There are few Walking Dead episodes as chilling as season 6’s finale that featured Simon ominously turning Rick’s question on him.
Trapped from all sides, a wall of Saviors closing in as Rick Grimes is unanimously defeated, disarmed, and at a loss of words for the first time on The Walking Dead. The show’s season 6 finale was easily one of the most memorable episodes of all time, bringing the much anticipated introduction of Negan.
Yet, even before his debut, “The Last Day on Earth” was hitting television milestones. It would all start in an RV with Rick and the group attempting to help a pregnant Maggie.
The group were stopped on the road faced with a Savior group led by Simon. Rick was at the peak of his confidence during this era, particularly after taking out The Saviors’ satellite outpost. After rejecting Simon’s deal and countering, telling him he “was actually thinking of taking all of his stuff,” he walked away with a parting line: “Do you want to make today your last day on earth?”
Simon turned the tables entirely on Rick with a dark, menacing line, “No. But that’s a good thing to think about. What if it’s the last day on earth for you or someone you love? What if that’s true?” Simon then advised Rick to be kind to each other in that RV, extra nice. Rick would tell Simon he “should do the same,” still confident. As the group got back on the road, ominous warnings like a person hanging off a bridge appeared. Simon again repeating his “last day on earth” advice to Rick about treating each other right.
As the group abandoned the RV, carrying Maggie on a stretcher, The Savior’s fearsome whistle began circling around. Striking at the very base fears of the group as they tried to divert from each path to be met by another whistle, and yet another. Eerie manmade bird sirens, reverberating across the horizon. The natural fear of things that go bump in the night shaking the group’s morale. Finally, the group realized their makeshift militia is surrounded by an entire army of Saviors. No matter, where they look, armed Saviors look across into their eyes like vultures.
Simon greets Rick and the group with a smile, “Good, you made it! Welcome to where you’re going. We’ll take your weapons… Now!”
He points his gun at Rick’s head leaving the leader in total confusion about what is happening. Rick tries a last plea to talk about what’s happening only to hear, “we’re done talking, time to listen,” from Simon. It’s at this moment the entire group is disarmed as Carl looks to his father for what to do. Everybody’s frozen, motionless, you can hear a pin drop as Rick realizes he’s completely lost. Similar to Joe and The Claimers (pre-Rick neck bite) or Terminus (pre-Carol rescue) but with a rock bottom feeling of helplessness. No more moves to be had, it’s more than a few people to get through, outnumbered and outgunned beyond comprehension.
It’s then Negan greets the group for the first time, telling Rick he’s going to regret he ever “crossed him.” Absolute stellar acting work from all involved. In many ways, the season 6 finale and ultra hyped into the stratosphere season 7 premiere that followed (both delivered) brought the show into a whole new level of mainstream. They were universal for viewers and accessible to follow isolated from the rest of the series with no prior knowledge.
It really deserves mention how much more chilling of a character Negan is at this point of The Walking Dead, as he doesn’t seem to adhere to any sense of rules outside his own. It makes him taking out Maggie or Carl entirely plausible when today viewers know different. They’ve noticeably restricted the darker side of Negan in more recent episodes. The season 6 finale of The Walking Dead had it all from beginning to end. Building up with a mild road threat into a complete surrender as Rick Grimes met the “new world order” and found out he was “not safe” after all.
“The word is out,” as Negan would say.
Check out The Walking Dead cast and alumni Thank Andrew Lincoln in a heartfelt video.