Negan Takes His 'Turn at Bat': Finally! 

Norman Reedus gave TVLine a heads-up that the sixth season finale of

was “the most hardcore finale we’ve ever had,” we were afraid, very afraid. How could we not be? We knew that, if the series stuck to the plot of the comics, Glenn was bound for a once-in-a-lifetime date with Negan’s barbed-wire-covered bat, Lucille.

“Last Day on Earth” was a nerve-racking 93 minutes of television. And it served up a twist ending that we’re pretty sure none of us saw — or hoped to see — coming. What was it? Read on and find out!

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MAKING TRACKS | As the episode began, Morgan — still chasing down Carol — came across first a sign that read “YOU ARE ALIVE!” and then the horse for which that Hilltop denizen had claimed to be looking in “East.” But it wasn’t all good news and four-legged friends for Morgan. While he was sweet-talking the horse (“You are fine!”), Roman — the rosary-wielding Savior who’d been tailing him — drew ever closer. Shortly thereafter, Morgan caught up with an injured Carol, who was, of course, annoyed that he had followed her.

Back in Alexandria, Carl locked Enid in a closet to prevent her — for her safety’s sake — from coming on the mission to race Maggie to The Hilltop to pay doc Harlan a reverse house call. Before Rick could leave on the trek with Abraham, Sasha, Eugene and Aaron, he just had to first make sure that Alexandria was secure. Or at least as secure as it could be with Daryl, Carol, Michonne and Glenn all away. Gabriel, now miraculously a bona fide hero, promised that he knew what to do. What’s more, he added that his “first priority is Judith.” So it was with some confidence that Rick left him in charge. What if the Saviors show up before Rick gets back? Spencer wanted to know. Should they try to make a deal? “Tell ’em to wait for me,” replied Rick, already underestimating his opponent. “I got a deal for ’em.”

En route to The Hilltop, Rick assured Maggie that the doc was “gonna make things better.” How could he be so sure? “It’s always been all of us,” he explained, and “as long as it’s all of us, we can do anything.” Unfortunately, their RV was soon stopped by a buncha Saviors with an unfortunate soul who’d broken their rules and was now going to be used as an example. (By the way, exactly how many Saviors are there, anyway? They seem to multiply faster than walkers!) Rick offered to strike a bargain, but the only one the Saviors were interested in was the usual one: Give us all your stuff. “We don’t negotiate,” the lead Savior added. Surprisingly, after he and Rick threatened each other a bit, the Saviors seemed to let the Alexandrians go. “Be kind to each other,” the lead Savior even suggested in a creepy-friendly-ish way, “like it was your last day on earth.”

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CHANGE OF PLANS | Later, Carl asked Aaron why he hadn’t stayed back to guard Alexandria. “I owe [Maggie],” he explained. After Eugene plotted the group a new route to The Hilltop, Abraham seemed to admit to Sasha that he could imagine having a baby with her. Alas, before they could get to “pouring any Bisquick,” the RV was blocked by yet another buncha Saviors. This time, they fired shots that seemed to be meant to herd Rick & Co. away. But to what end? Soon, we found out — they were being directed to a group of chained-together walkers, one of which had one of Michonne’s dreadlocks and another of which had Daryl’s jacket. When the Saviors opened fire, our guys retreated but were soon cornered by an even bigger gang of Saviors. “Go back,” Rick told Abraham. “Where?” Abraham replied.

Tending to Carol, Morgan told her that she needed stitches and medication, and that at dawn, they’d head back to Alexandria. Though she said simply no, he went on to relate that Rick had come looking for her, and others would have, too. They care about her. And she cares about them, too, she snapped. But if you care about people, you have to kill for them. If you won’t or can’t, you have to go. “You do not get both,” she argued, then (futilely) pointed a pistol at him and told him to leave. Which, naturally, he didn’t. However, after he left Carol alone for a minute, he found her gone and was forced to give chase on horseback. Meanwhile, Carol had just narrowly avoided getting bitten by a walker when she was attacked and shot by Roman, whose goal was to watch her die before his eyes — slowly — before he kicked the bucket himself.

Ironically, Carol just laughed. What’s wrong with her? Roman asked. “I’m gonna die,” she said, “so there’s nothing wrong with me anymore.” Pissed, he shot her again and asked if she thought she’d suffered enough. “No,” she replied, “probably not.” When he started to walk away, she goaded him until he returned to finish her off. But just then, Morgan arrived and asked Roman to drop the weapon. When he said no and advanced on Carol, Morgan shot him. Repeatedly. “You are gonna come back from this,” Morgan told her (kinda whether she wanted to or not). And out of nowhere, they were approached by The Hilltop denizen who’d been looking for his horse. Seemed a nice guy — offered help and everything. (And you had to dig his Power Ranger outfit.)

Back on the road, Rick kept trying to reassure Maggie, but he was sounding less and less certain. After seeing the Saviors hang a victim and set fire to a blockade of felled trees, our heroes retreated once again. To elude them once and for all, Eugene would take the RV (since that was what the Saviors were tracking) while the others escorted Maggie to The Hilltop on foot. Before departing, Eugene gave Rick a recipe for making bullets and shared a big hug with Abraham, who told his friend, “I was wrong. You’re a survivor. You always were. We just didn’t know it.” (And the way the music swelled as Eugene pulled away sure made it seem like he was a goner… )

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B-B-BAT’S ALL, FOLKS! | As Rick & Co. made their way through the woods, Carl had no sooner said to his dad, “I’m not gonna let anybody die like [Denise] again” than they heard the telltale whistling of the Saviors and found themselves completely and totally surrounded. (Okay, so there are as many Saviors as there are viewers of this show.) And they already had Eugene as a hostage. (That didn’t take long.) The lead Savior that Rick threatened earlier disarmed our heroes and had them — including poor Maggie — get on their knees. Afterward, Dwight escorted Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Glenn into the circle, and the lead Savior said, “Let’s meet the man” and knocked on an RV to let Negan know it was showtime.

As the episode — and, with it, the season — drew to a close, Negan wondered aloud when folks were gonna start pissing themselves. (Excuse us, but some of us already had.) Upon ascertaining that Rick was the “prick” in charge, Negan explained the new world order. Which, as we already knew, was, in short, half of anything that was our heroes’ was now his. The more they tried to fight it, the worse it was gonna get. Although, really, since he was planning to use Lucille to kill one of them as payback for all the Saviors that they’d killed, how much worse could it get?!? “Lighten up,” he told Carl. “At least cry a little.” When Negan noted that Maggie looked like hell, and contemplated putting her out of her misery, Glenn understandably freaked. (Luckily, the villain decided that, since it was an emotional moment, he’d let the outburst pass.) Finally, after a torturous game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Negan settled on a victim and swung. And swung. And swung. But who was it?!?

Who do you think Negan “whacked”? How ticked are you about the cliffhanger? Overall impression of the finale? Hit the comments!

No kiddin’. That was some epic fail finale. Ending a season with 2 cliffhangers in a row and you don’t even follow up with the cliffhanger of the last epi on the current epi. Who in the ever loving mind is writing this stuff?

