Following a mind numbingly great build up, The Walking Dead once again concludes until season seven.
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| This ain't gonna be pretty. |
Last day on earth. Indeed.
Rick's glaringly bad decisions come to an explosive head with the concluding chapter of season six. With one of the creepiest scenarios of the entire series so far, this show hits a tensive stride that puts all the characters in the direct line of fate as music rapidly becomes a more defining character in the show. With arpeggiated beats and gut wrenching distorted tones ripped right from cinematic horror, The Walking Dead is now moving at a more theatrical pace. Giving us one of the best cliffhangers of the past decade, those with an incessant need for instant gratification will be super pissed at this ending.
Admittedly, I was about to bail on the zombie drama after last season. Fortunately for me, my patience bearing wife gave my arm a couple tugs and a positive speech, convincing me to not give up. Thanks to her bit of coaching, I didn't leave the show behind but ended up finding that season six was a true standout amongst the barren undead wasteland of mashed skulls, chewed up flesh, and morally ambiguous survivors of the apocalypse. After wading through the mediocrity of repeated story lines and deeply rooted character assassination, this latest 16 episodes sucked me right back in while the writing staff finally got a firm hold on a thing called plot development.
Beyond everything we've seen and experienced with the cast of the Walking Dead, it's easy to say that we're finally getting to the crux and payoff with the hardest, most calculated bit of storytelling so far. We can actually see the characters changing before our eyes and it's brutally wonderful. As their future hangs in the balance, the show's loyal fanbase can choose to either revolt against the way this show is going or they can fall in line with the new, more refreshed writing direction. Dangling us all off the cliff of doom with this rudimentary tactic of keeping us enthralled for the next several months was the smartest thing they could have done. Now they know we'll all be back to see who lies at the end of Negan's bloodied bat.
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Throughout the entirety of season six, there was a heavy feeling of distressed mortality as audiences were put through the ringer soaked in human remains. We've always known that any character could die at any moment. That's what's always made this show so grossly connected to the part of our brains that fears death. With Last Day On Earth, we're once again treated to Rick on the verge of total breakdown as we're finally introduced to the villain we've been waiting for all season. Unfortunately, this finale is already being bashed as a total letdown. Fans that were so patient to finally get answers may be discouraged as the giant reveal asks us to pause until season 7 kicks off. Personally, I loved it.
Score -CG
