Walking Dead Season 7 Discussion - Spoilers possible!

[FPAlpha]

So the new season is upon us very soon and it's about time to open the discussion.

I'm a very late comer to the show and have binged the entire show this spring and summer and although not being a Zombie fan at all (still am not, i just don't get anything out of the gore and splatter) this show has me hooked in a way that very few shows did.

As i watched the preceding 6 seasons i was spoiled for some of the events over the years when i didn't care about the show and read a little about it and some i spoiled myself by reading episode summaries before i had seen the episode but there were still some surprises left.

As i said i don't like the splatter aspect that much but i love the characters, their evolution and the stories that unfold. Over the seasons they have changed tremendously by necessity.. for example Carol started out as an abused housewife who was still sheltered against the worst by the group and her abusive husband but she has morphed into a no nonsense, cold fighter who does what has to be done and should have broken long ago.

So far none very few of the main cast have bought it, especially the core group from season 1 was safe until now that they have foolishly messed with Negan and are about to pay the price.

I've read many theories over the summer on who was killed, then there's the original comic version where Negan kills one of the main characters (i will have to burn something down if it is that person in the show) and it appears it won't be the only death in the season opener because someone slipped up in the production staff and talked about the deaths (plural) in that episode.

The trailers looked fantastic and it promises to be an epic season that will make the Governor arc look like amateur hour and the season finale, if Rick or somebody else gets Negan that soon, promises to break the internet in half.

So let's start soon and watch one of the best shows currently on air.

 

[Velocity]

I can't watch. I'm afraid that Maggie and Glen will die tonight. I doubt they'll let Maggie have her baby because babies are too difficult to have in the cast, so she's probably going to be eliminated and then Glen will wig out and get killed too. Or vice versa. I doubt I'll watch the show anymore. Too depressing and stressful.

 

[sojourner]

I can't watch. I'm afraid that Maggie and Glen will die tonight.

Well, your safe there. No one dies tonight.

 

[Borgminister]

I am steeling myself to the kill(s). Have to watch, it is compelling tv even though I don't get into the Talking Dead fanboy show afterwards. I felt just like that for Breaking Bad. The show doesn't settle for making you all comfy, and that's appealing in a strange way.

 

[Velocity]

Well, your safe there. No one dies tonight.

Don't read what I write, read what I mean.

 

[Morpheus 02]

I can't wait... trying to be spoiler free for 15 more hours or so

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

So let's start soon and watch one of the best shows currently on air.

I've had my criticisms of TWD, but you are right--it is one of the best series on TV, and as far as first-run fantasy series go, it leaves all others in the dust. None on air right now will ever capture the imagination of the public or (in the long run) be remembered like TWD.

..and the interesting part is that its appeal is not about zombie gore at all.

 

[TRON JA307020]

Well, your safe there. No one dies tonight.

I find I no longer care who dies.

 

[Kahless the Unforgettable]

I find I no longer care who dies.

That was the biggest complaint about that particular cliffhanger. No one really cares anymore, certainly not as much as when the season ended. And a lot of people pointed that out both before and after the episode aired. It was a tragically bad call on their part.

It would have been far better to have it end on him smashing Glenn's face (and yes, I'm one of the ones who think it's going to be him due to all the red herrings they pulled off that season) to smithereens and leaving the reaction to that as the cliffhanger.

 

[Scout101]

Ugh, after not paying it off at the end of the season, they're going to stretch it out all episode, aren't they?

 

[Scout101]

Yikes....

 

[Borgminister]

West coast here so I'll have to wait. Sounds like some seriously depressing stuff to open it up. But then tragedy is par for the course for characters on this show every now and then.

 

[TheSeeker]

Well, I was half right in my prediction. That was a brutal episode.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The worst of it all served the story--exactly what such an event was supposed to do. In other words, it was not horror and shock just for social media talking points.The series outclasses much on TV.

 

[Awesome Possum]

That was horrific even for this show.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

We were surprised, on both counts.

 

[Trekker4747]

I had pretty strong, good, suspicions on who it would be for a few months now and got wind of some serious spoilers earlier today and my suspicions were correct. I knew Glen was a sure-thing given the comics and Abraham was the only other one who I could see getting killed who would be a "major death" without it being a character who's needed to sell merchandise and would *really* piss people off, or was a character Negan wouldn't likely kill (assuming he's true to his comic book counterpart.)

The show held back a tad on showing the death as opposed to how it usually shows the "deaths" of the walkers but still was pretty damn brutal especially Glen after his first hit with Lucille, very true to the comic. I knew Rick wouldn't lose a hand, it's been well said by the show on why they won't/can't do it and Kirkman himself regrets doing it in the comic.

Still, man, Glenn's death hurts. It hurts to see Rick's reaction to it, it hurts to see Maggie's reaction to it, and it hurts just knowing the "story" there behind Glen being that he's been with Rick since the very beginning, it'll be hard not having him around now.

So.... Maggie's available, then?

Jeffery Dean Morgan is doing a fantastic job with Negan as being a character you love and hate at the same time. He cold, brutal, and to his word. While at the same time being charming and kind of charismatic.

One does wonder how much this is a "Wicked Witch of the West" kind of thing, I mean what is he doing for The Saviors that they're so loyal to him, particularly since he *is* so harsh and brutal? I sort-of think of the episode of Firefly where we see how Mal met Jayne, where he pretty much talks to Jayne and makes him realize his current job isn't so great and Mal would provide better for him and treat him better. So, what if Rick had the strength, courage and capability to take Negan out in the RV and came out holding Lucille and said, "This man's reign of terror and fear is over, follow me and we'll make this better and easier for all of us." And then the Saviors would be all, "Well, the Wicked Witch is dead, that guy was a real asshole we only listened to because he was brutal and enjoyed hitting people with a barb-wire baseball bat. (Which by the way, Negan, the teenagers in "Stranger Things" one-upped you on that by making a "Lucille" using nails as opposed to barbed wire.)

Only watched the first segment of TTD, will watch it all tomorrow. But, man, that was a gut-wrenching, painful, episode and I'm interested to see where it goes from here on this "arc" with Negan assuming it tracks with the comics on any level.

Show didn't hold back, we got our answers, now I suspect we'll spend a couple episodes with Morgan, Carol and The Kingdom before we catch back up with The Group.

Nice Abraham and Issac moment there with Rick and Carl, Negan.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

That was messed up. I had guessed that

Spoiler

Abraham would buy it so I wasn't that disappointed. Killing Glen sucked but the way they did it with his eye hanging out and all.... yeesh.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I can't believe how pissy the internet got over the audacity of a cliffhanger. Pretty harrowing episode though I found Rick's story more compelling than the actual deaths I found.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Best moments were those reinforcing longtime relationships--such as the final 5 minutes. I believe it was Carl who hugged Maggie--he's had his sympathetic moments with her before, as seen in 5B when he gave her the music box to ease her pain over Beth's death. By now, he's kind of a little brother to her.

Perhaps the saddest moment was Rick in the RV--watching as a walker shuffles to Glenn's brains and you know the rest. A part of this once vibrant guy is just food for some thing.