Start to Finish

"Start to Finish" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the sixth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the seventy-fifth episode of the series overall. It premiered on November 29, 2015. It was written by Matt Negrete and directed by Michael Satrazemis.

Plot
Multiple problems crash together.

Co-Star

 * Mandi Christine Kerr as Barbara
 * Katelyn Nacon as Enid
 * Elijah Marcano as Mikey
 * Hailee Steinfeld as Hannah
 * David Marshall Silverman as Kent

Uncredited

 * Chloe & Sophia Garcia-Frizzi as Judith Grimes
 * Brian Lancaster as Timmy
 * Matt Bolick as Savior
 * Brian Farmer as Savior

Deaths

 * Deanna Monroe (Alive, Off-Screen)

Trivia

 * First appearance of Lead Savior.
 * First appearance of Timmy.
 * Last appearance of Deanna Monroe. (Alive)
 * This is the third time that a main character has died whilst been credited as 'Also Starring' and she becomes the twelfth main character to die.
 * This episode continues the tradition of killing off a female character in the mid-season finale.
 * Susan Ross was killed in "Pretty Much Dead Already".
 * Penny Blake was killed in "Made to Suffer".
 * Meghan Chambler, Lilly Chambler, and Alisha were killed in "Too Far Gone".
 * Beth Greene and Dawn Lerner were killed in "Coda".
 * The title of the episode, "Start to Finish", comes from Deanna's final words to Michonne.
 * Deanna references what she said to Rick after he saved Spencer in "Heads Up", when Rick states he helped to save Spencer because he was Deanna's son. She says Rick saved Spencer because he was "one of them", hinting that this was the "right answer" to the question she asked Rick.
 * In Sam's room there are figures that resemble characters from Robert Kirkman's Invincible comic.
 * Sam's drawing, a kid tied to a tree with walkers coming for him, is a reference to Carol's threat to him back in "Forget".
 * Two versions of the song "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" were played in the episode. Nick Lucas' version played in the beginning and Tiny Tim's version played at the ending.
 * The ants around the piece of food on the plate in Sam's room is used to show that the ants are the "walkers" and the food (Alexandria and the residents) is rapidly being overrun.
 * This episode takes place the same day as "Always Accountable".
 * It is also revealed that the person who said "help" at the end of "Always Accountable" was Eugene.
 * This episode has the fewest living character deaths of any mid-season finale with only one confirmed death, along with "Pretty Much Dead Already" from Season 2.
 * The Season 1 episode "Guts" is called back to when Rick says, "I've done it before", in reference to covering Glenn and himself in walker guts. Carol also used the same trick in "No Sanctuary" to infiltrate and destroy Terminus.
 * This episode marks the first mention of Negan, although he doesn't make his actual first appearance until "Last Day on Earth".

Comic Parallels

 * The herd invading Alexandria is adapted from Issue 82.
 * Several residents hiding in different places around Alexandria is adapted from Issue 83.
 * Carl and Ron's final confrontation is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 80, where Carl threatens Ron and scares him instead.
 * Deanna giving a speech to Michonne is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 81, where Morgan gives a speech to Carl instead.
 * Rick's plan of using walker guts to escape through the herd is adapted from Issue 81 and Issue 83.
 * Deanna choosing to face a group of walkers inside the house instead of suicide is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 83, where Douglas exits his house and starts shooting walkers on the street.
 * Sasha, Abraham and Daryl encountering a group of Saviors on the road who demand their stuff for Negan is adapted from Issue 97.