Unbridled savagery launches new ‘Walking Dead’ season

Melissa McBride in “The Walking Dead”

It was a mystery that lasted over six months. The season finale of the horror-drama series, “The Walking Dead,” sent very vocal and frustrated fans complaining about not knowing the identity of Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) victim in the widely watched cliffhanger.

Just as in the comic books about the zombie apocalypse, Negan is an imposing brute. He’s less potty-mouthed on cable, but is no less dangerous—and violent. He calls his weapon of choice, a baseball bat with barbed wire wrapped around it, Lucille.

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his team are his captives, surrounded by dozens of his loyal, heavily armed men. Rick’s crew had prior encounters with Negan’s men, killing a number of the goons in the process.

Now, Negan wants payback, and his enemies are paying for it with the life of one of their own. So, he slaughters one of Rick’s people, in front of everybody, with “bloodthirsty” Lucille.

The first episode of Season 7 is worth the wait and, from the looks of it in social media, polarizing. The ultraviolence and graphic content have begun to draw comparisons with a “Game of Thrones” episode, where a clan was betrayed and massacred during the “Red Wedding.”

Some are complaining that “The Walking Dead” (airing locally on Fox, Mondays, 11:35 a.m.) has become “gore porn,” and that they have no interest in seeing more of its beloved characters suffer again.

Well, it’s always been violent, and so is the source comic book. Many revolting scenes have been adapted for the live-action series—some have been replicated in ghastly detail, while others slightly resemble those in their print predecessor.

It’s understandable that some viewers are turned off by its violent excesses and are ditching the show for good, but the new season’s first episode demonstrates anew that Rick and company’s quest for survival in a zombie-infested world will often be challenged by humans who take advantage of the breakdown of civilization. The zombies, aka walkers, may be horrific beasts, but their biggest threat is still posed by a fellow human.

The actors are fantastic. And for those wondering if there’s an ultimate goal, and an ending to Rick Grimes’ zombie saga-creator Robert Kirkman actually has different ones in mind, for the cable series and the comic book.

Sure, it’s become repetitive from time to time, Rick’s search for shelter or refuge sometimes goes in circles. But as Kirkman shows in the comics, apart from the protagonist’s continuous struggle to hold onto his humanity, it’s also about the reclamation of society—and Negan is a big part of that. So, “Walking Dead” viewers, like the characters themselves, are at a turning point.

In any case, the show will continue to be emotionally draining, and will still offer glimpses of hope—that will either be dashed or expanded.