The Walking Dead: Every Season 7 Episode (So Far) - Ranked Worst To Best

It's hard not to look back at the premiere episode of the season without the shadow of the sixth season's cliffhanger looming over it. All summer long, fans were quite divided over being left hanging on the identity of who Negan killed, and the premiere had to spend a healthy chunk of time regaining the tension and fear from last season's final moments before finally getting to the big reveal.

The episode was less about moving things forward than it was about methodically tearing Rick Grimes and the group down, and it was more than effective. One can definitely argue that Abraham's death should've been shown in the previous finale for maximum impact - especially because it was immediately overshadowed by Glenn's sudden death anyway - but taken on its own merits, the episode was an unrelenting, depressing, and powerful kickoff to the season.

Aside from the tragic loss of two major characters, everything the group and we as an audience had known for years was suddenly inverted, with the power quite literally taken from Rick by Negan, who left the group irrevocably changed, unified in grief but fractured going forward about what to do next. It was easily the show's darkest episode to date, and one that understandably may have turned people off simply because not a single ounce of fun was had, but it was undeniably effective in spite of the cliffhanger issue, setting the relatively downbeat tone of the rest of the season.