The Walking Dead Season 9 Premiere: 6 Ups & 3 Downs From 'A New Beginning'

1. Negan Still Hasn't Been Dealt With

Taking such a substantial time-jump is admirable, albeit bold, but such a move can also result in some pretty big issues. For one, a gap in time is a bit convenient for the writers, and therefore things like character development or location renovations can happen off-screen, but a strong script can easily compensate for - and often hide - these missing elements.

What's simply unforgivable is the fact that Rick has still not dealt with Negan. Firstly, the decision to keep Negan around is rather frustrating, but that's not the issue here. If you're going to risk a time-jump, it's important that you're prepared to miss out on significant moments and events (à la Maggie giving birth). Negan facing the music for his actions should've taken place months ago - during said time-jump. It's simply not plausible that Rick would've delayed something of this magnitude for a whole year.

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