In last year’s excellent Rocky spin-off, Creed, one moment I always go back to is the press conference in the build-up to the big fight: Rocky and Donnie sitting at the table before Pretty Ricky Conlan makes his grand entrance. The old Italian Stallion turns to his inexperienced protégé and says, “the fight starts now”. That in any big fight or conflict, there is a vast psychological war to be fought before the first shot is even fired or the first punch is thrown. It doesn’t matter who your opponent is, if you break the spirit, you break the fighter. It’s something that is masterfully demonstrated on this season’s The Walking Dead finale. As we build up to the meeting between two titans among men in this new world, one grinds down the other so viciously with psychological torture that by the time it happens, there’s just no contest.
Last Day on Earth – With Maggie’s condition getting worse, Rick leads a team of survivors on a mission to get her to Hilltop. Yet the day turns into a very surreal lesson of just how dangerous The Saviours are. Meanwhile, Morgan tracks down an injured Carol but patching her up is the least of his problems.
There are two types of The Walking Dead finale: The kind where all hell breaks loose and the kind with a gradual tense build-up towards a key event. Last Day on Earth gets notable credit for spending much of its first half convincing us it could be both. The Saviours attacking Alexandria has been on everyone’s minds for a couple of episodes, and we get good re-pledges through the early scenes of how ready and organized the residents are for an attack. This also gives us the first of two great character fulfilment moments throughout the episode as Father Gabriel takes charge of Alexandria’s defense, and Rick accepts him in that role. It builds on the idea of “The New World” that a man can become a new person within it, and over this season, Gabriel becomes excellent at accepting and adapting to this reality. The second is Eugene, who's been superb right from the start as he levels up his way past Rick onto the RV. Like Gabriel, his story this season has been the transition from helpless to helpful, and the choice that sees him take becomes the most moving scene of the whole episode. The big good-bye between Abraham and Eugene says it all as a handshake turns into a hug for all the highs and lows they've been been through together. Then Abraham even puts a cherry on it acknowledging Eugene as an equal, “I was wrong, you’re a survivor, we just didn’t see it at first”.
Though the real meat of the episode comes from the psychological assault of The Saviours as Rick and the others in an RV increasingly feel like rats trapped in a maze with their every road blocked. There’s a fantastic organization and progression to their encounters that slowly crank up the suspense with each scene. It pays off well to all the prior indications of The Saviours military level organization and execution. In fact, that’s the biggest message we’re left with: The Saviours are not a group or a gang, they’re an army. Everything plays out as the product of a sick, twisted but genius mind as the group don’t realize just how much trouble they’re in until it’s already too late. It’s a great combination of little touches like dressing walkers in the personal effects of last episode’s captured group members to the bigger physically-imposing statements. Then of course, there is the final set piece, which shows that even something as simple as whistling can be creepier than Marilyn Manson if utilized correctly. As the group are confronted with the mass ranks, it’s unnerving and compounds the unity and organisation of this next level enemy. The Governor may have rolled up with a tank but even he didn’t unite his followers to this level of conviction. Then of course, there is the final 10 minutes of “time to meet the man” as Negan himself (and Lucile) makes his long awaited entrance. Most fans reacted to Jeffery Dean Morgan’s (Supernatural, The Watchmen) casting somewhere along the lines of, “Oh my God, oh my God, here’s ****ing perfect” and they won’t be disappointed. The episode gives him the climactic spotlight for an introduction with some comic loyal elements, and he completely and utterly brings the house down. With little more than a grin, rasping tones and notions of more mass pants wetting than a One Direction concert, he commands a presence of fear as someone who takes great pleasure in being the biggest bully around. Morgan’s performance combined with some great reaction work from the rest of the cast and the floodlights against the black night elevate this to a state of pure terror. However, while having such a larger than life figure (that already feels like the greatest villain the show has ever produced) is great, the real strength of the way this season has built up The Saviours as antagonists is that it’s not just about Negan himself. Dwight is still in the picture with Daryl’s crossbow on one shoulder and sacks our hatred on the other. Then, we also have the as yet unnamed Saviour lieutenant that MC's much the episode’s events played by Steven Ogg (GTA V’s Trevor Phillips) who, much like previously RPG’d biker gang leader, delivers humour and threatening menace in equal measure. Season 7 will have the greatest of lead villains but also a couple of great lesser foes that can be satisfyingly killed throughout.
The Carol and Morgan subplot is a weaker area of the episode. Of course, it needs to break the tension of the main story but overall, it isn’t rewarding enough for a season finale payoff. For starters, the outcome is pretty predictable. With Morgan and Carol, we have a man that’s sworn off killing and a woman who refuses to kill anymore. From showing the surviving Saviour on their trail barely a minute into the episode, we know it will end with at least one of them forced into making a kill. There is some merit in how it plays out but not enough. Though the biggest let down here is the most surprising. Over the past few episodes, Melissa McBride has been outstanding in her performances of showing Carol’s moral and mental conflict over her actions. Yet here in her fully broken state, she’s very un-engaging. The episode goes too far in making her numb and dead inside, making her emotional state at times rather dull. Of course, residual affection for her character smoothes some of this over, and particularly in final scenes, she does have her moments but considering The Walking Dead’s form in these spring episodes, it could have and should have been done better. Morgan’s new friends look to be a teaser for season 7. In continuing with the season 6 theme of expanding the world (soon it will need a Game of Thrones style map intro), we can expect to see a whole new kingdom come the fall.
Its ending may prove divisive and even see a few innocent TV remotes smashed against the wall depending on how conclusive you like your conclusions. You could also argue that as a finale, it sacrifices too much of itself for the sake of the future rather than making it count in the present, but the rewards it does deliver are undeniable and help smooth this over. Normally, this is the point where we’d put away the six shooter and machete for the summer but Fear the Walking Dead returns in merely a week to fill the void. Will it pale in comparison to its spawning show’s recent form or step into the ring like a challenging contender? “The fight begins now”.