The Walking Dead Season 6 Finale - First Thoughts - Negan's Here!!!

 So, Negan is here! Billed as being the biggest, baddest villain to ever grace the pages of the comic book, Negan has been teased for the best part of six months now. One of the reasons for the anticipation, of course, was that in the comic books he brutally beats Glen to death with his baseball bat. That same entrance was promised in the series and yes, he beat someone to death with his baseball bat following an epic ten minute monologue by the brilliant Jeffery Dean Morgan. I say that he beat someone because we still don't know who his victim is. Yes, we were left with possibly the biggest cliffhanger in the shows six year history. It's a cliffhanger which has been met with a lot of anger by the shows fanbase and I can understand why. I was angry myself but, after a bit of thought, I can accept it and even forgive it.

Rick is a broken man as Negan taunts him!

Finales are tricky things to get right and not all shows manage to get it right all of the time. The only show which I can think of that consistently got finales right was Lost but maybe I'm biased. A good finale has tension and risk but above all it has conclusion. A season is just a chapter and the finale is the end of that chapter. It needs to justify the viewers investment in the previous sixteen or so episodes. In my opinion the finale of this season of TWD ticked those boxes. It brought to an end the story of Ricks downfall. From the season opener when he planned this huge operation to divert a huge herd of walkers wawy from Alexandria to the finale, on his knees in the dirt as Negan beat the holy hell out of one of his group. That was what this season was all about and when you see it that way you can see how good the finale was.

The true brilliance of the episode was in Negans introduction, something which stretched the whole episode. Ricks group were herded towards the eventual ambush with efficiency and what's more he never saw it coming. There is no doubt that it was all planned by Negan and perhaps even Maggies mysterious illness. There is a theory that Maggie was poisoned by someone in league with the saviours in order to force the Alexandrians on the road. When he did finally make his grand entrance with ten minutes to spare he did not disapoint. He exuded charisma and even though he killed someone, I can forgive him that.

The charismatic Negan

Rick and his group deserved what they got. They killed saviors on the logic of 'get them before they get us', knifing them as they slept in their beds. You can understand Negan being pissed off and you can understand his need for vengeance. In fact, lets be honest, Ricks group probably got off lightly! Can Negan even be considered a baddie in light of this? Surely he's only a better version of Rick. Rick has done a lot of bad stuff and the only reason we route for him is because he's the hero of his story. Had we followed Negans story from the start then Rick would be the bad guy in all of this! Two characters who are basically two sides of the same coin.

So, that cliff hanger! Personally I hate cliffhangers. I love television and I don't like waiting for six months to discover what happens next. I want to know now goddamit! Saying that, I do accept that they serve a function and I think that in TWD's case, this season finale cliffhanger will serve its function very well. In order to justify ending the season in that way, we will get an outstanding season seven premier. Also, we have been promised that Negan will be sticking around for a good while and I for one can't wait to see what he has in store for us!

Fear The Walking Dead: A First Look!

So Fear The Walking Dead, is it any good? Well, yes, yes it is. It's far from the finished article and it's not quite up to the standard of its parent show The Walking Dead but still, it's very good and it's still better than most other tv shows. The trouble is that The Walking Dead has set such high standards that trying rank something alongside it is near impossible. It's almost like trying to compare a footballer to Lionel Messi! Of course, there is little else to compare Fear The Walking Dead to considering a) both shows are by the same people, b) they are both about the same subject matter and c) they are both set in the same universe. Sure, the time lines are slightly different but the fact that both shows occupy the same universe is pretty much inescapable. In terms of the timeline difference, Fear is set around the time that Rick Grimes is in a coma somewhere near Atlanta. Remember those strange coma visions Rick has right at the start, where civilisation is breaking down? Well here we get to witness it in all its glory and its not pretty.

The first episode is strange in that it's not what you'd expect a premiere to be. There are no big set-pieces, no hoards of walkers tearing apart a horse, infact theres very little walker action at all. This is a continuation of The Walking Dead so it doesn't really need to start fast, it can afford to take its time especially when you consider that it's already bagged a second season order. Also, the fact that its set right at the beginning of what we already know is to come means that a certain amount of care is needed. This is an apocalypse at ground level, where rumour and conspiracy is rife. A world where shaky YouTube footage of a walker attack heralds a world to come. The world we've become accustomed to in The Walking Dead is a world where danger lurks around every corner and Fear is perhaps a victim of that, more so in the first episode. It's also strange seeing a living, breathing cityscape, Los Angeles providing the setting.

One of L.As first walkers begins to rise...

Another thing we've become accustomed to in regards to The Walking Dead is the slow burn episode. The series has utilised this tool many times and it seems like it will become a feature of Fear The Walking Dead too. While the first episode is slow, the second episode notches things up a gear as civilisation begins to break down. It's quick and it's brutal as the lights of L.A. begin to go out.

The cast is quite strong although it's perhaps too early to root for any of them just yet. They are all fairly likeable though and the seeds of character development are already being sown. It's clear that we will see a hard development with some of them. They are seeing a new world emerge with different rules where its all about survival and family. The theme of family and protecting those close to you is something which becomes evident in the second episode as Madison (the mother) prevents her daughter from helping a neighbour for fear that she will get bitten. I personally questioned the use of fear in the title but it's clear how that one word is central to the whole show. This is a world where people don't really know what they are dealing with. Fear seeps from the characters and it effects everything they do.

The two leads (Madison and Travis) attempt to find answers

All in all, despite a slow start to the series, it looks like it will be a strong companion show to The Walking Dead. Despite the different setting and different characters, this is still very much a Walking Dead series and so die hard fans should be satisfied. Because it begins at the start of the 'zombie uprising' it should also introduce new viewers to The Walking Dead universe. No prior reading of comic book source material is required here and you can actually watch it as a stand alone series as opposed to a summer Walking Dead fill in.