Review: The Walking Dead , Season 8 Finale- Wrath

In case you have not watched the finale then please do not continue as this review will have spoilers.

We always have certain expectations from season finales no matter what kind of a story is being told. Especially when the series is a post apocalyptic zombie drama, the finale should give the viewers some exciting elements to conclude one thread of storytelling and also start another thread to look forward to for the coming season. The Walking Dead has given us such season endings including the rather infamous season six finale. The series culminates its eighth season with the episode named “Wrath” thereby concluding the all out war theme as it had been announcing, but with all the build up for two years it ended with a whimper rather than a bang. The only thing the show did different was that unlike earlier season finales, no major characters were killed off which is definitely something positive in the show’s context.

One thing that I expected form this episode was a lot of action with a final memorable encounter between Rick and Negan which will be worth a wait of two seasons. I was disappointed on both fronts. There was hardly any combat shown and the showdown between the two main characters was nothing special in any way. Rick is shown redeemed when he takes Carl’s advice and allows his mercy to prevail over his wrath as he spares Negan’s life. The show has followed the comics by keeping Negan alive but unlike the comics Carl had to die in order to make Rick listen to his advice. It brings up the question that if the show had kept Carl alive, would Rick have listened to him before killing Negan? Scott Gimple, the outgoing show runner of the series must have thought that the emotional impact of a dead son’s last request, through a letter would be more likely to affect Rick and so Carl is dead. Rick was not the only one holding back his wrath and we also ssee Daryl not killing Dwight and allowing him to drive away to try and find his wife. So mercy remains the overall theme of the episode.

The opening scenes take some time to set the ball rolling. Rick asks Siddiq about the how exactly Carl was bitten and we first see some traces of the good guy Rick back in this interaction. Gabriel is shown trying to escape when he comes to know of Negan’s plan,so that he could warn Rick. In an entirely silly move considering that he is almost blind and so without any surprises, he is caught back again. The show probably wanted to give a literal interpretation Gabriel’s blind faith and portray Eugene in some more negative light as he points a gun at Gabriel. The Hilltop group then moves ahead following the bread crumbs Negan has spread for them and walk right into the trap. As Rick and his team are surrounded and about to be shot the show springs the surprise element of the episode and we come to know that Eugene has sabotaged the bullets. Negan conveniently starts a countdown for the shooting to start and as all the Saviors fire simultaneously on the count of three; their guns explode killing and injuring most of them. Eugene’s sudden change of heart was attributed to the rebuke he received from Rosita in the earlier episode and thus doing something useful with his “pathetic” life.

Rick and his teams attack and the remaining Savior’s surrender quite easily. Negan flees the scene but Rick gives chase and catches up. There is a scuffle and Negan gets the better of Rick by injuring him. Rick then urges Negan to give him ten seconds for the sake of Carl to talk about the future. Gaining some time as Negan hesitates; Rick slices his throat using a broken glass piece. Whether Rick genuinely wanted to convince Negan or did he just trick him using Carl’s name to take advantage is a question that comes to mind. I think he had both options in mind and just took the final decision at that moment after watching Negan’s reaction. He then asks Siddiq to save Negan’s life. Maggie who has always wanted Negan’s death goes almost hysterical as she cannot accept Rick’s decision.

Rick then addresses the remaining Saviors and tells them that Negan’s way of doing things is over. He also adds that all those living need to live in “peace and fairness” and find common ground to fight against the dead. The war between the two groups end here but it was not Rick’s actions or leadership skills that made his group victorious but it was mostly because he got lucky with Eugene’s sudden change of heart. On the other hand, the defense of the Hilltop was left with Tara and a few others, which was a strange decision. So, as a group of Saviors attack they have to flee into the jungle to save themselves. This is where the expected intervention of the Oceanside group directed by Aaron takes place and a few nicely aimed Molotov cocktails from them were good enough to stop the Saviors. This was the second stroke of luck of the episode, perfectly timed to save the Hilltop residents. The scattered pieces of the previous episodes fall into place but the end result turns out as something quite mundane.

In the last act of the episode we see Morgan meeting Jadis and delivering Rick’s proposal for her to join the Hilltop. She agrees to go but Morgan stays back. After Daryl lets him go, Dwight is seen reading his wife’s last message in a letter in an abandoned house. The tragedy of Dwight’s life is something that is highlighted quite nicely by the show. We then see Maggie and Jesus discussing with Daryl about rebuilding the place and making themselves stronger. She then adds that Rick and Michonne made a mistake by letting Negan live and when the right time comes they will be shown that it was wrong. Negan is then shown tied to a bed under the care of Siddiq. Rick and Michchone meet him and say that his future is that of a prisoner in a dark cell and he would be made an example that they are trying to build a civilized society. We finally see a flashback of the old days with Rick walking with a young Carl while the present day Rick thanks Carl for helping him remember and find back his real self.

So that was the end of the season with all out war being replaced by all out peace and it was one of the least impacting season finales the show has delivered .The next season will be supervised by Angela Kang as Scott Gimple takes over new responsibilities. Since there is no plan of ending the series anytime soon, we do hope that she will bring about some much needed changes that will help the series gain all the ground it has lost. The Walking Dead has followed the same pattern till now as Rick’s group has moved on from facing from one villain to the next, with some character deaths coming in between. With the theme of Maggie and Daryl plotting against Rick being introduced, season nine might bring up some new directions for the series to head to. But to be honest, there are no interesting lines from this season that can draw a viewer into viewing the next season and that is a big failure for the show.

A few observations on the episode:

· The show follows the comics with no definite conclusion in sight and unlike the other popular television behemoth Game of Thrones which has moved ahead of its source material, there is no attempt to speed up the narrative and keep the viewers at the edge of their seat. It is high time for the series to think independently and stop stretching out the series any more. The sixteen episodes of each season can be brought down to twelve to improve the overall quality and reduce the slackness.

· Rick seems to be transformed by Carl’s letter and stepped away from the dark terrain that he was going into. Even Morgan tells him how wrong it was for him to kill all those Saviors even after giving them his word. I will assume that Rick was under a spell of shock after Carl died and did those things in a totally mechanical state of mind and finally the letter somehow helped him to get out of it.

· The psychological problems of Morgan were addressed by Jesus in a way and after following his simple advice, which is to use the sharp end of the stick for the dead and the blunt end for the living, Morgan looks more stable. The strange behavioral fluctuations of Morgan, Rick, and even Eugene, within short periods of time were something that seems rather implausible from a psychological point of view. It is hard for a viewer to accept such abrupt shifts in multiple characters within one episode and these plot points ultimately lose their significance.

· Carol is another character that the show has handled in a manner which is much below the character’s potential. She was one special member of the team whose looks were deceptive enough to hide how deadly she could be. From being timid women to becoming a killer, Carol’s journey was quite significant for the show. But she was given a sudden change of heart in prolonged episodes and then made to come back to the fight again, ultimately playing a rather ordinary role in this season.

· Jadis reveals her name as Anne to Morgan but there is no further revelation about the mysterious helicopter. We will have to wait till the next season to learn about that.

· Jesus has always been a character who has been against any deaths, so Maggie discussing with him about going against Rick for not killing Negan is another strange choice made by the script writers. Daryl joining them to conspire against Rick also seem farfetched and just a ploy to introduce a twist in the tale without caring about plausibility. Three of them could have just discussed this issue with Rick and Michonne at first, instead of hatching a conspiracy within the group.

· Rosita’s punch to Eugene’s face as a return for his puking gesture seemed one rare moment in the show that seemed genuinely driven by true human emotions.

By teleratz team