People like Scott Gimple, with help from Robert Kirkman and Greg Nicotero ….. because they know what they are doing, and they continue to put out excellent storylines and twists, either from the comics, or different from the comics – depending on what they want to do for the show and its viewers. They manage to write the #1 TV program on cable year after year while continuing to raise the bar and improve the writing year after year.

Are you serious? The series is good but ever since darabont left they have been watering down what was the single best tv series ever (season 1) we would have a very different show, a better show if darabont was still around instead the studio has put ‘yes men’ at the helm. #1 series? You must be joking! Game of Thrones, Banshee, Into the Badlands, Dexter (he will be back!) to name only a few.

While it only had 6 episodes to have a go at it, season 1 was the weakest of all the seasons, although season 2 gives it a close 2nd, mostly due to being bogged down too long on the farm. The real development of the characters and the show happened well after Darabont and his season 1. I give him points for wanting to bring it to TV; but, his vision was not where this show needed to be, and they made the call to get him replaced. For me, I don’t need walkers using tools, climbing fences, and managing stairs, as well as turning door knobs. There is nothing left up there – they are mindless sheep with flesh as their only desire. We do not need to mix World War Z with I Am Legend to create The Walking Dead walkers. And as for #1 series – nope, no jokes there, just facts. Unless somehow you can show me where those shows are #1. I said The Walking Dead is the #1 series on cable because it is …. if it were a Network show it would be #1 on all of TV. Only NCIS and, occasionally, The Big Bang Theory, beat out The Walking Dead’s numbers. It is the #1 cable show on television today. Game of Thrones, Into the Badlands, Dexter …. none of them are anywhere near that. I love Game of Thrones too. Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Vikings, Sons of Anarchy, The Americans …. just to name a few excellent shows out there, although Sons is over now.

Your opinion is in the minority on this board. I think a lot of people feel ripped off by the writing this season. The characters have shifted too abruptly. Stupidity seems to be growing when you expect them to become smarter against perceived and real threats. The cliffhanger doesn’t bother me. It’s everything that led up to it. I feel like this was all a lead up to Fonzie on water skis.

This board is the same as any typical review site …. mostly skewed negative. Typically, those who are happy do not seek out a forum to pour their guts out on how great they thought ‘x’ was. They are happy, and do not need a forum to vent anything. I initially came here because I was a little disappointed at the cliffhanger. I am impatient at times, and I wanted to know who was killed. Other than that, which isn’t that big of a deal to me in the first place, the rest of the season, and the show, have been outstanding. But it is funny to find so much knee-jerk butt hurt over what is really nothing major. The show will return in October, it will reveal who was killed by Negan, and that killing will have the biggest impact of season 7, and how Negan and the Saviors are dealt with. Understanding its effect on Alexandria will be a major ingredient into the story that will start up right at that event in the woods – it will be the season 7 kick-off. It is going to be yet another epic story to follow, and we’ll have another great 16 episode ride in the end. And shark jumping ….. nope. The show is very stable and Fonzie is staying over on Arrested Development where he DID actually jump yet another shark in an episode there!

Well if they knew what they were doing, they wouldn’t be all over the media explaining the reason behind the choice of going with a cliffhanger, apologizing for it and “promising” to make it up to the fans. Just do a google search on their latest interviews.

There is a reason that shows stay at #1. It’s called having a huge viewership. Piss those viewers/fandom off and see how long the show will last at the #1 spot. TWD pissed off a high percentage of their viewers with that cliffhanger. Just sayin’

Yeah, it was funny on Talking Dead watching the writer/showrunner try to spin his way out of what it basically was…a cop out. “We didn’t reveal who dies because it represents a new season/beginning” (paraphrasing here) blah, blah. You could tell Hardwick was having a hard time with the tweets coming in. I hated the finale but it was fun watching the big boys squirm.

They were squirming? Really? I mean, they did pack 4 guys on that one couch so I could see some adjusting here or there since they were sandwiched in. But anything else was not seen on Talking Dead – certainly not from the ridiculously wealthy smart men on that couch who have produced an empire with their excellent story telling. If you didn’t like their response to how they left the finale that’s fine. But their explanation made perfect sense, as we saw all throughout the well written finale we all watched. Throughout that episode, Rick and his team slowly got to the realization that they have been tremendously underestimating their opponents, and went from cocky to terrified within a few hours time. That ‘we’re unstoppable’ arc was in play for many episodes in season 6, and they pulled that rug right out from under them the second Negan swung Lucille that first time. It ended that story, and when season 7 picks up we will be at the very beginning of the next chapter of the show. They did great on Talking Dead with all the q&a going on overall. And Kirkman mentioned that it is hard to lose a character that ‘is beloved by everyone’, hinting towards who Negan bludgeoned at the end. Of those to Rick’s right, which it appears Negan is standing, are 3 men and 3 women, If they stick to Negans comic character, he abhors violence towards women, so I think Rositta, Michonne and Maggie are safe. That leaves Abraham, Daryl and Glenn, and while Abraham is funny, a fun overall character, and well liked, he doesn’t reach that ‘beloved’ category I don’t believe …. so that leaves us Glenn or Daryl. Smart money is on Glenn, as that it how the comic story goes for this bit. But Daryl is SUPER beloved, and they like to change it up on the show (i.e. Andrea, Carol, Daryl, Merle, Sasha, Tyrese, Dale …. all either dead too soon, dead later, or just a completely different character all together from the comic stories) so we might actually see an end to Daryl here. They said since season 3 that the whole ‘If Daryl dies, We Riot’ is looked at as a challenge, not a threat. With Daryl already shot and losing blood, if a depleted, beloved Daryl took that beating it would be even more emotional to viewers. Fantastic season finale!!

Really………because way back when they were lined up to be killed for those human eating nut jobs, that is what I would call learning that you are not always in control….THAT scene was terrifying……this ridiculous leather pant wearing dork was not that. The last two episodes were insulting, they made these characters all of a sudden look like they didn’t know how to function. If, Rick had devised a few plans and they kept failing that would have been different….but this episode was just Rick and the other being like they were the last few episodes, all of a sudden “cocky”…….they weren’t cocky before, they were focused, and even scared they put forth their grit because they have been through battle after battle…….you don’t lose that……you don’t all of a sudden become afraid and weak………they’ve never done that, so why would this guy be any more terrifying than the others….maybe if they had chosen an actor that could actually DO that, or maybe a storyline that could………………bad, just bad.

