My thought's on tonight's premiere of The Walking Dead! *SPOILERS*
If you've made it here by mistake, I'd just like to reiterate this blog DOES HAVE SPOILERS!
Photo credit: Gene Page/AMC
I just finished watching the season premiere of The Walking Dead, and I’m kind of in a manic emotional tailspin […why I’m beginning to write at 1:00a.m. instead of going to sleep]. If there’s anything I can say I love about Steemit, it’s having a platform to share my thoughts with an audience, be it about photography, illustration, comics, politics, the world, or in this case, entertainment […more specifically, writing].
I’m not a professional writer, but it’s an art form I’ve come to love and admire in the last few years while preparing myself to undertake comic books and graphic novels as a career. To a degree, it’s become increasingly hard for me to enjoy a film or a show without thinking about the writing. Instead of having “Ohhh’s and ahhhh’s”, I find myself asking “…why did they do that?”, or “…why didn’t they do that?”. I watched Abraham die and thought “…that makes sense.”
@customnature and I have been discussing the end of last season’s finale for six months or so. I’ve also been a fan of Kirkman for almost ten years. He’s notorious for staying ahead of his audience’s predictions, and I was expecting something beyond Abraham. “…my mama told me to pick the very best one and you are it!” was telling, so my money would have been on Daryl, but alas, Glenn is dead.
I’m far from the authority on critiquing good drama, but my opinion is worth whatever this post earns, so that’s enough to share it. The writers and show runners got a lot right, as did the director, Greg Nicotero. This goes a little deeper than making big decisions on which characters will be at the receiving end of Negan’s bat, Lucille.
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Glenn’s death was horrifying, but one thing I can assure you of, it was no worse than decades of horror I’ve watched over the years. I grew up on Dead Alive, High Tension, Cannibal Holocaust, and on, and on. Really, it was the execution […no pun intended] of that scene. For me, the unease really sat in while Negan nonchalantly walked around taunting the rest of the Alexandria group. There was long silences, often with Glenn completely off camera leaving us with that image of his bulging eye in our heads while he choked and gurgled.” I felt unusually cringeworthy, taking me out of that aforementioned mental state, thinking of the writing before experiencing the show. I just wanted Glenn put out of his misery, and it just didn’t happen for what felt like an eternity.
Photo credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
I also have to tip my hat to the cast, as they really brought this macabre spectacle to life. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is such a easy motherfucker to hate. I still think of him as the Comedian in Watchmen. Andrew Lincoln also made this Negan nightmare all the more real for me. At the end of last season, he was this unshakeable badass that was warning his people “…they’ve never dealt with us!”, and even before the Abraham and Glenn beatings, he was outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and outbadassed, there on his knees. The scene on the top of the caravan having flashbacks to what he just witnessed…that my friends is PTSD at it’s finest. It’ll be real interesting to see how this all affects his character going forward.
Reading a review of tonight’s premiere by Forbes writer, Erik Kain, he said “Tonight’s killing was tasteless and gory and gross. Like the episode left me unclean, dirty, sick to my stomach. I’m not sure if this was great drama, or just torture porn. I’m not sure how to feel, only that it all feels wrong. Maybe that’s the feeling I’m supposed to have. I think I need more time to process.” I absolutely believe that was Kirkman and Nicotero’s intent! I once read an interview where Robert Kirkman said “…the most beloved characters must suffer the most horrific deaths.”. They did not fuck around here in the first episode of season seven.
And let’s talk season seven for a moment! Who would have ever believed there’d be this much drama and excitement in such a mature show! This is where all the big series and franchises lose their way […not to say it still couldn’t happen, because as my brother @customnature once pointed out, there was an entire episode in season four where the only thing that happened in 43 minutes was that Carl found a photo and they got a few more guns]. It’s encouraging, though. We can all imagine the possibilities of the revenge arc that’ll follow tonight’s tragedies.
My closing thoughts […as I’m still processing this] is that I’m glad Glenn died, and the gravity of his death is what will make it so memorable. As I said at the top, it’s good writing, as sad as I am to see him go. They kind of jerked us off with the fake death last season, so seeing a real, horrifying death kind of rights that wrong. If you could hear through the gurgling, his last words to Maggie were “I’ll find you…”, illustating the point that even in his last moments, he was selfless, thinking of everyone but himself, like the Glenn we all known and love.
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for AMC
Good bye, Glenn. You will be missed. And you, too, Abraham […to a lesser extent]. What were your thoughts on tonight’s season premiere of The Walking Dead?
For me this episode was almost perfect, Negan and Rick actors outdid themselves. Episode would be a true 10/10 if Rick chopped the arm of his boy. That would have even more impact than Glen's death. Or that he had to chop his own arm instead of Carl's. That would cement Negan as one of the most ruthless TV characters ever.
@moon32walker the thing I did really like about not having Carl's arm chopped off is that it absolutely keeps us guessing as an audience, because after Abraham and Glenn, there's NO doubt that Negan is the kind of guy that WOULD make Rick do it. Sort of a mercy call letting him off the hook with that, and really supports the fucked up psychology Negan is playing on Rick. Such a good episode! I'm so excited to see what happens next week, although I suspect they'll really tone it down and go slow with how this'll all affect our group.
Negan is such a great character for this show, he is in for just one episode and he stole the whole show. I've also read the comics so I know what is what, but I'm interested to see what will they do with his character in the TV show. I also expect next few episodes to go with their normal flow and then some revenge. How can zombie show be this interesting, I'd say great job from the creators.