The Walking Dead: 8 Reasons The Season 7 Premiere Was A Failure
7. So Needlessly Sadistic
Look, The Walking Dead is violent. Everyone and their mum knows it's violent, and the gang's first rendezvous with Negan was bound to be more violent than usual. The problem was not so much the violence itself but everything else around it. The events leading up to the beatings and the threats was all so drawn out that 45 minutes felt like an eternity.
Some will argue that this was done on purpose but others will see it all for what it was, sadistic filler. The drawn out processes of Negan did not compliment the story, nor did they tell us anything about Negan that we couldn't have worked out from one head removal. The episode was so drawn out for no other reason than shock value.
The build up to the Lucille induced skull-bashing was a masterclass in tension, having it be so needlessly drawn out quickly turned the tension into tedium.