Carl….Carl’s reaction was what I would have expected from Rick…he’s a cop for crying out loud. A conversation with Morgan doesn’t shift you that far, and Carol’s shift is even more ridiculous….sorry, the season started out strong but dwindled down to something that takes away from the characters that we have come to want to watch……………….depressing

Have you watched season 6? At all? Rick has grown very cold, and he has also gotten over-confident – i.e. Cocky. That was focused on through episode 16, although it’d been out there for much of the last 5 episodes of the season. And no, this had nothing to do with the Termites holding them, and almost killing them. This scene, compared to that, are much much different. Not to mention Terminus was prior to the rest of the groups survival before Alexandria. The storyline with Negan is the best to date within the comic series, and will translate to the show as well and will be the biggest thing on the show to date. The upcoming wars. The alliances and betrayals. The introduction of new groups. The deaths of many more characters. The final battle with Negan and the imprisonment of Negan ….. the next 2 seasons will be unimaginable. Hate The Walking Dead all you want. Their writing, directing and acting are top tier, which is why it’s the #1 show on cable with an audience bigger than anything else out there. The writing gets better year after year, and now that we’ve reached Negan, there is so much story to tell it is only going to get better, which seems impossible. Once Negan is locked up in Ric’s jail, and he and Negan have this back and forth for several years while Negan is behind bars, the NEXT threat, the WHisperers, will emerge, and take over seasons 9 and 10 and beyond. Sooooo much more good stuff ahead.

Great to see AMC here. So who are you really? Gimple? Kirkman? C’mon, fess up. LOL

@TheBeach ….. nope! lolol – and I’ll never tell if I am! – Certainly wish I was one of those guys making that kind of money doing something fun and that I enjoy. I make great money but Procurement Management isn’t exactly glamorous or fun in any way, I am just trying to be the voice of reason on this extremely knee-jerk message board where people are attacking wrong things because they didn’t want a cliffhanger at the end of season 6 . The fact that The Walking Dead gave us such an outstanding season, and a suspenseful, nerve-racking season finale with one of the biggest cliffhangers in television history are very GOOD things. The writing gets better and better, and as this epic journey continues, with the Negan/Rick all out wars coming, which has so much depth, as well as the Whisperers we’ll eventually run into that will make Alexandria ask for Negans advise (while he’s locked in their jail cell for 2+ years!) because they are so evil and relentless. The Walking Dead has been such an entertaining, well written, extremely well acted series, which is why it has the millions and millions and millions of fans and pulls giant Nielsen ratings every damn week ….. none of which count overseas numbers from places like the UK, where TWD has become a massive hit as well.

I agree 100% with everything you said!!! The fact that we didn’t find out who died didn’t ruin any of the magnificent storytelling of this season. This episode was epically amazing and the debbie downers on the web won’t ruin it for me.

Cliffhanger? That’s some bulls***! That whole finale was a filler!

Me: rode around in a crappy RV for an hour and a half for what ended up apparently no reason.

I found myself ambivalent for much of the episode. I enjoyed Neagan’s short screen time but didn’t think that the overall episode lived up to the hype. And not showing who Neagan killed is an obnoxious and frankly, cowardly choice that I had hoped TWD would be above. I feel as if they overplayed their hand with that.

Don’t you feel that the writers had a layout of sorts. It seems they started with a mission for a epic conclusion created for Negan’s intro and (were forced) worked backwards to the zombie invasion at Alexandria, and just many mistakes occurred to lose up to that point key people, and more mistakes the main characters uncharacteristically made to put themselves in a weird position of peril at this point in the conclusion. From Daryls risky lone wolf agenda instead of going home to prepare to fight, denise,the only doctor left outside exposed (why) to scavenge, therfore not alive to help maggie for baby complications which had to happen now, to justify the ending peril for them (season 6 finish line), plus carols overnight no kill for anyone anymore attitude (which didn’t happen at the grove with the little girls) to Morgan’s I can kill a saviour moment, which of all times comes at a time carol is useless to help save the group, and if you notice nothing came from or focused on glen, michonne or Daryl this episide. The zombie apocalypse was awesome but ever since the 18 wheeler hit the fence, the horn blaring, the writing took off in full speed to meet Megan and forced all the characters to make perilous mistakes to achieve what we gave as the last episode. Last point of disappointment, I remember when the writing left options and completely took a new turn to fool everyone on expectations, it seems here, the way they did this last episode and based on what’s been leaked out, the show hit a new low of creativity I’m that instead if expecting a out of no where total change and surprise it seems the only surprise from the season finale is a eney meanie, miney moe limitation of expectation we’re still stuck with for 6 months. ……really, really…..it just outlines how many situational misfortunes had to be created to bring us to an epic ok I gotcha on that, but this epic is a let down of uninspirational choices

I 100% agree. I don’t want to watch a show that I’m forced to expect mediocrity from – especially when I know how much more it was/is capable of.

You are exactly right. So many things this season just didn’t make sense. All the best fighters heading out hither and yon on their own escapades and leaving Alexandria basically defenseless was so contrary to how the group operates and has survived made no sense. I found myself shaking my head and rolling my eyes quite a lot the last few episodes.

They didn’t show who shot JR at the end of the season either. Man that Dallas show sucked. Seriously, go ask your doctor for some ADD medication.

If they stuck to the comics. Then yes it is Glenn. Thought considering this is tv. i have a feeling its either Glenn, Daryl, Michonne, or Abraham.

Negan in the comics doesnt like to harm children or woman

Exactly right …. he has this weird empathy for them. Of course, he forces all the Savior women to marry him and sleep with him, and brands their husbands with an iron if they dare try and sleep with their own wife because they are now HIS WIVES. But he abhors rape, and does not care for violence against kids.

I do not believe it was Maggie, nor do I think it was Eugene. For 1, Eugene isn’t ‘main cast’, meaning he isn’t the ‘inner-circle’ cast that everyone cares about. Secondly, he has some pretty vital storylines coming up in regards to getting that ammo factory moving. I know he gave Rick his plans; but, he needs to be in these upcoming stories. For maximum effect it has to be someone major in the cast …. a near original. It has to be Glenn, as it was in the comic, Daryl (man will that piss some people off), or Abraham (he is a bigger member than Eugene, even though they arrived at the same time). If they go the route of Eugene or Aaron it will come off as weak, and robbing the audience. Daryl may be a double edged sword, but that will have major impact on the show if it turns out to be him.

Daryl will piss many of us off. Many, many of us.

True he did not harm women or children in the comics. However he did not make that declaration last night as he did in that exact scene in the comics. That makes everyone fair game. I don’t know his age limitations but the Hilltop folks did report he killed a teenage boy just to prove a point. Perhaps that is another indication he is no holds barred on the show.

I would bet in that horde of people who comprise The Saviors that there is “a doctor in the house” that will help Maggie get well. I don’t think she’s the one to meet Lucille.

It won’t be Maggie. Negan doesn’t like violence towards women, so all the women are safe. He also doesn’t like violence against kids, although someone killed the 16 year old kid at the Hilltop. Might not have been Negan himself. Negan might not have been there at all. But I think that takes Carl out of it too – but I never really considered him as a threat to be Negans victim anyway. I don’t think the Saviors will help Maggie in any way, shape or form – although Negan has some strange empathy towards women, at least when it comes to any abuse towards them, so who knows. But I think they will get free at some point and get to the Hilltop, and to the Hilltop doctor. Additionally, Maggie is going to lead the Hilltop people sometime in the near future. I have a feeling she will stick around due to complications from her pregnancy, and wither somehow people will put her in charge over Gregory, or Gregory will die, and then Maggie takes charge. I also think that it was Glenn who Negan kills here, and she will stay at The Hilltop to avoid Alexandria, and anything that reminds her of Glenn.

