AMC's "The Walking Dead" is undoubtedly one of the best among its contemporaries on television. However, ever since its phenomenal "The Walking Dead" Season 7 premiere, viewership and ratings have gone down. Apparently, Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) violence and the catastrophic events it has brought to Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) group did not sit well with viewers, who continued to mourn the death of fan favorite Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeuhn). Is the show in danger of cancelation, or will it kill off Negan earlier than expected?
What went down in 'The Walking Dead' Season 7
"The Walking Dead" Season 7 pulled off its midseason finale with 10 million viewers, which is still quite an enviable number. However, it marks a sizeable loss from its previous 14 million viewers in its previous midseason finale, according to Vulture. This was a strange new development especially since "The Walking Dead" Season 7 premiere and second episode delivered the highest number of viewers ever for the show.
The Negan factor
But the succeeding six episodes were also the lowest that "The Walking Dead" Season 7 has ever seen. Fox News reported that part of this decline was caused by viewers' disenfranchisement towards the sadistic Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Several fans thought he was "ruining" the show and wanted him killed off immediately.
It may be remembered that during "The Walking Dead" Season 7 premiere, Negan slaughtered Glenn (Yeuhn) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) with his trusty bat, Lucille, and kidnapped fan favorite Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). It's likely that, given the viewers' disconnect with his character, AMC might kill him off earlier than expected. That prediction is not far off base, since Scott Gimple, author of "The Walking Dead" comics, revealed that Negan was going to die soon in the source material. Stay tuned for more updates and spoilers on "The Walking Dead" Season 7.