SHOCK gives a blow by bloody blow account of the final episode of THE WALKING DEAD’s 6th season.
What a thrill ride! My head is still spinning!
Greg Nicotero, Scott Gimple & Matthew Negrete put us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions with this seasons finale. Nicotero directed this episode and Gimple & Negrete wrote it. Boy. did they do a fantastic job, while keeping it very close to the original source material of the comic.
Right in the first few opening seconds, the tone is set and it’s a dark one. You hear confined breathing and see sunlight coming through holes and cracks of some sort of vehicle or container. You hear a faint whistle, whistling of a sinister tune, almost haunting. This moment made me flash back to when our group was in Terminus; they were trapped in the train car and waited for their fate to be dealt to them unknowing what the outcome would be. They have Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Glenn captured and it’s not looking good for them.
Morgan is still on his mission looking for Carol and is following her trail. He passes a sign saying “You Are Alive” and spots a white horse standing in the field ahead of him. In the previous episode Morgan and Rick stumbled upon another guy wearing body armour saying he was just looking for his horse. He slowly approaches the horse and gets aquatinted with it so it would become comfortable with him. The man that survived the shootout from Carol and the same guy that picked up her prayer beads is still following Morgan, gripping the beads in his hand as he walks.
An unknown man is running through the woods, being chased by multiple assailants who are whistling that haunting tune.
The camera quickly flashes to Carl and he is in a hurry and is gathering guns and ammo in the armoury. Enid wants to go with him and the others to the Hilltop, they are bringing Maggie to see the doctor since she was having a lot of pain. She doesn’t want to be left behind but Carl isn’t having any of it and keeps telling her she needs to stay back and protect Alexandria. Carl explains that the Saviours are still out there and that they are dangerous. They killed Denise and tried killing Carol, Maggie, Daryl, Rosita and Eugene. He doesn’t want her getting killed and is trying to protect her from going out of the walls.
Rick is loading up the RV, the one the Hilltop gave them and he’s bringing Maggie to Doctor Carson to see what’s wrong with her. Abraham and Sasha approach Rick and tell him they want to join him and that they are a package deal. Eugene is behind them and says, “what she said”. Rick decided to bring the RV to keep Maggie as comfortable as possible; it brought me back to season one where Rick and the others were heading towards the CDC with Jim in the back of Dale’s RV.
Enid is onto Carl and knows that he isn’t just doing it for Maggie but doing it; in hopes of running into some of the Saviors and evening the score. She doesn’t care what he says and tells him she’s going anyway, for Maggie but he stops her. Eugene is still convincing Rick to let him go with them and says that he still needs to talk about the ammunition and that he will be some help to them, “now is the time and here is the place.” He tells Rick and that he will be his anchorman and he means it. Rick can’t help but smile.
The unknown man running from the Saviours has finally been surrounded and caught. The leader of this group tells the man that he made them do this not them. Him and his people were given rules to move forward but broke them. He explains that his guy started it first by firing at them and that they strung him up to make an example out of him. He says that they made a mistake by continuing to fight them and that this is how it has to be now.
The transitioning between scenes are quick as they flash back and forth from the punishing Saviors and the fight between Carl and Enid. Their first lovers ‘ quarrel perhaps? Enid demands that Carl gets out of her way and Carl tells her to grab some pistols out of the closet and hurry. As she goes to grab the guns he quickly closes the closet door behind her and blocks the door with a chair, locking her inside. Quickly back over to the woods and the Saviors are beating the man, making an example of him and they are not the types to give mercy. Flash back over to Enid pounding on the door asking Carl to let her out. She pauses and then asks Carl what if he doesn’t come back. She asks how she’s supposed to live with that and what she’s supposed to do. “Just survive somehow” Carl tells Enid as he leaves to go to the RV.
Aaron has now approached Rick and is explaining to him why he wants to come with them. Rick tells him there’s no way but Aaron will not take no for an answer and he gets his way. Careful what you wish for Aaron…
Father Gabriel lets Rick know that he knows the plans and all the fail safes are in place if anything were to happen while he was gone. Father Gabriel appears confident and is in control of the security of Alexandria and he will not fail Rick. He reassures Rick that Judith is still his number one priority and asks if he is comfortable leaving him in charge and Rick answers him yes. Before Rick gets into the RV Spencer asks him if the Saviors do show up should they make some sort of deal with them. The camera pans right in front of Rick as if Rick was talking right to us, “Tell them to wait for me, I got a deal for them.” Rick and the others leave Alexandria and head to the Hilltop for Maggie.
