Other than the first episode of Season 7 of the American post-apocalyptic horror survival drama TV series “The Walking Dead” on AMC which scored big time among fans and critics, the next seven episodes of the show were a collective downer.
It was like the TV series was buying some time just to complete the season and finish with a flourish. Both critics and fans found the seven episodes leading to the midseason finale of “The Walking Dead” Season 7 as having some sluggish pace and featured character-driven episodes.
Those seven episodes featured the characters Carol and Morgan at The Kingdom, Daryl and Carl at the Sanctuary, Maggi and Sasha at the Hilltop, Tara at the Oceanside community of women, and Rick Grimes and company still at Alexandria.
The episodes normally get exciting once the storyline gets back to Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is really doing an excellent job as the main villain of the show’s current seventh season.
A very different feel
Showrunner Scott Gimple, in a recent interview, said that the remaining eight episodes of “The Walking Dead” Season 7 would have a different feel and shall have more variety in its story structure when compared to the first eight episodes, reports the Metro of UK.
He also assured fans of the TV series that the ending of the series for Season 7 is going to be different.
Gimple was speaking vaguely mostly, refusing to disclose spoilers on what could be expected in the back half of “The Walking Dead” Season 7.
But he hinted that what fans and critics may have felt during the midseason finale of the TV series, where the forces appear to be assembling and preparing to fight Negan and his Saviors, may be on cue.
The showrunner said that it is the kind of thing that should launch a different tone for the back eight episodes of “The Walking Dead” Season 7, which would return to AMC on February 12.
A blip on the ratings
Because of the sluggish pace of the episodes of “The Walking Dead” Season 7 with its so-called deconstruction, the show has suffered a rating blip.
In fact, the show faced its first big downward slide in ratings in Season 7, falling in line with overall declines across TV in the entire year, reports Cinema Blend.
But the show is still killing it in Live+7 delayed viewings. Critics opine that fans of the TV series, and other shows for that matter, are becoming more comfortable with shedding the ‘scheduled’ or ‘appointment TV’ behavior that has dictated primetime viewing for so many years.
It’s also easier than ever to catch episodes later than their initial airings, and AMC got pretty generous about giving non-subscribers access to episodes through their website, which did not hurt things.
However, the subsequent ratings for Season 7 will all depend on how the show turns things around for the back half. Many are saying that if it keeps the same sluggish pace in the remaining eight episodes, the show will fall flat on its face before it can even take off again.
Prior to the midseason finale of “The Walking Dead” Season 7, there were reports saying that another important character will die.
It turned out that there were two character deaths in Alexandria during episode 8 and none of them was from the original group of Rick Grimes. Spencer and Olivia were written off from the show on episode 8 but those deaths were more than enough to convince Rick to get back to his old, ruthless self, and finally decide to fight Negan and the Saviors.
A media outlet enumerated several possible characters who might kick the bucket prior to the airing of the eighth episode of “The Walking Dead.”
The outlet’s list included Carl, played by Chandler Riggs, Olivia, played by Ann Mahoney, Daryl, played by Norman Reedus, Eric, played by Jordan Woods-Robinson, and Spencer, played by Austin Nichols.