Okay, so season 6 of The Walking Dead was brilliant, leading up to the introduction of Negan, the greatest villain of the comic books, apparently. Jeffrey Dean Morgan drafted in to play the baddie, and he was exceptional in last night's season 7 opener.
But.
He killed two main characters, a left-over cliffhanger from season 6. We all knew it was coming. The interweb was ablaze with theories, and partly misery because they played the old cliffhanger card, rather than showing us who was killed at the end of season 6.
But.
It was too gory. Too explicit and bloody and there was dripping ketchup everywhere, cartoon eyeballs bulging, cleaved open skulls, from which a beloved character uttered their final words: "suck my nuts."
But it was too much. That scene, which we all waited for, was played too heavy, to the extent that it was kind of an assault on the audience as much as anything. I thought, the missus won't like this, and I told her about it, and she said she won't watch it. It's not only not for the squeamish, but they filmed it in such a way as to make us feel they were gleefully torturing us. Torture porn, it's been accurately described as.
Then, once that scene was over - and don't underestimate the fact that for all the gore, they really only achieved the feat of remindingh us that it's all playacting in costumes and make-up after all - the rest of it was harrowing, and brilliant. I look forward to the rest of the season, but if this is going to be a constant direction, I really don't know if it's the right one.
Amazing performances by Morgan as Negan, and Andrew Lincoln as Rick, the suddenly impotent and scared hero of the show...
