“The Walking Dead” season premiere receives eye-popping ratings

This is a review of the season seven premiere of The Walking Dead and will contain spoilers.


Season Six of “The Walking Dead” left our favorite characters helpless, and lined up at the mercy of Negan (Jeffery Dean Morgan), followed by a six-month gap to see who would find themselves at the end of his bat, Lucille.

With full knowledge that at least one beloved character would not make it past the season seven premiere, fans watched in record numbers. According to local Nielsen ratings, the post-apocalyptic drama had first place ratings with 318,655 total viewers, beating out the 236, 274 viewers who tuned-in for the season six finale last April.

Nationally, “The Walking Dead” received just above 17 million viewers, becoming the highest rated show for its 18-49 demographic, surpassing even Sunday Night Football.

“I think it’s a testament to the anxiety that was built up. Everyone had to know who Negan killed, and these numbers reflected the dedicated fan-base,” said Valencia student Kaleb Morgan.

The ratings may have been a record high, but did this episode truly deliver a worthy performance?

Fans knew there would be bloodshed going into the episode, so there was no surprise in that delivery. The reverse storytelling in the episode was a fresh new approach to how “The Walking Dead” usually conducts itself. We learn about it through the contemplation of Rick, who is laying on the top of a RV, surrounded by walkers, and on the verge of giving up entirely.

This scene has a strong sense of power, showing that even the strongest-willed character in the show was close to breaking down after the loss of two close friends.

The killing of Abraham and Glenn, two main characters in one episode, was unexpected. This keeps up the theme that nobody is safe, which the show has been known for season after season.

The technique of taking out Abraham first, which calmed the mind of most people, allowing them to relax and say, “My favorite character survived and is now officially safe,” and then killing Glen shortly after, was a strong blow.

The loss of these two main characters not only had a strong impact on the fan-base, but the future state of the main characters, as they are now without two important group members, and must provide for someone else— this is the first time the group must answer to someone new.

This season will show a broke group, who will either find a way to fight back or deal with the cards they have been dealt.