Whilst The Walking Dead would seem to have gone from strength to strength through its first six seasons, there was a huge loss of viewers during the first half of the seventh season, with many blaming the dip on the amount of violence and chaotic scenes that opened the batch of new episodes.
Dwight and Daryl in The Walking Dead / Credit: AMC
Whilst showrunners have already confirmed they won’t be reeling back the violence simply because of the complaints, it would seem likely that behind-the-scenes, major discussions are taking place as to how they’re going to bring back the viewers lost during season 7 when it returns for its second half.
One of the ways in which they look to be doing this is by bringing similar events to the screen that took place in the comic books in regards to Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and their ever-evolving relationship.
Showrunner Scott M. Gimple confirmed in a chat with EW that a “pretty pivotal time” for Dwight is coming up, adding: “Let us not spoil anything. Or, at least, if peeps want to spoil it, reading the comic is the best way to do it. I will say that an aspect of episode 11 deals a LOT with this.”
Signs have already been given that the pace of the season is to move swiftly forward, with an uprising from Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of loyal survivors being planned against Negan and his villainous followers, The Saviors. With Dwight looking to be a big part of proceedings, could he turn on the barbed-wire baseball bat-wielding Big Bad?
Dwight has every reason to make a big move against Negan; he was of course burned with an iron across the face when he broke Negan’s “rules” in scenes that haven’t been seen on the TV series, but have been alluded to.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC in the US on Sunday, February 12, 2017, ahead of its UK comeback on FOX on Monday, February 13.
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