Andrew Lincoln warned The Walking Dead fans Season 7 would be brutal. Now, the actor is sticking up for his character Rick Grimes and the direction of the show once again.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lincoln explained the goal of The Walking Dead is to create something fans can discuss, whether they like what happens or not. He tries to stay away from the noise and wants viewers to engage with the overall plot lines. Lincoln understands not everyone agrees with direction of the show, but will always defend the show’s writers.
“[Showrunner Scott M. Gimple] explained it to me in one way, which I found very helpful,” Lincoln told EW, “which was that rather than just have a very cool exciting buildup to war between between Negan and Rick, he wanted people to want more than that — to really feel that they wanted justice, and then to also acknowledge the cost of what had happened and why they were willing to risk it all again while realizing that they were putting many, many, many lives back in the firing line. I think he really wanted it to feel like the audience, rather than just baying for blood, wanted justice for what had happened. And that, for me, was quite a helpful way of understanding why it had to be so immersive and so painful — certainly for all of us on set and acting in it, but also, I think, for the audience.”
The buildup began in the last few minutes of The Walking Dead Season 6 finale. The show ended with a first-person view of Negan bashing someone’s head. You couldn’t see who the victim was, which angered a lot of fans. Fast- forward to The Walking Dead Season 7 premiere, which revealed who Negan killed: Glenn and Abraham. Unfortunately, many fans were upset with how gory the death scenes were, and weren’t wrong to be.
Fans saw Abraham’s skull split wide open and Glenn’s eye pop out. They saw Glenn try to utter his last words to his pregnant wife, which made things even worse. Still, Lincoln has a valid argument. The point of the first half of The Walking Dead Season 7 was to cement Negan’s villain status. We’re sure we’ll see a more human Negan as the All Out War Storyline progresses, but they had to give Rick a good kick in the pants before he stood up to Negan. Rick needed a reminded that he is not invincible and Negan is just as smart as he is.
What do you think about the first half of The Walking Dead Season 7? Let us know in the comments below. The Walking Dead Season 7 returns Feb. 12 on AMC.
