Anyone afraid The Walking Dead's finale might focus entirely on the Commonwealth and not on the show's roots can rest a little easier after AMC's zombie apocalypse flagship series entered its final straight. TV finales are a tricky beast at the best of times, but especially for a long-running series like The Walking Dead, which has constantly evolved over the past twelve years, leaving the cast unrecognizable from season 1. Audiences may understandably fear that The Walking Dead's finale would focus too heavily on the current group's battle against the Commonwealth, and not properly honor the popular characters lost along the way.
The Walking Dead season 11, episode 17 ("Lockdown") marks the beginning of the end, and drops enough clues to suggest its series finale won't fall into that trap. The episode begins with a montage of footage from past seasons narrated by Judith. It's a nostalgic reminder of old faces that shifts The Walking Dead's focus firmly onto legacy, keeping the likes of Rick, Glenn, Shane, Carol and Daryl firmly in mind, despite only two of that quintet still serving as full-time cast members. As "Lockdown" progresses, even more nods to history arise. Daryl mentions Glenn and the promise he made to keep Maggie safe, Carol revisits her maternal side, Maggie alludes to her season 6 pregnancy, and Negan politely tells Sebastian, "Do you know who I am?" in reference to his villainous origins. These callbacks all keep The Walking Dead's rich past at the forefront of its present.
The Walking Dead's Finale SHOULD Be Nostalgic
The Walking Dead's final episodes have two purposes: bringing the current Commonwealth arc to a satisfying close, and bringing the series as a whole to a satisfying close. Typically, those two goals should have equal weighting, but The Walking Dead finds itself in a unique situation. Despite the main show ending, AMC's Walking Dead franchise will continue through at least three spinoffs (in addition to Fear The Walking Dead). As such, The Walking Dead's ending must work twice as hard to feel like a conclusive finale, and that means celebrating the past, honoring fan-favorite characters, and exploring the legacy left not just by the Commonwealth saga, but by the entire 11-season journey. Promisingly, The Walking Dead's "Lockdown" is already on that path with its retrospective opening sequence and smattering of nostalgic references.
Will Familiar Characters Return In The Walking Dead's Finale?
If The Walking Dead's finale needs a healthy dose of nostalgia, what are the prospects of departed characters returning? Since AMC has already confirmed Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne for their own spinoff series, both could make a surprise appearance in The Walking Dead season 11. As the zombie apocalypse's original protagonist, Rick's return is especially crucial to The Walking Dead's ending. Reunions with the likes of Daryl, Carol and Judith would bring The Walking Dead right back to its roots, and Rick finally meeting his second son (little RJ) would provide that desperately-needed connection to The Walking Dead season 1, where Rick was searching for first son Carl.
But characters don't necessarily need to be alive to appear in The Walking Dead's finale. As seen previously with Jon Bernthal's Shane in Rick's farewell episode, hallucinations and dream sequences offer a useful tool in bringing back familiar faces. The Walking Dead could engineer a similarly ethereal sequence for its finale, whereby Steven Yeun's Glenn, Michael Rooker's Merle, Chandler Riggs' Carl, Sarah Wayne Callies' Lori, Michael Cudlitz's Abraham, and many others make a metaphysical return from the grave to bid farewell to The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead continues Sunday on AMC.