I never thought that we would reach a point where fans of a violent show finally got fed up with the violence…but here we are. With the premiere of The Walking Dead‘s seventh season this past Sunday, the famously bloody show may have finally crossed the line for some.
A number of fans took their righteous ire to the Internet after The Walking Dead‘s season premiere, which featured the grisly death of Glenn (Steven Yeun). The gore overpowered the plot for many, with fans complaining that it was too disturbing, too bloody, and too nasty, even for The Walking Dead.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan on the show, even weighed in, saying that they really didn’t need the close-ups of the gore and that the creepiest elements of the scene were actually the shots where you didn’t see much at all:
I think the shots that were really creepy were where you couldn’t exactly see what was going on except for the silhouette of Negan with the bat coming down, with the blood flying. I don’t know if you need to see the closeup gore of it all. It’s a lot.
That sentiment has been echoed by more than a few fans and critics; Critic Matt Zoller Seitz on Vulture likened The Walking Dead to a “fourth-rate zombie movie stretched over 83-hours” (via Polygon).
Although not everyone shares the shock and dismay of some fans, it is sort of surprising that a show that has always been violent may have finally crossed a line. That Dean Morgan himself thought it was overdone speaks volumes, as do Seitz’s criticisms. But The Walking Dead has always toed the line about violence and even run the risk of alienating viewers (remember the last season finale?), and viewers still come back. The rest of this season will apparently focus on Negan and his relationship with Rick and family, so don’t expect the blood to let up any time soon..
If you weren’t ok with the level of violence on The Walking Dead last week, maybe it’s time to stop watching….
