Walking Dead Season Six finale - Predictions?

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I find it interesting how much backlash TWD season seven opener has caused. There have been many graphic and shocking moments over the last six years but this one definitely landed differently for most people, including me. Both victims were characters that we had several years to get emotionally invested in, which made things much more real and closer to home.

There was no surprise that at least one person was going to get their head bashed in with a bat, and maybe it was that build up over the last couple of months that made it more intense. I can tell you that you could cut the air with a knife in my home in the hour leading up to watching the episode.

It was raw, brutal, horrific, unrelenting, and exactly what TWD has needed for a while. I have felt that TWD had kind of lost its way for the last season and a half (except for a couple of stand out episodes). After six seasons the zombies and enemies just weren't that scary anymore, this episode raised the stakes higher than ever. I am sure that I will be a little nervous every time Negan is on the screen now, you just have no idea of what may happen next.

Hats off to Nicotero, the directing was on point and never let up. The whole episode had a heavy feeling that reminded me of the movie "The Road"

People have been getting ripped and pulled apart, as have horses since the beginning. We watched a senior citizen get decapitated, we've watched a human being get stabbed in the eye with a shard of glass (many people's phobia) but this is too much and pushed you over the edge? Weirdest thing I have ever heard in my life.

Jim

People have been getting ripped and pulled apart, as have horses since the beginning. We watched a senior citizen get decapitated, we've watched a human being get stabbed in the eye with a shard of glass (many people's phobia) but this is too much and pushed you over the edge? Weirdest thing I have ever heard in my life.

 

Jim

Weird that watching someone club two people's heads into ground beef with a barbed wire bat over and over and while keeping the camera trained on each bit of splatter might be more difficult to watch than either the (a) fantastical zombie-on-human violence (MUCH easier to compartmentalize) or (b) the other forms of human-on-human violence we've seen on the show? I don't think you can even compare what they showed to a non-lethal shard of glass to the eye to someone who richly deserved it. How many of you would prefer to go out like the deceased did in this episode vs. the way Hershel went out? Right - it was far worse and beyond the pale.

I can understand if they wanted to take the story in this direction, but I really don't think they needed to gratuitously show every brain-splattering, eyeball-popping blow. The fact that they replicated the comic to me is not a justification - I thought it was excessive and gratuitous then, and, as many have pointed out, it's far worse to see it happen realistically on screen to a human being vs. a character drawn on a page. 17 million people tuned into the premiere, and, it doesn't take a math genius to realize that, regardless of how they felt about the episode as a whole, millions of them really didn't feel like they needed to see that.

It has a lot to do with Glenn being such a well loved character, a gleefully sadistic killer, all while his wife and friends watch in horror. What's so hard to understand that some people are totally turned off by this?

Sorry, I gotta' ask this. I can't check, because I already deleted the episode.

How did the axe wind up on top of the wheeler? I remember him throwing it outside, figuring it would land about 10 or 15 feet on the ground from where the vehicle was. Did he in fact chuck it on the roof?

It has a lot to do with Glenn being such a well loved character, a gleefully sadistic killer, all while his wife and friends watch in horror. What's so hard to understand that some people are totally turned off by this?

I'm team Negan

If stupid Daryl would have listened then none of that would have happened, would it.

And yet, far worse things happen in real life, everyday

They went for sensationalism, and while a bit over the top with violence, it was pretty much accurate to the comic which was interesting. I did not think they would be able/willing to do that. The blood effect is really no different than we have seen in how many horror or action (300 had more spatter per camera shot) movies. The Saw franchise is way worse for gore IMHO. If it was only Abraham that was whacked then I wonder if it would have generated as much of a response?

In any case, I am willing to bet that a lot of the people that are stating that they are done with the show online will be back at some point to see how they get revenge on Negan (they will likely be disappointed if the TV show sticks to the comic with this........). After something like this, the need for punishment of the perpetrator will draw people back.

FWIW, I was really hoping that Daryl would get whacked as well as I grew tired of his character a long time ago, but c'est la vie. Looking at the love fest they have with him and the way the story line is shaping up now, he has just as good of a chance of replacing Negan as Dwight does, unfortunately.

It has a lot to do with Glenn being such a well loved character, a gleefully sadistic killer, all while his wife and friends watch in horror. What's so hard to understand that some people are totally turned off by this?

 

I'm team Negan

 

If stupid Daryl would have listened then none of that would have happened, would it.

That was my first thought as well. It looked like he tossed it sideways, not up on top.

People have been getting ripped and pulled apart, as have horses since the beginning. We watched a senior citizen get decapitated, we've watched a human being get stabbed in the eye with a shard of glass (many people's phobia) but this is too much and pushed you over the edge? Weirdest thing I have ever heard in my life.

Weirder still is that we've known for six months it was coming. Plus the moment everyone's complaining about was already the most infamous and widely known moment from the comics, so much so that Steven Yeun said this on Talking Dead after the show:

Personally for me, I think the death in the comic, Robert [Kirkman] wrote such a messed up, but at the same time, incredible way to take something away — to make a story as impactful as it is. When you read that comic, you kind of don’t want that to go to anyone else. It’s such an iconic moment. I think I even said that. Don’t give that to anyone else. It’s such a gnarly thing to say, but sincerely, living that out was very wild, but at the same time, that moment happening and being realized on television in a different medium and to do it in the way that we did it, I think is brave and at the same time, super-affecting. For me, that was motivation to be like, Okay, that’s great.

 

Glenn died in a very Glenn way. That’s what my wife Jo said — he died in such a Glenn way, which is perfect. Still not thinking about himself. I think it’s appropriate that he ends there, and it’s also appropriate that he puts those last words out as a final look out for each other.

