‘Walking Dead’ season premiere slayed both literally and figuratively
October 25, 2016
I have a lot of choice words to say about “The Walking Dead” season seven premiere, but in an effort to avoid vulgarity, I’ll leave it at this: wow.
If you weren’t one of the 17 million viewers glued to the television Sunday night, I’d suggest not reading any further than this. As Chris Hardwick always says on “Talking Dead,” the spoilers are coming in three, two, one…
After an excruciatingly long hiatus that started April 3, “The Walking Dead” reemerged with enough gore to more than make up for the prolonged lack of zombies. Featuring two major character deaths and unexpected plot twists, emotions and adrenaline ran on high throughout the entire hour-long episode.
The disturbing cliffhanger that plagued fans all summer finally came to a conclusion when Negan’s barbed-wire bat named Lucille landed on Abraham after a harrowing game of “Eenie, meeny, miny, moe.”
When Negan separated Rick from the group with an ax and a cryptic comment about a “right hand man,” many fans predicted it would be Rick’s hand getting cut off (as transpired in the comic series).
Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) joined the main crew in season four as the hardened army officer with a hidden traumatic past. Major character development at the end of season six showed him as not only forgiving but also loving: he and his girlfriend Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin) planned on having a child. Those dreams were quickly smashed along with Abraham’s head by Negan.
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is the newest villain on “The Walking Dead,” and many fans of the comic from which the show originated were tentative about his introduction. Negan’s character is essentially an enigma– and it’s this enigma that makes him even more terrifying than previous antagonists like The Governor. It’s a hefty task for any actor to play an egotistic maniac who’s sexually attracted to a baseball bat covered in barbed-wire, but Morgan kills it. Which is fitting, since Morgan’s character is a violent serial killer.
However, the group’s capture by Negan reveals in-depth character development as well as the insides of people’s skulls. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), the renegade leader who needs a haircut almost as badly as his son does, comes to the chilling realization that he’s no longer the boss– Negan is. Rick has undergone significant development since the start of the show, yet this instance, although not ridiculously drawn out, was actually the most believable. The sacrifices Rick is willing to make, not to mention his internal torment, culminates in his emotional breakdown after almost being forced to cut his son’s hand off with an ax.
If the comics are any indication, Lucille will remain bloodthirsty throughout the entire season.
This scene was about to be some serious copyright infringement on “Saw” until Negan revealed his true motive: establishing his dominance. He was able to break down Rick’s psyche further than even the death of Rick’s wife or former best friend. The scariest part was how believable it was. Lincoln’s acting capabilities are stunning, and I felt like I myself had just witnessed the death of two honorary family members, fought my way through zombies in a sadistic game of fetch and nearly mutilated my child.
While we’re on the topic of emotional vulnerability, I’m going to just get the bombshell over with: Glenn’s death. Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) has been there since the first episode of season one when he saved Rick from a swarm of walkers in Atlanta. Over the past six seasons, he’s evolved from a pizza delivery boy into a beloved and integral character, not to mention a would-be father. And now, with Lucille’s help, he’s evolved into a bloodied pulp of a corpse.
Combine the desolate scene of the group grieving over their fallen comrades with an imagined family dinner showing everyone in the group alive and happy, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a bawling audience.
But now that my tear ducts are completely dried up, I can finally address some of my issues with this episode. First, why is a feverish miscarrying woman suddenly up and ready to walk a few miles? Why were there more commercials than actual content? And why, for the love of god, did the producers think it would be a good idea to use a nauseatingly cliché black-and-white semitransparent character montage?
Besides these television writer no-no’s, the episode overall did not disappoint. Rather than falling into the
Even though he was emotionally compromised, Rick’s survival instinct enabled him to survive a horde of walkers without access to a weapon.
“this show has been on forever but people keep watching it so we don’t have to try” slump, “The Walking Dead” revved back up immediately. So while I’m still emotionally compromised from the season premiere episode, you can bet I’ll be back ready to watch next Sunday.
Although, if anyone else from Alexandria dies, I’m going to need to borrow Negan’s bat.