'Walking Dead' Aftermath: Ratings Tumble for Episode 2

There's evidence that all those viewers who said they were done with The Walking Dead after last week's episode weren't kidding. This week's second episode of TWD's season seven experienced a major drop in ratings from the previous episode, a trend that's unusual for the series.

The debut episode of the series' seventh season drew big ratings, and partially reversed the downward trajectory that the series experienced for part of its sixth season. This season's debut episode scored an 8.4 rating in the 18-49 age demographic and 17 million viewers overall; that was significantly higher than ratings for the season-six debut and nearly as high as the record-setting season-five debut.

This week's second episode, however, fell off by more than 25 percent to about 12.5 million viewers and a 6.1 rating in the 18-49 group. The typical decline for the series in recent years has been between 11 and 15 percent from each season's first episode to the second.

TWD had the misfortune to be up against a hot World Series game this week, but it's probable that the big drop in ratings can't be entirely blamed on the competition. Last week's gruesomely violent episode spurred some vocal backlash from fans who found the episode off-putting. The question is, are those fans gone for good, or are they just taking a little break? Ratings for next week's episode, with no baseball game to play the scapegoat, will help to answer that question.