‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7: Norman Reedus Admits The First Half Sucked For Him

The Walking Dead Season 7 is set to return soon, on Sunday, February 12, with the second half of the season. Many viewers were turned off by the first half, with some citing the extreme violence as a reason, and others complaining about Rick’s group being so divided. It turns out, the viewers at home weren’t the only ones displeased with Season 7 of The Walking Dead so far. Norman Reedus, who portrays Daryl Dixon on the show, reveals in an interview why he hated filming the first half – and how things are going to change with the upcoming episodes. A newly released teaser trailer also gives some hope for a brighter future.

In the first eight episodes of the season, The Walking Dead probably had its darkest moments ever. Negan, along with Lucille, quickly became the greatest threat Rick’s group has ever seen. It wasn’t just the super-violent death of Glenn and Abraham, but also the ongoing menace throughout those eight episodes – where at any point someone could die a violent death. And this time, not by the hands (or mouth) of a zombie – but by a very human threat.

The Walking Dead Season 7 wasn’t just hard on the viewers – it was hard on the actors as well. Norman Reedus, also known as Daryl – one of the longest-surviving characters on The Walking Dead, spoke to Entertainment Weekly and revealed how his situation in the first half of the season was awful to him. In case you forgot, Daryl spent most of it in a dark cell, after being captured by Negan’s men – and Norman hated it.

“I understand when characters go through certain things, and mostly they’re cut off from the rest of the group, but I didn’t even see anybody. I was in a hole by myself, naked. It just did not feel right to me.

I’d talk to Gimple (Scott M. Gimple, The Walking Dead’s show-runner), and I’d be like, ‘Man, this sucks. I hate this.’ And he’d be like, ‘You’re supposed to.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, there you go.’ You know what I mean? He was right. It was supposed to suck, and it did suck — for me, anyway.”

Norman was also aware of the fans’ reaction to The Walking Dead Season 7’s first half, and how many of them were discontent – so much so that even the show’s ratings have started to decline.

“You can’t make everybody happy about everything,” Norman Reedus explains, “But we try, and you have to keep the story moving forward at all times or you just tell the same story over and over again.”

Norman Reedus’ thoughts on Season 7 sound similar to those of Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead. Back in December 2016, Andrew also spoke with Entertainment Weekly and explained how hard it was for him to film the first part, with the gang disbanded and Negan terrorizing the remaining members.

“It sucks for that first half of the season to be a guy that led this group for so long – and they’ve been not without their trials and tribulations but there’s always been some semblance of hope in Rick – and to have that beaten out of him is heartbreaking, at least it was for me. I did not enjoy filming on set. I was not a happy camper.”

However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel on The Walking Dead Season 7 Part Two, at least for those who disliked the fact that Rick’s gang was too scattered through the first half. As we’ve seen on Episode 8, most members of Rick’s gang are finally back together – and are planning to take the fight back to Negan.

“That’s what we like doing,” Norman Reedus says of the group finally being reunited. “That’s what we miss doing, so it was nice to have that gang back together, for sure.”

Of course, one of the original group members is still missing – Carol (Melissa McBride). But the latest teaser trailer for The Walking Dead Season 7, released yesterday, gives us hope for Carol’s return to the fold as well, showing her for a split second – holding a gun. The teaser also shows glimpses of another thing we haven’t seen for quite a while on The Walking Dead – the characters smiling.

[Featured Image by AMC]