It has a lot to do with Glenn being such a well loved character, a gleefully sadistic killer, all while his wife and friends watch in horror. What's so hard to understand that some people are totally turned off by this?

That's the exact response Kirkman has been going for since the first issue. He and Martin on "Game of Thrones" prefer the build 'em up, knock 'em down style of character progression and death in direct opposition to the historical preference that television producers have for not killing off characters for fear of losing their audience. I'm neutral on the violence end since I've seen so much of the same stuff in plenty of other mainstream works, but I prefer their approach to offing main characters. Kirkman says he'd like to off Rick in the same way but he doesn't think it's interesting to do so. He prefers to make the show about Rick's progression and can't do that if he kills him off. He has also explicitly said this in several interviews (this is a mild and somewhat obvious spoiler from Kirkman about the future of the comic and show, but perhaps some would prefer not to read it):

But he has also explicitly lied about who he's planning to kill off to throw fans a curveball, so don't take it as gospel since he may be shining us on. If you weren't aware of his intent after a dozen primary characters have died in variably horrible ways, you've now been warned. Don't be surprised to see Michonne get hung from a tree by her hands while walkers slowly chew her legs off or something similarly horrible. That's the type of thing Kirkman has been going for from the start.

Weirder still is that we've known for six months it was coming. Plus the moment everyone's complaining about was already the most infamous and widely known moment from the comics, so much so that Steven Yeun said this on Talking Dead after the show

It's not that we didn't know that one or more main characters would die, one of which was quite possibly Glenn. It's that we didn't expect to be shown every brain-splattering blow of Lucille. Remember how season six ended? Negan swinging Lucille down over and over while the camera gets splattered with blood (seeing it from the first victim's perspective) before fading to black. Tough to watch, yes, especially knowing that this was how one of the main characters would be going out. Sure, for the season 7 reveal, we'd have to see who got it, but, I certainly didn't expect the camera to stay trained on the victims with each blow mutilating them further and further. That is some seriously sick stuff.

I don't care that it was done in the comics - it's different and in even worse taste to show it like they did in real life, especially since it's not just a couple/few hundred thousand comics readers (many of whom have above-average desensitivity to this kind of stuff from being into/exposed to often violent pop culture/media) seeing it in print, but an audience of 17 million viewers (many of whom are not totally desensitized to violence, including kids/teens) tuning in. I don't have a problem that they decided to kill off two main characters; I have a problem that they didn't have the decency to film it in a less gratuitous manner. How about a shot from distance showing the killing blow, and then cutting away to Negan as opposed to watching every blow turn Abraham's head into pulp and all the shots of the mess on the ground that followed? Did they really have to follow the comic shot by shot when it came to Glenn to please the fanboys?

People should stop trying to equate the brutality of these scenes to what has been shown before. The very fact that so many people are reacting this way to what was depicted, but not what was shown before, just might be a little hint that maybe the two really aren't that comparable except to those who are pretty much desensitized to all forms of violence. But, that doesn't mean everyone else is too.

It's that we didn't expect to be shown every brain-splattering blow of Lucille.

My surprise is that it took this long. They significantly toned down what the Governor and Michonne did to each other from the comic which contained explicitly-shown brutal rape on his end and extreme torture on hers, so much so that I don't feel that I can even post panels from the relevant early issues from the series without getting reported. Had this show been picked up by HBO--which obviously they now know was a mistake to pass on--the viewers who have a problem with Glenn would have given up after season 3, possibly during season 1.

It has a lot to do with Glenn being such a well loved character, a gleefully sadistic killer, all while his wife and friends watch in horror. What's so hard to understand that some people are totally turned off by this?

 

I'm team Negan

 

If stupid Daryl would have listened then none of that would have happened, would it.

 

That was my first thought as well. It looked like he tossed it sideways, not up on top.

I think there was a thump as it hit the roof, nice hook shot.

Don't be surprised to see Michonne get hung from a tree by her hands while walkers slowly chew her legs off or something similarly horrible. That's the type of thing Kirkman has been going for from the start.

That won't happen, for the simple fact that a white creator hanging a black character from a tree to their death would cause, and rightfully so, such an outrage that he would never return from.

the ax was on the ground. Rick made his way to it and used it to get rid of zombies. then got separated from it, got it back and climbed on the roof with it. as best I remember.

the ax was on the ground. Rick made his way to it and used it to get rid of zombies. then got separated from it, got it back and climbed on the roof with it. as best I remember.

correct

the ax was on the ground. Rick made his way to it and used it to get rid of zombies. then got separated from it, got it back and climbed on the roof with it. as best I remember.

 

correct

Incorrect. Rick fought with his bare hands to get to the ladder and on the roof where the axe was laying.

the ax was on the ground. Rick made his way to it and used it to get rid of zombies. then got separated from it, got it back and climbed on the roof with it. as best I remember.

 

correct

 

Incorrect. Rick fought with his bare hands to get to the ladder and on the roof where the axe was laying.

 

Negan threw the axe out the doorway to the ground. Rick went out of the RV to get it. but could not see it and fought bare handed with the zombies. He got knocked to the ground, and laying on the ground he spotted the axe laying on the ground not far from where he was, he fought his way to it. Rick kills several zombies with the axe, then he began to get overwhelmed so he climbed the ladder of the RV to the roof with the axe. The RV was swarmed on all sides with zombies. The only way he could get back into the RV was to jump from the RV to the hanging zombie. From the hanging zombie he fell to the ground, and he had dropped the axe. Rick was in trouble at that point and received help from Negan who shot down several of the zombies and then Rick recovered the axe again and fought his way back to the RV.

It started on the ground.