The Walking Dead Midseason Premiere Is “A Movie Unto Itself”

Coming off the back of a rather lacklustre first half of a season, it’s been hard to muster up much excitement for the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead. But the more and more we’ve been hearing about what’s to come in this next batch of episodes, we must say, we’re finding ourselves pretty eager to reunite with Rick Grimes and co. as they prepare for their all-out war against Negan.

One thing that’s been a constant throughout season 7 so far has been the grim and somber mood. Our merry band of survivors have been through hell and back and lost several friends along the way. With the menacing Negan constantly torturing and punishing them, it’s been a very rough ride for the gang. However, it seems like that may change quite soon.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the midseason premiere, and what to expect from the second half of the season, showrunner Scott M. Gimple said the following:

“It propels us into a very different half season from the one before it. Before the end of that very first episode back, you will see Rick Grimes smile.”

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly it is that’s going to make Rick smile, but it probably has something to do with his plan to put an end to Negan. We know that he’s attempting to get the other communities (Hilltop, The Kingdom, etc.) to join him in the fight and we imagine that if he’s smiling, his efforts must be going well.

Further in the interview, Gimple also noted how the midseason premiere feels like a movie – which isn’t too surprising given that it’s set to have an extended runtime.

“The midseason premiere is a movie unto itself. Angela Kang wrote it, Greg Nicotero directed it, the cast knocked it out of the park — pretty much literally, you’ll see — and the crew pulled it all together, and it was a hell of a lot to pull together.”

As we said above, the first half of season 7, though it did have its moments, wasn’t very impressive. But The Walking Dead has always been known as a show that has its many, many ups and downs, and it looks as if we’re about to start seeing things improve when it returns on February 12th.

Tell us, are you planning to tune in when the show makes its way back onto the small screen, or have you had enough of AMC’s series already? Sound off in the usual place and let us know.