Here is my last ever review for main Walking Dead show ever… This episode had a ton of emotions and was great from beginning to end. It had a ton of callbacks from previous episodes in the series. This might be the best episode in the series and just because of that I give episode 24 a five out of five stars. It gave some insight what the spinoff shows are going to be about, some deaths in the episode, and the end of Pamela Milton. If you read the title, it also had returning characters that are sure to be talked about. I will cover Rick & Michonne in a whole other article, but just to touch on it now, I was surprised to see Michonne. The scene was a flashback of how Rick got his note, boots, and the phone that had a picture of Judith on it that Michonne found in season 9, and where Michonne went to find Rick. She still has her weapon, but has new armor from I assume her new group that she went with. However, if I had to give a downside to this episode, it had way too many commercials. I knew that it was an extended episode, but some commercials were unnecessary. On the flip side, at least one commercial in each chunk was zombie themed, so that was cool to see.
The End of Pamela Milton
As I predicted, Pamela Milton got Sebastian’s comic book storyline ending. Pamela wasn’t killed, but imprisoned for treason against the Commonwealth from her actions of sending the horde towards the community and locking out some community members from the rest of the troops. I thought Maggie or Negan was going to kill her, but they decided to spare her. I thought a lot of this ending was rushed, but fully expected it since an ending to the show needed to happen at the back half of this episode. A thing to note here was Gabriel’s full circle character arc. Instead of locking the door of his church that we saw when he was introduced in season 5, he stepped up and unlocked the gate to let all of the Commonwealth members into the Estates to escape the horde. Another interesting thing to note was seeing Lance as a walker before Pamela’s arrest. I thought she was going to let Lance bite her to end it all since she lost, but didn’t, and Maggie ended up taking Lance out.
Judith Grimes Survives
Again, like I predicted, Judith survived her gunshot wound from an emergency surgery from Tomi. The first storyline was the group had to transport her from the abandoned hospital to inside the Commonwealth in order for her to survive. There were three callbacks in this storyline of a zombie breaking down a glass door with a brick (like in season 1), Daryl giving Judith blood (like Rick gave Carl blood in season 2), and Daryl blocking the door that Judith is in with a stretcher (like Shane did to Rick in season 1).
Deaths Galore
Three people died in this episode, but no death truly surprised me. Jules and Luke died while the group was fighting the horde in the beginning of the episode. Luke’s death was supposed to pull at the heart strings more than Jules since he only got bit on the foot and I thought that he was going to survive, but lost too much blood, and died at the hospital. Rosita also died in this episode, but that was a slow burn. Rosita finally reunited with her daughter, but it ended up costing her life in the process. Rosita got bit while she was trying to jump to the building with Gabriel and Rosita. Rosita had an emotional moment with Eugene because she told him first that she was bit and he had to live with the secret until she told everyone else at the end of the episode. Rosita’s character and ultimate send off was perfect, with an even added touch of Gabriel giving her a final prayer before she died. Although Rosita’s death was heavily hinted upon throughout this whole season, her death made me emotional at the end of the episode.
A Happy Ending?
The end of the episode shed some light of what the spinoff shows plot could be. I will have a whole article on what the future holds for The Walking Dead universe, but the episode ended on a positive note. As I said, Judith survived and even Lydia did too. There was a final family dinner and a one year time jump. Even Negan and Maggie mostly forgave each other from Glenn’s death. Ezekiel and Mercer became the new leaders of the Commonwealth. Eugene and Max had a baby. All of the communities were highlighted and are again flourishing. Aaron and Carol became leaders of Alexandra, Maggie and Lydia are leaders of Hilltop, but Maggie wanted to reach new communities and opportunities on all sides of the country. However, the biggest bomb to drop was the ending scene between Rick and Michonne. I also will have a whole other article about this, but I will highlight it here. As above, Rick tried to go back to Alexandra, but was captured by the CRM. He had his season 8 “All Out War” style, but ended up surrendering to a leader to the CRM. Michonne was seen writing a letter to Judith and RJ, and was seen looking for Rick. Although the main show ended, the future of The Walking Dead is bright. Three spinoff shows are in the works and Fear the Walking Dead is still going, but for the time being, I will have to find a new favorite show, because The Walking Dead is officially over…