The Walking Dead: 10 Reasons Fans Are Abandoning The Show
6. The Season 7 Opener
The reaction to this episode would be the easiest answer to why fans are dropping out, since the rating drop took place after it aired. While some loved the uncompromising nature of it, many others felt it was essentially misery porn.
They watched characters they like being mentally and physically tormented for an hour, with an emphasis on two well-liked characters getting their heads turned into gooey mush, complete with lingering close-ups. The episode stretched this out as long as humanity possible, leaving many felt drained and a little sickened when it all ended.
It surely set the tone for the year to come, with Rick and the gang being under Negan’s boot, and that’s a formula most viewers evidentially decided they didn’t have the stomach for.