It finally arrived!
Season 10 Ep.16: A certain Doom (the not so final season finale)
As I’m sure most of you have heard there will be an extra six episodes focusing on Maggie and the Commonwealth added to this season.
Sadly we also learned that season 11 will be the last with an extended season of 23 episodes.
But enough of the technicality, let’s get to the episode.
Quick recap:
Daryl, Jerry, Carol, Kelly, Magna, Luke, Jules, and Beatrice, who cover themselves in walker blood break into groups of two, carrying stereo equipment through the massive hoard to a clearing in order to lead the walkers away while Gabriel stays and protects the children.
Gabriel is about to be killed when Maggie and the masked guy, along with Aaron, show up and save him.
Lydia, who was told to stay behind caught up with them wearing her mother’s mask that Negan gave her and was about to lead the horde off a cliff when Carol showed up to take her place.
After Lydia begged her not to die, they watched as the horde went over the cliff with Lydia throwing her mother’s mask down the cliff with them.
Meanwhile,
Negan attacks Beta and after being saved by Daryl, they take out Beta. They then go and reunite with the others at the meeting spot.
Eugene and Crew
Eugene, who almost gives up but is talked out of it, along with Princess, Yumiko, and Ezekiel finally arrive and are captured by people with guns.
Now, lets take a deeper look
The Good
Cinematography
The visuals in this episode were amazing.
The visual imagery showing just how big Beta’s horde is with the whisperers mixed in, was beautifully done.
Watching our heroes weave in and out of the dangerous horde was also fun. When they were killing whisperers in front of Beta and then disappearing, was a masterpiece.
Maggie’s return
Maggie coming back was another positive aspect of this episode even though it feels like it was rushed.
Carol and Lydia
The friendship that was built between these two is beautiful.
Not only did Lydia find her own strength in Carol but I feel Carol also was able to let go of that anger and need for revenge by saving the daughter of the woman she hated the most.
I hope this friendship continues to grow.
Gabriel
I loved seeing him find his strength and finally protect the people who needed him the most. I feel that this was his redemption for what happened at the church.
The not so good…
Characterization
This was almost non-existent for 99% of the characters.
Aaron and Alden
In episode 15, Aaron and Alden we’re under attack when a masked man shows up.
The next time we see just Aaron, he’s with Maggie and the masked man when they save Gabriel.
We don’t know what and how that happened and how they got past the massive horde and along with that, we have no idea what happened to Alden.
Maggie
Though her return was epic and her reunion with Gracie and Judith was super cute, it felt rushed and not thought out.
She came, she saved Gabriel and that’s about it. We didn’t see her reunion with the others and we didn’t find out who the masked man was. I really hope this might be a new love interest for Aaron with the way Aaron stared at him.
It was also disappointing she didn’t even show any regard to RJ at all. I don’t see Maggie being someone to just ignore a kid. She could’ve at least asked who the boy was with her.
Negan
One of the worst characterizations in this episode.
When did he do his 360 turn and chicken out of going and decided that everyone hates him and wouldn’t want his help? That was so not Negan. Even though he ended up going out and attacking the big man himself, it still didn’t feel like much thought was put into his role.
Beta
The monster did fall and fall easily he did. It was kind of underwhelming how Beta died. For a man who survived a fall down an elevator shaft, he surely died in an anti-climatic way.
There was no fight or anything, just Beta flashing to past scenes and then he was eaten. Even Judith could’ve taken down the Beta in this episode.
Again, this shows how little thought the writers put into the actual characters except for a couple. There is no reason that behemoth should’ve fallen so easily.
I actually feel bad for Beta and the actor who portrayed him, Ryan Hurst. He deserved a more appropriate death.
The traveling four
While it was heartwarming to see Ezekiel and the others push Eugene forward, the story fell flat.
Not only did we not see Elizabeth after all this time but the first look at what we can presume are the Commonwealth soldiers was a joke.
The financial department must have used all the money on the giant horde because they looked like they were rejects from the stormtrooper program.
Virgil returning
This had to be one of the worst things along with Negan. The fact that this psycho returned and on top of that was the one to find Connie, makes my blood boil.
Storyline
The story itself was good. They ended the whisperer war and we got a sneak peek of what’s to come next season.
But, it felt rushed. It felt like they were trying to fit too much into their hour time frame.
This ended up with only a couple of characters actually getting a complete narrative.
In Conclusion
I am grateful we finally have our show back even for just one episode. I really wish they had focused on more than Carol and Daryl and promoting their spinoff show and more on the group at large.
Hopefully next season brings more Aaron and Gracie moments and Negan along with Lydia being integrated into the group.
Maybe those commonwealth stormtroopers will have a way to help Ezekiel with his cancer.
I am also hoping that with the final season we will see both Rick and Michonne reunite with their children.
I can’t wait for the next six episodes in early 2021.
Stay safe and you can watch The Walking Dead on AMC,