Why I Continue Watching The Walking Dead
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the season seven premiere follow.
This past Sunday, Walking Dead fans around the world were finally put out of their misery when the reveal of who Negan killed was shown in horrific detail during the season seven premiere. Millions around the world mourned as we had to bid a farewell to two of the most respected and loved characters of the show, Glen Rhee and Sgt. Abraham Ford, played wonderfully for several seasons by Steven Yeun and Michael Cudlitz, respectively.
Soon after, fans flocked to Twitter to share their heartbreak with other fans who were also in shock after the episode.
For seasoned television viewers, this is par from the course. Game of Thrones gave us the infamous “Red Wedding.” Dexter gave us the episode where one of the only people he has ever cared for meets a traumatic ending. Hell, even The Walking Dead has taken us there before with Lorie’s death and Hershel's farewell at the hands of The Governor. But this episode left me more traumatized than all those episodes combined.
Maybe it was the fact that they killed my favorite character, who I have been rooting for since the first episode, when he mocked our main character for being a “dumbass.” Maybe it was just the unflinching savagery and gore with which this episode was portrayed. Maybe both. Whatever it was, it left me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and in need of a shower.
For many TWD viewers, it has become routine to see our favorite heroes (playing fast and loose with that word) being put through the ringer, only to come out the other side with fewer members than they walked in with and a feeling of just barely surviving. Our characters never really ‘win’ in this show.
How could they? The world has ended, and assholes like Negan and the Governor are around every corner, just waiting to screw and kill Rick and his group. It is a very dark and bleak narrative. For some fans, this devil’s asshole for a groundhog day has them fed up.
Over the past few seasons, I have heard friends, co-workers, and family members say they are quitting the show because it’s the same thing every season. Our characters will never get a happy ending, and will just continue to suffer season after season. Even my own sister, who watched the series premiere with me from day one, was asking her self, “What is the point, to be honest?”
I began to wonder myself why I continue watching this show. This show has become a regular exercise in masochism, counting down the episodes until the next time our favorite group of survivors get done raw. I don’t feel happy anymore when they find a new place to call home, as I know that shit is going to burn to the ground in a couple of episodes. I’m rarely excited by them finding new characters in the show, as they will probably rob or dismember one of my favorite heroes. What is the point of watching them run the race, if you know that they are doomed to lose forever?
I began to cry again (Guys cry. It’s manly tears, deal with it) when I remembered all the joy Glenn and Abraham gave us viewers over the past couple of seasons. I’ve seen these characters develop and change to become important corner stones of the group. It is hard to see someone like Glenn, who was the Walking Dead’s Peter Parker, get his Mary Jane and save the day several times, only to be killed in such brutal fashion. It felt like I just watched Spider-Man die in the most horrific way possible in front of his pregnant wife. Seeing one of the last remaining OG’s from season one go like this is just completely and utterly soul crushing.
That’s when it hit me. I have been with these characters from the very beginning. I’ve been with Rick since day one, when he woke up to find the world had ended and moved on without him. I watched as he reunited with his fam and added new members to it. I cheered as he built a place with them to call home on the farm and at the prison. I cried as I saw his safe-havens and loved ones taken away by cruel men. I have felt joy and sorrow, and everything in between, over the past seven seasons. Much has changed during the shows run, but I was there every episode of the way.
These characters have become a part of my life every Sunday night. I have laughed and cried for many of the characters of the show. I have witnessed their trials and tribulations, as well as their joys and their highs. The Walking Dead viewers are like a character in the show, who are there to witness these characters lives and deaths of these wonderfully realized individuals. I can’t abandon this group of survivors now, we have come to far.
I am ride or die for Rick’s group, just like Glenn and Abraham were. No matter what kind of shit storm they face, we the fans will be there every step of the way, until the bitter end.
R.I.P. Glenn and Abraham, we loved you dearly, and we will not soon forget the sacrifices you made for the group.
