Check out our review of this weeks episode “Last Day on Earth” of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The Walking Dead – Season 6 episode 16: “Last Day on Earth”

Warning: There will be spoilers.

Let’s get into it, not recapping just diving in…

Robert: What a mess of an episode. What a mess of the 2nd half of this season of TWD. The lack of any and all hope gets to the point of wanting to shut the TV off. It’s amazing that I needed to listen to Talking Dead, the after show, to hear what they wanted to accomplish from TWD showrunner Scott M. Gimple. That’s NOT a good thing. You shouldn’t EVER need to find out what a TV show means AFTERWARDS. The entire episode was broken up into 2 parts which didn’t feel right but more like filler before the big Negan intro.

Ian: Who knew that the last half of the season would land with such a thud? An entire road trip episode that goes wrong and yet, the Carol/Morgan story parts were far more interesting. Props to Jeffrey Dean Morgan doing his best to pull off Negan as AMC seemed concerned about letting him curse up a storm.

Robert: The episode starts with an actually competent group from Negan’s forces which is lead by a new lieutenant played by the actor Steven Ogg who voiced Trevor Philips in Grand Theft Auto 5 video game. We find Negan’s Saviors competent forces chasing down someone from “The Library” but they turned on Negan so they all have to die. Cue credits.

Ian: Kinda neat idea of showing off the rift between the loyal ones of the Saviors. While it was teased at with Dwight’s first appearance but at that point, nobody know who this guy was – I didn’t even think about it until he showed up at the train tracks for that big scene.

Robert: So this week, Rick & Co. decide they need to take Maggie to Hilltop’s doctor without any pre-planning that perhaps Negan or others are out there. Also many of the company are still out there looking for Daryl and rather than waiting, they rush to get Maggie help which kinda makes sense. I understand this is to explain that Rick is underestimating what they know about Negan & his forces DESPITE two recent encounters (Daryl & Co get stopped by the bikers then Carol takes out a car load of Negan’s forces). It just seemed like Rick & Co suddenly are acting kinda stupid while the audience knows better.

Robert: The next story has Morgan coming across the mysterious stranger from last week’s horse then rides it off to find Carol near a recently vacant Library. Yes, it’s the same Library that Negan’s competent forces mention. Morgan helps & patches up Carol then tells her they’re going home but Carol is on this TERRIBLE and broken character arc that she wants to just fuck off & die. They she believes she doesn’t deserve to live anymore. YEAHBUWHA?! Blah.

Ian: For Morgan to have this whole life will find a way motto and him being the one to drive home Carol’s self guilt, maybe he feels like he owes her something for giving shitty advice. The one thing that stands out that I found pretty neat is Morgan using a horse as it reminded me way back to first season when Rick was just finding his way, riding on horseback towards the city. Later on, horses are more of a big deal as it’s made clear near the end with Hilltop Guards in hockey gear but it’s a neat touch.

Robert: Snap back to Rick & Co. come across Negan’s competent forces & new lieutenant where they see the last surviving librarian. Rick decides to leave vs dealing with these forces and this is where things break down. Is this the end of the first act? Should it end on the beginning of what ends up an unbelievable Negan trap? How the Fcnk did Negan and his forces KNOW Rick was coming to Hilltop? Does that happen after they meet these forces? Do they know that this is the group that killed Negan’s group a few episodes ago? How? The next act is just two things – more traps / blockades which also include both a chain of Walkers (because it is the Walking Dead – Not Negan & The Saviors) which has a clunky part Easter Eggs.

Ian: I have to say, the Walker red rover moment was pretty neat. Considering that the herd and the result of the walls coming down, the actual Dead part of TWD hasn’t been brought up this season. I get that the whole point is to show that humanity is more of a threat compared to hungry rotting disease carrying things but the amount of detail and effort put forth into doing physical effects and makeup for the zombies is pretty awesome. A lot more interesting than logs or some dudes standing around with guns for sure.

Robert: Rick & Co find Michonne’s hair and Daryl’s bolts in the Walkers then are attacked by Saviors shooting around them in the ground to keep them on the move. Rick slashing a walkers arm which breaks the Red Rover Walkers and our group makes a break for it. Sadly this doesn’t do much but build up to a massive army of a blockade and then getting the big warning of a HUGE pile of flaming trees then the last librarian throw off an overpass to die in front of them. Also in the 2nd act, the Morgan and Carol story continues as Carol flees when Morgan goes to give a Walker some peace which leads to her having her near death attack by the stalking Saviour. Sadly Carol doesn’t get her death as Morgan “breaks his Batman like code” (stolen from Ian in our tweet convo) using a gun to kill the Savior. Before Morgan can do anything else, seems like the mysterious stranger & another appear to aid help to Morgan and save Carol. Is this good? If you read the comic, you know who they are and what’s likely in store for next season but sadly, until those last few scenes – this was all filler. This was the end of the 2nd act.

