They say all’s well that ends well, but they obviously weren’t talking about the first half of The Walking Dead Season 7. We can be real about this now, right? It was brutal. And by brutal, I mean BRU-TAL. It’s safe to say we never really recovered from losing two of our favorite characters in the premiere.
It was more than just the loss of Glenn and Abe, though — although, admittedly, losing Abe’s one-liners alone was a rough blow to the TWD fandom. And, you know, watching Glenn’s eyeball pop out was quite literally a rough blow.
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But right up until the midseason finale, myriad problems plagued Season 7. It was disjointed. It was hella depressing. It was almost too gory, which says a lot coming from this crowd. Let’s just say if it weren’t for the show rallying in that last episode of the first half, they may not have been able to pull out of the ratings plunge.
As it turns out, fans weren’t the only ones pissed about how the season has played out thus far.
Remember Morgan? You might not considering the staff-wielding warrior-slash-pacifist barely appeared in the first eight episodes. Admittedly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this character when he was first introduced, but he has steadily grown on me. Maybe it took not seeing Morgan all season so far to realize I legitimately missed the vibe he brought to the group.
Well, that and I’m a huge fan of the adorable and incredibly talented Lennie James. Have you seen him on The Talking Dead? He’s so damn charming, he could sell ice to an Alaskan.
However, his impeccable manners have a breaking point, and that breaking point seems to be a subpar season. When asked by NMEwhat it was like to film only two episodes of the season as the story kept jumping narratives, James didn’t hold back.
“Horrible, just horrible — I swear to God, horrible (laughs). But it was the same for everybody. Everyone’s had more time off this season than they’ve ever had, but it’s horrible. I hated it, and I complained about it — and I’m not a complainer — every day, like, ‘How you doing Lennie?’ ‘I hate it!’ ‘You want tea or coffee?’ ‘I hate it!’ It was horrible, because you just didn’t see anybody,” James explained and we are here for it. You let ’em have it, Lennie!
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Plus, as you’ll recall, Lennie and Carol were hunkered down at The Kingdom. Not only was this a distinctively different location in TWD world, but it was actually quite different IRL too.
“Because we filmed The Kingdom in a completely different area to where they were filming Alexandria, the Hilltop, or the Saviors, it meant that no one was close to each other,” he lamented. “When we started filming the first episode, there was a moment where everybody sort of came together — and then everybody split up.”
Most abhorrently, it interfered with his and Andrew Lincoln’s real-life bromance. “I didn’t see Andy for six weeks because we weren’t filming in the same place… I hated it, it was horrible,” James told NME.
And, hey-o, we weren’t the only ones to whine about how many newcomers diluted the chemistry of the core characters this season so far.
“… There’s whole bunches of people that you meet at the wrap party who you’ve never met before! You’re like, ‘Who are you and what are you doing on my show?’ There were just loads of people going, ‘Hi, I’m such and such and I play…’ I don’t know you, go away! Where’s my mates? It was horrible, I hated it — meeting people at a wrap party and they don’t even look like themselves. It’s just stupid.”
Seriously, AMC, ya heard? Lennie James agrees that keeping Morgan and Carol isolated from the rest of the crew is horrible — where I come from, those are fightin’ words.
Happily (’cause this is a weird fandom we inhabit, and we lik’a da carnage), several other cast members seem to confirm that’s exactly what the back half of Season 7 will be filled with: fighting.
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Norman Reedus, aka Daryl Dixon, told Entertainment Weekly that he’s out for blood. “He wants revenge,” Reedus said. “He’s ready to fight. When he goes back in that last episode and hands Rick back his stuff, it was like, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go beat this guy up. Let’s go take what’s ours and fight this monster.’ So, you know, he’s in kill mode.”
God, I love it when he talks dirty.
As for good ol’ “Andy,” as James calls him, he also confirms change is coming in the second half of Season 7, saying, “It’s probably the opposite of what you just witnessed. Certainly from Rick’s point of view. You see a man in action again with some of the members of his closest family.”
Hell to the yes, people. Get ready — the shit hits the fan on Monday, Feb. 13.
Before you go, check out our slideshow below.
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