I've been waiting anxiously for the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead since April when we watched one of the best cliff hangers in television. Last night's premiere had me nervous that it would not be the gut wrenching scene it should have been.

I've been reading The Walking Dead comic book that the TV show is based on for years now and although the show deviates from the comic's plot in many areas, some of it follows very closely. In the comic, some characters are dead that are still alive on the show and vice versa. Others, like Daryl, are totally original characters for the TV show.

Negan however is a major character from the comic that the writers and actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan have portrayed as he appears on paper. That accurate portrayal had me hoping that the most jaw dropping, gut wrenching plot point in the comics would remain the same on the TV show.

At the end of season 6, we are left seeing the brutal killing of one of Rick's group by Negan using his barbed wire wrapped baseball bat named Lucille, but from the perspective of the victim. As the camera faded to black to begin the months long wait, we were left knowing someone died but no idea who.

I knew who died in the comic and it was one of the most pivotal scenes in the series that finally showed the characters what the human race has become in this post-apocalyptic zombie infested world.

Here come the spoilers....

As the reveal of Negan's victim played out, I said in my out loud voice, "Well this is disappointing" while my girlfriend Michele watched with wide eyes and her hand over her mouth. There it was. Abraham was being beaten to death with Lucille.

The Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere Review
AMC
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This was not what I wanted to happen, as his death seemed so much less powerful than when Glenn was the one killed in the comic. Glenn was there from the beginning. We watched as his relationship with Maggie grew. His death would have carried much more weight. No! This was just wrong. This isn't how it happened in the comic!

The show had already played this fake out before, when it appeared Glenn was being devoured by walkers when in actuality it was a body on top of him. Now they were doing it again.

Then the TV wildcard was played. Daryl.

He lunges at Negan and as punishment, Glenn finally gets the death that comic fans have been anticipating, recreating Glenn's death for the screen faithfully. It's a moment that made me feel just like I did turning the pages of issue 100 of the comic.

Image Comics
Image Comics
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Now the scene is set to change everything about Rick and the group. Everyone watching that thought this was a show about zombies has now learned it's nothing of the sort. The zombies are just a plot device. The show is about psychology.  It's not the zombies that are the threat to what's left of the human race. It's humans.

Well played The Walking Dead. Well played.

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