# The Walking Dead; 7.01 "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548 "2016-10-23T23:33:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/61 "2016-10-24T15:07:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Thanks for half of your food. Our end of the deal, the bit about destroying Negan? Well, that became a bit problematic.’ Screw them, they should have known a lot more about Negan than what they told Rick’s group. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/62 "2016-10-24T15:17:56Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > The whole point is that humans are way worse than zombies. They’re the true danger - like Rick stated, “We are the Walking Dead.” “Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.” ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/63 "2016-10-24T15:57:43Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I have such little faith in the producers and was already angry about how the episode was jerking the audience around that when they showed both Abraham, and Glenn die I assumed it was Rick just imaging Negan kill everyone one by one so they could drag out the reveal even longer. > > Instead it was just Misery Porn. > > Also, serious question, Chris Hardwick understands no one really died right? His maudlin attitude during the live Talking Dead commercials when main characters die make me want to give him a wedgie. He’s just a sensitive soul. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/64 "2016-10-24T16:00:32Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > Yeah, I got to agree with GrumpyBunny here. That level of brutality and sadism was absolutely necessary to break Rick and the rest and bring them inline with the new order. Think about how arrogant they were (in hindsight) last season as they confidently rallied their people and planned to do a pre-emptive strike on Negan. Rick was on-and-on about how they’ve handled threats before and this was no different. Well, as we saw it was different. Anything less than what they did last night and it was just another Rick vs. Bad Guy storyline. I think to a degree it was needed for the audience as well, a shock to the system that things are now different. Certainly the writers could drop the ball going forward but this isn’t The Governor or Terminus level bad - this is a whole new world of bad. Governor and Terminus were pretty bad. I don’t think Negan surpasses those other than the hype. Plus The Governor was really toned down for tv. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/65 "2016-10-24T16:02:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The violence was necessary. But I hated the way they stretched out the ‘reveal’. Especially after months of ‘Eeenie, meenie, miney, moe’ 168 times a day. They should have just opened up with the whack-and-reveal. This was my problem with it too. The show is violent so that didn’t bother me that much. The narrative manipulation was what pissed me off. If this show had real characters that felt like people they could have showed Negan kill them at the end of last season and it would have been just as effective a cliff hanger. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/66 "2016-10-24T16:14:25Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Governor and Terminus were pretty bad. I don’t think Negan surpasses those other than the hype. Plus The Governor was really toned down for tv. I agree the Governor was toned down for tv vs. the comic book. But we are discussing the world created in the tv show. And that is where I disagree - The Governor had a larger group of people than Rick had at that time but his actions were still fairly localized and “small scale” compared to Negan. He had no influence outside his community, didn’t control any territory, nor did he have control over any other communities. And from what we’ve seen so far I think you can argue Negan is far more ruthless. The Governor at least tried to maintain a facade as a magnanimous leader to his people and only a select smaller group saw the bad things he did. Terminus was even smaller, a small group of opportunistic cannibalistic survivors with no real influence outside their compound. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/67 "2016-10-24T16:17:30Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Yeah, I get all the justifications for the insane level of violence in this show, but enough is too much: count me as another one who objects to solid hours of torture porn as an entertainment. I get enough of this sort of depravity reading about the exploits of organizations such as Daesh or Boko Haram. > > I don’t hate the writers (anyway, blame the producers if there is blame for anyone) but I think viewers may want to question themselves a bit as to what sort of entertainment they are getting out of watching a relentlessly sadistic spectacle such as we saw last night. Like some others here, I don’t find Negan to be a particularly interesting or even plausible character; pretty much the Governor cranked up to 11, with a dash of Terminus for seasoning. > > Despite my misgivings, I’ve gone with the show this far, and there are hints of a ‘B’ plotline that brings in another, less obnoxious group of survivors, so I’ll continue watching. I will retain the right to not necessarily like what I’m seeing, however. Go ahead and call me a hypocrite if you want. The thing is you know Rick’s group and have an affinity for them. Negan’s group is undoubtedly brutal and sadistic. But Negan also demonstrates a large amount of rationality with the employment of said brutality. Rick’s group killed damn near 30 or more of Negan’s. Many in their sleep. Negan wants a productive society and uses violence and the threat of violence to enforce “the law.” His group, by many measures, is more successful than Rick’s. Does Negan have to be rough? Well you see what happens to nice folks in Terminus. They get preyed upon by the strong and turn into cannibals. They ate a lot of children in Terminus. That’s the world the characters inhabit. Walking Dead is not about zombies. It’s about humans. In the real world how do we deal with other countries? We talk nicely! Backed up by 1000s of nuclear warheads, aircraft carriers, tanks, artillery, war planes, and other things. Many of them used on a daily basis to impose our will on some and to demonstrate that we will impose our will on others. That’s life. It reminds me of reading Lord of the Flies and everyone fixating on the lack of civility of the children while ignoring the fact they were rescued by a naval cruiser. ---
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/68 "2016-10-24T16:37:07Z")