Morgan and his new horse companion are galloping slowly down a road as he looks for any signs of Carol. He notices a pile of walkers freshly killed in a fenced in area and sees Carol balled up on the steps of the building. At first glance she almost looked like a walker because of being hunched over in pain from her gunshot wound. She’s in rough shape and Morgan can see she’s hurt bad and shows great concern and compassion towards her.
The poor man the Saviours caught is now being dragged to a road by his feet to be shown as an example to someone. He tells them that all his people at the library are dead but that’s not who they are waiting for.
Rick and the group in the RV are heading towards the Hilltop and everyone is concerned about Maggie’s condition, especially Rick. “Everything we’ve done, we’ve done together, he says. We got here together and we are still here. Things have happened but it always worked out for us cause it’s always been all of us. That’s how I know. Cause as long as it’s all of us, we can do anything.”
It appears that Morgan and Carol are at the same library the guy the Saviors has captured, the one they lived at before they all died. Morgan is cleaning up carols wound and he hears a noise and she tells him that it’s a walker and he’s hard to get. She tried to but she was to busy bleeding to get to it. He tells her that she needs stitches and antibiotics to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected. He thinks it’s safe there to stay the night and then they can head back together in the morning to get her help but she tells him no.
Abraham is driving the RV and notices a group of men blocking the road up ahead. It’s the Saviors who chased down the guy and said he’d be made an example out of. Abraham asks Rick if they are “doing this” but He tells him naw. “He’s someone who was with a whole lot of someone’s who didn’t listen” the leader of the group explains to Rick as he looks down at the man on the road in front of them. Rick tells him they can make a deal but the only way that happens is if they give them all their stuff and that they’ll have to kill one of them because that’s the way they do things. He tells Rick all he has to do is listen. Rick being cocky tells him that the deal isn’t going to work and that he was actually going to ask them for all their stuff but he wouldn’t have to kill them, well anymore of them. One of the Saviours men spray paints a design on the guy laying on the road and the leader of them says that they don’t negotiate. Rick tells him that him and his group are leaving then and he answers Rick, “ok friend, there’s plenty of ways to get to where youre going.”
It’s like they already know where they are headed. Before Rick gets into the RV he asks the Saviours guy, “Want to make the day your last day on earth?” He answers no but that it was a good thing to bring up, what if it’s the last day on earth for you or someone you love. He tells Rick to be extra nice to his people in the RV because you never know what could happen and how fast. “Be kind to each other, like you said; like it was your last day on earth.” Rick is still being overly confident and not taking them seriously. They back track and head a different way to get to the Hilltop.
Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Glenn are still trapped and it appears that most of the light source is coming from bullet holes. Wherever they are and whatever they are in has been fired at before. Back in the RV Carl asks Aaron why he came along and he tells Carl it’s because he owes her (Maggie) and Aaron asks him the same question. He answers because he owes them as he looks at Maggie. Eugene and Sasha are discussing routes to take to get to the Hilltop; the safest and they try a different way.
Carol is putting her coat back on when Morgan tells her it wasn’t just him that was looking for her but Rick as well. She tells Morgan just because he wants her to come back doesn’t mean she will. He tells her that they care about her and that’s why she needs to come back but she explains to him that’s why she left. She doesn’t think he gets it and tells him when you have people you care about, you have to protect them and have to kill for them. If you don’t or can’t kill you have to get away from them and you do not get both. Morgan doesn’t agree with her and says if she stays out there alone she will die and she tells him to let her die then. He can’t let that happen and he won’t. She tells him it isn’t his decision and to go, he moves closer to her and she pulls her gun on him and tells him to leave but she knows she wouldn’t shoot him and lowers it. “If you care about anyone, there’s a price Morgan and youre going to pay it. I have but I can’t and won’t.” Carol tells him as she begs him to just go. Morgan hears the rustling from the hard to reach walker again.
