The Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere Reaction

So, the night finally arrived. The Walking Dead season 7 premiere has aired and if you haven't watched it yet, stop reading. No, seriously, if you haven't watched yet, STOP. This post will contain spoilers. All of the anxiety has built up to this moment.

I had my theory: Abraham would be the one to get the bat. It was time to find out how accurate that theory was.

Just like the way the finale ended, the beginning of the premiere only brought about more anxiety. "Who got the bat? Tell us already!" Lots of people in my dorm house got together to watch the episode together, and those were our words during the first commercial break.

But before we would find out who was killed, Rick would go on a little journey with Negan in the RV. The suspense only built as you got an insight look into Rick's thoughts, seeings members of his group as Negan stood in front of them before a brief flashback of events that have occurred throughout their journey.

The most emotional moment we've ever seen Rick have is in this very scene, as well. Actually, probably the entire episode is by far the most emotional we've ever seen Rick. As each character flashes onto the screen one-by-one, you see it take a toll on him a little bit more, until he ultimately breaks down on the roof of the RV after amusing Negan and escaping a group of walkers.

And then we finally get the scene. And if you thought it was brutal the first time watching it, it's even worse the second time around. It is indeed Abraham who gets the bat... at least at first. The scene itself was brutal and graphic as everyone looked on to see one of their own completely beaten to bits. Take a deep breath, that's the only death we had to worry about, right? If only. What was more surprising was what happened next.

Daryl's reaction to Abraham's death was to get up and punch Negan and that wasn't to be dealt with by him. As punishment for it, another person gets the bat, and this time, it is the one character everyone hoped it would never be: Glenn. In an incredibly quick manner, the show took everyone from a sigh of relief to instant horror. Not to mention, yet again, how brutal the scene was graphically. They didn't hold back one bit with showing the terror Lucille does. This one even more so than when Abraham was hit as Glenn's face is shown bloody, his eye bulging out. Maggie's reaction and Glenn's ability to somehow say a few final words to her, "Maggie, I'll find you," only upped the emotional level.

What'll be interesting to see is how Daryl is impacted by the guilt of Glenn dying as a result of him stepping out of line. Is it going to eat away at him or is he going to channel it into his revenge? Or, maybe it'll be a little bit of both. I'm looking forward to seeing how his character develops as a result of this very moment.

And then there was the whole subject of Rick's hand. After the first clip as released prior to the premiere, everyone was pretty convinced he would be losing his hand like in the comics. Suspense was a prominent theme of the episode. Everyone was waiting for the moment when Negan would cut Rick's hand off, but when Negan called Carl out to the center of the circle and drew a line on his arm before telling Rick to chop his own son's arm off, the entire game changed. Luckily, Rick doesn't actually have to do it because it was a test to show Rick who he answers to and who he provides for, but the scene was insane. Hell, the entire episode was insane. And Andrew Lincoln is absolutely incredible. We've never seen Rick in this sort of state: pure terror, completely destroyed, and absolutely no idea what to do. Andrew Lincoln aces every emotion and so does the rest of the cast.

If everything wasn't bad enough already, they had to show a scene of what it would be like if everyone lived happily ever after, which was the life Rick began to picture for his group before Negan entered the picture. As soon as I saw Glenn with the baby, the emotions hit harder. We'll never be seeing that family exist and that fact is heartbreaking.

While we see Maggie's reaction to Glenn being killed as it is occurring, her emotions are shown the most at the end of the episode when she insists on being left alone to go to the Hilltop and take Glenn's body with her as she's in an incredibly weak state. The entire group sticks by her and no matter how many times she tells them to leave her, they stick by her side. The brutality of the events leaves everyone leaning on each other.

When the cast said the episode was probably the most emotional episode they've ever shot, they weren't wrong. The episode was draining, yet still fantastic to watch. I couldn't help but admire how it was filmed and the sequence of scenes we were given. The writing was outstanding, as was the acting. It deserves to be an award-winning episode. It was the lowest we've ever seen some characters, like Rick and Maggie, but it's going to be even better once we see them rise again, assuming they do, eventually. (Which, I'm sure they will.)

Negan is not messing around and he's made quite the first impression of himself. The brutality of his actions and his nature is horrifying, yet so intriguing and with him as the villain, it's going to be one helluva season.

And with that, Abraham and Glenn join those we've lost and those the group continues to fight for in memory. I can't wait to see what this season brings beyond this point, but let's just hope that we won't be losing any other major characters...

Who am I kidding? This is The Walking Dead we're talking about.

Breaking it Down: 'The Walking Dead' Season 6 Finale

The Walking Dead has gotten all of its fans thinking one thing: Who got the bat, otherwise known as Lucille? With that question, and the fact that we have to wait till October to find out the answer, lots of theories have developed. Personally, my dad, sister, and I sat after the episode rewinding and replaying, rewinding and replaying, trying to figure out who might be dead by the premiere of season 7. We put together lots of thoughts, and plenty of other people have, too. The result of the analysis was our narrowing it down to three candidates and trust me, that scene has been running through my head over and over and over, still trying to figure it out further.

