Note: Major spoilers for the season premiere of The Walking Dead. You have been warned.
I'm not going to do my normal recap of the full episode like I normally do, because I think there are plenty of those out there. Instead, I'm going to walk through my thoughts, both the lead up to and the execution of the episode, and we will just see what happens. I'm still processing some of the decisions that went into this spectacle that became the Season 7 premiere, so maybe typing out my thoughts here will make things a little more clear for all of us.
First of all, I was right about what I thought was going to happen in the episode. When I say that, I'm referring to the deaths that occurred. I was almost certain that Abraham would be the first go, based on his reaction to Negan in last years finale. Knowing that TWD likes to mess with its fan base for some odd reason that I don't fully understand, I knew that they would then throw a swerve and kill off a more major character that people would care more about. Due to the Glenn beating in the comics being such a huge moment, I think it was inevitable that they simply had to do it the same, and so that is what went down.
My thoughts on this...well, they are a bit all over the place. I think the episode itself was done rather well, and was intense and was hard to watch, as it should be considering what all happened. My problem is that I think Abraham's death feels meaningless after they killed off Glenn, as Glenn was such a big part of the show and Abraham was, while not insignificant, just a lesser character. But they just kind of tossed him aside so quickly by going for the Glenn shot, that I think if there were any impact on the viewers, it was lost within five minutes, taking a lot away from poor Abraham's total existence in the TWD universe.
My main problem with the whole situation is how AMC and the marketing strategy really just glorified what was about to happen. They played up Negan as some sort of awesome character, which he is, but almost made him out to be this sort of anti-hero type figure about how he will do whatever is necessary and is a man of his word and so on and so forth. But then they had him kill off probably the most beloved character on the show (sorry Daryl) in such a brutal, unforgiving fashion. Are we supposed to like the guy or hate the guy? I guess they are wanting to straddle that line, but I don't know how you can have it both ways.
The reaction online has been pretty brutal, with a lot of people saying they are never going to watch again, and how they crossed a line (Glenn's eyeball being the most common line crossing move). I don't feel that all of that is true, as I am unfazed by the outcome since you basically knew that this or something like it was coming for what, six months? I'm more inclined to say I wouldn't watch the show anymore because I just don't really care about the remaining people. Rick is broken, Maggie is now going to be obsessed with vengeance, Glenn's death is ultimately Daryl's fault at this point, which will have to be addressed soon. The problem with this last one is that Negan took Daryl with him, so we won't even get to see the group splintered because he couldn't keep his emotions in check, knowing that there would be repercussions for his action. At best, it will be, with the pacing of this show and their constant toying with the audience, like two seasons minimum before we see any sort of revenge, and what then? If you have read the comics, or know what is going on, you know that Negan isn't even that much of a bad guy anymore, and he certainly isn't a threat, so all that talk from Rick was just white noise and more toying with the audience at something huge in the future that just simply isn't going to pay off.
I'm pretty mixed on if I continue to watch the show, or if I just check in every now and then to see what is going on. I feel like I need to give it another episode or two and see what direction they go before I ultimately decide. I feel like I'm leaning towards not continuing much further with the show, but maybe they will do some things over the next couple of weeks that will sway me back the other way. I almost feel like the better ending to this episode would have been for Rick to stand up at the end and say that he would never give in to a man like Rick, and have Negan just kill the group off and we end the show with Rick being dragged off to be tortured for the next few years as Negan promised. Instead, I'm afraid the audience is going to be tortured over the next couple of years waiting for a payoff that probably will never come.
I normally give a rating, and for the episode itself, I guess I would give it an 8, but due to the buildup and the look of where the show is headed, I would probably give it more like a 3 or 4, so somewhere in the middle I guess...hmm...how about a 6? Sure, let's go with that.
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