The Walking Deadended its sixth season in brutal fashion for both the characters and the viewers.
In many ways what we saw last night was the end of the story of [episode] 16.
Where Rick winds up is completely different from where he started in 1 and where he started in 9.
Credit: AMC
I know obviously what it is in 701.
And presenting what occurs, to show what happened in full-force, is the beginning of the next story.
That is the way that it is in our minds.
I know what 701 is and I feel that it delivers on what 616 sets up.
On lingering frustration over the Is Glenn dead?
We do care about our audience a great deal.
I sure hope it doesnt leak in any way.
On preparing for fan blowback:
We were definitely anticipating some.
Thats part of the world now….
I know the greater story we are telling and why this fits in, where this fits in.
The hard thing about it is you cant say why.
We know why we do what we do and we know that our intensions are good.
We know that we care about our audience….
I do want to do right by this audience.
I hope to win back or assuage some of the angst.
On if people can follow clues to figure out who died:
I believe there is no way.
But I will recommend people not to go down that route.
I truly dont think theres a way to puzzle it all out definitively.
On whether we will learn more about Negans backstory:
Theres something very honest about Negan.
Hes not putting on any airs.
Hes not hiding parts of himself….
I think with Negan, its about positive reinforcement.
Hes approached the world in a certain way and the world has rewarded him again and again.
We will see stories from his perspective.
But I do think that the guy you see is the guy he is.
There wont be this sort of reveal behind the mask.
On what the tone and themes of season 7 will be:
Ill tell you this.
The world opened up this half season….
In the next half season, the world is going to open up even more.
We are going to have a wide variety of locale, of tone, of character.
Im very excited for all the different stories that will be told.
But that isnt going to be the whole season.
Its not going to be darkness upon darkness upon darkness.
We have a lot of contingency plans.
I would buy them many beers.
We could compare notes…. Because in some ways it runs counter to what entertainment is.
Its about those deaths meaning something to the story, to the other characters.
On whether the Negan-Carl relationship from the comic will make it on screen:
Oh, yes.
It may be very, very brief, but we will absolutely see them have a pretty intense moment.
There will be a bit of remixing.