Abraham seems to have changed his tune about pregnancy. He asks Sasha if she would be able to do what Maggie and Glenn are doing. Something so big and important as what they are doing and Sasha is surprised by him asking and asks if he could. He tells her he could now and seems happy with his answer. As they come to a bend in the road they are faced with another blockade by the Saviours but this times its a lot more people. They have been waiting for them and are ready for fight and that’s why Rick decides not to engage them but find another way around. Carl is eager to fight them but Rick says they need to be smart and do it on their terms. As they back away to go another way one of their Saviours fires off their automatic gun in the air, as if it’s a warning or a signal that they didn’t go that way or engage. It feels like the Saviours are corralling them and making them go the way they want them to. As the RV keeps driving the Saviours are closing in on them from all directions.
Morgan goes outside to inspect where the hard to reach walker is and to kill it. He sees that it’s in a tower and has been hung by its neck. This must be the guy that the savior mentioned earlier, he fired at them and they hung him up to show they weren’t messing around. Morgan climbs the tower and puts it out of its misery and cuts it down. He goes back inside the library and realizes Carol took off and quickly gets back and the horse and goes looking for her.
Back in the RV the group is discussing what’s going on and Abraham says they have half a tank of gas left and Sasha says that they weren’t the same guys blocking the road before. They know the Saviours have numbers but they know they have to get Maggie to the Hilltop Doctor and will do anything to get her there. There’s another blockade on the road but this time it isn’t heavily armed men with guns and vehicles but a chained walker wall instead. This has to be one of the coolest things they’ve done so far with the walkers. The Saviours chained walkers together by pushing chains right through their bodies, intertwining the chains through them and around them creating a linked wall of walkers.
Eugene explains to put together a red rover like that takes a lot of people, it’s becoming clear that the Saviours may outnumber them by a lot. They start to notice that these walkers have pieces of clothing and items that belong to their people; Daryl and Michonne’s items. Locks of Michonne’s hair, Daryls bolts and pieces of their clothing. Rick goes to break the link in the chain and they begin getting fired at by multiple people with guns. They only fire at their feet and Rick tells the rest of them to get back in the RV. Rick cuts the walkers arm off so that the line of walkers would be broken and Sasha shoots a couple, making a gap between them so the RV could fit. They are making Rick and them go where they want them to end up and there’s nothing they can do about it.
Rick stares down at pieces of Michonnes hair as the group discusses what the noise is from and Eugene thinks it could be from a stray bullet. Rick realizes they were only firing at their feet and they didn’t block the road completely so they wanted them to go this direction. He knows they have their people and he feels helpless. They don’t know what to do but Maggie’s condition is getting worse, she has a fever. Rick fixates on a bunch of bullet holes in the RV and Abraham calls to him to get his attention. There’s another roadblock up ahead and this time it’s double the men then last roadblock. They sit waiting at the top of the hill for them, some standing on the vehicles. They are closing in on them and it’s a terrifying feeling of being trapped. Rick is losing his confidence and it’s starting to unhinge. Rick tells him to go back but Abraham asks him back where. Everywhere they try to go they are there waiting, one step ahead of them and it’s horrifying.
Morgan is searching for Carol and comes across a walker on the street and beside it lays carols prayer beads and they catch his eye. He continues looking for her. Carol doesn’t seem to be too far from where Morgan is. Her wound seems to be bothering her still as she continues walking, trying to get away from Morgan. As she traps a walker in a garbage container another one appears from around the corner and surprises Carol and catches her off guard. Already injured and weak Carol struggles to fight the walker off and pulls at the walkers hair to try to get an advantage and opening to kill it. As she pulls the walkers hair the walker tries to bite Carol causing her hair, scalp and face to pull and detach and rip right off her skull. Such a gnarly scene but such awesome special effects!
Carol is able to stab and kill it and she catches her breath from the struggle. Just as she fully stands up a guy tackles her out of nowhere. She tries to fight him off but he gets the upper hand on her and gets her gun from her. It’s the guy from the road, she killed all his friends and he wants revenge. He wants her to die slowly so he’s going to watch her bleed out and enjoy watching her die. He knows he’s bleeding and is going to die to and says lets see who dies first and shoots Carol in the arm. It’s really hard seeing Carol as the victim again like we seen in season one with her husband Ed.
