Warning. Spoilers for the season seven premiere of The Walking Dead follow…
Well, they made us wait six months, but last night we finally got an answer to the big cliffhanger from the season six finale of The Walking Dead, as Negan’s victim – or rather victims – were revealed in the season seven opener, with AMC delivering perhaps the most brutal and bloody hour of television in the show’s history.
After months of speculation, it was revealed that both Abraham fell victim to Lucille, before Glenn satisified the bloodlust of the “vampire bat” as the producers brought the skull-crushing, eye-popping events of The Walking Dead #100 to the small screen.
Naturally the reactions to the episode ranged from shock and horror to outright disgust, with many fans and critics declaring that the show had gone too far, and some even going as far as to state they were through watching.
In an interview with EW, director and executive producer Greg Nicotero has been speaking about the episode, including the decision to kill off two fan-favourite characters, and the rather graphic violence which was on display.
“Part of the whole show is we really needed to drive Rick and Negan’s story throughout the season, and we felt that one death would do the trick, but the second death, Glenn’s death, really, really propels us into a very different direction,” said Nicotero. “It’s really about, sort of Negan laying down the law, and saying, ‘Listen guys, the bottom line is if you listen to me, we’ll be fine. But if you step out of line, that’s not gonna fly.’ So Glenn’s death has a lot to do with Rick’s future story, Maggie’s future story, and certainly, Daryl’s future story, because Daryl is the one who launched himself at Negan, and so it just made for a more rich overall story arc for a lot of these other characters.”
“I remember sitting next to Steven Yuen when I read issue No. 100, and talking with him and [creator Robert Kirkman] about it,” he continued. “And to me, what struck me about it was it was horrifically graphic and senseless and brutal.… In this instance, we felt that it was important to launch us into this season by showing the extent of what Negan is capable of doing. Because that drives so much of where the series is going from here on in. And the opportunity to then start introducing the new world and new characters and intertwining all that. It’s graphic and it’s horrible and while we were designing the make-ups and testing the make-ups and shooting the make-ups, we wanted to push it a little bit.
“When we shot the season 5 opener, and we had everybody at the trough and we went down the line and you saw these guys being murdered and drained of blood. That was purely a mechanism to show how bad the people at Terminus really were. And with Negan, you only have to see that once or twice to know that this guy is furious and means business. So the haunting remnants of that episode are very, very similar to how I felt when I read the comic book, and I experienced that sense of loss and that futility to step in. Rick Grimes is unable to stop this, and that’s something that we’ve never seen in the show, so I think the violence and the brutality are a part of it, and I think there’s a helplessness seeing our hero completely crushed in front of us is more disturbing than the actual violence, to me.”
And as for those fans who’ve said they’re switching off, Nicotero responded that: “It’s really unfortunate that people want to take a negative spin on it because, as far as I’m concerned, I’m dedicated to watching a show because I want to see where the story’s going to go next. Glenn’s not dead, Abraham is not dead. Their spirits live on, and the fact that Maggie is pregnant with his baby and Sasha and Rosita are carrying the memory of Abraham — there’s more story to tell with the result of what happened with those people. I guarantee you that there are people who are done with the show. It’s unfortunate if that’s really what’s going to happen because the show still has a tremendous amount to offer.”
What did you make of the season seven premiere? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published October 24, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
