CURTAIN CALL: The Walking Dead's Most Heart-breaking Episode So Far

We waited months just to know which among Rick’s group met Lucille. We had our own guesses and theories about Negan’s victim at the season 6 finale. Glenn, Daryl, Abraham, Maggie, Michonne, Eugene or will it be Carl? We tried to prepare ourselves to be ready to know and to accept the death that was coming, but we just couldn’t.

The season 6 finale, “Last Day on Earth”, focused on the introduction of one of the most ruthless antagonist in The Walking Dead, Negan, and his own group of people, The Saviors, and what they can do and why it is not right to mess with them. It showed how big of a bad guy Negan is just by delivering a speech, a speech that was very simple and direct, but was just downright intimidating.

Now, season 7 premiered and we all were just itching to find out who Negan took out. For the comic book readers, their expectation was Glenn, since it was him who took the beating, but the show doesn’t really follow the comics. As it turned out, Abraham was the one who was chosen. But at least, they let Abraham die as a badass, when he told Negan, “Suck my nuts.” while he was dying. It was a very sad moment but many fans were actually relieved that it wasn’t the one they were expecting (Glenn), nor the show's favorite (Daryl). Too bad, the writers really wanted our hearts to break, when Daryl lost it and punched Negan in the face, and at that moment we knew that more blood will be spilled.

Negan swung Lucille again as a retribution for Daryl’s action, but this time, the victim was Glenn. This was the plot twist that the fans just couldn’t handle, even though this was the death that they were expecting. Glenn’s death was so heartbreaking that as a fan, it ruined me inside. From the first hit he took, to the way Glenn tried to call out Maggie saying, “Maggie, I'll find you.” which was his last words, the way Negan mocked Glenn, and to the accuracy of the gruesome image of Glenn compared to the comic book version. The show succeeded in giving us their most emotionally stressful episode so far. And to top it all, they even showed a fantasy scene where they were all happily alive, dining together, with Glenn holding his child, just to play with our emotions more. A real heart breaker.

The actors deserved to be praised because of their performance, but I will give both of my thumbs up to Jeffery Dean Morgan (Negan) and Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes). Morgan delivered his performance perfectly from the way he talks and moves, to the way he gets into your head. He has an intimidating factor that Negan should have, and you’ll really feel afraid and angry at Negan every time he appears on screen.

Lincoln was amazing with his performance as well, as he got the viewers to empathize with Rick, the anger that Rick had, the sorrow and shock he faced, the confusion and dilemma in making his next move, and the fear and hopelessness. They nailed it. They nailed their performance.

As heart breaking as this episode was, I still can’t wait for the next one to come, and even though they’re killing my favorite characters, I had become a fan of the show even more than before.

To Sgt. Abraham Ford (Season 4 - 7) and Glenn Rhee (Season 1 – 7), thank you and rest in peace.