Synopsis: With Maggie (Lauren Cohan) in danger of losing the baby and her life, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) leads a group outside Alexandria's walls in an effort to get her to the Hilltop for medical help. However, they quickly learn their journey is much more difficult than expected because the Saviors are blocking all routes to the Hilltop.
Final Thoughts from The Walking Dead Episode "Last Day on Earth"
by StevenHelmer
Thoughts from the season 6 season finale that first aired April 3, 2016.
Talk About Having All Your Eggs in One Basket
First of all, while I don't necessarily disagree with his reasons for leading it, Rick's mission not only took five more guns from Alexandria's defense, he also pretty much took the town's entire chain of command with him too.
Let's be honest here, if we were living in Alexandria, would we feel comfortable with Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) in charge? Personally, I would probably pull a Carol (Melissa McBride), steal a car and leave.
On top of it, did every single one of them need to ride in the RV? If we learned anything from the first couple seasons of this show, that's not exactly the most reliable form of transportation. It just seems like it would have made more sense to have at least one other vehicle, preferably one that could have rammed some of the Savior's obstacles.
At Least Rick Showed Leadership Ability When it Counted
And, when I say this, I am, of course, being somewhat sarcastic. When his group was down and out and surrounded by the Saviors, he just stood there trembling? What the heck was that about? Even Carl (Chandler Riggs) seemed much more calm in that situation than the man everyone was turning to for inspiration/an escape plan.
Is There a Spy in Alexandria?
One thing that stood out for me in this episode was the Saviors being so prepared for Rick and his group. Granted, they could have been blocking those roads for some time in the hopes someone from Alexandria would try to make it to the Hilltop. But, it seemed really well coordinated, as though they knew Rick was coming and was in a desperate situation where he needed to get through.
This makes me wonder if maybe there's a spy inside the walls of Alexandria. The first one that comes to mind automatically is Enid (Katelyn Nacon), mostly because she seemed awfully determined to either keep Carl in Alexandria or go with him for added protection. But, assuming she really has changed, then there might need to be some work to determine who the mole is.
So Who Was the One Who Bought it?
I really hate cliffhangers like the one this show had. A series should be able to end a season on some sort of conclusive note with the confidence people will tune in when it comes back on the air. The whole "you have to watch to find out who is dead" thing just seems like a cheap way to end season 6.
But, that aside, my personal opinion is it was Aaron (Ross Marquand) who had his head smashed in at the end. Being a minor, recurring character, he was pretty much the odd man out of that group and, because of that, is easy enough to kill off (or seriously injure, we don't really know if he's dead or not) without having a drastic impact on the show.
Of course, if it were up to me, I would have picked Rick as the one to go, just to see how the other characters managed to survive without his "leadership" skills.
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Final Opinion
To tell you the truth, I wasn't overly impressed with this episode. There was a lot of driving around and, other than the occasional Morgan (Lennie James)/Carol filler scene, not a whole lot of action. Plus, as I said, the ending just seemed to be a bit weak, especially when compared to last week's episode and Daryl (Norman Reedus) being shot at the very end.
That being said, I am intrigued by the new bad guy, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and can't wait to see what Rick's group does to stand up to him, if anything.
My Grade: B
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Updated: 04/04/2016, StevenHelmer
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Comments
Pam, You took the words right out of my mouth, I do not even care about any of the characters anymore, it is all to STUPID
I used to love Rick, and swore that if anything happened to him, I would no longer watch. Now, I just don't care - about any of them. The Maggie thing is so overblown. The stupidity of loading so many into a RV just to take one person to a doctor is absurd, and then to keep going after it's obvious the bad guys have figured out their plan, makes them all look even dumber. And don't get me started on Carol, who I also used to love.
Like you Katie, I could go on and on. I have overlooked their incompetent writing long enough.
I do enjoy reading Steven's reviews though.
I feel the story line was poor all season. I would like to see someone other than a comic nerd come on board and shake things up, preferably a good writer like us....
TWD departed from the comic book series long ago but that is all those comic nerds talk about as if they are doing the show about it. That is their first mistake, the walking dead has a diverse audience most of which have never picked up one of the comics or any other comic.
Those comic nerds in charge are lazy they do not do the work to maintain the story line or character development. Heck they have digressed on all the characters journeys. They have made Ricks group weak and stupid, what a lazy and lousy way to go. They focus on stupid shock and awe to keep viewers on the edge of their seats and coming back for more. BUT these are failed attempts, we viewers are smart, offended and bored. The shock and awe attempts are terrible, off the mark, off the story and characters and boring.
Everyone I know feels the same way. HEY you The Walking Dead directors, and others in charge, get rid of your bad writers and hire a real plugged in writer who will do the work to maintain a good story line.
RIP The Walking Dead, you are drowning in bad programming
That's where the other vehicle thing would have made some sense. Why not have a two person team in another car scouting ahead? It's almost as though the writers are dumbing down the characters in an effort to make things more interesting. This is why I personally would have loved to have seen Rick and the rest of the remaining original cast killed off by now, giving some the minor characters their chance to breathe some new life into the series.
I agree with Pam, the writing has gone off the rails and stinks. This last season is lousy, I too think I am done. I have been addicted to TWD since day one and now they are not being true to the characters.
The events that went down in the last episode where so transparent.
1. There is no way Rick would have allowed so many main characters to load up in the RV and take off given the recent events. I knew something stunk then.
2. Rick nor the other main characters have been true to their character. They are smart, do not take risk and can fight their way out of anything if they don't head it off due to their keen sense of awareness, which has vanished.
3. You do not come near death once having a miscarriage at only two months...
4. After the first road block they would never continue to keep trying, they would know there was a conflict stirring.
On and on I could go on and on.
They definitely didn't need to make the episode 90 minutes long. It would have been one thing if it were 90 minutes of complex plots. 90 minutes of them driving around just didn't work for me.
I will no longer stay up on Sunday nights to watch The Walking Dead. I haven't been that interested for a while now. I think the writing stinks. There are a whole lot of good characters who have ended up consistently acting out of character, that I just don't care. After all the hype, I expected Neegan to be bigger and badder, like he was in The Watchmen. And the fact that after 90 minutes, we saw nothing happen, was a HUGE letdown. Some good writers need to come in and take over and give us a decent show again.