Walking Dead Season 7

[Mikey]

Didn't like it, too much relentless violence

FF through a lot of it.

Take away all the beatings and reaction shots and the episode was like 5 minutes long.

[Sideshow Spock]

All I wanted during Negan's endless ranting and raving was for a shot to suddenly ring out, and there he is with a hole in his head looking all surprised, then falling on his face like a ton of bricks. One of his own men comes out from the crowd with a smoking gun, and says, "Okay, I think we'd all had enough of that. Now let's go back to town, wash up, and have a party!"

That would be a lot more satisfying.

[drquest]

I think I disagree about Carl. He's still a kid, and a lot of his developmental years have been within this Hell on Earth. Remember he had to kill his own mom.... I don't think his lack of emotions or matter of fact view on the things going on is due to bad acting, I think that's the way I would expect him to be. Even with my own kids, I notice they have very different reactions about things I would have flipped out about at their same ages. It's the environment and a different generation. To Carl this is life and it's how he's dealing with it.

Regarding Glenn and Abraham, I think Glenn's story was done, and given they did the whole dumpster deal last season with him, I was ready for him to go. Abraham, I like the actor a lot, and enjoyed the character, so I probably would have traded him for someone else.

How about we choose one other character that was on their knees there to trade out if we could have?

Here's the list of everyone on their knees: Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, Glenn, Eugene, Maggie, Aaron, Abraham, Sasha

I would trade Abraham for Aaron. Main reason is he's not brought too much to the table and is the newest one of the list. I don't know what his future holds comic wise, so it's just a shot in the dark.

[Iron Mego]

All I wanted during Negan's endless ranting and raving was for a shot to suddenly ring out, and there he is with a hole in his head looking all surprised, then falling on his face like a ton of bricks. One of his own men comes out from the crowd with a smoking gun, and says, "Okay, I think we'd all had enough of that. Now let's go back to town, wash up, and have a party!"

That would be a lot more satisfying.

Hear hear! I normally like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but really can't stand him as Negan. All the smiling, jokey stuff has already gotten on my last nerve.

[Hector]

I think I disagree about Carl. He's still a kid, and a lot of his developmental years have been within this Hell on Earth. Remember he had to kill his own mom.... I don't think his lack of emotions or matter of fact view on the things going on is due to bad acting, I think that's the way I would expect him to be. Even with my own kids, I notice they have very different reactions about things I would have flipped out about at their same ages. It's the environment and a different generation. To Carl this is life and it's how he's dealing with it.

Regarding Glenn and Abraham, I think Glenn's story was done, and given they did the whole dumpster deal last season with him, I was ready for him to go. Abraham, I like the actor a lot, and enjoyed the character, so I probably would have traded him for someone else.

How about we choose one other character that was on their knees there to trade out if we could have?

Here's the list of everyone on their knees: Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, Glenn, Eugene, Maggie, Aaron, Abraham, Sasha

I would trade Abraham for Aaron. Main reason is he's not brought too much to the table and is the newest one of the list. I don't know what his future holds comic wise, so it's just a shot in the dark.

The Carl actor just doesn't have much range...even after accepting the things you mentioned, him growing up in that world, killing his mom, etc...he still does those things like a robot, not a human dealing with bottled up emotions. Believe me, had it been a young Leonardo DiCaprio, it would've been a much better Carl, much better. The kid is just not that good of an actor to pull off those very things you mentioned effectively. My humble opinion of course.

Now on the last part of your post, you pose a very interesting scenario. Picking Aaron is the easy way out...as he's the newest member of the group, and he has not had as much screen time as the others, too easy of a choice. How about removing him from the equation?

Here's the list of everyone on their knees (sans Aaron): Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, Glenn, Eugene, Maggie, Abraham, Sasha.

Ok, Abraham had to go, he was living on borrowed time...Julia took one on the eye for him. Sorry, I'd still let Abraham have it...plus he dumped Rosita for Sasha in the most arzehole possible manner. Bye Abraham, lol. Glenn had to go too, again, like Abraham, living on borrowed time. The surviving dumpster suspense was silly...he had to go too. Plus his death is the single most iconic death in the comics, he had to die by Lucille, had to. Now the real difficult scenario would be taking out not only Aaron, but Abraham and Glenn too. So who goes next outta that batch?

Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Rosita, Eugene, Maggie, Sasha.

WELL, CARL OF COURSE, YOU SILLY WABBIT!!!!

[Hector]

Hear hear! I normally like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but really can't stand him as Negan. All the smiling, jokey stuff has already gotten on my last nerve.

But that's what makes him so awesome...the fact that you can't wait for him to get it, speaks volumes of his performance...he's the ultimate murderous arzehole jackarze. Trust me, once Ricks gets him back, you are going to love it, lol.

[Goblin19]

Based on the comics, that could be a long wait. The Governor story line got dragged out too long for tv. It will be an interesting choice to see how long Negan stays. It's hard to have a villain stick around and not get old on television. It's different than in comics.

[Hector]

I agree Hec. Negan does all that to him and he just lies there in the dirt? Any normal kid would be crying, pleading, squirming, twisting (all the stuff his dad was doing)...he croaks out "just do it" and that's it?

I hope they address the fact Glenn died because of Daryl.