Maggie is looking really sick and getting worse by the minute. She asks Rick if they are close and he looks really worried. Rick rarely shows when he is scared and worried and it’s very unnerving to see him like this. He grips her hand tightly and strokes her hair and tells her everything is going to be ok. She will be ok and the baby will be ok and that there is more. “I believe in you Rick” Maggie tells him and it makes him smile slightly as his eyes welled up slowly.
Carol is in pain and begins to laugh realizing she’s getting what she wanted. He asks what’s wrong with her and she says there is nothing wrong with her; not anymore, she’s going to die so there’s nothing wrong with her anymore. He smiles and then shoots her in the leg and asks her if she thinks she suffered enough now. She answers no, probably not as tears roll down her face. He seems baffled by what she said and begins walking away from her. Carol tells him if he doesn’t kill her now she’s not going to die and that he decides her fate not the world. She is in agony and is crying as she tells him he can’t walk away and just get what he wants. She’s egging him on to finish her off and he turns around and quickly walks towards her aiming the gun at her and just as he goes to kill her Morgan tells him to stop and to drop the gun. Morgan has the gun Rick gave him aimed at the man and he tells him he can survive this still and to just drop the gun. He says no and goes to shoot Carol and Morgan unloads the clip into the guy firing 6 shots. Morgan looks physically torn but he knew it had to be done. He goes over to Carol and checks on her and she begs him to just let her go. He knows she’ll come back from this and it’s not her time.
As Morgan looks her over he hears someone approaching from behind and quickly turns around to find two men behind them. Both men are wearing body armour, the same armour we seen the guy in the previous episode wearing when he was looking for his lost horse. They also have a spear, the same spears the hilltop blacksmith makes and one is also on horseback. Morgan puts the pieces together and tells them he found their horse and his friend but she needs help. The mysterious man says that they will help her and Morgan and him exchange a handshake, showing mutual trust between each other. These guys have to be from the community called the Kingdom! Jesus wasn’t wrong when he said your world is going to get a whole lot bigger.
Rick and the others try another route this time on foot and they see that it’s been blocked by a big piles of trees. The ground shows tread marks which would be made by big machinery and the trees have been cut down perfectly to and Eugene tells the group not only do they have man power but big machines too. They know they are up against people far more prepared and organized then they are and have a lot more people then they imagined. Just as they try to figure out what to do, behind them a man drops from a chain around his neck attached to the bridge and struggles to fight for his life. It’s the guy the Saviors had on the road and they are finally making an example out of him. Aaron wants to shoot him down to put him out of his misery but they tell him it won’t work since its metal chains and they need to conserve their bullets. They all stand helpless and traumatized as they watch the man take his last breath and slowly die and the Saviours set fire to the big pile of logs blocking the road. The Saviour that’s been talking to Rick tells them that he hopes Rick is treating his people right, if it were his last day on earth or one of theirs. He tells them they better go and get to where it is they are going, right where they want them to go; where they’ve been leading them to this whole time. They are showing their strength and what they are capable of if they don’t follow their rules.
Rick and the others turn around yet again to try another way. They park and try to make a plan. They know Maggie needs a doctor and there is no turning back now. The group looks so defeated and worried; it’s heartbreaking to watch them. They are so desperate to get Maggie help, Eugene suggests an idea. He seems to think that the Saviours are worried about the “rust bucket” but don’t know how many people are in the RV at all times and if they’d know if they got out of the RV and travel by foot while someone continues to drive as a diversion. He thinks if they wait till it gets dark they can try the plan and see if it works, it’s the only plan they have left. Rick actually looks scared and we haven’t seen him like that since season one. Eugene knows what has to be done and he will continue driving the RV to keep eyes on him and not the others as they go through the woods. Before he leaves he gives Rick a recipe and step by step instructions on how to make bullets and ammunition In case anything happens to him. Rick is incredibly great full for everything Eugene has done for them and that they are lucky they have him.
