‘The Walking Dead’ Retro Recap: ‘Last Day on Earth’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Over the course of the first six years of its illustrious eleven season run, the heroes of the AMC series, The Walking Dead, always beat the odds and/or won the day. For they escaped great harm at the Centers for Disease Control when Dr. Jenner informed them of the facility’s fate, and they of course, escaped the horrors of a herd at the Farm. They beat the Governor, twice, despite some ugly losses… and they also defeated the Terminus cannibals… twice. And even when they were at their lowest and suffering, they still found a way to soldier on and reach safety and still win the day over the terrifying Wolves and they even conquered a massive herd. But eventually, luck runs out and heroes lose and suffer greatly and that finally came to fruition in the season six finale of this series.
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For ‘Last Day on Earth’ is a story that finally saw Rick Grimes and his extended family, meet their match in every way imaginable, which led to a horrifying cliffhanger that would eventually lead to some epic changes for the series. But before we dive into that… it would be best to talk about the lone win in this tale. For Morgan eventually caught up with Carol and patched her up just fine. In the hopes of bringing her home, but that simply wasn’t meant to be. For she truly believed she was helpless and worthless and needed to be on her own, and that brought her face to face with that angry Savior, who harmed her greatly before Morgan intervened and broke his cardinal rule in doing so. Allowing for Carol to live… and receive medical treatment, thanks to an introduction to new friends. The kind whose community would be explored in detail in season seven. 

But while Carol and Morgan were in safe hands, Rick and his camp were dealing with quite the problem. for several of them were on the road to get Maggie to Hilltop in a safe manner, but they kept running into the Saviors…. quite literally at every turn. For the main roads to Hilltop, were blocked with a flotilla of Saviors, enough to outnumber the good people in that RV almost three to one at a few points. Which of course, prompted this group to keep moving and keep trying new paths to avoid any further roadblocks… to no avail. For the Saviors knew every single route there, and they were also eager to taunt and terrify Rick and his family. Since the group discovered trinkets and bits of hair from people they love on their journey, courtesy of the fact that the Saviors attached them to the walking dead at one stop on their route and well… seeing this much effort go into blocking the roads, prompted a different plan.

One where Eugene would fool them by taking the RV out alone while everyone else moved Maggie to Hilltop on foot and well, the Saviors planned for that as well, and rounded everyone up to a clearing of their choice, so that a huge moment from the comics could come to life. For once the group was assembled, with Daryl’s camp no less… they finally came face to face with something to fear… Negan. Yes, this was the moment that this enigmatic and charismatic and twisted villain entered the show at last and thanks to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s powerhouse performance, he was everything we hoped for and feared and more. And the power and gravitas Negan brought forth in this moment, made it clear… our heroes lost for the first time ever. For they were outgunned and outwitted and out of options and they were going to suffer badly, as evidenced by the cliffhanger that took place here.

Which of course, shocked fans and angered them since it would be months before we learned the truth of who Negan brought harm to via Lucille. But what mattered more here, was that our heroes’ luck had run out and they finally met their match in the Saviors and that would change the tone of this series forever. For now, it was a different kind of horror story, one where the living became the true threat and that in turn would allow for the show to question if we were a species worth saving, a question it is still exploring in its final season and well… that’s it, fellow nerds that geek. That’s all there is to say about the classic episodes of this show that needed a second look from us, and we certainly hoped you enjoyed this rewatch as much as we did and hopefully, you’re now ready to begin the farewell tour. For only eight episodes of The Walking Dead remain, and it will be a powerful and visceral experience to say goodbye to a show that means so much to us and did so much for horror and pop culture and brought us so many powerful moments… such as the ones we discussed right here. Until next time.

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‘Let’s meet the man.’ - Simon

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