‘The Walking Dead’ Norman Reedus: Pros And Cons Of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan
The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln have bonded rather rapidly with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, cultivating a beautiful friendship. Reedus goes motorcycle riding with Morgan nearly every day. Morgan’s off camera playfulness has Lincoln completely enchanted as well, but the on-screen drama hasn’t been nearly as much fun for anyone.
Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln, who portray Daryl Dixon and Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, both admitted that they hated their jobs for the first time during Season 7A. However, they say they loved 7B. Read more about how Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln felt about Season 7 of The Walking Dead on the Inquisitr.
Hopefully, The Walking Dead fans will love Season 7B too because so far The Walking Dead with Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is suffering sudden and severe ratings trouble in Season 7. After years of steady growth to become television’s most widely viewed show, The Walking Dead is losing viewers rapidly.
If Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln didn’t want to be there and didn’t want to suffer through all the abuse Daryl and Rick took, then imagine how The Walking Dead viewers felt. No one likes to see their heroes get beaten down.
The Walking Dead’s ratings have dropped by 40 percent, according to The Atlantic, who blame Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character Negan for the loss.
“The much-hyped supervillain Negan (Jeffrey Dead Morgan) quickly proved to be a huge narrative drag on a show that doesn’t move quickly even at the best of times.”
While not everyone agrees that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan is the problem, there is no denying a problem exists with The Walking Dead this season. Even Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln failed to enjoy making it.
Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln fans are complaining about the pacing and the slow moving hopelessness of Season 7A. They’ve even said it was boring and predictable, according to The Atlantic. A dogged return to being absolutely faithful to the graphic novel can make the show very predictable. The entire season not only has Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, it has proven to be very by the book.
Norman Reedus’ character Daryl Dixon has taken a lot of the predictability out of the show in the past because Daryl isn’t in the comics. That puts Norman Reedus in the position of being a wild card. In addition, the writers have in seasons past, mixed it up a little bit to keep the interest of fans.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan is enacting scenes from Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel, The Walking Dead. The adherence to the novel has been nearly exact.
The Walking Dead Season 7 has been strictly by the book, and the graphic novel had a strong shift in plot, so people are suffering through a major change. It has not felt like the same show.
Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln as Rick and Daryl and the rest of the cast have been up to the challenges of the post-apocalyptic zombie scenario so far. Even though all the characters have suffered, and many have not survived, their troubles have never been so severe as the ones Jeffrey Dean Morgan reigned down as Negan in Season 7B.
The Atlantic fears The Walking Dead will not recover from the losses suffered in the first half of Season 7.
“But it [The Walking Dead mid-season premiere] still has a dull air of inevitability, and the expected payoff may not be enough to turn ratings around. It’s very rare for a hit show to rebound after its viewership begins to slide—at a certain point, you’ve been on too long to attract enough new viewers to replace anyone who’s jumping ship.
Could The Walking Dead with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, and Andrew Lincoln be doomed? Well, it seems very doubtful, and Season 7B will hopefully correct the problem. The New York Times definitely makes it sound as if The Walking Dead is back on track.
“The explosives and the [zombie] herd will definitely come into play later, but the scene was more broadly a reassurance for fans that, even though the show got bogged down in angst earlier this season, it hasn’t forgotten that it’s part sociological drama, part horror thrill ride.”
The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride, and Chandler Riggs have been providing a lot of zombie fighting action since the first season. As the heroes of the show, these astounding action stars have always managed to keep fighting back, until Season 7A.
Still, Negan brings a lot to the show, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a spectacular actor, so what are the pros and con of having Negan’s character take over so powerfully in Season 7A and how will it be corrected in 7B?
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan Pros
The Walking Dead graphic novels rely heavily on the character Negan to bring about the changes necessary for the future plots to unfold. In order to stick to Robert Kirkman’s story line at all, Negan is absolutely necessary. Nothing more can happen until Negan is allowed to commit the atrocities of sSeason 7A.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a really cool guy. He has become Norman Reedus’ best buddy, so obviously he is nothing like the evil villain Negan, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan is also a great actor, faithfully playing out the role of Negan from the comic books by Robert Kirkman, so it is Kirkman who created Negan, not Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is doing a great job of portraying everything Negan was in the comic books. Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks the part and acts the part, despite the fact his personality is kind of the opposite of Negan.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan Cons
The Walking Dead comic books have a huge shift in the plot when Negan appears, and so neither the show nor the comic relied as much on the zombie killing action during this period. Fans of The Walking Dead though love zombies and fast-paced action sequences.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan has prevented the usual zombie attacks and other action sequences. Instead, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon has been held captive and tortured. Rick Grimes portrayed by Andrew Lincoln and the rest have also been restricted.
The Walking Dead fans like seeing Daryl Dixon-style wilderness survival, with Norman Reedus biceps pulling that crossbow and seeing that flex. They like seeing Rick Grimes and Michonne back-to-back surrounded by zombie hordes and fighting their way out. They love to see Chandler Riggs as Carl pick up that old pistol and look just crazy tough for a kid. But that didn’t happen in Season 7B.
The Walking Dead fans love when Carol, played by Melissa McBride, has to break bad and kill a dozen people right after giving a heartfelt lecture on nonviolence. Now Carol is separated from the group, thanks to Negan.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan put a temporary halt to these kinds of survivalist, zombie killing activities. That seems to be the problem, even more than the idea that Negan is nearly an unbeatable foe.
Even Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln as Daryl and Rick could do nothing to protect the group from Negan, and that too was a huge problem for fans.
The Future of Jeffrey Dean Morgan on The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead’s future episodes will put Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan in a different position. No longer will Negan hold Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon captive. There will be no more bullying of Rick and Carl. Season 7B, as well as Season 8, will be “All Out War” on Negan, and apparently, there will be more zombie action as well, even though it may not be in the comics.
The Walking Dead has a better recipe for the rest of this season and going into Season 8. It is time for Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln fans and fans of The Walking Dead, in general, to start watching again because things are gearing up.
As for Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan, he’s doing a great job of acting out the comic books, and he is going to be a big part of The Walking Dead for at least another year or two, but he will not be bossing the heroes played by Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln around any longer.
Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln are glad to have Jeffrey Dean Morgan as a friend. Off camera, Reedus, Lincoln, and Morgan are totally enjoying all the male bonding, with the motorcycles and friendly pranks.
RELATED REPORTS FROM THE INQUISITR
Why Norman Reedus And Andrew Lincoln ‘Hated’ ‘The Walking Dead’ 7A And Loved 7B
‘The Walking Dead,’ Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln And The Future Of AMC
‘The Walking Dead’s’ Jeffrey Dean Morgan Is Riding With Norman Reedus To Orlando
Could The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus Lead To ‘Redneck’ Appreciation Through Daryl Dixon? [Opinion]
Is The ‘Walking Dead’s’ Norman Reedus A Hero In Real Life? Is He Awesome Like Daryl Dixon? [Opinion]
‘The Walking Dead’s’ Norman Reedus: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Spills On Daryl’s Fan Base
Jeffrey Dean Morgan portrays Negan as the ultimate bully, confining, taunting, and terrorizing The Walking Dead’s heroes. Fans have not enjoyed this part of the show. So thankfully that part is about to change.
Norman Reedus is glad Daryl Dixon has been freed from his confinement. Andrew Lincoln is thankful to be fighting zombies again, and all the actors are glad that their characters are back together and united in the cause of fighting back against Negan and the Saviors.
The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, and Andrew Lincoln are ready to win back the fans lost in Season 7A.
[Featured Image by John Sciulli/Getty Images]