Abraham and Eugene share a touching moment. Eugene asks him why he never let him drive the truck and he tells Eugene it’s because he didn’t think he could do it. Abraham admits he was wrong and that he always was a survivor but they just didn’t know it. Abraham goes to shake Eugene’s hand but Eugene hugs him instead and they hug each other tightly as if it may be their last time they see each other. The group takes off into the woods and Eugene gets behind the wheel of the RV and takes a deep breath and begins to drive into the night.
As this really cool walker shuffles its way through the woods with a huge branch sticking out of its torso, thick fog rolling in behind it; Carl quickly takes it down by slicing half of its head, causing it to fly into the moonlight. Such an awesome kill by Carl, smooth and effortless. The group is moving quickly, trying to get Maggie and themselves to safety. Carl is talking to his dad and he tells him that they will do whatever they have to do to get out of this. He says he won’t let anyone die like how Denise died and he won’t let it happen and as Rick goes to answer him a distant whistling echoes off of the trees. Other whistles join in from all different directions and volumes. They know they have been spotted and surrounded and Rick tells them to go fast and they begin running.
The last time we heard whistling on the show was from the other villain on the show, The Governor. He used to whistle the song we heard him brushing his daughter Penny’s hair to. The song he whistled was “Bye Baby Bunting” by Rebecca Hadwen. When he chased after Andrea in the episode “Prey” he terrorized her, whistling the eerie tune as he searched for her in the factory he chased her into. This scare tactic is unnerving and very effective.
They are making them go right where they want them to, they get into an opening and a big bright light shines directly on to them and the whistles grow louder and more in sync with each other. Like deer in headlights our group freezes in fear. They are completely surrounded as the Saviors come out from the darkness of the woods and the whistles become deafening. Vehicles; including the RV make a circle around them and the Saviours close in on them, making it so they have nowhere to run. Hundreds of men surround them with weapons; outnumbered and outgunned they are panicking. Rick and everyone else is terrified at what they are seeing and you can see the defeat in their faces and how scared they really are. Rick spots Eugene on his knees and the guy that’s been talking to Rick all day comes out of the shadows and says that he’s glad they finally made it. “Welcome to where youre going.” He tells them they’ll take their weapons and Rick goes to say they can talk about this but he says your done talking, time to listen. When he takes the gun from Carl he notices the carving on the handle and says is this yours.. Knowing that it really wasn’t his but they took it from the Saviours they killed. He tells them all to get on their knees.
They help Maggie down and they begin getting on their knees. Rick sees that they beat up Eugene and he resists getting on his knees but does it finally. It’s very hard seeing Rick this way, so defeated, so scared and without a plan. The guy tells Dwight to bring the others out and he opens the back doors of the van, revealing Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Glenn.
The group is seeing each other for the first time since they were separated and captured. The heartbreak in all their eyes when they see it really is true, that they had them all along. Maggie and Glenn’s raw emotion was so gut wrenching to see them having to go through such pain again, seeing each other captured and unable to do anything about it. Once everyone is lined up on their knees he tells him it’s time to meet the man. This was the moment all comic book fans were waiting for.
The moment we meet Negan.
He knocks on the RV door letting him know it’s his time to come out and greet his guests. The camera slowly pans over our group kneeling, looking mortified; not knowing what to expect. A tall man emerges from the RV in a black leather jacket and has black slicked back hair. A silver beard covers his face and he carries a baseball bat covered in barbed wire on his shoulder. He has a deep commanding voice.
“Pissing our pants yet? is the first thing he says as he steps out of the RV. He smiles as he approaches them, “Going to be pee-pee pants city here real soon.” He walks back and forth looking at each one of them and asks which one of them is the leader. One of the other Saviours points at Rick and says he’s the leader, he approaches him and says “Your Rick right, I’m Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men.” Negan has a sense of humour and a certain swagger to his step. He’s exactly what we got in the comics and I couldn’t be more thrilled! Jeffery Dean Morgan has brought Negan to life and does it so perfectly.