Gee, they get captured. . .again by a nut-ball. Maybe, Glen will crawl under another dumpster or Rick will wake up and it’s all a dream or Rick wakes up from his coma and none of this ever happened. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/69 "2016-10-24T16:38:55Z")
> [@stosh](#): > > Gee, they get captured. . .again by a nut-ball. > Maybe, Glen will crawl under another dumpster or Rick will wake up and it’s all a dream or Rick wakes up from his coma and none of this ever happened. At the end of the series, Rick wakes up in the hospital after being shot, and realises it was all a dream. ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/70 "2016-10-24T16:55:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > At the end of the series, Rick wakes up in the hospital after being shot, and realises it was all a dream. …and his marriage is still a wreck, his wife is banging his best friend, and his kid won’t stay in the God damn house. Upon reflection, Rick decides the coma induced apocalypse was much better for him. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/71 "2016-10-24T17:48:03Z")
I really don’t understand the people saying they’re done with the show cause of the violence, they crossed a line, etc. Not as much in this thread but on Facebook and stuff. We knew going in we were going to see someone have their skull bashed in with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire - what the fuck did people expect? That said, the psychological torture of watching Rick be reduced to sniveling and crying during the Carl scene shook me more than the deaths did. And the deaths shook me quite a bit. As far as Hardwick, he’s not the most sincere guy but it would’ve felt very weird for him to come on all peppy during the breaks. This was not a fun episode to watch. It was was a good, gripping, intense episode, but not a fun one. I cried, then was in shock, then didn’t blink during the scene with Carl, then cried again at “he was our family too” and the dinner table. The downside is I’m not sure how the rest of the season can live up to this episode. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/72 "2016-10-24T18:50:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I thought the episode was smashing. I hate you. So very, very much. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/73 "2016-10-24T19:22:28Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > \ Now this was another hour of almost pure sadism – some walkers fought in a little interlude, but mostly an hour of utter sadistic shit. I don’t mind the gore, or that two likable characters were killed. It’s Negan’s fucked up abuse drawn out for way too long. Yeah, he’s a sadistic fuck. I get it. We hate him. Rick hates him. Rick’s going to kill him. Move on. > I might as well watch a couple of the Saw movies if I enjoyed this kind of thing. And I don’t care if it’s true to the comic or whatever. I signed up for a zombie show, not some fucked up shit with a perfectly non-zombie person torturing other non-zombie people mentally and physically for hours. I’m not out (not yet, anyway), but I agree with this. Put me down as another person who used the term “torture porn” while watching this extremely graphic episode. I’m not lily-livered about tv violence, but there comes a point where I do wonder why I’m watching this - what entertainment value am I finding in watching a man have his brains bashed in while his wife and all his friends watch? > [@Quimby](#): > > \ > Instead it was just Misery Porn. \ I used the term Torture Porn, but Misery Porn works, too. We saw the depiction of a strong man completely broken - is my life better for having seen that? This summer, my brother-in-law informed me that “The Walking Dead” is the best show on television, and possibly the best show ever. I will agree that it has us talking and discussing it and watching obsessively, but I’m not entirely sure if that is because it is so good. I’m at a point where I wish the show would just end already, so I could stop watching it. I’m in this far, and I’m probably in to the end, but I don’t really want to be any more. Like others have said, I wanted a tv show about how humans would live after the Zombie Apocalypse, not a weekly hour of torture porn, or The Adventures of the Stupidest People Alive Who Are Physically Incapable Of Ever Learning Anything. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/74 "2016-10-24T19:30:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’m not out (not yet, anyway), but I agree with this. Put me down as another person who used the term “torture porn” while watching this extremely graphic episode. I’m not lily-livered about tv violence, but there comes a point where I do wonder why I’m watching this - what entertainment value am I finding in watching a man have his brains bashed in while his wife and all his friends watch? > > I used the term Torture Porn, but Misery Porn works, too. We saw the depiction of a strong man completely broken - is my life better for having seen that? > > This summer, my brother-in-law informed me that “The Walking Dead” is the best show on television, and possibly the best show ever. I will agree that it has us talking and discussing it and watching obsessively, but I’m not entirely sure if that is because it is so good. I’m at a point where I wish the show would just end already, so I could stop watching it. I’m in this far, and I’m probably in to the end, but I don’t really want to be any more. Like others have said, I wanted a tv show about how humans would live after the Zombie Apocalypse, not a weekly hour of torture porn, or The Adventures of the Stupidest People Alive Who Are Physically Incapable Of Ever Learning Anything. The show doesn’t have to end for you to quit watching. Just turn the channel or read a book. I do find it interesting that in a show where people get devoured alive on a continuous basis that a bit of violence by a dude with a bat is the final straw. And the show is not really about zombies. It’s about trying to reestablish order. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/75 "2016-10-24T20:03:08Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is the story going to end at some point? I feel like I can appreciate(enjoy??) an episode like this more if I knew the whole show had an end point. > > I hope season 8(next year) is it and they can work towards some kind of ending. I’m aware the comic rolls along forever, but the show can’t and it’d be great for the people in charge to plan out an ending. My sentiments exactly. With no end in sight, it feels a bit like an exercise in masochism to commit any more time into the show. I’ll echo another poster’s sentiment that it felt a bit like watching a Saw movie, which isn’t my thing. Last night’s episode was tense as hell, but I don’t see “take out Negan as revenge” as a satisfying conclusion to what is certainly going to be a season or two of misery for the remaining heroes. If I knew there was going to be an ending to the series in 2-3 years, I’d want to stick around to see what happens after Negan. As it stands, the cycle of survival, settlement, peace, and mayhem is wearing thin. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/76 "2016-10-24T20:55:55Z")
OK, this was certainly effective; I admit to the odd gasp or two. But there’s one thing I’m really hoping will improve: > [@expectopatronum](#): > > This was not a fun episode to watch. This. I have a feeling that there will be very few episodes in the near future that will be fun to watch. I need something to root for—some ray of hope, some possibility that things might actually get better someday. Not just things to be against and people to hate until you find other people you can hate more. I’m afraid it’ll become just all misery, all the time, everything is shit, everybody sucks, everybody dies and we’ll call it edgy. Now I’m not watching the show with the expectation that in the end, all’s gonna be fine. But I’m also not sure I want to watch people stumbling from one shit situation into ever shittier ones. I’m not sure I’d find that, you know, entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/77 "2016-10-24T20:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=SykoSkotty] I think the people that are criticizing the writing and the gore / violence aren’t really grasping what the show was about. [/QUOTE] > [@octopus](#): > > I do find it interesting that in a show where people get devoured alive on a continuous basis that a bit of violence by a dude with a bat is the final straw. Seeing the effects to Glen was literally the most violent, goriest thing I’ve ever seen on TV. You (the writers) can insult my intelligence with the frequently idiotic behavior of your characters. You (generic “you”) can think I’m a wimp. You (other posters) can flat out say that I’m too stupid to understand that a show I’ve been watching for however-long isn’t \*really \*about the zombies. Whatever. I don’t give a shit. But having to see Abe was bad enough. And then to dial it up even further with Glen… it pissed me right the fuck off that I was being subjected to it, all in the name of shock value. ---
**Author:** ![ghettomotels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8baadc/32.png) [@ghettomotels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ghettomotels)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/78 "2016-10-24T20:57:06Z")
Dumbest show in TV history ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/79 "2016-10-24T21:17:19Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Seeing the effects to Glen was literally the most violent, goriest thing I’ve ever seen on TV. > > You (the writers) can insult my intelligence with the frequently idiotic behavior of your characters. You (generic “you”) can think I’m a wimp. You (other posters) can flat out say that I’m too stupid to understand that a show I’ve been watching for however-long isn’t \*really \*about the zombies. Whatever. I don’t give a shit. > > But having to see Abe was bad enough. And then to dial it up even further with Glen… it pissed me right the fuck off that I was being subjected to it, all in the name of shock value. I think with all the people who have been disembowled and eaten alive by zombies and how gory some of those close ups are that the issue isn’t necessary the gore alone. I think what’s bothering people has to do a bit more with the pacing and anticipation. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548/80 "2016-10-24T21:17:25Z")
I have been saying for a while now that at some point the show has to pivot from showing the end of a civilization to the building of a new one. The comic has done this pretty successfully, hopefully the show will too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-walking-dead-7-01-the-day-will-come-when-you-wont-be-open-spoilers/769548.md?page=5)