Rob V

Yep, this. I'll still watch because I want to see an end game... so to that point, this show needs to establish an END. Declare a final season and give us a wrap up of some sort. It shouldn't be wash, rinse, repeat until the ratings are in the toilet!

Troy Stiffler

Glenn got what he had coming after that dumpster cop out scene last season. I hope it hurt, you asshole.

thematahara

You could say that for any sitcom or procedural, definitely.

I guess if you look at it as a Zombie/Survival procedural, than the complaints or expectations of resolution tend to go away.

This is the only show I ever watched that had so much pain/suffering with no promise or hope of an eventual payoff for all that grief.

Again, not shitting on the show, just ended up not being my thing. I was just curious as to what keeps regular watchers tune in every week, besides to see who may or may not die.

Draven

Speaking for myself and my wife (who's a way bigger fan than I am), we like the actors, we like the characters, we like the apocalyptic nature of the show, we like the zombie kills and we like the unpredictability of it all.

funkyryno

That likely set a record for the most brutal TV episode ever.

IT was stomach-turning, but we shouldn't have expected anything less.

DeadLamb

I still think the scene of the people at the slaughter trough from the premiere of a past season is the most disturbing. I'm guessing I'm alone on this one but character motivation mater more to me in a story than pure actions.

Sure, this ep has more gore but I'm not watching the show for the gory kills. So to me a character who is clearly looking to drive a message and bat people around to keep everyone else in line is not really all that shocking given the nature of their world now.

but just people having a random casual conversions as they slaughter others like they are cattle or just food? Yeah that still is the more sinister set up to me.

stingermck

A good, well thought out read by people who did not like the episode:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/24/1...-quitters-club

Neil M.

This should have been the season finale last season.

raven56706

good god... such babies... For the real fans, this is as good as it gets. Thats how its done. Hell its supposed to be more brutal.


People loved the Deadpool movie because its a rated r movie and fun.

This show is a zombie show with some fucked up characters. It is what it is. Ratings however is through the roof. up 30% more than last finale. But i believe many will leave next week

raven56706

I swear. Some people that i have seen on facebook watch this show for the sole purpose of complaining about it.

"They killed a character nobody cared about!"
"They killed one of the main characters!"
"Too soft!"
"Too brutal!"
"Why didn't they kill the pregnant one?!"
"Too boring!"
"All they do is go for shocks!"

It's ridiculous. I don't know if you people are sadists, masochists, or just hard to please, but for not liking the show so much, you've still hung on for 7 seasons.

mcnabb

If Kirkman/Gimple really wanted to reset the show and fuck with the audience, they could have killed Rick and make Maggie the leader of the group. She has a clear motive to kill Negan more then anyone of the group, so you could see her ascending to that role, with Carol, Darryl and Sasha as her 2nd in command.

Rick is my favorite character on the show, but his arc each season is getting tiresome simply because we have been there done that with him as the leader. I do wonder if they would lose a chunk of viewers if they went the route of Maggie or Carol being the new leader, but it would definitly take the show in a different direction.

Raul3

Remember: when someone announces in the internet that they are quitting a show, they will keep watching.

I actually stopped watching the show in S2. It was boring, and in the final episode I watched that season, one character, I think it was Andrea, did a really dumb thing. I got really mad and decided to quit the show. But I went cold turkey. I didn't check any threads, posts, articles, etc. I came back later in S3, or S4?, when the buzz was really high again.

If I was Negan I would be careful with one character. Maggie? Nah, too obvious. Rick? Already controlled. I would be careful of Eugene. He would be passive aggressive, and he's smart. And now he has a big motivation. He could build a nuclear bomb, figuratively, and kill Negan without issue. Not a comic reader, but I'm sure he will be important this season.

And of course we have the other members, Carol and Morgan, and the group they were searching. It should be interesting what happens there. Again, not a comic reader.

VinVega

Ultimately, Rick is the what the story is about. It would be too weird to kill off THE main character of this show. Some of the other characters could be spun off somehow and maybe that would happen with Daryl at the end of this series. After all Beth said he'd be the last one standing.

Raul3

The show has some differences with the comic but it's its main source. People that read the comics can say if it's 80-90% similar. Or something like that.

Saying that, Rick is the main character of the comic, so although possible, it would be really hard to kill him in the TV Show and continue to follow the comic.

But, this is why the show is good, there's always that small possibility that they may kill him. In most TV Shows you can't never kill the main character.

Rob V

Rick was my favorite character until he decided to attack Negan's clan --- thus bringing this entirely on his crew. His bad decisions are the reason he's Negan's beeeyotch.

When the episode started, I felt like the deaths were going to be non-impactful because we've been dwelling on "who got killed?" since Spring but when they focused on Glen, that was brutal. The guy who played his character did a great job with such an awkward situation.

Bill Needle

I like what was posted earlier: End the season after the Abraham kill, then have Glenn get it in the first few minutes of the new season. Now THAT would have been a shocker.

Draven

I believe no one will leave next week. People have been saying the same about the show since season 1 and it's bigger than ever.

sracer

Sure, we all have differing views of most disturbing/brutal and it does no good to try to "prove" that last night's episode was the most disturbing.

I'm of the opinion that the brutality depicted last night was gratuitous... in that it went beyond what was necessary to establish that Negan is cold-hearted and ruthless.

One chilling scene from season 5 where the cannibals are eating Bob's leg and one of them is talking to him while he's eating his leg. No gore, but extremely disturbing. I found THAT more effective. It doesn't take any creativity or genius to present on-screen brutality. It's a cheap way out.

Bill Needle

Regarding how Negan handled Rick's group: Keep in mind that this whole act of theater was not just for Rick's group, it was also for Negan's. I don't know if it was done intentionally, but there were some horrified/shocked reactions from some of the background onlookers as Negan meted out his lessons.

And as far as taking a chance on letting Rick live, likely the thought is if he can control Rick he controls the entire group. He knows Rick is the driving force of the entire group and by forcing Rick into obedience he will ensure all of the rest of his community will follow along, which is much easier than trying to control a whole community of individuals.

General Zod

Well I think realistically if you want to take over control of a group of people they first then you do is take away their current command structure.. so you take out the leader. So I think taking him out would have been the most logical thing to do instead of picking 2 random folks. At the same time I guess it could be said that him breaking the leader of the group could be a productive way of getting everyone else in line. However, as we know, Rick only breaks for a little while and then he's back for vengeance.

The best part, I thought, was how he handled Daryl. Now Daryl has to live with this.. and it's not going to be easy for him. Both Rick and Daryl feel like they have blood on their hands now and that's going to be difficult for them to move past.

Hokeyboy

Bill Needle

Forgot to add: After watching Walking Dead and then Westworld last night I have to say that Steven Ogg just might be my new favorite character actor.

mnementh

I preferred the way the scene played out in the comics because

On the other hand, having Maggie require medical care made the road trip make more sense.

Jackskeleton

I think they really should have just left the last season end with Abraham clearly being dead at the end, would have caused Glenn's death to be more of a surprise. As it was, we were waiting months to have a very bad pay out.

DJariya

Ratings for this show seem to be huge for the "big" episodes like the premiere, mid-season finale and then season finale.

I fully expect huge numbers from last night, then things will tail off during the next 6 episodes because it will get DVR'd/streamed more and then spike back up for the mid-season finale in December.

Unless you're only a casual fan, I don't think people are going to be bailing in droves just because this episode was too sadistic.