Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 23After 11 seasons, The Walking Dead is finally coming to an end, and its creators have thrown everything at the show's finale to bring back old fans. Following a group of zombie apocalypse survivors, The Walking Dead is one of modern TV's longest-running series and will hit 177 episodes once the finale airs. In the early 2010s, its fan base quickly grew, and it was one of the most-watched shows between seasons 3-5. The show's popularity has dipped since then because of drawn-out storylines, the deaths of fan favorites, and the absence of Rick Grimes, but loyal viewers continue to watch.
TV shows rarely last more than six seasons, so with The Walking Dead reaching 11, there was always the risk it would become stale and fans would lose interest. While the latter has been the case, the former is not true. Since Angela Kang's takeover as showrunner from The Walking Dead season 9, there has been a marked improvement in storytelling, and the themes that made the zombie apocalypse show great in the first place have been brought back. The Walking Dead has returned to its horror roots while developing compelling characters, like Daryl Dixon, who viewers care about, and that should culminate in a perfect series finale.
The Walking Dead's Finale Is Perfect For Lapsed Fans
The setup for The Walking Dead's final episode has been excellent, and there’s plenty to be excited about. Season 11 reintroduced variant walkers, there is set to be a classic Walking Dead community takeover, and there's an injured hero to root for in Judith Grimes. While the slow stories of The Walking Dead's middle seasons lost viewers, the finale will be an explosive event that will be reminiscent of vintage Walking Dead battles like Rick Grimes's group’s fight with the Governor’s community at the prison. The finale trailer promises action, tension, and a lot of walkers, which even those unfamiliar with the Commonwealth storyline can enjoy.
The Walking Dead's Future Needs Fans Back
In the U.S., The Walking Dead quickly gained a large following, peaking with the season 5 premiere, which had an impressive total viewership of 17.3 million.Those figures dwindled after several filler episodes then Rick Grimes’s departure, and by the season 11 premiere, only 2.2 million households tuned in to watch — a drop-off of 87 percent from the season 5 record. The Walking Dead will desperately want to get viewership figures up for the series finale because although it will mark the end of the flagship show, the franchise is set to continue well beyond 2022 with several characters scheduled to star in their own Walking Dead spinoffs.
The zombie apocalypse franchise has already branched off to tell the stories of different survivors with Dead City, Daryl Dixon traveling across to , and Michonne finally reuniting with Rick Grimes. Given The Walking Dead's series finale is not the end of the road for its most popular characters, the last episode of the primary show is a great opportunity for AMC to win people over again and set a direction for the franchise’s future.
Will The Walking Dead's Finale Be Enough To Tempt Lost Viewers?
While The Walking Dead finale has all the ingredients of a near-perfect sendoff, it might not be enough to bring back old fans. The biggest omission from the finale is Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes, the Walking Dead's most famous apocalypse survivor who has been AWOL since season 9. The Walking Dead's drop in viewership numbers came after his departure, so it's not certain that former viewers will tune in to see the remaining survivors. The only big names in The Walking Dead's finale are Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Negan, and given they were not enough to keep many interested in the first place, there's no guarantee they will watch now.
Still, the spectacle that The Walking Dead's finale is set to be could be enough to convince anyone to watch. The finale also has the novelty of it being the main Walking Dead show’s last-ever episode, which typically brings a spike in ratings, as it did for the likes of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, both of which also went on to have spinoffs. There are reasons for The Walking Dead's series finale to be concerning, but it is still primed to be a fitting end to the show and should have something for loyal and lapsed fans alike.