Agree it’s Glen and that Maggie stays at Hilltop to avoid memories of Glen at Alexandria. Frankly, I have agreed with all of your comments informed, observant, and perceptive. Kudos.

Well that narrows it down! I think it is Abraham and pretty sure it isn’t Aaron, not beloved enough. I would think I would hear Maggie screaming if it was Glenn, Carl screaming if it was Rick(Plus main character), Abraham it definitely could be the one. Sasha and Rostia may have been able to hold it in and he did make the comment he needed to shave after seeing Abraham’s handlebar mustache! Sasha knows how it goes with losing a boyfriend. Rostia got dumped by him, so… I can’t see it being Carl, Rick would freak and he is a kid with one eye and he said if anyone makes a noise to cut out his other eye. Also, I don’t see it being a women or Daryl, he is probably the most beloved character on the show and they have kept him around on TV even though he isn’t around in the comics. Just my thoughts on it being Abraham!

Well when he was going to kill him he said if Carl or anybody else screams take the eyeball of the kid and feed it to his father so I don’t think it was Carl or his father I think Hey Eugene isn’t a big asset to the show so I’m hoping it was Eugene well I’m hoping it wasn’t anybody but hopefully Eugene

I agree, plus Rick has the ammo plans and Abraham has the location, plus like Denise,, he grew up sorta was ready for the next level it’s gotta be, god I hope so, (and all that sad epic music for him to leave in the RV) or Judith shows up in a tank, cause it’s not carol this time or maybe ever again, depends if the kingdom comes into play at the season finale next year lol until then

You just said it yourself, Daryl is the most beloved character on the show (and has no ties to the comic) Negan is the most badass villain so what better way to show off what a horrible person he is and to make the fans of the show hate him even more and solidify his spot as the worst villain? Have him kill Daryl.

They are not going to doing a big cliff hanger and have it be someone most assume it would be anyway. I’ve gone with Maggie all along but Abraham is my wildcard pick. Someone is screaming like hell. Everyone assumes it Maggie but it could be Rosita (isn’t she next to him) or Sasha.

It won’t be a woman – as pointed out already, Negan is against violence towards women. It looks to be someone to Rick’s right though, and the line up to Rick’s right was Maggie, Abraham, Michonne, Daryl, Rosita and Glenn. I am sure all 3 women are safe, so that leaves Glenn, Daryl or Abraham. Biggest effect would be Daryl. Truest to comic story would be Glenn. Wildcard would be Abraham. He did share several ‘moments’ with Sasha and Eugene in this episode – sort of a goodbye. Abraham, Eugene, and Carl all had poignant lines throughout this season finale and made me feel any one of them could be killed off. But I think Carl is least likely here, and Eugene has some major roles in upcoming stories with building the ammo factory. Plus both Carl and Eugene were to Rick’s left.

The shadow puts Negan standing to the left of Rick and not the right. That means it is either Carl, Sasha or Eugene.

No, Negan is to Rick’s right, as he points Lucille back across the area Rick is kneeling, to Rick’s right, when he mentions cutting out Carl’s eye and feeding it to Rick. It appears that Negan is to Rick’s right, where Daryl, Glenn and Abraham are positioned. Kirkman said on Talking Dead last night something along the lines of it being tough to love such a beloved character by all ….. don’t know if he slipped saying that, or meant to give a clue. But there are only two truly ‘beloved’ by all (male) characters over that way, and that is Glenn and Daryl. While I think Daryl is the MOST beloved, I just replayed the scene again with the volume jacked, and it sounds like GLENN gasping/moaning, and a woman’s voice from his left, which is where Maggie would be, back over by Rick, screaming something like ‘noooo’. Also, after watching it again, I noticed that the RV doesn’t appear behind Negan as he is swinging away. Most the group was in a line up in front of Negan, with the RV in his background. But Glenn was on the far (right to Rick) end of the group, and he was turned a bit, facing back towards his group, with the RV on his right side. So it would make a lot of sense that Negans victim is actually Glenn in the end.

They’re lined up in this order. Glenn, Rosita, Daryl, Michonne, Abraham, Maggie, Rick, Sasha, Aaron, Carl, Eugene. Maggie’s in the centre. It’s hard to tell by the screenplay, Lucille jumps around a lot before picking a victim. I think there’s a pattern tho, at the end, when he’s deciding he seems to work from the edges inward.

That makes me believe that it’s either Sasha or Aaron because Negan indicates Carl on one side and Rick on the other. The only ones in between Carl and Rick are Sasha and Aaron. Only problem is that neither of them are particularly beloved. Sasha’s been around for a while now, and I do like the character, but she’s not as loves and Darryl or Glen.

Maggie’s in the center, next to Rick and they want to prove a point to Rick don’t they? They want to anguish him but he can’t say crap or they’ll kill his son. I have so many reasons besides this to think it’s Maggie.

Maggie’s in the center, next to Rick and they want to prove a point to Rick don’t they? They want to anguish him but he can’t say crap or they’ll kill his son. I have so many reasons but this is another reason I suspect its Maggie.How ironic the mission to save her becomes the reason for her death.

I THINK IT MAY HAVE BEEN EITHER AARON OR EUGENE

Very lazy writing right there. It’s not even exciting… I mean, at least they need to surprise us now. If they go for Glenn at the end, it would be the biggest fail ever.

Totally agree with this. it would be total ‘cliche’ if they go with Glenn/comic death at this point. And I’m hoping since no one seems to get their comic deaths then this means that it will not be Glenn. But who knows, with them thinking that ending the finale with a cliffhanger was a good idea they might think killing Glenn is a good idea as well. SMDH.

I mean, after seeing the finale I’m hopeful they at least changed the victim… That would cut them some slack after this lousy finale, but if they actually go for the Glenn route, then the cliffhanger would be completely useless.

Totally agree James. It cannot be the person most assume it to be. Can’t do a cliffhanger and be that predictable.

There is no way they can surprise us they have haven’t filmed the death scene not even the cast members know who is being killed off so the scene will be reshot during season 7 filming.. I say they can’t surprise us because people are going to notice when a cast member stops showing up on set (fans always hang around near the filming locations and take photos) so we’ll know who is killed before season 7 even airs in Oct.

I doubt they will pick up right where it left off. I could see them having the episode become a flash forward and not reveal who died til the end of the episode.

I could see them having the cast member still report to set to help throw people off.

Disappointing. Slow moving and then an okay build up, but ruined by the cliffhanger.

This episode failed.. I don’t care who got bludgeoned by Neegan. I don’t see how the writers think their caring viewers can keep watching and idolize Neegan. He’s a homicidal murderer, and is the opposite of Rick. While listening to the writers on Talking Dead, they think viewers are going to like this Neegan character and look up top him like a hero? They are totally stupid. When has a character from a movie or TV show been a murderer who has killed innocent, good people and then the character was liked… If Neegan isn’t paid back real soon… this viewer will not continue with this BS.