Negan expresses that they are going to regret crossing him in a few minutes. He tells Rick he should have never messed with the new world order because it’s simple and easy to follow. Give him your stuff and he won’t kill you, thats simple right? Negan clearly loves scaring and intimidating people, he smiles and laughs as he pushes it in their faces and he does it with such ease. He keeps waving his bat in ricks face making Rick very uneasy. He tells them they work for him now and when they have stuff that they give it to him and that’s their jobs. As Negan talks to Rick about him being the leader the camera flashes on the faces of everyone, looking traumatized and unknowing of their fates. Everyone is scared as they watch in horror. “You are not safe, not even close” Negan tells Rick. “This is your way of life now, the more you fight back the harder it’ll be.” He’s making it known that everything belongs to him now and if they don’t allow it they’ll take it anyway. He tells them that they are going to be punished for what they done and that they won’t get off easy. He tells them he doesn’t want to kill any of them because he wants them to work for him. He doesn’t like how many people of his they killed and for that they have to pay for it.
This is one of the most iconic moments in the comic. The introduction of Negan’s most prized possession and even partner in crime. “So now I’m a beat the holy hell outta one of you. This, this is Lucille. And she. Is. Awesome. All this. All this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor. Negan waves Lucille around in front of them terrifying them even more and making some of them flinch in fear. He stops in front of Abraham and looks at his facial hair and says, “huh. I gotta shave this.” And laughs and keeps pacing back and forth in front of them. He stops in front of Carl and says you got one of our guns. You got a lot of our guns. He kneels in front of him and says he needs to lighten up, at least cry a little. He gets up and walks in front of Maggie and says she looks like crap and that he should put her out of her misery right now. Glenn freaks out and tries to get to Negan but is stopped and taken down by Dwight. Dwight drags Glenn back in line and Negan doesn’t appreciate him interrupting but he’s keeping his cool. Glenn pleads and Negan just laughs and tells everyone not to try that again. Negan is just toying with them and enjoying every minute of it. Rick hasn’t spoken a word since getting on his knees and Negan looks right at him and says, “sucks don’t it. The moment you realize you don’t know shit.” Negan puts it together that Rick is Carl’s father and he begins laughing, Rick yells that he needs to stop this and Negan gets angry he interrupted him, “Hey! Do not make me kill the little future serial killer, don’t make it easy on me.” He says he has to pick somebody and he begins to whistle that eerie tune as he paces in front of them. He can’t decide who to choose.
He has an idea… A sickening idea. He stands In front of Rick and places Lucille above his head. “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe.” He walks over each one of them as he sings the famous children rhyme. As he places Lucille near them, their hearts start to race, tears start to flow and they become more afraid as each second passes. “Catch the tiger by its toe. If he hollers, let him go. My mother told me, pick the very best one and you are it.” Flashes of our beloved characters faces are shown as the terrorizing Lucille hovers over each of them. As he finishes the rhyme he stops in front of that last unlucky person. Aims Lucille right at them. The camera is the persons eyes and is showing what it looks like from their point of view. We don’t know who it is, no clues are given to us, as we watch helplessly along with the others.
“Anybody moves, anybody says anything. Cut the boys other eye out and feed it to his father and then we will start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell your all going to be doing that.” Just as he finishes his last word he takes a huge swing at whoever is kneeling before him. A big crush of the skull knocks them forward onto their hands, blood begins to pour down their face and you hear screams. He swings and cracks them again. Everything goes black and you hear ringing as if it was in their ears. Another crunch of the bat. And another and another. They sound wetter and more disgusting as each time Lucille hits. The sound is horrific and troubling. This scene made my heart race and my stomach turn. More than it ever did in the comics.
“Thawck” the last crack sounds and everything goes silent. The credits scroll on the screen in silence. No credit music just uncomfortable silence for us to sit and process what just happened before our very eyes. Not a sound. It ended on such a big cliffhanger! Who got Lucille? Who will we no longer have in the next season! This was one of the most intense season finales we’ve had and they left us in the dark wanting more. I think it’s safe to say Carl and Rick are safe since Negan mentioned if anyone moved that he’d cut Carl’s eye out and feed it to Rick. Will they go the comic route and go with who theyve killed or will they change it up and completely shock us in the opening of season seven.
Carol and Morgan are on their way to meet another very important character and don’t even know it yet. They are on their way to the kingdom and King Ezekiel waits with his pet, Shiva. Her bite is worse then her bark.
We have to wait till October to see the fate of our beloved characters but FEAR THE WALKING DEAD starts up April 10th and can hold us over till then.
See you next week for that
