Surprise: Walking Dead Finale Irritates Fans

Spoiler warning: If you haven't yet seen the season six finale of The Walking Dead, and you want to be surprised by its surprises, read no further.

If you're still reading, you probably already know that the finale's surprise was that there was no surprise. The series had teased fans since before the beginning of the season that a big event was in store for the end of the season: Negan's coming, Negan's coming. Since the villainous character was already well-known to readers of the Walking Dead comics, and since the producers revealed that the character would be played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, fans assumed that the TV series introduction of Negan would deliver something shocking and worth waiting for beyond simply Negan's appearance.

It didn't.

In the comics, Negan kills Glenn with a baseball bat, so fans speculated that Negan's debut on TV would coincide with a major character's death, although not necessarily Glenn's. The producers fueled that speculation.

But then showrunner Scott Gimple recently hinted that the dramatic events of the finale might not actually be in the finale, but might spill over into next season instead. That would mean the big event fans had been waiting all season for would be merely the introduction of a character they already knew well, coupled with yet another manipulative cliffhanger.

The Walking Dead has played the cliffhanger card many times, and twice this season it's involved the possible death of a major character. Earlier in the season, it looked like Glenn was a history, and producers went so far as to remove Steven Yeun's name from the opening credits before backpedalling and saving Glenn with an improbable plot twist. Just last week, there was a minor tease meant to make viewers think Daryl might be dead, but not many viewers fell for it.

So it should have been no surprise that the season six finale ended with a cliffhanger: Negan bashed someone with his bat, but you'll have to tune in next season to find out who it was.

Fan reaction was swift, and it wasn't positive. Social media lit up with "seriously?" and "not cool" comments. This might have been one instance too many of crying wolf. Will fans ever again believe the show's producers and cast when they go on and on about how big and devastating an upcoming episode is going to be?