Warning: Spoilers from both The Walking Dead TV show and comics are included in this article. Read at your own risk. Also, this can all be completely wrong. Like I said, these are theories, and only theories. 

Here's the full lineup, from Negan's left to right: Glenn, Rosita, Daryl, Michonne, Abraham, Maggie, Rick, Sasha, Aaron, Carl, Eugene.

The Angle 
Let's talk about the camera angle first, since that told me where in the lineup it seemed Negan was. It's pointed upwards, obviously since the person is kneeling on the ground, but it's slightly angled to the left. Because of that, it would seem that Negan is towards his left side (Glenn, Rosita, etc.). It's also not low to the ground. It seems to be more upright and tall, which is why I feel like the angle doesn't match Daryl or Glenn, who were both slumped down in their spots. The angle also seems similar to the angle we see when the camera is behind Abraham.

Lighting
Similar to how the angle tells us where Negan seems to be in the lineup, the lightning does too. The light source is mainly on Negan's right, since that's where the scene's the brightest and when he's talking to Carl, you can see that since there's a brighter light on his face. In the scene from the victim's POV, the left side of his face (his left) is shadowed, while the right side is dimly lit. This shows that he's far away from the light and that it's coming from his right hand side. This would also prove that he's near Glenn, Daryl, Abraham, etc.

Who We Can Definitely Rule Out
Simply put: Rick and Carl. Negan's comment: "Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father," pretty much states that Rick and Carl aren't falling victim to Lucille. Negan also has a soft spot for Carl in the comics, which will be an interesting storyline to see play out on TV. It's a crucial contrast in his character since he's this cruel person, yet grows to care for Carl to a great extent.

Why it's Unlikely to be a Woman
According to word from all of the comic lovers, a distinct character trait of Negan's is that he has his own moral code against killing women and children. So we're most likely going to see a male character dead come October.

Why Wait?
If the intention was to follow the scene directly from the comics, why wait? They've teased Glenn's death once already and everyone knows how that scene ends in the comics, so why wait and leave the audience with a cliffhanger? If it is Glenn, the scene may have had more of an impact to see him in the moment instead of having to wait to find out. His death already having been teased may also make the scene lose its impact if it's him (though it would still certainly be heartbreaking). That's why I'm inclined to think they may choose a different route, and not even the cast knows who's died yet. Maybe it's not as big of a character and the cliffhanger was meant to draw more suspense for when it's actually revealed. Killing off a minor, but still loved, character makes a bigger impact with a cliffhanger than without one.

What About the Possibility of Leaks? 
With every TV show that ends on a cliffhanger, you always have the possibility of leaks in the future regarding future scripts or even set pictures that reveal who's there and who's not. Something similar happened with Game of Thrones where pictures of Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) were taken on set after he was thought to be dead. If that happens for the premiere, the episode loses its shock value, so if it is a big character, the show's going to have to do a really good job at keeping it a secret when filming resumes.

The Tricky Part 
There is one part that's confusing some people, including myself. If the POV from the van was in fact a character's POV and that same POV matches the POV of the character that's killed by Negan, it would have to be Glenn, Rosita, Daryl, or Michonne. Being that the person was clearly in the back of the van since you can see a head in front, and assuming it isn't a woman, Glenn is the last one to get out of the van, so if the POV matches, it could be him. The thing is whether this is from the same POV as the last scene of the episode, but you can't be certain it is.

So, whose end will come by Lucille? The three candidates we put together are Daryl, Glenn, and Abraham.

Daryl: Because Norman has a new show on AMC. However, that can film when he's not filming The Walking Dead. He's also one of the most loved characters on the show, so if they have him on both shows, that's more money for AMC.

Glenn: It happens in the comics, pretty much exactly how it happened on the show, including Negan saying, "Takin' it like a champ!" Like I said earlier though, if they were going to follow through with the ending, why not end it with us seeing Glenn get hit?

Abraham: For me, he's the most logical guess if they do indeed choose to go in a different direction from the comics (which seems possible). He straightened his body and raised himself up when Negan approached him, which could match the height of the camera angle. He's also in the general area Negan's in. Not to mention that in the comics, he's actually the one that dies in the scene where we saw Denise die.

Now, like I said earlier, these points are all part of theories and it's possible some overanalyzing happened, but all we have is this episode and that final scene to figure out who the death could be, so all of the details of that episode have to be considered. While this may all be wrong, and that's perfectly fine, my final guess... Negan uses Lucille to kill Abraham. He fits the things I saw in this episode and we'll see in October how accurate that guess is.

If you have your own theory, leave it in the comments below. I'd love to hear your guesses because this truly has been one of the most interesting things to occur on the show to read theories about. Everyone seems to bring up something different. That's what makes cliffhangers so great. You can analyze and analyze until you have your theory, yet the creators can still throw a curveball that wasn't expected. It can't be denied that the finale was awesome and so well done. The suspense was built perfectly throughout and by the end, you, as a viewer, were just as fearful as the characters in the scene. Not to mention that it was the first time we've truly seen Rick fearing for his life and the lives of those around him in quite a while, if ever. The acting was outstanding and I'm very excited to see more of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.

One thing's for sure: I look forward to seeing who meets their end, no matter how emotional it makes me.

See you in October.