He is like Rick though! I mean Rick may not intentionally kill good people, but he is taking less and less time to figure out what they are!

If you read the comics, you know that Negan becomes a likeable character. Nobody wants to kill unless they have to in that world, but hey, Rick and his men killed a whole lot of Negan’s, so how can that go unpunished? Negan does become reasonable once they get this over with.

They said Neegan is a hero to himself in his eyes, not ours. In case you haven’t noticed Rick is pretty homicidal and ruthless especially this season. Rick has killed this season, not asking questions and chosen not to save people to save bullets. He only cares about the lives of his people. He has revenge killed people just like Neegan. Of course they’re not totally the same because we know Rick is good and does it because he has to, Neegan does it because he likes it. I think they chose the wrong word with idolize but they want fans to love to hate him for sure.

I heard rumors they were going to do the cliffhanger, but I had hoped they wouldn’t go that route. Now that I’ve seen it happen, I’m furious. We could have had all summer to mourn the victim properly and prepare for the next season without him/her as part of the group. Now this is just going to suck all the emotion and impact out of what was supposed to be the most iconic moment of the series. If AMC did this just to boost the ratings for season 7, it’s going to blow up in their faces.

Of course it was for ratings. No one should actually believe it was for storytelling because these people have shown they cant tell one without resorting to gimmicks and shenanigans.

People will know who it is this summer. And I hope those saying theyre not coming back stick to it. I know I will.

Exactly how I feel. Six months from now they’re going to build thus whole thing up again before season 7, but all of the emotion and suspense will be gone.

Exactly. I told my buddy that’s how it would end. Him bashing in a blood bag sitting a top the camera…we would see the death from the victim’s point of view. It’s sad when regular people can predict the writers next move before they make it. Really sh*t writing!

Are you kidding me? I watched 90 mins for nothing. I thought this episode dragged. TWD is not as thrilling as it was before. Might be time to put it out of its misery after season 7.

LOL, right….. Like AMC is going to cancel its most highly rated show….

Formely high rated i would say… I’m done with this… Honestly i wasted some time reading all the “graphic novels”… because of the tv series… and they’re just boring and childish (i would say teenager writing)… The fact that they “mixed it up” was cool, but not cool enough to make me stay… The poll says it best… EPIC FAIL… R.I.P. T.W.D.

Its the highest rates cable show week in and week out …. if it were on Network television it would be #1 overall every week. With a much more limited audience reach TWD hits viewer numbers at the level of NCIS and Big Bang Theory every single week – both network shows with a larger span to get to viewers. NCIS, BB Theory and The Walking Dead reach 17 to 20M in ratings points every week, with the 3 of them trading off 1,2, and 3 week by week.

So yeah, there is no danger of this show going anywhere anytime soon. It’s not only the biggest winner in AMC history, it is one of the biggest hits in television history, period. Even if/when they kill off Daryl, which I do not want to see as he is my favorite character, like everyone else, the show will still carry on very strongly.

Your numbers are almost spot on… i’m just pointing out that this direction is going to cost them big time… It’s not off the top of my head… predictive analysis algoritms… They alienated a large fanbase by picking a “corny” and predictable outcome (i mean the lame comic version, almost line by line)… But maybe the fanbase will grow with a less complex group of people… Basicaly they lost the 30+ higher educated people.

@ Marco (reply to your 2nd message) – my numbers are what are reported per the Nielsen’s – all I have to go on. Most of the audience who are upset are teens to low 30’s (Millennials I guess they are called) who do not appreciate a good cliffhanger like this. Too interested in the now and have no patience for things in life. The older crowd can appreciate what they did here.

Regardless of this cliff hanger, or if they kill off Daryl, etc, people are still going to watch this show because it is well written, and well acted – which is why the ratings are what they are.

By the way, I am a 40 year old ‘higher educated’ person. Not sure what your point is in throwing in ‘higher ‘educated’ in there, but there you go.

You know it… I know it… the teens will get over “the cliffhanger effect”… But the 30+ crowd are bored of this kind of unimaginative writing… Maybe not all of us… But a big chunk… Anyway, don’t care… enjoy your show mate, i’m just done with it.

No they won’t. – Revisit this message board in 7 months after you’ve seen the ratings for the first few episodes. I guarantee it will be as high as this season, if not higher as Netflix keeps bringing in fans who power-watch the previous seasons to get caught up.

You are way beyond helping son if you think a cheap cop-out such as this would ever translate to ”good” or even ”clever” writing. These type of cheapish gimmicky stunts are what writers pull when they have nothing else left. Walking Dead have pretty much written it’s own fate by creating a few characters that have become so beloved that it’s pretty much impossible at his point to kill one of them off (unless said actor behind the character wants off the show)

You are acting as if the writers would somehow have carte blanche to do whatever they wan’t creatively, if you need telling then understand this son, behind those writers you have a whole boardroom of studioheads who dictate what goes and what doesn’t.

It’s highly unlikely they start playing whack’a’mole with the most established characters, especially when they haven’t brought anyone in to take their place. End of the day it’s about $$ you live in the world of capatalism, if you try and convince yourself of anything other then that then you might aswell continue voting Trump and just sit and watch as the world burns.

Keep dreaming, another boohoo millennial pissed because of a cliffhanger :D

Nope, not even close mate… Just utter disappoitment here at the lack of imagination…

That finale was garbage. I will not be watching next season. All season they have been dangling that damn bat in our faces and for what. To leave it like that. The ratings will go down in season 7

Such a cheap ratings ploy ending. This show has always been above that, so disappointed in this finale. I feel like all the emotional impact has been taken out of this huge moment.

The show has never been above that. In fact, its their standard mode of operation.

A cliffhanger on a TV show is standard fare for decades and decades. They even pointed out quite a few during The Talking Dead because all the millennials are threatening to kill themselves because they didn’t get the spoonfeeding they’re used to.

How much does AMC pay you to tow the line? Must be a good gig since you keep making the same point over and over. The finale was bad, so much so that I will not be holding my breath for 6 months…. that isn’t a cliffhanger, it was a cheap shot aimed at long time fans. ~ a 40+ viewer who voted ‘fail’

The thing is …. it wasn’t bad. I can understand the complaints regarding the cliffhanger – we live in a ‘now’ society, pushed on by mostly millenials, with a huge nudge from technology. I’ll admit I like things quicker too, which is why I love to power-watch seasons of shows at a time when possible. Netflix is the best thing for television since the introduction of cable. It is so worth every penny I pay for it. But I can also appreciate when a well written and acted show like The Walking Dead decides to keep us guessing, and provides one of the biggest cliffhangers in recent years.

Can you believe the writing in everything they brought this season with the zombie apocalypse inside Alexandria to have all these uncharacteristic failures from everyone including daryl n denise to say the least just to bring us to the season finale without any new ideas except to choose from a group who’s gonna,be gone, no adventure to the rescue like at terminus, this is utter disappointment underlying a ratings ploy like you said, more than the character the fan base loses from this decision and focus

The worst season finale in the history of TV. Well it was good until the last minute Pathetic Walking Dead pathetic.

