The Walking Dead: The Day Will Come When You Won't Be
The season 7 opener of The Walking Dead was certainly the most impactful and memorable season opener in the show’s history. It was brutal, deflating, and depressing as well. I was generally disappointed with season 6, but I think the current season is off to a great start. The episode certainly wasn’t perfect. They didn’t need to take about twenty minutes to finally get to the reveal, and people may be turned off the by the graphic violence in this episode, but it was loaded with tension, and it will be one that the viewers will never forget.
Glenn and Abraham
The death of Abraham wasn’t a complete surprise. I initially predicted Daryl would be the one getting killed by Negan, but later changed my mind to Maggie as the season opener got closer. I was wrong on both counts, but Abraham would have been my next choice. Knowing that a major character was going to get their head bashed in, it wasn’t a big shock. I don’t think Negan randomly picked Abraham. He probably sized this group up and realized Abraham would be his toughest foe other than Rick. Glenn later getting killed was far more surprising. I didn’t see it coming, so when it did, it was pretty stunning. Having said that, I think the impact of Glenn dying here is lessened by the debacle of last season when the show cheated the audience by teasing his death, and making him survive in the most ridiculous and unbelievable of circumstances. Glenn is really the heart and soul of the group. I also liked how Maggie handled his death. At the end of the episode, she was the only one whose response was that they were going to kill Negan.
Negan
What a bastard. There have been some dastardly foes that the group has had to face, but none of them are anywhere near the level of Negan. This guy is evil with a capital E. His brutality and callousness are pretty monstrous, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan did a great job of portraying him.
Rick
Even more devastating than Abraham and Glenn’s death was just how broken Rick was by the end of this episode. This is in such contrast to the final episode of last season where before they took off to get Maggie medical help, one of the Alexandrians asked what they should do if Negan showed up while he was away, and he replied something along the lines of, “Tell Negan I have something for him.” That was so arrogant on his part, and it was a big reason why I didn’t like season 6 that much. The group had gotten too full of themselves and things came too easily for them. To see Rick in the state that he was in after nearly severing Carl’s arm was a quantum leap in his character from where he had been. I never thought Carl was actually going to lose his arm. The scene played out the way I thought it would with Negan stopping Rick just before chopping his son’s arm off.
Poor Daryl. Glenn’s death is kind of on him, and now he’s been taken captive by Negan. I have a feeling that Daryl’s life will be pretty miserable. I don’t think the Negan storyline will be resolved that soon. I think this will go on for more than a single season, as opposed to most of the villains the group has faced, which have only lasted one season. Whenever they killed big characters before, it has been part of an overall story arc where they usually prevail or at least good things happen. This episode had no uplifting aspects at all. After the episode, it was almost like why should these characters bother continuing on if they are going to be under Negan’s thumb like that? This was an incredible start to the season.
Glenn and Abraham
The death of Abraham wasn’t a complete surprise. I initially predicted Daryl would be the one getting killed by Negan, but later changed my mind to Maggie as the season opener got closer. I was wrong on both counts, but Abraham would have been my next choice. Knowing that a major character was going to get their head bashed in, it wasn’t a big shock. I don’t think Negan randomly picked Abraham. He probably sized this group up and realized Abraham would be his toughest foe other than Rick. Glenn later getting killed was far more surprising. I didn’t see it coming, so when it did, it was pretty stunning. Having said that, I think the impact of Glenn dying here is lessened by the debacle of last season when the show cheated the audience by teasing his death, and making him survive in the most ridiculous and unbelievable of circumstances. Glenn is really the heart and soul of the group. I also liked how Maggie handled his death. At the end of the episode, she was the only one whose response was that they were going to kill Negan.
Negan
What a bastard. There have been some dastardly foes that the group has had to face, but none of them are anywhere near the level of Negan. This guy is evil with a capital E. His brutality and callousness are pretty monstrous, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan did a great job of portraying him.
Rick
Even more devastating than Abraham and Glenn’s death was just how broken Rick was by the end of this episode. This is in such contrast to the final episode of last season where before they took off to get Maggie medical help, one of the Alexandrians asked what they should do if Negan showed up while he was away, and he replied something along the lines of, “Tell Negan I have something for him.” That was so arrogant on his part, and it was a big reason why I didn’t like season 6 that much. The group had gotten too full of themselves and things came too easily for them. To see Rick in the state that he was in after nearly severing Carl’s arm was a quantum leap in his character from where he had been. I never thought Carl was actually going to lose his arm. The scene played out the way I thought it would with Negan stopping Rick just before chopping his son’s arm off.
Poor Daryl. Glenn’s death is kind of on him, and now he’s been taken captive by Negan. I have a feeling that Daryl’s life will be pretty miserable. I don’t think the Negan storyline will be resolved that soon. I think this will go on for more than a single season, as opposed to most of the villains the group has faced, which have only lasted one season. Whenever they killed big characters before, it has been part of an overall story arc where they usually prevail or at least good things happen. This episode had no uplifting aspects at all. After the episode, it was almost like why should these characters bother continuing on if they are going to be under Negan’s thumb like that? This was an incredible start to the season.
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