Ian: Considering how much they remind us nearly every damn episode about Morgan’s code of honour, that moment of just gunning down the last survivor of Negan’s road ambush posse was pretty satisfying. It’s just a shame that it had to come at the cost of weakening Carol’s character, it’s so anti-progressive considering the role of women in this show but I guess when push comes to shove, it feels like they want to write Carol off the show at any cost.

Robert: The start of the 3rd and last act is when Eugene makes a plan for the team to go on foot with Maggie while he drives the big camper around to distract the Saviors. It has a good bro moment with Abraham and Eugene plus a nice moment with Rick and Eugene. Sadly this was the last solid scene as again the Saviors start poorly whistling to round the last of Rick & Co up into a nice clearing where they see Eugene has been captured. This the start of the big mess of no hope for Rick & Co. The rest of the captured group with a wounded Daryl join everyone on their knees as Negan makes his big intro. Now Negan…

Robert: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan comes out swinging, literally with Lucille and says his big charismatic evil speech. The scene hangs and holds on every word Negan says because all the actors were there while Jeffrey Dean Morgan shot his lines adding to that horror of what’s to come next. Sadly, it never comes. Oh I mean it comes but you as a viewer, who held out for SO Fncking LONG all Season of knowing about the big bad Negan got a massive cliff hanger ending to the point of wanting to just throw in the towel on the entire show. OR that’s what the fandom out cry on social media.

Ian: Giant tease to get people to eagerly wait for the next season to start and yet, second episode in for the next season will be the turning point for the audience. The whole POV was playing it safe and that’s the entire season felt like despite the most surprising part was when everyone thought Glenn died from the big zombie mob after the other dude shot himself. It drifts between this sense of having to go by the source material but they still change things up as Denise was the one to get the bolt to the eye rather than Abraham. Social media is going nuts with all these theories, sorta like the whole car theory when Daryl blew up the first gang – it all meant nothing, there was no interesting turn of events and most likely, the one that bites it has already been made clear to the comic fans.

 

Robert: And after having a night to think about it, they’re right. IF you have a strong show where week after week, you as a viewer are highly entertained and feel the big momentum to Negan & Lucille’s appearance and that “some one needs to pay the price” then perhaps this cliff hanger wouldn’t be such an issue. But that wasn’t the case of The Walking Dead season 6 second half, heck barely the 1st half of the season. No. So you can’t pull that TV trick and expect the fandom to be okay with that. This isn’t LOST where everyone was clinging from one episode to another before the mysterious cliff hanger of “The Hatch”. Completely different show, fandom and experience.

Ian: It feels like a show that has lost most of it’s core audience but they’re still desperate to keep up the viewership no matter what. Comic fans will get tantalized to start watching again cause they get Negan but he’s toned down from the comics, I don’t see him being that much of an improvement over his comic counter as the big difference if you compare him to The Governer is that the source material for that character was shallow at best. We had a long build up to reveal the character over time and it got us invested in a character that isn’t just some wall for Rick and his gang to get over – That’s what the herd is and it’s made even more clear by at the start of the mid season break.

Ian: The biggest problem I find with the show is that it rarely has an antagonist that feels on par to the group, they are always disposable and same gimmick of “this is how bad humanity can get”. The Governer in the comics? Edgy and cheesy as hell but he served a purpose of being the first of that organized but ruthless remains of humanity that Rick and the gang could be if they lost their way. The funny thing is that Negan is just as cheesy in some ways specially with the amount of swearing he does but AMC will get the writers to make it more clean for broadcasting standards yet the amount of carnage he’ll cause remains the same.

Lastly

Robert: The big season finale episode is such a mess that even the big Negan ending falls flat. The acts seemed broken & disjointed while facing UNBELIEVABLE odds of Negan’s Saviors having complete control of everything. I didn’t understand that it was to break Rick & Co. down, I felt like it was poor writing that Negan was so perfect vs Rick & Co.

Ian: They really spent the entire time building up Negan to the half of the audience that doesn’t read the comics, only to end it with a “mysterious” cut of the killing blow? The transparency of the showrunners being worried that a big chunk of the audience will lose interest depending on which character being killed off is fickle as hell. It’s only befitting that the audience gets bashed in by the big bad as I feel like having such a headache from how lackluster this season has been.

Robert: Here’s hoping that Jeffrey Dean Morgan can save season 7 of TWD else this starts the tailspin crash to end which would be a big blow to AMC.

Ian: It’s gonna be tough having to sit through them stretching out All Out War arc from the comics as I can imagine them doing it for two seasons but will there still be enough interest? I can only hope so that we can get into the Whispers arc.

Bits & Pieces

• Steven Ogg as Negan’s top lieutenant stole the show for me!
• Abraham and Eugene Bro moment
• Abraham’s sayings “Bitch Fnck!”
• Will anyone let Enid out of the closet before October?!
• Loved “Pee-pee pants city” by Negan
• Since we can finally place some bets – Daryl for show shock, Glenn if they want to respect their roots, and Michonne if they want to cause a riot.

(SPOILERS) Wrapping Up Season 6: The Walking Dead

also

Next Week… Fear of the Dead season 2 premiere

OH AND THIS!

Coming SOON… Preacher

(Woot, ARSEFACE!)