Totally bad episode. Nothing resolved and a cliffhanger at the end like the show runners couldn’t decide who to kill, if anyone. I won’t waste another minute on the show.

There is no way they can keep this secret all summer. Deductive reasoning will eventually out the victim. Unless they pay whoever died to hang around Atlanta until the fall.

I said elsewhere if AMC truly wanted to keep this on the hush, they can if they wanted to. Yeah, it might involve spending money keeping an actor around or secretly filming scenes with need to know actors and production staff in secret. Lesser shows have pulled off surprises

That’s some BS have to wait till October to see who it is? Please but I did give the episode an A Cause those MUTHA F’ers were EVERYWHERE!!!

complete terrible ending…..they need to stop with the bs suspense until next season…this is garbage! I should have gone to bed.

1. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was the perfect choice for Neegan. 2. Agree with most peoPle… It would have been a great finale to see who news on receiving end of Lucille. All that build up for a black screen???? Doesn’t make any sense… At least show us who it is was… Just feel like AMC told the writers out it was going to end versus the other way around… Bare minimum we know it wasn’t Rick or Carl

Choosing someone to make an example of created a lot of chaos in the scene. Amidst all the confusion, he finally makes a choice and begins swinging.

If you listened close, you could clearly hear him give a way who he chose as the assault began.

“Sit still or I’ll feed your other eye to your dad!”

Carl is not only missing an eye, but he’s the only one in the scene who has a surviving father.

The implications of this loss are going to be tremendous in the next season. Not only will it push Rick to new limits, but it will also change the entire group in ways we aren’t used to.

He actually didn’t say “your eye”. He said he would the kids eye out and feed it to his father hence not talking directly to Carl.

Agree, Negan had killed a 16 yrs old at hilltop…..Also, it was mention that Negan had everyone watch him put this kid to death and the kid was tough….The hilltop did not stop it and they comply to the order of Negan New World….It is kind of odd that the cast are on a hilltop….Duh

That isn’t what was said at all. Negan said “Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father.”

The implications of this loss would be tremendous in the next season. Not only would it push Rick to new limits, but it would also change the entire group in ways we aren’t used to.

total disrespect to the fans after the glenn BS earlier and now this, keep it up and the fans wont comeback, you have 90 minutes+ and still end on a crappy cliffhanger, lazy cash grab, shove it amc

agree amc needs to pull head out of blackhole and start paying attention to viewers

This episode was basically 75 minutes of nothing. Then they sucked all the emotion out of one of the most iconic scenes from the comics. We now know someone is dead and there’s no way they can recreate the emotion that the cliffhanger lacked. The only good thing to come out of this episode was JDM, who is perfect as Negan.

Agree with the concensus that this sucked. I’ve been watching faithfully since season two but I think I’m over it. Too bad…

Been watching since the start and tired of cliffhangers, can’t a TV series figure it out that if they don’t do that they will get higher ratings? The longer episode was only because of commercials! I am glad I recorded it and waited to watch it so I could skip all those commercials! It wasn’t Rick or Carl, I don’t think it was a woman, if it’s Glenn they have no imagination, Aaron isn’t loved enough, Daryl too much, Abraham or the Hillbilly Scientist is all that is left!

wow what a bunch of babies on here tonight. it wasn’t a series finale so of course not everything was resolved. cliffhangers can be fun (e.g. Alias, LOST). Agree it will be hard to keep secret as victim is likely to get another job before next season premieres.

I agree. Bunch whiners here. Some people just want everything spoon fed to them, with no waiting. It was an excellent episode. One of the best this season. Didn’t like it, then don’t watch it.

and who the f* are you telling me to watch it or not? Are you kidding me? People disagree with season closure, and let me remind you we are the majority so step down, swollow this if not dont come and be al happy about your positive misplaced attitude towards us.

It’s not the fact that they left it with a cliffhanger. It’s the fact that it was unnecessary and takes away from the shock and awe of negans debut. In the end I think it really hurt the show.

I agree, I think the ending gives me a personal hope to get of a character I think has way over used his useless purpose but the writing sucked this seaspn to get us here. Yes they used cool effects and stuff that’s why it’s so awesome and original, move that aside and look at the writing in what has happened to get us here, they left a lot of opportunities off thevtable, created unnecessary shenanigans by unchacteristic efforts by all, especially the main characters, just review this past season and look at the resulting mishaps that had to happen to get out fab chapters in a perilous position at this season finale. And worse, the ending left us with a limited outcome ene meet miney moe, not s whole lot of season finale creativity there regardless who leaves, no over the top season finale saving grace to be found like terminus, so no I don’t care much for the result they impose on us, but if we lose a useless character then we all have hope but for ratings I think the fans lose an important character and the fans suffered terrible writing mishaps to being us here, while mgmt oversight forced them into this focused , bottomline, ratings finale. Boooooi

I totally agree. It was cheap and unfair to the fans. Robert Kirkman and Scott Gimple claimed leaving the viewer not knowing who was killed sets it up for the 7th season and how everyone else will have to deal with the death. Please explain how showing us who died would have changed that? As fans, wouldn’t we have grasped how the death of a main character was going to have a huge impact on the others? If Abraham was killed, we would know how much that would affect Sasha, Rosita and Eugene. If Glenn were killed, we would know the agony of Maggie and Rick. If it was Michonne, Rick and Carl would be devastated. These characters are all family now so any one of them dying would have a critical impact on the group moving forward.

Agree and disagree. AMC built this up all season & I found it long & drawn out. Find the whole Carol storyline bizarre; she was a cold killer & her fairly rapid breakdown is just weird. Though she & Morgan now have much in common so I can see them as a couple in the future.

Then everyone taking leave of their senses & running out looking for – what? Other than Rick & Morgan, they don’t know Carol is gone. That they left the largely untrained Alexandrites to defend the compound was just silly. But, I guess the writers had to get all the main characters outside the walls somehow. It was a huge stretch, though.

Have to say JDM is wonderful as Negan. I found it hard not to like him. Say what you will, but there’s not too much daylight between he & Rick. Just because they are ‘our gang’ doesn’t mean they’re the good guys. But we still love them.

As for the cliffhanger, I agree that making the victim the same as in the comic would be a yawn. We are limited in the number of beloved characters; if not who it is supposed to be, I’d say Daryl or Michionne, either of whom would be devastating.

Finally, for everyone wanting things to be wrapped up in a tidy bow, grow up! Great shows almost always involve cliffhangers, mostly to keep fans thinking, on edge & involved. I do agree with others who said millennials want instant gratification. It is a maturity thing.

So predictable,that was my series finale..so long walking dead

Hated the cliffhanger, gonna make us 7 months???? Gheesh

They shot themselves in the foot by using the same “does this person die or not” cliffhanger THREE TIMES this season. From Glenn under the dumpster to Daryl last episode to this, it just starts to feel like a gimmick for ratings and both unoriginal and not genuine.

I was mad that there were so many commercials in the beginning, but I was glad the whole Negan scene was left whole. But I can’t believe they took two hours just to end it with a “gotcha” moment again.

