In the season finale of The Walking Dead, the Saviors' storyline was finally wrapped up as the characters went head to head one final time. Additionally, interesting plotlines unfolded as audiences were shocked by certain decisions. Here are the top moments from Sunday’s episode on AMC:
1. The groups met on the battlefield
Finally, after building toward it all season, every major group met on the battlefield in some capacity. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the members of Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom realized that Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) plan was a fake and ambushed him. However, Negan was prepared and greeted them eagerly with his men.Thankfully, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) revealed that he really was committed to his first group and sabotaged all the guns by making them explode when fired. This effectively neutralized Negan’s army and left them helpless against Rick and his group. The Saviors quickly surrendered and Negan ran away while Rick chased after him.
2. Rick and Negan faced-off for a final time
Rick chased after Negan and was able to disarm and confront him. Rick told Negan about how they needed to cooperate and achieve peace, something Carl told Rick when he was dying and that it needed to be done. Negan seemed to be skeptical about it and Rick suddenly cut his throat. In somewhat of a confusion, Rick then called over the doctor to save Negan and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) screamed in a rage. In the end, Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira) took him back to the hospital where he recovered. There, they told Negan that he would live in jail for the rest of his life and serve as an example of what would happen to those who didn’t belong. It also would show that the group valued mercy over wrath.
3. Maggie promised revenge
Maggie was extremely upset by the decision to keep Negan alive. She argued that he had killed so many and didn’t deserve to live, but let it happen. She spoke with Jesus (Tom Payne) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) about how they would grow the community stronger and then make their move against Michonne and Rick.
It seemed somewhat justified that Maggie would want revenge against Negan for killing her husband. However, Jesus has constantly preached peace over violence, so it’s a mystery as to why he would support making a move against Rick and Michonne. Also, Daryl hasn’t had any abnormal animosity toward Negan, so it’s unclear why he would work with Maggie. Either way, things are far from okay as the show continues.
4. Morgan left for Fear the Walking Dead
After seeing strange hallucinations, Morgan (Lennie James) decided it was best to leave. After the main fighting, he left and found Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) to tell her that Rick wanted her to join the community. She agreed and confessed to Morgan that her name was really Anne, which will have larger implications in season nine.
Morgan continued to stay in the garbage piles until leaving to crossover into The Walking Dead spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead. This crossover was heavily promoted by AMC and is the first connection between the two shows. However, Morgan’s departure from The Walking Dead seemed a bit abrupt and didn’t answer many of the questions audiences have about the character.
Overall, season eight of The Walking Dead was lackluster. Showrunners promised “All-out war!” but the show suffered from sloppy writing and too many boring plotlines. Also, Rick seemed to ignore Carl’s message until he slit Negan’s throat and was suddenly convinced of Carl’s idea. This seems like a cheap grab by writers to save his character arc for the finale. However, the writers finally closed the Saviors' plot and the show is able to start fresh with season nine. Hopefully, the show will return to being as good as it once was and invite audiences back as our characters continue to fight the walking dead.
