'The Walking Dead' Season 7 Premiere SPOILERS Review

Image from Coming Soon

By Darian Scalamoni

            We’ve waited for months and months to find out who Negan unleashed Lucille on and this past Sunday, we got the answer to the long-awaited question. Was it brutal? Of course, it was brutal but you must be able to showcase just how messed up a guy like Negan is and the only way to show that is the way that it was achieved in the Season 7 premiere. Before I go on any further I would like to say that there will be SPOILERS within this review so if you have yet to watch this episode please stop reading now.

            I’ve been watching The Walking Dead religiously for many years now and though the audience has been stricken by deaths that were painful and unexpected, it’s hard to argue that any got an emotional reaction like this past Sunday’s premiere. Having said that, the show went in a direction that was incredibly needed. After a sixth season that was probably one of the best was somewhat derailed by a disappointing finale, they needed to have a massive shake-up in the start of Season 7 and that’s exactly what happened. Though Abraham’s death was expected (in my opinion), what happened next shook the audience to the core and was sure to really affect the audience in a way that many didn’t think was possible unless Daryl was getting the bat to the head. It was however, Glenn who also lost his life due to Daryl lashing out on Negan following Abraham’s death.

            Yes, it was gory and it was hard to watch but people seem to forget this is a show that takes place in the zombie apocalypse and we have seen many other brutal deaths before this. I think what affected many to a certain level of disgust was just how much pleasure Negan got from introducing the victims to his bat, Lucille. One needs to remember that The Walking Dead universe is a hard one to live in and Negan is a perfect example of that.

            Beyond the deaths that happened on this episode, we see a whole lot of filler and that’s where the premiere becomes an annoyance. More than half of the episode was a scene in which Negan wanted Rick to go get his ax and escape the surroundings of walkers which was cool but nothing spectacular in terms of a narrative. Though the scene in which Negan wants Rick to cut off his son’s arm is remarkable and adds a gripping tension that we haven’t seen from this series in a long time. The whole episode is one of the most emotionally powerful episodes in the history of the show. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s take on the villainous antagonist of the show is so casual about his menacing personality that it’s hard to take your eyes off him.

            The one thing that is important from this episode in my opinion is that, I’m excited to see where this is going to go. Most viewers are going to be traumatized from this week’s happenings but going forward, we know that there’s going to be some sort of revenge. With Rick, Carl, Eugene, Aaron, Maggie, Michonne, Rosita and Sasha being the only ones left to go back to Alexandria to inform everyone about the deaths of Glenn and Abraham. Also, with Daryl being taken by the Saviors, the group loses a big majority of their backbone as some of their toughest members of their group are now slain or missing in action. Don’t forget, Morgan and Carol are also separated from the rest of the group and are set to meet King Ezekial in next week’s episode.

            Going forward, I like where this episode leaves us for the upcoming season. It also stressed how unforgiving Negan is going to be and that no one is safe from execution within this season.

8.7/10