The Walking Dead Season 6 Finale Review: 'Last Day On Earth'

If you could boil the fan frustrations of The Walking Dead down into one episode, this would be it. The finale contained somemoments of genuine quality ruined byawkward creativedecisions, with an infuriating cliffhanger that has left a sour taste afteran impressive sixth season.In the words of Negan himself, "not cool."

The worldfinally got their first glimpse of a man they've been desperate to see, and Negan didn't disappoint. His cool swagger,slick grin,andeerily logical justifications for killinghave fired his reputation upwards. That entire scene was near-perfect, but do you want to know the cold hard facts? It wasn't.

The Walking Dead simply cannot handle 60 minute episodes. It just can't seem to deal with that extra time. Almost every single scene in the Season 6 finale could've been tightened, and while the tension was palpable throughout, it felt like the show was really straining to keep the momentum flowing.

Dead end after dead end, the gang kept rocking up to find their path was blocked and there's only so many times you can watch an RV retreat meekly out of shot before it becomes tiresome. The episode repeatedly bubbled to boiling point, but each time ended with the heat being dialled down without incident.

When the group finally decided to make the trip on foot, Eugene's last-gasp heroics were nicely set up. He was already for a glorious death to save the group, and a lot of time was spent saying goodbye to him, skip forward 60 seconds and yet again he's been captured and thrown down in front of the Saviours.

Daryl's appearance instantly killed the lacklustre 'cliffhanger' from Episode 15 with a splash of blood providing the only mino reference to the palpable peril he was in previously.

The first three-quarters of the episode were dedicated to building tension, and it did just that, but it just felt like fans were just left twiddling thumbs until the emergence of the big man. Negan. The first impression of Jeffrey Dean Morgan is that he has nailed the character, though it's less encouraging to hear: "pee-pee pants city" used as a genuine line (yes, I know it's in the comic books, but it didn't translate well to the on-screen situation.)

However, the major problem with the entire episode was the fact that none of it was a surprise, and therefore offered nothing new. Season 6 has been riddled with references to Lucille the bat, we all knew Negan was going to enter the fold, the stunned interviews by various cast members pointed to a heartbreaking moment, the infamous comic book storyline, and even the promotional teaser trailers showed an apparent confrontation.

Before the titles rolled it was fairly easy to predict the gang would seek help for Maggie, run into trouble, Negan would emerge, and he'd kill someone upon arrival. That's exactly what happened. The 'eenie meenie mine mo' scene was truly breathtaking, but it ended with such a disappointment. It was a hollow moment that answered nothing and has taken a lot of the tension out of a truly insane moment.

Elsewhere, Carol and Morgan enjoyed an intriguing end to their arc for the season, with a new group from the comic books teased ahead of Season 7, while Father Gabriel stepped up with a few badass lines as he took charge of Alexandria, but of course all the talk will swirl around the main plot.

Cliffhangers work in moderation. This was a cheap attempt to build suspense around a scene that many non-comic book readers may already know about from the source material, when all it really achieved was sparking a frustrating wait and killing the momentum. When the show returns for Season 7, the death scene must come first. It has to be a huge character to justify the wait, but with zero time for significant buildup, it'll feel more like a major player has been taken away from fans without a satisfying end.

Episode Rating: C-