Walking Dead Season 7 Mid-Season Premier

What to Expect on the Season 7 Mid-Season Premier of the Walking Dead

It’s actually in my best interest that Walking Dead and all my other shows take a break through the holidays. There are a few too many things going on; making sure all the presents are wrapped, the December movie releases, decorating the house, baking, holiday parties for work and other groups, and of course the time we want to spend relaxing with our friends and families. I would end up getting behind on my shows, even Walking Dead. But once the holiday is done, and the cookies are finally finished being eaten, and the decorations are back in their boxes, waiting for February is soooooooooo hard!

SPOILER ALER

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The rest of this article will talk about the Walking Dead series up through the mid-season finale of Season 7. All viewpoints in this article are assuming that the show is no longer following the story in the comic.

The first half of this season focused on really developing Negan as a character. As an audience, we got angry with him for being a generally insufferable prick. We tried to understand Negan’s motives when he returned Carl unscathed. We were offended and scared when he touched Judith. Nobody could believe how many times Rick and crew had the opportunity to kill Negan, and they just wouldn’t take it. A few seasons ago, Rick would have turned around and fought again as soon as they had gotten away. That hatchet would have ended up in Negan’s skull. All of Rick’s friends want to kill Negan. Rosita went off to find a single gun and any way possible to fire it. Michonne spent a lot of time doing target practice with that crazy rifle and when Rick took it away, she hijacked a truck and threatened one of Negan’s wives. Daryl attempted to get out when he first arrived at the Saviors’ stronghold, until his brainwashing really kicked in. Jesus seemed to be on a mission to end it when he ran into Carl and then Daryl. Carl decides to go totally rogue and starts mowing down Saviors out of the back of the truck like a badass. Maggie and Sasha were each constructing their own plots, but thankfully did not get them off the ground yet. They are all failing without leadership. Carol’s not there to snap Rick back into reality. None of Rick’s group are talking to one another. All they needed was Rick to wake up and realize just how nuts Negan is.

So what do we want to see? Obviously we want to see Negan’s brains splattered all over the concrete somewhere. Rick’s group don’t know that they have allies inside Negan’s camp yet. Dwight and his girlfriend are completely ready to split if they don’t get caught and killed for letting Daryl out. The question right now is whether they’re going to run, or try to build a revolution from the inside. A revolution within Negan’s forces would be extremely dangerous. With the amount of bad blood between Daryl and Dwight, I’m pretty sure that if Negan lets them live, they still won’t become characters you see every week. I don’t really see that pair becoming a main part of Rick’s crew for long, even if they have an important role to play in the world.

All Walking Dead fans are excited to see Rick finally start to fight back. It makes everything treacherous though. They have no weapons, they have to keep their heads down and just take what the Saviors dish out so they can be there to fight another day. They have to scavenge for the Saviors while they get their stuff together and plan for Oh, and Psycho McDouchebag who lived in the houseboat might still show back up to collect his guns.

At the end of last season, they left us with a cliffhanger; wondering who was going to die to feed Lucille. The agonizingly long first episode of the seventh season finally revealed who got the bat. I think that the second half of the seventh season is going to be a litany of attempts on Negan’s life. We are going to see each of the people who have reason to kill Negan have a shot at doing it.

It would be appropriate for us to see Carl kill Negan. Negan wants Carl to be his protege; someone who is crazy enough to take over when Negan is ready to retire. He hopes Carl will run the Saviors the same way Negan does. He thinks Carl has proven himself just psycho enough to lead the way Negan does.

I really want to see Morgan break his peace to kill Negan. If this happens, it will be epic. I see a long, drawn out, slow motion scene while a battle rages in the background. Negan has Carol cornered somehow, or has already hurt her, and Morgan is going berserk, taking out guys and walkers to get to where he needs to be. If Morgan kills Negan, hope he picks up Lucile and bashes Negan’s skull to pieces in his drive to be a hero.

But I don’t believe either of these people will kill Negan. I believe that it will be Rick. He needs to reestablish his dominance. What is he going to do with the rest of the Saviors when Negan finally does die? Rick needs them to respect him so he doesn’t have to worry about insurgents. I think Rick is going to kill Negan becuase we haven’t really ever gotten to see Rick kill the bad guy. Yes, he killed Shane, but that was an act of passion. A lot of the other guys he’s killed have been people who have been around for an episode or two, not really anyone you’d really want to hate. We have seen Rick kill raiders and people who threatened his family, but nobody that he’s really hunted. Rick is going to hunt down Negan like a serial killer stalks his prey.

Sunday evenings are some of the only time that my group of friends can reliably get together, so there are always people in my house when Walking Dead airs.  Check out our Zombie Dog Dinner recipe later this week for a fun idea to get you in the mood.

Is the second half of this season the end of Negan? Or is this just the beginning of a whole new series of trouble that they’re going to drag out for years? We’ll have to wait and see. Walking Dead Season 7 mid-season premier comes back on the air Sunday, February 12th.