Beta’s Horde surround the scattered survivors. But they have a plan…

The long delayed season finale presents as an odd beast to many critics who’ve rightly talked about how the wait has caused their expectations to rise. This is a remarkably well behaved, and tidy season finale that brings everything into land. But it lands more planes than it started with.

Everything that happens here takes place against the backdrop of the last battle with Beta and it’s all built around a single motif: people doing the last thing you’d expect them to. Lydia and Negan both come through in a pinch, the plan (use a sound system on a carriage to draw the horde over a cliff) comes from Luke and there are moments of brilliance from several others too. The sensation is twofold: that this is a community that stands together and that the simple idea it does inspires others to greatness. Negan does something deeply selfless here. He clearly hates it but he does it. That’s the point.

Likewise, Carol lives, which she’s spent much of the season really not too sure about. She and Lydia take turns saving each other from the suicide mission to kill the Horde and again other critics have rightly moaned that neither had to die, they just had to hide behind a small rock and hug while the Horde walked to their doom around them. That’s a fair point, but so is the idea that both these women were so dead set on suicide it took the presence of the other to remind them it wasn’t the best option.

The same is just as true of the Eugene plot. After an accident slows them down, Eugene is heartbroken and gives up. The others don’t let him. Paola Lázaro’s joyously filter free Princess has some fun here as does Khary Payton and all of it orbits the same concept – no one gives up, no one gets left behind. The world has ended and nothing matters. Which means everything matters. That in turn leads them to make the rendezvous, albeit late, and be rewarded with an early trailer for season 11.

Verdict: On every level, this is a show about moving and moving on. By abandoning their homes the Alexandrians save them. By sticking to his principles, Beta dooms himself. The regular accusations of it being a prepper fantasy are probably legit but honestly, that aside? This is a kind, even gentle show that is always looking to the future. And this season for the first time in a while, the future is looking brighter. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart

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