It’s a great combination of little touches like dressing walkers in the personal effects of last episode’s captured group members to the bigger physically-imposing statements. Everything plays out as the product of a sick, twisted but genius mind as the group don’t realize just how much trouble they’re in until it’s already too late. In fact, that’s the biggest message we’re left with: The Saviours are not a group or a gang, they’re an army. It pays off well to all the prior indications of The Saviours military level organization and execution.

There’s a fantastic organization and progression to their encounters that slowly crank up the suspense with each scene. Though the real meat of the episode comes from the psychological assault of The Saviours as Rick and the others in an RV increasingly feel like rats trapped in a maze with their every road blocked. Then Abraham even puts a cherry on it acknowledging Eugene as an equal, “I was wrong, you’re a survivor, we just didn’t see it at first”. The big good-bye between Abraham and Eugene says it all as a handshake turns into a hug for all the highs and lows they've been been through together. Like Gabriel, his story this season has been the transition from helpless to helpful, and the choice that sees him take becomes the most moving scene of the whole episode. The second is Eugene, who's been superb right from the start as he levels up his way past Rick onto the RV.

It builds on the idea of “The New World” that a man can become a new person within it, and over this season, Gabriel becomes excellent at accepting and adapting to this reality. This also gives us the first of two great character fulfilment moments throughout the episode as Father Gabriel takes charge of Alexandria’s defense, and Rick accepts him in that role. The Saviours attacking Alexandria has been on everyone’s minds for a couple of episodes, and we get good re-pledges through the early scenes of how ready and organized the residents are for an attack. Last Day on Earth gets notable credit for spending much of its first half convincing us it could be both. There are two types of The Walking Dead finale: The kind where all hell breaks loose and the kind with a gradual tense build-up towards a key event. Meanwhile, Morgan tracks down an injured Carol but patching her up is the least of his problems. Yet the day turns into a very surreal lesson of just how dangerous The Saviours are. Last Day on Earth – With Maggie’s condition getting worse, Rick leads a team of survivors on a mission to get her to Hilltop. As we build up to the meeting between two titans among men in this new world, one grinds down the other so viciously with psychological torture that by the time it happens, there’s just no contest. It’s something that is masterfully demonstrated on this season’s The Walking Dead finale. It doesn’t matter who your opponent is, if you break the spirit, you break the fighter. That in any big fight or conflict, there is a vast psychological war to be fought before the first shot is even fired or the first punch is thrown. The old Italian Stallion turns to his inexperienced protégé and says, “the fight starts now”. In last year’s excellent Rocky spin-off, Creed, one moment I always go back to is the press conference in the build-up to the big fight: Rocky and Donnie sitting at the table before Pretty Ricky Conlan makes his grand entrance.

The walking dead last day on earth