And that's the end of the Whisperers. 

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 16 closed the book on the walker-skinned freaks who have tormented the characters at the wheel of the story since The Walking Dead Season 9. 

Despite the long wait in between episodes, "A Certain Doom" certainly packed the momentum we would expect from such a bloody showdown between the two warring forces. 

Unfortunately, the action felt a tad too convenient. At its core, The Walking Dead is a show about survival and how the characters respond to the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world they inhabit. 

At the close of The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 15, the stakes were sky-high, thanks to Beta and his horde arriving at the hospital to dole out what he deemed justice for the demise of Alpha. 

While the episode excelled in building the tension slowly as people tried to wade through the horde, the entire episode felt anticlimactic. 

As far as season finales go, it was the most ambitious conclusion in series history, but it would have been nice to have a much bigger struggle to get rid of the villains, once and for all. 

Carol: You good?
Daryl: Yeah. It's over. All right? It is. You get what you wanted?
Carol: No. But I won't. Not really.
Daryl: You still got me.
Carol: Yeah.
Daryl: Yeah.

• Permalink: Yeah. It's over. All right? It is. You get what you wanted?

Carol's decision to end her life was a pivotal moment for the character, but given that we learned about the Carol and Daryl spinoff ahead of the episode airing, it was obvious she was making it out of the finale alive. 

Still, this was a huge character moment for Carol, who has struggled with the guilt of her recent actions. If you watch The Walking Dead online, you know she was to blame for the dynamite in the cave with the Whisperers, which ultimately put two of the good guys in peril. 

Then there's what she did to Lydia. Despite some of Carol's actions coming across as selfish, there is a selfless woman who has been through the mill behind those eyes. 

Her arc is one of the best on TV, and if the writers have done one thing right consistently, it's giving Carol a riveting but fulfilling character arc. 

Lydia: You still here?
Negan: For now.

• Permalink: You still here?

Carol's pain shone through as she led the walkers off the cliff, but I'm glad Lydia showed up in the nick of time to pull her back.

I'm unsure the walkers would have continued to walk off the edge in previous seasons or if the mythology was altered to add shock value to this plot, but something felt off about those final moments. 

Lydia saving Carol is fine, but it lacked the oomph I would have expected from such a ballsy decision. The good thing is that it bonded Carol and Lydia together like never before. 

If Lydia has been struggling to let everyone know she's with them, then saving Carol was the best way to reiterate that her allegiance was not with the Whisperers. 

Jerry: This it?
Carol: It is ... thanks to her.
Lydia: And her.
Luke: Thanks all around, people. I can't believe we pulled it off.

• Permalink: Thanks all around, people. I can't believe we pulled it off.

Much like Carol, Lydia has struggled to find her place in the world, and in an ideal scenario, Lydia would get to transition to the Carol and Daryl spinoff. 

You don't need a big death to end a season, but for The Walking Dead's standards, "A Certain Doom" was light on the bloodshed. 

Lauren Cohan's return as Maggie should have been badass, but saving Gabriel seemed too easy. It was only a few scenes earlier that Whisperers and walkers chose to enter the stairwell and go up to the top of the hospital where some of our heroes were holding the fort. 

Gabriel has fallen by the wayside in recent years, but he's gradually become more prominent during The Walking Dead Season 10. 

Carol: I told you to go.
Lydia: You told me to find my own way.

• Permalink: You told me to find my own way.

Dying during the battle to keep everyone in the hospital safe would have worked from a storytelling standpoint, but Gabriel's death would have been too much for Rosita. 

Maggie has proven to be resilient when it comes to dealing with walkers, but it's a bitter pill to swallow that she and her right-hand managed to make it through to save everyone on the top level. 

Still, Maggie is back, and she knows all about the Whisperers. Most of the people she loves were killed while she was away, and she's returning home to find Negan, the man who murdered the love of her life, is no longer locked up. 

She is going to have some thoughts about what has happened, but will she be able to get on board with Negan working on the right side this time?

He's been vocal about killing to remain in power, but at the end of the day, he did some heinous acts, and I'm not only talking about the murder and violence while he was a part of the Saviors. 

Does time heal all wounds? That's something we'll need to tune into the rest of the series to find out. 

After loving the direction of Eugene, Yumiko, Princess, and Ezekiel's mission away from the action took on The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 15, it was hard not to be frustrated by the way it ended. 

After months of waiting in limbo, we have an undisclosed number of months to find out what happens next. The cliffhanger fell flat because it was expected. 

Had we gotten to meet the new people with a little bit more depth, the finale would have been much better. 

That's all I got, The Walking Dead fanatics. 

What did you think of Carol's almost-sacrifice? Were you surprised how Maggie managed to save a good bunch of people? 

Are you surprised that Connie survived?

Hit the comments below. 

The Walking Dead returns in 2021 with a six pandemic-proof installments. 

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.