The ratings are not the only thing that have dropped on The Walking Dead this season. The body count is also not what it once was. One of the things that made The Walking Dead must-see TV is the show's unflinching willingness to kill off even its most popular characters. Old men being beheaded? Pregnant women being shot by their own pre-teen sons? Anyone and everyone becoming a Walker-snack? It was all fair game. No one was safe, and a visit from the Grim Reaper could come at any time.
In that regard, Season 7 opened with a pair of deaths that were as shocking as any in the show's history. Negan picked up Lucille, his barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat and rather casually killed Abraham and Glenn. That seemed to affect even some hardened viewers, and, if the season's declining ratings are an indication, might have actually scared away more than a few Walking Dead-heads.
But in the weeks since that gory opener, things have been relatively tame. Sure we had Olivia and Spencer and maybe Heath, shift off this moral coil, but did anyone really miss them? It seems like we're overdue for more bloodshed.
So who's going to go? If you don't want to encounter a potential spoiler that has been in wide circulation, skip the following paragraph in italics and skip to the bulleted list below.
Sasha certainly seems like a goner. Sonequa Martin-Green has signed to star in a Star-Trek spinoff in real life, so it only makes sense that her days would be numbered on the show. Given the fact that she's Negan's hostage, it seems like how and when rather than "if." Sasha had a good run, and with a double Walking Dead/Star Trek pedigree, SM-G will always have fan fests to fall back on.
Who else could bite the dust in Episode 716? Here are seven possibilities in no particular order.
- Maggie: This show has already killed off one pregnant woman, so why not another? And, of course, Maggie's demise would serve to twist the proverbial knife for those fans still mourning Glenn.
- Carl: The Walking Dead is increasingly Andrew Lincoln's show, and we know the way to Rick is through Carl. The cast's token teenage heartthrob has been skating on thin ice for a while now, from catching a bullet during the Battle of Alexandria to his comically ill-advised attempt at killing Negan. He dodged any number of previous opportunities on his life but managed to escape with nothing more than an eye patch. Which makes him more than a little like Glenn in that regard, so...
- Eugene: The combination of his complete lack of skills and his complete lack of charisma should put killing Eugene at the top of show runner Scott Gimple's To Do list at the beginning of every season. But somehow, like Keith Richards and the cockroaches, the Mullet manages to survive. Does the fact that he's seemingly thrown his lot in with Negan in recent episodes change the calculus? Maybe. But don't bet on it.
- Father Gabriel: Robert Kirkman reportedly loves The Wire. Which is why Chad Coleman (Tyreese) and Larry Gilliard (Bob) were cast on TWD. At the same time, Kirkman had no compunction about allowing them to get killed off. Seth Gilliam's off-kilter man of the cloth could easily join them.
- Enid: One way to spite those still lighting candles for Glenn, without actually killing off a pregnant woman.
- Morgan: The quickest way off this show has always been to become its moral conscience. From Dale to Hershel, from Tyreese to Glenn, if you start talking about right and wrong, you're as good as walker bait. Lennie James's staff-weilding badass has become a fan favorite, but that's never stopped the showrunners before.
- Michonne: This show has never been kind to couples (Abraham, Glenn and Bob to name three) and I just don't see Gimple and Friends taking the risk of killing off Andrew Lincoln at this point.
Who do you think will get killed in Episode 716? Who should get killed? What else will happen in the season finale? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
