The episode had only one thing to do: introduce Negan, who’s been so hyped that he got a special poster announcing his arrival on the show. He showed up 80 minutes in, after Rick and his group (Abraham, Glenn, Carl, Eugene, Aaron, and Sasha) bumbled around in the wilderness trying to get medical help for Maggie at the Hilltop. By the way, this is clearly why Denise got killed off a couple weeks back—to justify Rick’s decision to strike out onto the road, after provoking war with Negan’s Saviors. It still felt flimsy. Rick’s RV ran into elaborate road blocks over, and over, and over again: a bunch of zombies tied together, an armed gang, a burning pile of logs. Still they didn’t get the message, and they were eventually herded into a clearing where Negan’s men surrounded them, and the big boss finally emerged and proclaimed victory, saying he’d kill one of the group and make the rest work for him.

Most viewers knew that was coming, which made the rest of the episode such a bore to watch. Along with Rick’s wandering, a side-plot involving Carol’s solo odyssey on the road and Morgan coming to rescue her was frankly confusing. Morgan broke his no-killing rule to execute a man trying to kill Carol, but if that moment was supposed to be loaded with philosophical weight, well, it just wasn’t. Everything was pointed toward Negan’s introduction, and I can’t deny that scene was tense. When an entire cast of characters (Daryl and Michonne, taken prisoner last week, were there too) are lined up and one of them is threatened with gruesome death, it’s almost impossible not to be frightened.

The only way for the show to blow the moment was to overplay its cliffhanger, to leave the audience with nothing as it cut to black for another six months. Viewers knew Negan was coming; we didn’t know who he’d kill off. Well, we still don’t know, and frankly I don’t care to know at this point. Watching “Last Day on Earth,” I realized it didn’t really matter to me who Negan picked for death—I was just steeling myself for the gory violence that would result. When a show’s cast is facing execution, and you’re not worried about losing any of them, then it’s time to say goodbye. Goodbye, Walking Dead. It’s been a wild six years, but it’s long past time to bid farewell, and a baseball bat to the head is as good a way as any.

Lenika Cruz: The stress and thrill of waiting for the next big character to die is a burden viewers accept when they commit to a certain kind of drama series (ahem, Game of Thrones). There are usually, though, plenty of other good reasons to keep watching. Unfortunately, this last season of The Walking Dead points to the sad fact that the show views the question “Who will die?” as its only narrative currency—ironically, The Walking Dead’s excessive dependence on death hasn’t elevated it, but has instead cheapened it. This approach has by extension cheapened the lives of everyone on the show, especially the most beloved characters.