The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 24, "Rest in Peace," which debuted Sunday, Nov. 20 on AMC.
The Walking Dead started out with one man looking for his wife and son in a zombie apocalypse. 11 seasons later, the series ended with the same man looking for a different significant other and his daughter. This may have been a satisfying finale that came full circle -- if it weren't for the fact that it acted as a tease for the future and less of an actual ending to a tired series.
It goes without saying that the finale belonged to Rick Grimes. It wouldn't have felt right if The Walking Dead had ended the series without the character who started it all. Michonne also returned, but her appearance gave away much less of where she was or what she was up to. Their appearances -- and Daryl Dixon riding off into the sunset to find them -- were meant to serve the fans who made The Walking Dead into what Lauren Ridloff called the "Where Is Rick Show?" At the same time, the series finale was very constrained by the reality that many characters' adventures aren't over yet, and didn't allow the story to live on in the viewer's mind after the plot ended.
How Does The Walking Dead End?
In Season 11, Episode 24, "Rest in Peace," The Walking Dead's main characters fought against Pamela Milton and her forces one last time to save the Commonwealth and its people from the variant of walkers. Rosita was bit on the back while saving her daughter Coco; Luke and Jules also died from walker bites and blood loss. Despite the losses, the group celebrated their victory after overthrowing Pamela, even if they did destroy a good part of the Commonwealth when they blew up the streets in their own Cersei Lannister-wildfire moment.
The finale then jumped forward a year later. The communities were all part of the Commonwealth, which seemed like it went against everything the group worked for in Season 11 -- but Ezekiel and Carol Peletier were in charge, so it was still a win. Everyone got their happy ever after... except for Rick and Michonne. After what seemed like an eternity, the dynamic duo returned, only in two different timelines. Rick attempted to escape from the CRM. He left behind his boots and an iPod that Michonne would later find, but was caught by a helicopter. Elsewhere, Michonne was decked out in Mad Max attire looking for him.
Back at Alexandria (or the Commonwealth, it was very hard to tell by that point), Daryl said his goodbyes to Carol as he headed off to find Rick and Michonne.
The Walking Dead Spinoffs Created an Underwhelming Finale
"Rest in Peace" stands out as a superior Walking Dead episode. The action and CGI were surprisingly impressive and the deaths carried emotional weight. Judging the installment as a finale, however, is a whole other ballgame. Coming to a close after 11 seasons was never going to be easy; the writers did the best they could despite the circumstances. But the deck had been stacked against the finale since AMC announced three spinoffs with major characters: the Rick and Michonne series, the Daryl Dixon spinoff and The Walking Dead: Dead City for Maggie Rhee and Negan.
That made it clear even before Season 11 premiered that those characters weren't dying -- including Carol, who was originally a part of Daryl's spinoff -- and that their stories were going to remain unfinished. With the spinoffs on their way, The Walking Dead's final episode was less of a conclusion and more of a prelude for what's to come. Expanding the universe of The Walking Dead is fine and indicative of how successful the show still is, but to wrap the series on basically a "To be continued..." didn't do 11 seasons of survival and sacrifice justice.
The final line of the show -- "We're the ones who live" -- captured more than just the resilient effort to survive in the apocalypse -- it's the essence of this expanding universe that isn't quitting anytime soon. The Walking Dead was not a prologue; it was an independent story and should've been treated as such without the setup of the spinoffs weighing it down.
The first 10 seasons of The Walking Dead is streaming on Netflix. Season 11 is currently streaming on AMC+.