Dang it. I think Robert Kirkman has finally gone over to the dark side.
Following tonight’s uber disappointing Season 6 finale, EW.com spoke with Kirkman and showrunner Scott Gimple who comment on the cliffhanger and fan reaction to the episode.
What’s rather intersting is that the interview (more than likely) took place prior to the episode aired, so they knew going in that fans weren’t going to like it.
Gimple even compares the cliffhanger scene to Lost (lol). Holy clueless.
I’m actually wonder if AMC themselves don’t even know who died. Think about it. Say for example, if Norman Reedus is leaving the series to do another, but his new series tanks, he may come back, so he’ll live. But say Reedus decides not to come back, then he dies. Honestly, it’s the only reason I can come up with that explains how bad the episode was.
Scott M. Gimple on the cliffhanger ending:
“The end of the story is what people saw. And when we reveal who was on the receiving end there, that’s going to be the start of another story. The kickback effects from that, what it makes everyone into, how people react, how the world changes for everyone, that’s the next part of the story.”
Kirkman on the cliffhanger ending:
“I’m feeling, oddly, great. I’m very excited where it’s at. What’s happening in the show is extremely sad and extremely depressing but I think it’s going to put us into a good place going into season 7.”
Kirkman on people being upset abot the cliffhanger:
“First of all, as a fan, I love cliffhangers. I love that tension. I love the anticipation of finding out what it is. If you read the comic book series, I think pretty much every issue ends with a big cliffhanger… And I think that’s a lot of fun. But this story, the cliffhanger isn’t the story. The story of the episode, and Scott and Matt Negrete did such a great hob of setting up how confident Rick was going into this. This episode is about the loss of that confidence. It’s about changing that mindset. It’s about tearing Rick Grimes down and that’s the conclusion of this story. So while it does seem like a cliffhanger, that’s the conclusion. And the story of who died, the story of what comes next, of who Negan killed, of what comes after that, that’s really the story of season 7.”
Gimple on people being upset about the cliffhanger:
“I would say, when they opened up the hatch [on Lost], we had to wait and see who was in the hatch. I liked thinking about that. I liked talking about it. … We have to do an episode that justifies it to you. We have to do something so great and so intense that you’re like ‘Okay, all right, fair play.’ That’s the challenge we have and we’re going to do it. We’re going to deliver you something fantastic. … We want you to be one of those people in that lineup. We want you to feel that suspense and that terror and that pain, and were going to deliver you a story next season that justifies it.”