The Walking Dead Season 7 Premier: Zombie Fan Favorite Or Fatal Flop?
Photo credit: AMC
I am certain at this point that everyone who follows AMC’ s “The Walking Dead”, is already up to speed on the happenings in the latest installment of our favorite zombie infested weekly hour of nightmares. What I am not certain of is whether this episode could be the beginning of the end for TWD. As an avid zombie fan myself, there are few things I haven’t seen relating to the undead. (Yes, I have a copy of Max Brooks’ “The Zombie Survival Guide” right next to my “End the Fed” book by Dr. Ron Paul.) From fan-made tribute films on YouTube, to classic films about the dead rising, I have seen damn near all of it. What did I think of the premier? I thought it was great! I honestly was surprised with who they killed. I actually built up a strong hatred for Negan to the point of comparing him to the horrid villains in oppressive government. The episode was an emotional roller-coaster and was very well filmed. How can I say that? I know what some of you are thinking. Remember what I said above about watching and reading everything zombie related? Well, I stopped doing that. At least for TWD I did. Why? Because I learned after season 5 that the internet hype and leaks are what RUIN the show! So after season 6, I shut it off. I blocked out anything and everything TWD until October 23rd, 2016. And I enjoyed the HELL out of it!
Photo credit: AMC
Get to the point Mat! The point is, after going back and reading all the stuff from over the summer, all the theories and “leaks”, I can see why so many found this episode disappointing. I would have too. The vast amount of speculation and hearsay along with little snippets from TWD production staff themselves created a hype that the show just had no way to live up to. It created such frenzied anticipation for this episode that they could have killed literally any character or combination thereof, and counted on losing a large number of viewers for one reason or another. It was so over-advertised that there was no chance it could succeed other than to those who ignored the hype.
So here is my suggestion for those of you who are sticking with TWD in spite of this grandiose failure on the part of the show’s planners. When TWD is off the air, just let it be. Don't go out looking for every tidbit of information to try and figure out what is going to happen before it happens. Stop watching the speculation videos. Reaction videos? Sure, but AFTER you watch the current episode. Talk about what happened in the last episode rather than what you think is going to happen next. Trust me, you'll enjoy the show a whole lot more.
Photo credit: AMC
(Article by Mathieu Hubin)