The Walking Dead’s Lowers Violence Level for Fans

In a show about zombies, it's almost impossible to not have blood and gore onscreen. For the season premiere of The Walking Dead's season 7, the gore and blood did not result from a zombie-fest, but rather a more brutal point of origin: a baseball bat by the new tyrant in town.

Because of that, we witnessed two of the long-time mainstays, Glenn and Abraham, lose their heads quite literally. And that's highlighted with seeing an eye out of a socket and a little bit of brain after a bad beating.

This has already resulted in rants by fans, something that the execs have reportedly heard. And now according to Variety, the showrunners and production have already done something about it.

Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd revealed that the team had heard the negative reception loud and clear.

"We were able to look at the feedback on the level of violence. We did tone it down for episodes we were still filming for later on in the season."

The team noted that the goal was to not make a "torture porn" show, but rather deliver a good story that doesn't cross the line. AMC CEO Josh Sapan also noted that they also appreciated the feedback, if only because it gave them an idea of how much fans still cared for the show.

"When something matters a lot and it has a universality, then you're bothered by it and you care about it."

Now the question is whether the same treatment to toned-down violence will be seen in the second half of The Walking Dead. The network and cast have teased us that there will be an "all-out war" against Negan, as the group and other communities try to band together and rise up.

War will ultimately mean violence at some point, though perhaps the question is if it's the kind of gratuitous violence that doesn't really drive home a point. I have to admit that it was painful to watch Glenn get bludgeoned, but perhaps this was the showrunners' way of sticking to the comics to a degree.

The Walking Dead will be back on AMC on Feb. 13.

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