I agree with this sentiment. The cliffhanger might have been easier to swallow had they not pulled the same gimmick several times this season. Also took away from Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s performance, as those last ten minutes – right up until the cut to black – were indeed terrifyingly intense.

Then to immediately have Hardwick on with the hashtag WhoIsIt? Yuck.

The Negan scene was overblown and painful. He basically told them the same thing 20 times in 15 minutes.

It was obvious that Daryl was shot in the shoulder and wasn’t going to die. This finale was long and uneventful though.

It’s not Rick. Neegan says ‘if anyone moves etc, cut out the boys other eye and feed it to his father’…… Not Rick or Karl

He also says “cut out the boys eye and feed it to his father… and then we will start” after threatening them with that. So it actually could be either of them.

Everyone needs to calm down. This will guarantee the season premier will smash ratings records and it will keep people hooked and talking. They did their job, am I happy? No. Was it the easy way out? Yes. But they did what show runners need to do. And you all will be watching in October

The people over at The Spoiling Dead will have this sussed out by June when filming is well underway.

Well, they did their job if they were hired to sacrifice the show’s integrity, a history of good story-telling and overall quality for ratings and money. They also did their job at creating tension in the laziest, easiest and lowest way possible.

That’s not smart. They over played it and it was unnecessary. I think just as many people would watch the season 7 premiere without leaving us hanging.

Booooooo shame on the producers the cast and everyone who had involvement in tonights episode wish i hadn’t wasted my time..last episode I’ll ever watch

Grow some freaking balls AMC and show who the F()ck dies! Ooooh…they’ll have to watch the next season premiere to find out! Nah, eenie meenie miney mo, guess who’s tired of this show?

Unfortunately, I did find the episode quite overhyped. They tried building too high a sense of dread with no payoff, and Negan talked way too long.

And from Negan’s position in front of the line, and from everything he said right before he struck and the “taking it like a champ” comment, the dead character is either Eugene, Daryl, Glenn, or Abraham. The ones whose death would have the most impact are Glenn and Daryl.

Yeah, the position is a give away, and from listening to the audio a billion times, slowed down and normal speed, to me, it sounds like maggie is screaming the friggin loudest as she (and everybody else) yells “Glennnn” but thats just me. Def Glenn or Daryl died, as they would have the biggest impact. I only started to become intriguied when they were carrying maggie and got caught, thats when the intensity started to get to me. They could’ve done better.

Its Eugene. If you watch at the end, Negan says “You can cry”. And glances slightly to his LEFT. Indicating that he was talking to Carl (as Negan told Carl prior to “Lighten up, at least cry a little”). The only person to Carl’s left was Eugene. That, and when Negan claims “and you (are it)”, everyone is pictured with a bat in their face…except Eugene. So that’s who I am going with. Eugene is dead.

Yesssssss.You are correct. It’s Eugene. If you rewatch the episode you can tell that this is his “swan song”. He even hands Rick the method for making ammunition. Why would they do that, unless Eugene is the one who gets killed.

But he glances to the left “you can cry” and then also glances to the right as if he is talking to someone else in the group. Eugene is at the end of the line so there would be no one to glance at to the right. Also means it can’t be Glen because he glances to the left and Glen is at the other end and no one to glance at to the left. It likely isn’t a female as he calls said person a “champ” and the character doesn’t like to kill women or children. Also isn’t Carl or Rick based on his cut the eye out and feed it to his dad comment. Aaron is too small a character to have impact. That leaves either Daryl or Abraham.

Wasn’t there a commercial for a new show called “Riding with Daryl Reedus” advertised tonight? Unless it’s a weird flashback show, they can’t have killed Daryl.

Well what did he tell the victim before he swung his bad?

I always hate when the cast and producers build so much hype around a season finale, because inevitably, the episode doesn’t meet viewer expectations. I read numerous reports claiming this finale would go down as one of the greatest in TV history, but to me it fell well below that standard. Tip to the writers: when you construct an entire season around the introduction of a well-known villain like Negan, tease the gruesome death of a major character, include TWO separate fake out death scenes (Glenn and Daryl), and then heavily promote an “extended” 90-minute finale — you better follow through. That was a lot of tension and buildup with ultimately no payoff.

Best comment I’ve read as to why this finale was a supreme letdown. Its exactly why the episode is getting the reaction that it is.

Thank you. It’s not just that the episode ended in a cliffhanger, it’s that the season-long arc built so much suspense and excitement and then left us hanging dry for seemingly no reason. I just wonder what the writers were thinking when they spent over half the finale showing Rick’s group driving around in an RV and getting roadblocked. Several of the main cast didn’t even have speaking lines in this episode and were severely underused, especially considering this was likely the final episode for one of them. It just seems like a disservice — not only to the fans, but to the actors as well.

The greatest season finale ever was the biggest cliffhanger ever ….. 1980 Dallas. J.R. Ewing was shot in his office, and the picture faded to black, leaving everyone to wonder ‘Who shot J.R.’. The season premier had some 90 million Americans, 75% of the TV’s in the country, tune in for the episode. So if anyone was saying this episode might go down in TV history as one of the greatest moments, it very well might, and this might be the reason they were saying it. You may be disappointed you didn’t get to find out who died here, same as Dallas viewers were upset they had to wait to find out who shot the main character of the show …. hell I am inpatient too and would like to know NOW ….. but we’ll have to wait and see how this plays out in the end I guess.

But Dallas had me spending the whole summer wondering whodunnit. I feel like TWD pulled the emotion out of that last scene, so instead of me wondering whoisit for the next few months, I kind of don’t care.

Well I imagine most fans will be wondering all summer here as to who Negan ‘done it’ to, so it could be very similar. Dallas/JR and 1980 was a totally different time, so I don’t expect it to have the same type of hype. But I know I will be wondering all summer. I am glad to have Fear TWD starting up here to help pass the time, but, it is not the same as getting to the next episode of The Walking Dead though ….. it is going to be tough.

Sorry but Dallas didn’t tease for weeks prior that a lead character would be shot or killed. It came as a complete surprise and therefore could justifiably be called a cliffhanger. AMC has been leaking for weeks that we would see (and no who) a major character would be killed by a specific character. Completely different scenario.

When did any Walking Dead preview, commercial, or anything official claim anything to the fact that we would see and know who was killed by Negan? If you can verify that and point it out somewhere I can see it then I might lean towards your end of this ….. they shouldn’t promise that and not deliver. But I don’t remember seeing anything like that anywhere leading up to this. I don’t even remember commercials or ads stating anyone was going to die, let alone that it would be clear WHO it was. The Talking Dead teased that something big was coming, and there have been stories for weeks now about how Andrew Lincoln was very upset by the script because it was extremely emotional. As for Dallas, you did not have the media, and, more importantly, the internet to get any sort of word out there …. predates all that. All you had were simple network commercials and previews at the end of the previous episode Different time all around ……

The creators/writers didn’t have to follow the comic book and kill Glenn. I’m really really disappointed they didn’t take a different story line.

If any of the original group (Rick, Daryl, Carl, Carol, Glenn) are killed, my family and I are not going to watch anymore.

