Overall a very nice ending to a great series.
The small connections to the first season.
The emotional scenes; Especially the one between Rosita/Eugen (not many words but the feeling is there) and Maggie/Negan (I like how instead of laughing or taunting him, she talks of Glenn and of why she can never forgive him but doesn’t hate him (beautiful acting)). Even Luke’s death was sad thanks to the acting of Magna, Yumiko, Connie and Kelly.
The Gabriel’s character arch; from being full of fear and closing doors to his people to willingly being killed to open the gate to citizens and zombies.
The overall feeling felt like a finale. I mean overall it was sad; deaths, saying goodbye. But it was also happy because we get to see our favorite characters finally live a little.
The time jump: the new memorial with those lost in the battle, Eugen naming his daughter Rosita, Ezekiel being mayor of Commonwealth, Carol taking Hornesby’s job and the overall feeling is lighter.
The special effects were great; the size of the explosion and the after effect were just amazing. Even the smaller explosions were well done.
At times it was too corny. Like the scene in which Daryl gives a speech about how making things the way they were before was bad, it just felt flat and repetitive.
The pacing was a bit fast. To me the episode felt really short for a finale, it was like fighting, crying, explosions time jump the end.
The fact that only mid-way through the last season we are introduced to the variant walkers. If they were introduced earlier it could’ve shown how much of a threat they actually were.
The whole shipping thing; I am a DarylxConnie shipper, but I can respect if Daryl ends up with Carol (I mean they have known each other longer) as long as he is happy. But the ending for all three characters felt weird. I mean through out most of the scenes between Carol/Daryl and Connie/Daryl it gave off a flirty even romantic feel to it. Like remember how protective Daryl was with Carol when he found out she was still alive in the Kingdom or how giggly he gets when he talks to Connie (he even learned ASL for her come on). Either have him end up with one or don’t have these kind of scenes.
There are still quite a few open questions; what happened to Heath, What is happening in Oceanside and was it ever resolved, why are they so calm when there are walkers that can climb and hold weapons walking around, what happened in Connie’s past to make her save that baby in the cornfield, how come Connie and Magna not more effected by what they went through in the cave and after, Are there still Whisperers, is Hilltop rebuilt, what happened to Virgil, did the rest of the crew have to go through the processing to enter Commonwealth,
But overall I love The Walking Dead. It’s not just a show about zombies, its about how different people survive, family, community, lose, finding the joy in life no matter the hardship, everyone makes mistakes but what matters is how you resolve them. True not all the seasons were great but they were memorable, along with the characters. I am going to miss it very much, I don’t think there will be a show like the walking dead. Don’t get me wrong there will be other great shows (like The house of Dragons). But nothing like the feeling of the Walking Dead.
Thankfully I have great fanfiction to read to maintain this feeling!
