Stop what you're doing, Walking Dead fans. After months of waiting, the show just dropped an extended clip from the upcoming premiere. It's vicious. It's bloody, and it might well be the most terrifying footage of Negan the show has given us. Watch the three plus minutes in all its off-putting, unnerving and beautiful glory below...
Apart from perhaps Game Of Thrones, there is no show on television that builds suspense better than The Walking Dead. From Negan's imminent arrival to Glenn's fate by the dumpster, these debates are damn near as fun as watching the show. Of course, the debate everyone wants to talk about now is which beloved character met Negan's terrifying bat, Lucille, during the finale. Unfortunately, we still don't know from this clip, but if nothing else, it should make every single Walking Dead fan that much more fired up to see the premiere.
Of course, that doesn't mean it's not worth still speculating about which poor bastard is going to eat it in the premiere, especially since this clip provides a pretty huge clue. Rick has a ton of blood splatter on him, but it's concentrated on the right side of his face. In theory, that would mean that whoever was actually hit with the bat was on his right side, which is great news for some of the characters and horrible news for other characters.
Let's check out the seating arrangement, as seen last season...
If Rick didn't turn around at any point or there wasn't any funky blood splatter situation, this would mean the following characters are potentially at risk: Daryl, Glenn, Rosita, Abraham, Michonne and Maggie. Some, including The Wrap are speculating on how seating order and the size of the blood splatter on his face may offer further clues. There's some great analysis, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable taking that much away from mere blood splatter. Anyone who has seen Dexter knows blood does all sorts of weird things during a blunt force trauma situation.
Regardless, I think we can all agree after watching the clip that Negan is one of the most terrifying characters ever, precisely because he's so calm. It's as if he's in complete control of the situation and of his own actions. When people scream or they lash out, no matter how scary they might seem in that moment, there's still a sense that they're weak, that they're out of control. Negan looks like an unstoppable, calculated sociopath here, and he is going to loom over the series in a similar but completely different way than actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan did as a ghost on Grey's Anatomy.
The Walking Dead premieres on Sunday October 23rd at 9 ET/ 8 CT. Expect a ton of people to tune in, as the answer to one of television's most baffling, exciting and frustrating mysteries is finally solved.
