One of the most controversial moments of The Walking Dead came with the introduction of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan. While the villainous character would go on to become a fan favorite and one of the stars of a new spinoff series, the way he made his entrance drove away many viewers of the show.
As fans of The Walking Dead will remember, Negan brutally killed two fan favorites upon his arrival: Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun). The latter's death was especially painful for fans, given how Glenn had been such an important part of the series since the very first season. His sad death scene was also particularly graphic, showing Glenn with his head split open and one eyeball popping out. This led to a lot of criticism from fans, and Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln now says (per Empire) that the series went too far with the scene.
“I do still think [Glenn’s death] might have been when we over-egged the omelette," Lincoln explained. "Maybe it was lingering too much.”
"[Jeffrey Dean Morgan is] one of the nicest guys you’re ever going to meet, playing one of the most unpleasant characters."
While the scene was horrific, Lincoln gave high praise to Morgan for his portrayal of Negan, noting of the actor, "One of the nicest guys you’re ever going to meet, playing one of the most unpleasant characters. He had to do this extraordinary monologue on his first day at work, and everybody was on their knees and weeping when they weren’t on camera. [Morgan] came over and went, ‘Is this normal?’ I went, ‘Yeah, everybody just keeps going.’ It was an extraordinary night.”
Millions of Fans Gave Up on The Walking Dead After Glenn's Death
Not only was Glenn's death viciously violent, killing the character off was also criticized by a lot of fans, despite the scene matching up with how he'd gone out in the original comic books. It was argued that Glenn was more important to the TV series than the original character was to the comics. There may be some truth to that, as viewership started dwindling by the millions in the episodes immediately following Steven Yeun's exit. The Walking Dead would continue to reign as one of television's most popular franchises, but it never again reached the same heights as it had leading up to Glenn's final episode.
