Why The Walking Dead Season 6s Negan Cliffhanger Was So Controversial

The Walking Dead's season 6 finale ended on a major cliffhanger, attracting criticism from viewers. Why was Negan's introduction so controversial?

The Walking Dead's season 6 cliffhanger remains arguably the biggest controversy in the show's history - why was it so poorly received? The introduction of Negan was a moment The Walking Dead comic readers were gleefully looking forward to watching unfold in live-action. One of Robert Kirkman's most popular characters, Negan looked destined to shake up AMC's The Walking Dead in a major way, and anticipation climbed even higher when Supernatural's Jeffrey Dean Morgan was confirmed in the role. Negan eventually swaggered onto screen and, mirroring his comic book debut, debased Rick's group by lining them up on their knees and executing a main character.

The first appearance of Negan in the comics was shocking and upsetting, but in the manner Kirkman intended. A dramatic but memorable moment of violence to announce the commencement of a brand new arc. But when the same sequence played out on AMC's The Walking Dead, fans were largely disappointed. Keeping faithful to the source material, Negan lined up Rick's people, gave an evil monologue about knowing your place, and duly announced he would be killing one of the assembled protagonists. But as Negan's bat swung down after a sinister rendition of "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe," blood covered the screen and the end credits began to roll, bringing season 6 to a close. The audience would have to wait until the season 7 premiere to discover which character had been offed. The Walking Dead certainly isn't the first TV show to keep a dead character's identity hidden between seasons, and Negan's introduction wasn't even the first cliffhanger in the show, so why did this specific ending attract so much ire?

Although the cliffhanger was a boiling point, an undercurrent of frustration had been building long before The Walking Dead's season 6 finale. The Walking Dead held off on debuting the Saviors for quite some time. After Rick's people left the confines of their prison home, the cast was scattered and encountered Terminus, The Hunters, the hospital group and The Wolves before finally landing upon The Saviors. All of these were either TV-only arcs, or minor comic elements greatly expanded for live-action. When the Saviors did finally emerge, Negan himself was still half a season away. All of that build up was destined to culminate in Negan's monumental introduction, so when that climax was cut short for the sake of a cliffhanger, some viewers felt cheated out of a satisfying payoff.

Another contributing factor was the fake-out death of Glenn, which also occurred in The Walking Dead season 6. Steven Yeun's character was "killed off" in episode 3 and remained missing for a further trio of episodes before resurfacing. This story alone left fans frustrated, with many viewers feeling that Glenn's pretend demise and subsequent survival was either unnecessary and added nothing to the story, or ridiculously unrealistic. Of course, many fans already knew that Glenn was the character Negan was supposed to kill during the line-up scene, so expending the shock of Glenn's death earlier in the same season detracted from the finale, while also exhausting any goodwill viewers had with regards to being teased without reward.

Perhaps The Walking Dead's season 6 finale cliffhanger would've been more warmly embraced if the visuals had been different. Having Negan mercilessly batter a point-of-view shot while streaks of blood run down the picture feels decidedly B-movie-esque among The Walking Dead's usually fantastic special effects.

All cliffhangers carry an element of risk. Executed correctly, they can be tantalizing endings that carry fan excitement through to the next season, keeping everyone talking during the interim. On the other hand, an ill-judged cliffhanger can leave fans feeling dissatisfied and unfulfilled, and this certainly seemed to be more than case in The Walking Dead season 6. Unfortunately, it could be argued that the botched cliffhanger had a detrimental long-term impact. Not only did the criticism overshadow the introduction of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who was evidently having a great time in such a wicked role, but viewing figures also began to decline in The Walking Dead season 7. The cliffhanger alone wasn't responsible for the declining popularity of the zombie apocalypse, but it certainly didn't help.