The Walking Dead Season 9 Finale: 4 Ups & 2 Downs From ‘The Storm’
Winter finally arrives as the AMC series' ninth season reaches an impressive - albeit subdued - end.
Contains spoilers from The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 16.
The Walking Dead has had a rough couple of years, to say the least. Once considered the biggest show in the world, the beloved AMC series crashed and burned during its seventh season, when slow narrative progression and questionable theatrics became much too prominent. As a result, the series lost a huge number of viewers.
With a new showrunner at the helm, however, some of that former glory has been reclaimed. In spite of the series having lost its protagonist, Angela Kang's new direction has made the decaying show somewhat fresh again. With new conflict, new antagonists and a quicker pace, the ninth season has been incredibly impressive, and last week's penultimate episode had viewers gasping for air once more - much like the good old days - as a bunch of regulars were killed off in a shocking way, setting the stage for an explosive finale.
Explosive might not be a word best used to describe The Storm, nor would you likely call it action-packed, but it's another enthralling - and somewhat brave - instalment, albeit one that's more focused on table-setting than anything else. Nonetheless, it finally takes our protagonists out of their comfort zones and offers something different - and right now, that's all we could ask from the writers.