The Walking Dead has never really been of the âspoonful of sugarâ mentality. When the series is charged with delivering some bad newsâsay, the death of a beloved character, orâ¦well, no, thatâs pretty much the only brand of bad news we get from this showâit generally does so in the harshest, rawest, and most painful way imaginable. Hell, The Walking Dead isnât even waiting until its return from summer hiatus to hammer home the tragedy; this new trailer from San Diego Comic-Con, teasing the forthcoming seventh season of the series, takes effort to make us weep over the possibility of losing any of the characters threatened with certain death in the final moments of the sixth season finale.
We know weâll be saying goodbye to one of 11 characters who concluded the season staring down the business end of the nefarious Neganâs weapon of choice. Weâve no doubt all made our top picks for who we hope isnât the ill-fated party, among the lot of Rick, Carl, Michonne, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Sasha, Aaron, Eugene, and Abraham. But this new trailer forces us through an emotional montage of bittersweet moments from the days of The Walking Dead yore, pulling us out the other side entrenched in dread over the thought of saying a morbid goodbye to any of Neganâs victims.
After the grand conceit in emotional turmoil that is the first half of the trailer, weâre lifted just a bit with a few glances at whatâs to come. Most notably, a new character who calls himself King Ezekiel and reigns supreme with a mighty tiger by his side.
No, that isnât a metaphor. A real tiger. Yes, weâre still talking about The Walking Dead. No, Iâm not aware of any behind-the-scenes promotional agreements between the AMC series and CBSâ Zoo.
Perhaps even more hauntingly grim is the midseason trailer for Fear the Walking Dead, which premiered at Comic-Con alongside the promo for its parent seriesâ next string of eps. While the characters and general ambiance of The Walking Dead have committed almost irreparably to a stasis of certain doom, the younger program seems to be building momentum on its heroesâ (altogether misguided) lasting hope. That we know better makes it all the more mortifying to watch these still-not-all-the-way-destitute wanderers skulk toward demise.
And to make matters worse, no tigers.
Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC on August 21, and The Walking Dead makes its way back to the airwaves on October 23.
Featured Image: AMC