When Will ‘The Walking Dead’ Escape Negan’s Oppressive Presence?


After last night’s episode of The Walking Dead, I spoke at length about the series’ Negan problem.. It’s too much Negan. It’s not his character — he only appeared sporadically in last night’s episode, “The Cell” — it’s his presence. It’s oppressive. Negan has completely sucked the life out of The Walking Dead. After spending more than a year anticipating his arrival, we may have gotten more than we bargained for. He’s not as fun as I had hoped, and rather than bringing renewed life to the series, he’s killing enthusiasm for it.

That will change eventually, I suspect, once Scott Gimple is finished turning our heroes into underdogs. Unfortunately, I think the series has overshot the mark in that regard. In the typical David vs. Goliath showdown, David is the weaker, overmatched character who manages to win not by brute force, but by will and spirit. On The Walking Dead, Daryl and Rick’s spirits have been broken, and Negan is not done tearing characters down. Only Maggie, so far, has even shown a willingness to fight, which presents the series with some intriguing possibilities.

Maggie and Michonne: Alexandria’s New Leaders?

With Glenn and Abraham dead, Rick broken, and Daryl both broken and sidelined, who is left to fill the leadership vacuum in Alexandria other than Maggie and Michonne? Seeing those two become the new leaders, along with Carl (he did show some chutzpah during the Negan confrontation) could change the dynamic of the series. Look: The Saviors outnumber the Alexandrians. Even with the addition of the Hilltop Colony and The Kingdom, The Saviors presumably still have greater numbers and resources. That means The Walking Dead survivors may lose the ability to do what they do best: Fight their way out of a problem. They may, instead, need to rely on their negotiation skills and their wits. They’re going to need to come up with an actual plan and there’s no one better equipped than Maggie and Michonne to do that.

Daryl’s Crying

Daryl’s breakdown at the end of the episode was one of the biggest emotional moments of the series. In fact, that’s what was missing from the season premiere: An honest moment of grief. Seeing Daryl stoically withstand days upon days of solitary confinement, lack of sleep, dog-food sandwiches, and a tortured musical playlist only to break down at the sight of Glenn’s bashed-in head was devastating. I understand why Scott Gimple decided to air this episode third instead of second, as originally intended. But by running it back-to-back with the premiere it might have better extended the emotional through line from Glenn’s death to Daryl’s sobbing jag, although it might have completely broken the viewer, as well. It might have also been a little sadder in this episode had we not grown numb from the harrowing ordeal Daryl had to suffer to get to that point.

Dwight and Honey

What the episode did best, I think, was to highlight how tortured and conflicted Dwight and Honey are about their positions within The Saviors. It also satisfactorily explained why Dwight and Honey decided to return to Negan after they’d escaped. They had no choice. We can see that now, and we can see why death might have been a better outcome for both characters, but for the fact that they know what happens to their dead: They’re tortured as zombies. Not even in death can they escape Negan.

They’re only alive now for each other, but the consequences of their sacrifices for one another may be the most heartbreaking element of all. Dwight had an iron put to his face and now he has to serve Negan. Honey is essentially being raped by Negan. It doesn’t matter how safe they are, or how much stuff they have, or how much power they posses. Every day must feel like a humiliating defeat. They’re lucky if they can steal a cigarette together for a few minutes once a month.

Austin Amelio and the show’s writers have done an exceptional job with Dwight so far. With only a few words and interactions, we already have a good sense of the character: He’s not a bad guy. He simply does what he can to survive and, more crucially, keep his ex-wife alive. I think that he and Daryl will eventually make a great team.

A Way Ahead

If Negan is to be taken down, it’s going to take more than alliances those with the Hilltop Colony and The Kingdom. He is going to have to be brought down from the inside, and that — presumably — is where Daryl, Dwight, and Honey fit in. The Saviors are like an unorganized work force. Daryl needs to become one of them so he can unionize the Saviors, so to speak, and overthrow their leader. Negan’s not going to be defeated by outside forces. The only way he loses is if his men turn on him, and we have already seen plenty of evidence to suggest that the Saviors would be amenable to it. Presumably, most were originally subjected to what Daryl is going through, and what Dwight has suffered. There’s probably dozens of horror stories just like theirs. Daryl’s ability to stand up to Negan might actually inspire a few of them to risk their lives to take him down. They probably all secretly hate Negan. They’re just waiting for the right opportunity to turn on him.

That moment may not come for a very long time. Recall that Jeffrey Dean Morgan has already suggested that he’ll be around next season, too.

Next Week

In next week’s 90-minute episode, the action finally moves back to Alexandria, where I assume that Negan will psychologically break all of the Alexandrians he didn’t break when he killed Abraham and Glenn. Unless Eugune brings some A-game mullet jokes along with him, I don’t see next week’s episode letting up much on the misery porn.

Additional Notes

— The Negan from the comics seems less rape-y than the one in the television show. In the comics, women “earned” the right to be Negan’s wife (he had several). Here, Negan just takes them. Also, that line about Dwight being able to have sex with anyone who said “yes” was pretty gross. I hope the series doesn’t have any future plans to redeem the character, because Negan is irredeemable.

— Those wondering why the zombies were falling from the overpass should know that they weren’t being pushed off by anyone. As explained on The Talking Dead, there was a gap in the bridge and the zombies were throwing themselves off to get to Dwight.

— There were a lot of overkill moments in the episode, but knowing what Negan does with his fallen soldiers — sticks their zombified bodies on a spike for all to see — was super over the top. That’s some Joseph Goebbels sh*t right there.

— The song choices for Daryl’s torture reminded me of John Mulaney’s amazing “What’s New Pussycat?” stand-up bit. That thought was the only happy one I had the entire episode.

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