Oddly, the two deaths weren't a shock to me, kinda expected it. Abraham should have bought it earlier (and Denise was a more interesting character IMHO). And Glenn not dying would have been a disappointment I think to comics fans. A bigger shock would have been Sasha or Rosita. Abraham was one of my least favorite characters, I thought he really didn't add much to the group other than a goofy comment now & again. Sort of like T-Dogg in the earlier seasons. Could have been more but the writers mostly had him stand around in the group scenes. So far the only deaths that really got me were Beth and the kid in the flowers. Oh, and Sophia in the barn.
Actually, at this point, the group needed a thinning as they're are too many stories going on. And Negan is so larger than life out there he's going to overwhelm the rest of them. If you watched the Talking Dead show (which I usually avoid), when the whole cast was on stage and the guy who plays Negan came out ( forgot his name), but he was like Bam! The rest of them disappeared.
Speaking of Talking Dead...can Robert Kirkman look anymore smug? And Scott Gimple anymore annoyed by being there? Can Chris Hardwick kiss butt any harder...seriously he carries on like he's honoring The Pope instead of some third rate character actor leaving the show to become a gueststar on NCIS next week. I realize that's his job, but come on...

Agreed across the board...

[Nostalgiabuff]

now I look at the Carl thing differently. not only did he kills his own mom, he has been shot twice, once in the eye leaving him horribly disfigured. he has hardened himself to the world. that being said, I do agree with Hec that the actor does not have much range and does tend to be annoying

all I can say is that was the most brutal and intense episode to date. they need to lighten things up a bit for a few episodes. too much grimness and death gets old very fast on a TV show

[drquest]

now I look at the Carl thing differently. not only did he kills his own mom, he has been shot twice, once in the eye leaving him horribly disfigured. he has hardened himself to the world. that being said, I do agree with Hec that the actor does not have much range and does tend to be annoying

all I can say is that was the most brutal and intense episode to date. they need to lighten things up a bit for a few episodes. too much grimness and death gets old very fast on a TV show

Granted Carl, as an actor might not have the range others might, but I think he's being portrayed in a way that makes sense.

I think next week's episode will show Morgan and Carol quite a bit, so it just might be a slower episode....

[Hector]

I rewatched the death scenes...the second one was way more graphic than the first one...and the first one was no chump change either...holy crap...popped eye aside, body was basically headless...and body still twitching...that was some nasty stuff...I haven't even seen that type of gruesomeness in hardcore R rated flicks, let alone HBO or Showtime...friggin AMC is really going for broke, lol. Funny, they show horrific violent things...yet they are too prune to even use the F-word...Breaking Bad used it, but oh no...not the Walking Dead, too classless for them, lol.

[sprytel]

The acting was across the board tremendous (yes, with one exception), and I had a pit in my stomach the entire episode... but I think they lost me. I like bleak things, but this may have gone too far.

I don't like that they killed Glenn. He was the glue of the show. He was the only character who could be a bad*ss without sacrificing his humanity. And I know it happened in the comics... but I think it was a mistake for the show.

I kept thinking: "Well, Rick started it. He attacked Negan's camp and killed his men." If these were the Wolves, or the Canibals, or any of the many other gangs that provoked Rick, we'd all be comfortable with a little vengeance on them. Why does Rick's group deserve better?

Of course, after taking us to such a sad and hopeless place, I'm not sure begging for their lives seemed entirely the right reaction, either. Just take the bullets. This show will never let you be happy.

I will undoubtedly give it another episode, to see if it can win me back. But that was some dark and nihilistic stuff right there...

[YoungOnce]

The acting was across the board tremendous (yes, with one exception), and I had a pit in my stomach the entire episode... but I think they lost me. I like bleak things, but this may have gone too far.

I don't like that they killed Glenn. He was the glue of the show. He was the only character who could be a bad*ss without sacrificing his humanity. And I know it happened in the comics... but I think it was a mistake for the show.

I kept thinking: "Well, Rick started it. He attacked Negan's camp and killed his men." If these were the Wolves, or the Canibals, or any of the many other gangs that provoked Rick, we'd all be comfortable with a little vengeance on them. Why does Rick's group deserve better?

Of course, after taking us to such a sad and hopeless place, I'm not sure begging for their lives seemed entirely the right reaction, either. Just take the bullets. This show will never let you be happy.

I will undoubtedly give it another episode, to see if it can win me back. But that was some dark and nihilistic stuff right there...

I'm kind of in this camp. The only reason I'm watching it now is because the rest of the family does.

[hedrap]

It was good, but not deserving of the Top Secret clearance. I found it pretty obvious the entire hush-hush was, once again, Gimple trying to out-think the audience.

After I read Henry Rollins was the basis for Negan, Morgan had little chance with me. He's over the top in everything I've seen him in, and what's scary is he's said Negan has to be played subdued. Think about that; this is JDM idea of a subtle character portrayal! He's like a villain from 48 Hours or The Rock.

IMO, the Wolves and Terminus really hurt the Saviors. The Carl/Hatchet threat had some weight, but honestly...think of all the crap they've witnessed. Watching two close friends get their heads bashed in wouldn't be hard to accept after you were trapped and almost eaten by living humans!

[YoungOnce]

IMO, the Wolves and Terminus really hurt the Saviors. The Carl/Hatchet threat had some weight, but honestly...think of all the crap they've witnessed. Watching two close friends get their heads bashed in wouldn't be hard to accept after you were trapped and almost eaten by living humans!

Your statement here clears up some of my thinking on the whole direction of the show. Since this show has really not been about exploring a larger world and this plague's effects outside this group's circle, all the show has been doing is escalating things by having Rick and gang amble from one bad group to an even badder group, rinse, lather repeat...There is nothing to do but escalate the carnage and threat each time.

Again, this show was ground-breaking. But if it devolves into torture porn with no long term narrative goals, I gotta say, I don't want to hang around just to see how the characters die.