The opening minutes of last night’s The Walking Dead premiere were some of the most brutal that have ever probably put to television. After spending an unknown amount of time in captivity, four of the men from the core survivor group are taken to an open area and lined up with four other unknown prisoners we haven’t seen before. They’re bent over a tub, and one by one, each of the first four survivors have their heads bashed in with a baseball bat, then have their throats slit so they drain into the tub.
This represents something of a new level of violence for even The Walking Dead, usually concentrated on man vs. walker violence. There’s just something inhuman about zombies that allows for guilt-free head-splatting, and the violent acts committed against zombies are almost too numerous to count at this point. Violence against humans however? Outside of very specific occasions, namely the Governor’s eye and a certain now-headless cast member from last season, human vs. human violence is limited to people getting shot, with the camera pretty far zoomed out. Last night’s execution was far and away the most chilling example of human-on-human violence the show has used yet.
And really, it serves as a perfect intro to demonstrate the absolute silliness of the final moments of the end of season four. In them, Rick and the others are trapped in the train car, and right when all seems lost, Rick turns to the group. “They’re going to feel pretty stupid when they find out….they’re screwing with the wrong people!”
The line is hokey and out of place because of the censorship placed on AMC by advertisers. Very clearly, the line is supposed to be “they’re f***ing with the wrong people!” which has much more dramatic weight to it. It serves to illustrate how lax ratings and advertisers are when it comes to violence, but heaven forbid anyone says the f-word. Hyundai can handle all the throat-slitting on earth, but lord forbid if someone swears. This also happened when Breaking Bad was forced to literally mute out f-bombs that had worked its way into the script. At least they didn’t say “screwing.”
It’s just a weird place we’re in that this is still frowned upon due to archaic FCC regulations and advertiser pressure. It’s a perfect example of our culture’s obsession with violence, yet we fear anything else “adult.”
The Walking Dead had a memorable premiere because of that scene, but it also had an awkward finale last year because of the opposite issue.
[Photo via AMC]
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