the five other shows we're making? What if we want to do a story about Alexandria being in peril again and Rick and Michonne showing up to save it? What if Eugene and Max go on a trip to New York and pop up in this other series? This episode didn't feel like a finale, it felt like instructions to tune in for more of the show next year.

Which, to be clear? I will not be doing!

Pros:

So yeah, this wasn't really the magical strong finish that fixed all of my problems with late-stage The Walking Dead. I'm not sure how it could have been, but still. That said, I'm honestly an easily manipulated person when it comes to sentimentality on TV shows, so I did get misty-eyed at a few points in this finale, especially with the really cheesy stuff like Rick and Michonne writing letters to their child and reminiscing about all the people they've known over the years, dead and alive. We see a montage of faces, and while hilariously a few of them I couldn't even remember, it was nice to see people like Beth, and Sasha, and of course Glenn and Carl, Lori and Shane... Hershel... the list goes on. The idea of ending the show with the characters enforcing that they are the ones who live, and they will continue to strive for that life, was a good moving capstone, and as close as I got to feeling like this show was a true finale to anything.

I have all the feels about Judith, honestly, and I loved seeing Daryl and Carol working to save her life, fretting over her. She really is a daughter to them both in so many ways, and honestly the moment with Daryl in this episode that got me the most was when he hugged Judith goodbye and asked her to look after Carol for him. They have such a special bond, it makes me a little weepy.

Daryl and Carol's goodbye felt a little tacked on, especially Carol saying "this will be good for us", because obviously we know Carol was originally supposed to be part of Daryl's spin-off but no longer is, and yet they didn't really replace her leaving with Daryl with any reason as to why. Just a vague sense of her helping out with the home communities, replacing Hornsby, I guess. It didn't feel like a very satisfying wrap-up for either character, but Carol especially got the short end of the stick, as she has so often these last few seasons. Oh, but wait, I'm in the "pros" section, aren't I? Setting all that aside, these two have such a special, gorgeous relationship, and getting to see their goodbye, the "I love you"s and the hug, did warm my heart, even if I could have wished for something a bit more.

A few details I enjoyed: Ezekiel and Mercer being the new governor and deputy governor of the Commonwealth. That's fitting! Eugene and Max having a baby named Rosie (this is so damn cheesy but you know what it made me wanna cry so I'm going to let them get away with it). Yumiko and Magna getting to have a kiss, reuniting. Sure, yeah, I'm into it. Negan sending Judith the compass.

Oh and speaking of Negan, you couldn't pay me to watch the show with Negan and Maggie next year, BUT, I did like that Maggie told Negan about Glenn, and basically said "I can't forgive you, and being around you makes me remember him in his final moments of agony, which I don't want to do." It was a powerful scene and the first thing from Maggie since her return that's made me feel connected to her.

Let's talk about the deaths, shall we? I was surprised to find myself really emotionally affected by Luke's death, not because I give a shit about Luke as a character, but because of the way his friends tried desperately to save him, crying and screaming, and then all broke down sobbing as they had their final moments together. Watching that scene, the pain and desperation of it, there were just a lot of really good performances happening there. It made me realize how often the deaths in this show were either really sudden for shock value, or else drawn out, slow, and somber, with grieving characters clearly upset but also restrained and in control. This was true wild, panicked, grief, and it really made me feel the chaos and pain of the situation, while keeping me focused on the true issue of the moment, which was making sure Judith was going to be okay.

And then there's Rosita. I'm not sure I've ever cared about Rosita quite as much as I did in this episode. It was a strong way for her character to go out, and again, one of the only pieces of the episode that made it feel like an epic finale to me. I loved the fake-out, I gotta say, where she falls and you think she's getting ripped to pieces, but then you see her spring up and fight like a total bad-ass and get out of an impossible situation. And then later, looking at Coco, who she's rescued at long last, we have Eugene come in, and as he's starting to discuss future plans, it slowly dawns on him all that Rosita is not saying. She was bitten, and it's not something they're going to be able to fix.

There was just a lot of good delicious angst here. I've never bought Gabriel and Rosita as a romantic pairing, but I found his grief and gentleness really moving. Judith's facial wobble when she realized Rosita was dying... man, this show has some really hit-or-miss writing sometimes but I honestly think on the level of acting, the girl who plays Judith does an incredible job. It was so moving to see Rosita getting to have these final moments with people, enjoying a dinner with them all even as she knows the end is near. I mean, yeah, it's cheesy, but as I've been saying, this is a finale. I want the cheese. Pile it the fuck on, don't hold back. Rosita's death, and specifically her final moment with Eugene, really, really got to me in a way nothing else in this episode did.

So... yeah, I think I'm going to wrap up my thoughts on the finale there! Seeing Rick and Michonne was kind of cool, but it was also a little insulting, basically a trailer for their spinoff show playing at the end of this one. And a lot of this final season has felt like the writers were more excited about their fresh new ideas for new shows, rather than this lumbering, undead behemoth of the show that stayed on the air long past its prime. And that's a bummer, it really is. Still, props for making me get all emo about Rosita dying. Never thought I would have cared much one way or another.

7/10

So now comes the impossible task of trying to sum up all of The Walking Dead in a single rating out of ten. I can't grade this based on my favorite season or least favorite season or any of that, I have to try and find something that I think is representative of the whole. Here's what I'll say: this show shook up something in TV. It's part of that whole Golden Age thing everyone always talks about. The Walking Dead was enshrined for a time along with Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones as THE event TV that everyone was watching and talking about. And while Breaking Bad maintained its sanctity by bowing out after five seasons, and while Game of Thrones majorly and famously threw itself into a dumpster at the end, I think we have something a lot more muddled here. I certainly don't care enough to watch the spinoffs, but I do care enough that I know I'll poke around to find out what happens to certain favorite characters of mine after the show ends. I don't think this is a final season or finale episode that retroactively ruins anything about what was once great on the show, so it has that going for it. What I'll always remember about this show is the characters who stuck with me: Daryl Dixon is my number one, but Carol too, Michonne, and even later-season characters like Judith and Connie made a surprisingly strong impression on me. I think overall this show deserves a lot of praise for what it was at its best, but I also can't ignore the fact that it's been far less than its best for quite a long time.

7.5/10