'Rest in Peace' is a perfect conclusion.

I find the arguments that "nothing was resolved," or "it just felt like a big tease for future projects" to be ridiculous. The only reason people felt this way is because AMC is very dumb and gave away too much before the show actually ended. Fans went in with expectations to be teased for the new spin-offs, and like a self-fulfilling prophecy, they came out seeing only teases for the new spin-offs.

The problem is that none of that even happened.

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Let's just rewind a second... The central idea of TWD is "the zombie story that never ends." It's not about Rick's journey, it's not about Carl learning how to cope with the new world, and it's not even about Rick's group creating a new society. At it's core, after stripping away the plot and characters, TWD is simply a never-ending zombie tale.

That's why the comics didn't have a traditional ending. It literally just concluded when the main character died, and then had a huge timejump just to show that it all ended relatively happy (not hating, I love the comic finale too).

In the same way, the show didn't have a traditional ending either. It simply concluded with the good guys winning and overcoming the Commonwealth. It could have concluded at several points in the story (when they arrive at Alexandria, after the Saviors war, after Rick left, after the Whisperers), but they chose to go with the source material, and finish with the Commonwealth arc. This allowed the story to come full circle. It started out with only Rick, then the group, then antagonists, then bigger groups, and then finally "modern" society returning, only for the characters to realize that maybe "modern" society isn't necessarily the "right" way to be. So even though TWD doesn't exactly need an ending, I feel like they chose the best possible route. The Commonwealth arc provides a nice bookend to one of the major themes of TWD (rebuilding society).

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So the question is... what are you guys on about? When I watch the finale, I don't see all of these teases everyone complains about. I see a full, complete conclusion to the Commonwealth storyline, as well as satisfying ends for each character. As for the actual spin-offs that supposedly take away from the finale feeling like a true conclusion...

• Daryl- Knowing that Daryl is still riding around on his bike and trying to expand Alexandria's reach, doesn't take away anything from this finale. It hardly even teases his solo series. It simply states, "hey, btw, Daryl is still alive and kicking." I really don't get how some people can watch his final scene of riding off into the sunset, and think "this is not a satisfying conclusion, now that I know that Daryl is still doing things."
• Maggie & Negan- This is the most frustrating bit, because the writers took great pains to truly finalize the Maggie/Negan relationship. Those two got several conversations that all led to Negan finally apologizing, and Maggie admitting that she knows he's changed, but probably won't ever be able to forgive him. THIS IS A CONCLUSION. Hell, I'm left wondering how they're going to strike up a whole new plotline with these two characters, when the entirety of S11 exists (in part) to put a bow on the Maggie/Negan dynamic.
• Rick/Michonne- And finally, this one is just silly. Fucking every single TWD fan wants to see what happens with these two characters, and yet for some reason, it takes away from 11x24 feeling like a "true" finale for some. In fact, this is the one spin-off tease that NEEDED to be in the finale, and yet people still find a reason to bitch about it.

In conclusion, the finale was rad, and TWD fans will find a reason to complain about everything.

Submitted March 10, 2023 at 06:54PM by TheFerg714 https://ift.tt/itVgvPw