Season 6 of The Walking Dead ended its last few episodes with some important deaths, not the least of which was Alexandria's only doctor. We don't actually know which character got a face full of Lucille thanks to the ginormous cliffhanger in the finale. We can now confirm two new characters who will be meeting our not-so-merry band of survivors in Season 7. Judging by what we know of them so far, the two fresh faces could mix up the grim world of Negan's zombie apocalypse in an intriguing way.
The first of the newbies will be a perky teenager named Jennie who tends to see the glass half-full despite the grim circumstances of the zombie apocalypse. Her age may indicate that she's a love interest for Carl, which could be somewhat interesting. He's not so much glass-half-full person or a glass-half-empty person; Carl is really more of a smash-the-glass-and-stab-a-zombie person. The last thing we need on The Walking Dead is a teenage love triangle of Jennie/Carl/Enid, but the contrast between a sunny newcomer and the jaded Carl could give Carl something more to do than glower in the wake of the big death. Luckily, Jennie has seen enough of the world that she won't be friendly the the point of foolishness.
The second new character will be distinctly less perky than Jennie. Naomi will be one of the rare relatively old survivors in the zombie apocalypse. She hasn't survived without suffering personal losses. She's had to watch the people she loves die around her, and all the death has pushed her to the point that there are few lines she won't cross to protect those she cares about. Naomi doesn't sound like she'll be much of a fighter, so she may have to get creative to help save lives. The two new characters will both be introduced in Episode 6 of Season 7, according to TVLine.
Jennie and Naomi's introductions in Episode 6 mean that they'll come onto the scene just in time to possibly be killed off and/or maimed in the midseason finale, should the show wish to go in that direction. The Walking Dead has been known to kill off mostly new characters in big moments to keep fan favorites alive and acting out their angst for the foreseeable future. Hopefully for Jennie's sake, The Walking Dead got its fill of killing off optimistic young women in midseason finales back when Beth took a bullet to the brain in Season 5.
Of course, both Jennie and Naomi may survive a potential midseason finale bloodbath by virtue of being so new. They at least seem to be more than glorified extras who only exist to die in the most gruesome ways imaginable. The show will probably want to keep them alive longer than an episode or two. Who knows? Maybe one or both of these women will be joining the show in the long-term. All signs point to the women as original characters, and Daryl is proof enough that original characters can eclipse big comic figures in terms of popularity with viewers.
Unfortunately, we still have a while before we get to see Jennie and Naomi on The Walking Dead as the show is still relatively early in hiatus. Check out our breakdown of what we know so far about Season 7 for a peek ahead.
