#finale thoughts

Like the moulin rouge quote "hurt him hurt him to save him."

I know deep down it is breaking him you can see him cracking but damn it still made me cry

Idk I honestly forgot they were there when they were introduced. I thought it was gonna be a quick “actually nah this isn’t gonna work out” thing but it really wanted to be important. I didn’t care about Todd and thought he wasn’t as interesting as other characters like Gale.

Of course they have their big moments in the final episodes with Hank and Jesse, but honestly it could’ve been literally anyone other group and it wouldn’t have made a difference - that’s how much they didn’t have a hook on me. It could’ve been a completely separate drug cartel that had no affiliation with Don Eladio because they aren’t the only people in the world running a drug empire. They wouldn’t have to be flushed out in any way but you could understand their involvement and know that even without Don Eladio, Gus, the Salamancas, etc the drug business is a very serious and cutthroat hell you can’t get away from (💔Nacho). I’m sure that’s what the aryans we’re supposed to be, but they weren’t really into meth and even said they didn’t really need/want to continue with it once they had an obscene amount of money. It wasn’t until Todd having a weird crush on Lydia (who - because I watched BCS first- I didn’t think would have so much of a presence and influence on the show) that he said naw we can make more money if we keep doing this.

They didn’t even have that much focus on them in El Camino. They showed them there and how AGAIN they treated Jesse, but it was mostly Todd getting flashback screen time UNTIL they just created a new quick set of bad guys who knew the group and played an albeit small part in Jesse’s torture. They only had to seem important so Jesse could get his money and gtfo of New Mexico. I did not like El Camino.

It’s also weird to think about how absolutely vile Walter White is but he is comparatively not as bad as literal Yahtzees. I’m sure that’s wasn’t the intention, because - unlike some recent indie animated series finales - Vince Gilligan made sure you’re not supposed to feel bad for Walter after literally EVERYTHING he has done. Like yeah the cartel was also bad, but within the context of the show Walter was a loose cannon that wouldn’t and didn’t want to adhere to the rules and hierarchy of the game. He really only did what he did in the finale because he didn’t want someone else slinging the blue stuff while he was a wanted man and knew Jesse was involved but only spared him because he was nothing more than a tortured mangy dog in their care.

But uh yeah. . . I did not care for the white supremacists.

I have to say I was curious when Norman repeatedly claimed that the finale is the best hour of TWD ever. But then watching S2, and the way it was written, the story, etc, i had my doubts. Then I watched the finale. In my opinion, it was not the best hour of TWD television. Not even close. Not even the best TWD finale. BUT, I do have to say that the location and the zombies were definitely unique and not something we've seen before, so kudos for that.

The best part of it was Carol. We already know that Melissa is a tremendous actress and she did not disappoint. I cried. The emotion in that final scene was so beautiful. And it felt like Carol's trauma around Sophia has been resolved in a way and I'm hoping that it allows Carol to finally start healing and move foward.

Can't say the same for Daryl. Maybe it was lost on me, which is completely possible. I saw a man who was ready to give up. Granted, he had just been through quite the beating by not just one, but 3 people. I don't imagine he felt amazing in that moment, so I get it. But also, I do feel like there was a bit of a "what's the point" moment. And then Isabelle shows up. I'm still not sure what she meant to Daryl but there she is stroking his face and telling him not to give up, to believe in hope and then telling him that he's not going to die in France like his grandfather did and leave his family behind. We know Daryl struggled with his grandfather's story in S1. In a way, it was very beautiful, her giving him hope since that what she represented. And Daryl is crying while staring softly up at her. Likely a combination of a few feelings I imagine. There was also a script leaked awhile back and A LOT got cut from this scene. It was supposed to show Daryl dealing with feelings of guilt around the deaths of Merle, Glenn and Beth. But we don't see that. Just a sweet moment between Daryl and "the love of his life".

I feel like, aside from Isabelle's apparition, she had a bigger presence in this episode. And that might just be my own interpretation. But the song with Laurent and Daryl i think had to do with Isabelle with the lyrics "you can't always get what you want, but you get what you need" suggesting that Daryl wanted a family with Isabelle and Laurent but that, in fact, Carol was what Daryl needed which lines up with what Norman said about the Carol being the person that he needs. Then Fallou leaving but then deciding to stay with this new woman that he's found romance with, was representative of the choice Daryl's felt with Isabelle and that Fallou got his happy ending, where Daryl didn't. I think that Isabelle showing up isn't necessarily a closure for Daryl and it's not necessarily wrapping up that story and that character. It's already been hinted to us that Daryl is going to continue to deal with his grief in S3. To me, it seems that Isabelle was more than just an acquaintance or "experiment". Was he in love with her? No, I don't think so. But I also don't think Daryl knew exactly what he felt. Since according to Norman, Daryl's never experienced that before. So he's probably trying to figure out how he feels about all of it.

Overall, the season didn't leave me wowed. It's called The Book Of Carol, but it just felt like Carol was a side kick to Daryl's story. And things just felt awkward. There's still so much missing between those two. Norman wants to make us think things are all perfect between them, but it's not coming out on the screen that way. Have Daryl and Carol changed too much to get back to what they were before? They don't feel like the BFF's they were in the flagship show. There's just...something missing.