Fans of The Walking Dead have been waiting ever since April to see a payoff on the epic cliffhanger that closed out Season 6. Season 7 will force us to say goodbye to somebody, whether one of the few original survivors or a relative newbie. Actor Tom Payne joined the show in Season 6 to play Jesus, and he is fortunate enough to be out of the running for the big death. Payne had this to say about what to expect out of the Season 7 premiere:
Unfortunately I think a lot of people who are wishing for the death and wishing that they had seen it, I think after the first episode they might wish they hadn't wished for it because it's going to be very brutal and a huge downer.
Tom Payne was promoted to series regular for Season 7, so we can bet that he knows what he's talking about when he says that the premiere is going to be a huge downer. He should know for sure just how ugly the aftermath is going to be, both immediately and in the long run. Payne wouldn't have been present for the filming for the death scene that was evidently horrific for the actors; the scene really must be graphic if he's so sure that fans are going to regret looking forward to it.
Fans have had months to stew on who we want to die and who we want to live. Some of us are bound to be disappointed by who gets the face full of baseball bat in the Season 7 premiere. Rick and Carl are the only two characters who have been pretty much ruled out from the beginning, and Norman Reedus has been around set enough that it seems Daryl survived, but nothing is certain at this point.
Tom Payne's reveal to Express.co.uk that some of us aren't going to be happy with the Season 7 premiere is a different tune than what some of the other Walking Dead crew have been singing. Norman Reedus and Michael Cudlitz have shown enthusiasm for the suspense built by the cliffhanger. Executive producer Robert Kirkman has said that the cliffhanger was actually done to keep viewers happy and entertained, and showrunner Scott Gimple has promised that we're going to consider the resolution fair play.
Only time will tell if Tom Payne is right and the resolution will be so brutal that some of us wish that we hadn't seen it. Season 7 sounds like it should be pretty exciting thanks to the introductions of Ezekiel, the Kingdom, and other settlements in the Alexandria area. Hopefully the big death won't be so gruesome that we won't want to tune in to the rest of the season.
Check out our breakdown of what we know so far about The Walking Dead Season 7, and be sure to tune in to AMC on Sunday, October 23 at 9 p.m. ET to see which character bites the dust.
