Did You Love Or Hate The Walking Dead Season Six Finale?

CAUTION SPOILER ALERT

This article contains Spoilers from the Walking Dead comics and for those who have yet to watch the Season six finale, if you don’t want to know, then don’t read.

Are you as pissed off as I am. That finale was such a let down, I sat there for over an hour as I had the luxury of no ads and watched a whole lot of acting that made no sense, only to be left with a black screen when Negan bashed someone's head in. Fuck! I am not happy!

The general consensus on The Walking Dead Season 6 Finale aired on April 10, 2016 was that it was a cheap ratings grab by cable network AMC. And this was totally unnecessary.

Now; if you are reader of the comic books that The Walking Dead is based on, you would know that the show tries to follow the general premise and story of the comics, however many events are changed. For example, no character death has been exactly the same, particularly the major characters.

The problem I had with the finale and I am NOT a whinging fan under the age of 20, I am almost 50 years old and believe this ending was a cheap ploy to get viewers in Season 7. I think AMC panicked when ratings dropped a little this season.

Well AMC should bloody well panic! This finale was way below what the Season five finale was in the demo numbers and if they want these numbers to rise, they need to stop with all the cliffhangers all through Season 6 and Season finale cliffhangers. This is a sure fire way to piss off the fans and lose ratings. 

TV executives never learn and keep pulling this crap. It is sheer arrogance that they think they can continue to get away with this. And the ugly truth that they don’t want to face is they will not for very much longer. When will TV writers and executive wake up and listen to their viewers. A cliffhanger was not needed in Season 6 and the writers know it. I have a strong feeling the cliffhanger idea came from AMC. If this were Season 1 or 2, then the fans can accept it, but given the many cliffhangers in Season 6 and the Glenn's dead crap in episode three, fans have had enough and ratings will be lower in Season 7. Just wait and see.

Now; before you all jump down my throat and tell me that cliffhangers are a part of all TV shows; please don’t, I am well aware of this and I generally don't mind them, but this cliffhanger for this part of the story was not necessary. Especially if Glenn is the character who dies. If this is so, then the writers are going to look really stupid.

All through Season 6 the story has been leading up to the introduction of Negan, and if you read the comics, then you understand how important this moment is to the story and fans. In the comics the writer did not leave the readers with a cliffhanger, it was revealed immediately that Negan killed Glenn. So why did the TV show go and cheapen such a wonderful story arc for the sake of ratings. 

Did they chicken out on killing Glenn? Are they afraid if they kill a major character it will damage the show? If that's the case, it will be the first time for The Walking Dead, as this show was built on the fact that anyone can die at any time, and it looks like this premise might be ruined now. But this largely depends on who is dead come Season 7.

I actually don’t believe the writers are one bit scared. Writers of shows like the Walking Dead have their story planned well in advance and you cannot just decide at a moment’s notice to kill a character. Actors have contracts and actors deserve some notice. The network contract the actors and have to approve every script, so any of those excuses are bullshit. As I said above, this all on AMC. Perhaps AMC; the cable channel that own the rights to The Walking Dead chickened out?

Whatever the reason; I no longer care anymore and more to the point, I am over who was on the receiving end of Lucille (Negan’s baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire). This cliffhanger has made me indifferent to whoever died because I know when Season 7 returns in October and we are shown who died, the effect that this scene could have had in the Season 6 finale, will be lost. AMC teased and promoted this death and led the fans to believe they would know who died. I saw countless teasers online and I, like many fans had an expectation that the viewers would see who died.

Seventy percent of fans on Social media claimed they hated the finale, because of the ending. Many of these people said that if they had seen who had died, the episode would have probably been the best finale of The Walking Dead ever made. That is pretty damning and it makes me very interested as to how this show will rate come October. How many viewers will watch live when The Walking Dead returns. Will it lose viewers once everyone see who died. I have a feeling ratings will be lower for the Season premiere in October.

The one time where the show should have followed the comics should have been in the Season six finale and fans are pissed that it doesn’t seem to have happened. If The Walking Dead want to fix this, they need to kill someone other than Glenn.

Why write a cliffhanger only to follow the comics and kill Glenn? Is it to throw all the fans off and make us think it is another character that Negan beats to death. Either way, in my opinion; if Glenn is the one who died come October, then this cliffhanger will be revealed for the ratings stunt it really is.

And the thing is; I would not mind the cliffhanger if the last three episodes had made sense. The writers had our character doing all sorts of stuff they would never do when they knew their home could be attacked at any moment. Those last few episodes seemed like a bunch of plot devices to get our group in the situation they now face where we left them when Season six ended. I could let all of that go if they had revealed who died. And I know I am not alone in feeling this way.

So as we head into the hiatus, my focus is now on other shows. I have practically forgotten about The Walking Dead for now. I am even not very interested in watching its sister show; Fear, the Walking Dead. Perhaps I will wait and binge watch it, so I don’t have to deal with cliffhangers until the season finale.

The one outcome in the story that saves it is if they kill of Darryl. It has to be a major character for the cliffhanger to have an impact and if it is anyone else but one of the Atlanta five, then The Walking Dead will be branded as a show that is afraid to kill off certain characters.

Now, I do not see it this way, I believe no character is safe on a show that involves an apocalypse of any kind, but fans will get this impression, so the writers will really have to take a chance and off a character that might not be so popular with fans.

When I speak of the Atlanta Five, I mean Rick, Carl, Glenn, Darryl, and Carol. Carol was not there, so that leave the four guys. Who do you think met with Lucille? What did you think of the cliffhanger? Do you think it was necessary given all the hype of Negan's story?

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Now it is your turn, if you want to have your say about my rant, do so in the comments, or join me on Facebook or Twitter. 

You can read more TV articles at Grey's Anatomy Addicts and Jel Writes; Freelance Writer 

Copyright © 2016 Janelle Coulton