Without hope what reason is there to keep watching?

Oh yes you are right on the money. The made it look so hopeless. And the whole point of the zombie apocalypse is how you survive and keep hope that there is a better day coming. You have to keep some light on the horizon!

Agreed. There is a connection that will be lost for me, permanently, if they follow the comics with who they kill.

The RV merry-go-round was an anchor weighing down the sense of dread and despair they were trying to build.

To kill the same character as in the comics simply removes all sense of hope and humanity connecting me to the show and makes it a tired, sad, cheap gimmick that betrays my loyalty and investment. I’m done.

Agreed – we need a sense that there is a chance of survival and life. A chance for society to take root again. We need hope. Unlike the situation at Terminus where most of our group was locked up and Carol was coming to the rescue, here we get Carol in self-destruct mode and the rest of the group up craps-creek,

Eenie menie miney mo guess ill never watch this show

I’m laughing right now at the collective Internet meltdown over this cliffhanger. I look at it this way. The show has, from the beginning, veered from the comics quite a bit. I don’t expect things to everything go exactly as planned. I learned a long time ago having my mind set on expectations leads to this kind of let down. If you don’t like the idea of cliffhangers in general, I can understand the frustration. But I get the feeling alot of the criticism is based on expecting this moment to happen scene for scene and throwing a tantrum cause you don’t get what you want.

I’ve come to ignore any hype that surrounds an episode, especially when it’s a finale. But I don’t think it’s fair to say people are throwing a “tantrum” when really they’re just trying to voice their own criticism. There are cliffhangers that have a real, creative purpose and ones that are done for no reason other than to tease viewers. In this case, it was definitely misused.

Let me be clear. I don’t want to suggest it’s everyone. But scouring the comments section of various sites I frequent, one of the biggest complaints I’m seeing is that this was an iconic character and moment from the comics and it didn’t play out the way they expected. On some level, I get the disappointment. However, this show has consistently veered off from the comics. So I guess my point is that I would think you would go in thinking this might not play out the way I’m expecting.

Jumping in here… you definitely have a point. However, to me, as someone who has not read TWD comics, I don’t care if the TV show matches the comics or not. My issue is that TWD and AMC has been hyping Negan since the end of season 5. And we get this little bit w/ no payoff, the very last minutes of a bloated episode at the end of a basically go-nowhere season. Just seems reminiscent of the hot air and “bait and switch” of our political primary process… lol.

Were the producers worried that people wouldn’t come back for season 7 if they showed us who was on the receiving end of Lucille tonight? I’m hoping that after this massive f-you to the fans, a lot of folks are considering doing just that. Also, somebody please make it so Scott Gimple stops having words come out of his mouth.

This is most likely what they were doing. Probably figured that if glenn or daryl was the one to die, people wouldnt tune in to watch S7, which would make their ratings/views go down, etc. Just a cheap attempt to get people to tune in

Cheap (maybe?) attempt at a cliffhanger along the lines of ‘Who shot J.R.’ from 1980 (Google it for probably the majority of you! lol). The whole nation talked about that cliff hanger all summer long and it was a HUGE rating winner. But, Dallas was a typical network show that ran until the end of May, and picked up again in early September, the old, typical TV season. With TWD, it ends early April, and doesn’t come back until OCTOBER ….. much much MUCH too long for a major cliffhanger like this on a show like this! I can’t say I’m not disappointing (insert Kevin Sorbo meme here). I expected them to leave us with the visual of a main cast member dying at Negans hand – not a video game shot of a Resident Evil character ‘taking on damage’!

Will this deter me from watching TWD going forward though ….. of course not. And it won’t stop anyone else either – which is why they went ahead and did it. I just wish they hadn’t!!

You can hear Glenn shout “Maggie” which sounds to be a bit distant and pretty coherent for it to be him. And the groans sounded male. Guessing Maggie passed out. SO. Aaron got the bat I think. The show ended in a cliffhanger because it was a minor character, and they get the same effect as if it were Rick etc. We all should see by now that the producers try to wring multiple deaths from all of the major characters, so they’re not going to waste a major character now when they can kill him/her off a few more times. Aaron was the only minor character in that group. If it were a major character, we would have seen it.

If you paid attention, Negan’s shadow crossed from Rick’s right side to left side. On Rick’s left side in order from closest to furthest is Sasha, Aaron, Carl and Eugene.

If it is Eugene I swear this will be the last episode I watch.

It’s Sasha. On the last part you see a shadow on Rick’s left side of his face.

Not thrilled with the cliffhanger but that’s not what I have an issue with. What sucks is that the entire episode was a complete bore. You would think they would give us a great season finale considering the entire season was a big FU to the fans. It’s like the writers knew the story sucked so they used gimmicks like faking Glenn’s death and constant cliffhangers to keep people tuning in. I think back to the early seasons of TWD and I’m disappointed with the current direction. As if Kirkman or Gimple care I feel disappointed LOL :P

As a fan from day one, this season has been one of the best. I don’t understand how this edge of your seat episode was boring. I was having anxiety the entire time. I guess you need a massacre every episode in order to get any satisfaction. Those are the fans that have no interest in a great character series and should return to their regularly scheduled NCIS bing.

Hahaha…yeah that sucked and pissed me off with a cliffhanger, but some of you are funny. “Not watching it anymore.” “I’m done with the series.” Who are you fooling? You are so going to watch it next season. All of you to cool for school wannabes…ratings will be through the roof season 7 premiere and you all will be watching.

dont confuse the rest of us with your weak own self please

No I won’t. If I can wait 6 freaking months to get to know, I can certainly wait 6 months and 1 day to learn it from the internet afterwards. I really don’t think that it’s in the best interest of the show runners to troll us that way. A lot of people are truly starting to lose interest, including me. I did stop watching series before (namely the awful Lost) because it was becoming stupid. I am sad that TWD is taking this direction. I really loved that show.

Oh look, another crybaby millennial that needs to be spoon fed to stay interested. :D

Not sure why you’re taking a discussion about a poorly handled season finale to deride an entire generation of humans, but it sounds like you have some personal issues to work on…

Because millennials are the main source of the complaints about the finale …. it’s not that hard to understand really.

So much butt-hurt over this show …. for 4 seasons now I have read comments, hundreds of them on various message boards, about many different TWD subjects, just full of people saying they will ‘never watch TWD again’ because of ‘x’ – yet the shows viewership gets stronger and stronger. The show has nothing to worry about in terms of ratings …. it will still be at the top with huge numbers. While I would have preferred to know who Negan took out here, I get the idea of a season ending cliffhanger. That used to be the norm in television – some extreme cliffhangers like this, some not so big; but, almost every show had one at the end of each season. Problem with the complaints here is that the younger crowd does not enjoy a good cliffhanger …. it’s the generation of ‘right now’ and nobody wants to wait for anything.

Now “we” have to wait almost 6 months to find out who died (wondering if they stick to the comic book once again…)

Anyway, my favorite part of the episode was the creepy whistling scene by Negan gang…that was creepy and had goosebumps

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