YMMV / The Walking Dead S11E24 "Rest in Peace"

• Awesome Music:
  • The show takes killing Whisperers to "Burning Down the House" and one-ups it with "Cult of Personality" as the group carries out the plan to vanquish the Commonwealth walker horde once and for all.
  • Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" plays over a beautiful scene of the cast having a victory dinner after saving the Commonwealth, along with the return of Dog and Magna and Yumiko getting back together.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Pamela being arrested for her crimes against the Commonwealth — specifically, shooting Judith and abandoning thousands of citizens to die — is immensely satisfying. Doubly so when Maggie ensures Pamela won't get to take the easy way out by committing suicide, like Negan once tried to do. Carol's Shut Up, Hannibal! after Pamela's house has been destroyed in the blast that wiped out the walker horde is the icing on the cake.
  Carol: At least we don't have to worry about who gets your house.
  • The group giving the middle finger to the Commonwealth's class system and blowing up the Estates as part of their ploy to destroy the walker horde. Daryl shuts down Pamela's ranting by telling her her way of doing things is done.
  Daryl: You built this place to be like the old world. That was the fucking problem.
  • Judith finally tells Daryl and Carol about Rick and Michonne, a secret she'd been holding onto since mid-Season 10.
  • Fan favorite Jerry turns up perfectly fine, after the last episode appeared to set him up making a Heroic Sacrifice to save Elijah.
  • Maggie and Negan's last scene is a cathartic end to their storyline regardless of what side of the Maggie vs. Negan argument you fall on. For the pro-Negan fans, Maggie finally admits he's earned his place in the group and sincerely thanks him for all the good he's done since being released from jail. For those still opposed to Negan's Heel–Face Turn, their worst fears of Maggie granting him complete acceptance into the family aren't realized, as Maggie tells Negan that even in spite of this, she still can't forgive him, and Negan doesn't join the big group dinner in the next scene (for what it's worth, Negan seems to accept he'll always be an outsider and leaves on his way to find Annie).
  • Seeing the surviving members of the group get a happy ending after all the shit they went through is extremely rewarding. In particular, Ezekiel using his second chance at life to become the new governor of the Commonwealth, giving him a new community to lead after he suffered the devastating loss of the Kingdom a few seasons prior. And with Judith (and RJ) living at the Commonwealth, Carl's dream of "birthdays and school and jobs and Friday night pizza" for his little sister has finally been realized!
  • The return of Dog after being absent for nearly fourteen episodes (aside from a brief mention in "What's Been Lost"). He's onscreen for maybe five seconds, but the fandom rejoiced, in part because one among the show's notoriously ill-fated team pets managed to survive the show at last.
• Epileptic Trees: Since the voice actor of the CRM pilot who recaptures Rick in the final scene isn't credited, many believe it to be Victor Strand from Fear given how similar they sound.
• I Knew It!: Most people expected Rick and Michonne to appear in some shape or form, saying it would have been odd if the series were to have concluded without seeing two of its most popular characters (one of whom is the former series lead) one last time. Sure enough, they return in The Stinger to set up their forthcoming spin-off.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some fans who had given up watching or hadn't kept up with the show much in recent years returned for the finale hoping to catch a glimpse of Rick Grimes, or at least to see how the series concluded even with (or perhaps in spite of) the promise of three other spin-offs on the horizon.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Hearing Rick's baritone for the first time in four years is enough to bring a tear to your eye.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Rick and Michonne, you have been sorely missed from the Walking Dead universe.
  • After last being seen dying from arrow to the neck, Lance returns as a walker at the gates of the Estates and nearly convinces Pamela to commit suicide.
  • Fans were happy to see Dog one last time, after he'd been absent for the better part of a season.
  • Director Greg Nicotero has a cameo as the last walker Daryl encounters as he rides off into the sunset at the end. It's a fitting book end since he played the first walker Daryl killed in his first episode all the way back in Season 1.
• She Really Can Act:
  • Nadia Hilker, Eleanor Matsuura, Lauren Ridloff, Angel Theory, and Dan Fogler all bring their A-game to Luke's death scene. Their cries as Luke succumbs to his wound are frighteningly believable, giving the audience a real sense of how tight-knit this crew was, both on-screen and off. Even those who weren't attached to Luke admit the scene was a massive tearjerker.
  • Christian Serratos brings an understated dignity to her swan song as Rosita, delivering a final performance that's sad, heartwarming, and even a little inspiring.
    • Josh McDermitt also deserves props for his acting in these scenes — in particular, the moment Eugene realizes that Rosita has been bit. For a guy who's always been terrible at reading facial cues, it's devastating watching him put the pieces together and realizing his best and oldest friend in the world didn't escape the walker herd entirely intact.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Luke and Jules return for two episodes and are promptly killed off in the first ten minutes of this episode. While it's shocking and Luke's death is very sad, it can still feel like a bit of a waste even though the two were never the most major characters.
  • After Mercer's epic Let's Get Dangerous! moment two episodes prior, he never gets a proper display of his fighting skills and isn't even seen directly killing a walker.
  • The variant seen picking up the knife two episodes ago never returns, even though that episode seemed to be setting the walker up as a major theat.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many fans were disappointed that after all the Ship Tease and Angela Kang's admission that there is a "vibe" between them, Daryl and Connie still didn't end up together, even though several couples who were only introduced this season (such as Mercer/Princess, Lydia/Elijah, and Negan/Annie) did.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The decimation of the Commonwealth horde looks amazing, especially the slow-mo shots as the blaze singes through the walkers' skin.