Wow. I mean….wow. Now, before I start this off – just know that I’ve been a fan of The Walking Dead for years. When people were asking what it was about when the TV Show was first announced, I would educate people on the wonders of the comics and urge them to read through the post apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead. The turmoil between Rick and Shane, the way Carl has to grow up in a world that so far removed from what his childhood has prepared him for, the romance between Andrea and Dale…
Still, go read them if you haven’t already. They’re a damned fine read and as – if not in parts – more entertaining than AMC’s TV adaptation. However, one thing you need to remember is that there are unavoidable differences, for example Daryl and his older brother Merle have never been a part of the comics – this being possibly the biggest difference, but the story arc is basically the same. The RV, Herschel’s Farm, the Prison, The Governor, Alexandria and of course now, Negan and The Saviors. Some key events are basically the same, albeit it with some minor differences. For example, Herschel getting his legs amputated? That was Dale in the books. Bob being infected and then the cannibals eating him, you know the whole “Tainted Meat!” thing? Yeah…that was Dale again in the books. Come to think of it, Dale was a lot more prominent in the books…
Anyway, that brings me nicely to the key event that everyone was waiting for in the Season 7 opener for The Walking Dead – who was going to get intimately acquainted with Lucille? I’ll refer you again to the comics, this scene marked the 100th edition of the comics with the promise that a key character would die. In the comic world, that key character was Glenn. However as had been shown time and again, things change between the comics and the TV show, although a lot of people thought it was going to be Glenn, there were many rumors flying around that it would be any one of the cast. Apart from Rick, I mean The Walking Dead is essentially HIS story.
So, when the episode started and Negan was taunting Rick with the blood soaked Lucille, you knew that the deed had been done, but you were still in the dark until about a quarter of the way through. The added tension and build up throughout that opening section of the show punctuated brilliantly by the tiny flashbacks to Rick’s memories of each of his comrades. Whilst Negan had Rick alone in the RV, he continually taunted him to the point that he threw his hatchet on the roof and ordered him to retrieve it. Like a playground bully but in a sadistically twisted way. Forcing Rick to fight unarmed through a minor horde of walkers to get the hatchet back. Whilst on the roof, Negan started telling Rick to think about what had happened and what will happen if he doesn’t tow the line. This is when the biggest question of the summer was answered.
In the most horrific game of Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Moe ever played, the tension and anticipation grew to a fevor pitch. Until finally, “Moe” turned out to be – Abraham. In a show as brutal as The Walking Dead, you’d be forgiven for thinking that someone being clubbed to death with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire would be quite tame in comparison to some of the deaths in the show. You’d be wrong. After taking 2 to the head “like a champ”, Abraham raised himself and uttered his last words – “Suck my balls.”
Quite frankly, I couldn’t think of better last words for him as his head started to resemble a pile of mashed potatoes, dyed red with a bit of ginger hair on top. It was horrific, even by The Walking Dead’s standards, but the horror didn’t end there. Everybody’s favorite character Daryl lunged at Negan after he started poking them all a little too much, landing a punch to a collective yell of “NOOOO!” from possibly everyone watching. Of course, if you didn’t know by now, you’ll know now that Negan is not your typical bad guy. He is a true smiling cerebral assassin, taking every opportunity to screw with their minds as much as possible. He maintained that he was true to his word, that someone else would have to go – and then the prophecy of the comics came through. With a swift turn and a couple of blows to Glenn’s cranium, he was floored. Gasps, horror and even tears welling up as this happened, stunning people who thought that there would be but 1 victim of Lucille and Negan.
This is where the show stayed almost too true to the comics, Glenn getting back up on his knees – one eye almost completely popped out, mumbling “Mmm….Mmmaaaa” Negan smiling throughout this ordeal, serving to help cement his character as a keeper. Laughing and smiling as he tried to get Glenn to finish what he was trying to say, only for him to mumble out “Maggie – I will find you.” Clinging onto life as the seconds went by, you were almost begging Negan through the screen to put him out of his pain and anguish. Negan delivered, making Abraham’s death just minutes prior look somewhat amateurish in comparison.
It is safe to say that truly a new chapter has been turned in The Walking Dead, the dawn of Negan is finally here and it’s something I’ve been looking forward to for years. Negan’s sadistic streak continued throughout the episode, continually cracking bad puns like referring to Lucille as a “Vampire Bat”. You cannot help but love this character and Jeffrey Dean Morgan brings this character to life in a way that I could not have predicted, but they have truly got the casting there absolutely 100% right. The sadistic tendencies of Negan continued, to the extent that he almost made Rick cut his own sons arm off to prove a point. It was one of those moments that perhaps lasted about 3 minutes, but felt like 3 hours because you genuinely – fan of the books or not – had no idea what way it would go.
All in all, from the way they expertly dragged out who was going to die to the way Negan mentally and physically dominated Rick, to the sense of utter desperation not ever seen during the darkest days of The Walking Dead gone by showed that Season 7 is going to be an absolute roller-coaster of a ride, with Negan sure to be as much loved a character for the charisma that oozes from him as freely as the blood oozed from Lucille after a “double-header”…
The Walking Dead is back and it’s more brutal and more sadistically desperate than it has ever been before. Next week really cannot come quickly enough, I would say to expect the usual quieter episode following this one but the rules as you know it are different now, they’re not written by the walkers, the situation or even Rick – they’re being written by Negan, so buckle in for one hell of a ride this season.
