Andrew Lincoln Is Unhappy That Some Walking Dead Fans Are Not Happy

The Walking Dead‘s seventh season has come under a lot of scrutiny in its run through eight episodes. The last two have been well-received but after the brutal and horrifying premiere on October 23, viewers started picking apart little details and expressing their frustration in having only one group on screen per week.

The discontent could best be seen in the ratings which fell every week through the first six episodes before picking back up consecutively in the final two. While the season has been an unhappy one (to say the least) for Rick Grimes, Andrew Lincoln is fully aware of the frustration fans are experiencing, as well.

“Obviously I’ve heard that people are not happy and that makes me unhappy because of the amount of work we all put into the show,” Lincoln said in an interview with TheWrap. “There is a sense of a bigger story that’s being told and I have absolute faith in Scott [Gimple], the writing team, and the producers of the show. But I will say that I think the back eight are the exact opposite of the front eight.”

The turnaround we can expect to see was on display in the closing moments of Sunday’s midseason finale. Rick finally got his gun back, his Daryl back, and reunited with Maggie for the first time since the premiere. The events have already come full circle and it’s time for Rick to rise up and formulate a plan to take on the Saviors.

“I wasn’t good company in the first eight episodes,” Lincoln said. “Alexandria was also not a good place for children. My language was pretty much like a sailor. He enjoys his role way too much, and he’s going to get his if you know what I’m saying.”

Showrunner Scott Gimple voiced a similar message in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com a couple of weeks ago.

“I will say 7B’s vibe is very different from 7A’s vibe. The ending of 7B is very different than the beginning of 7A,” Gimple said. “Just the vibe in 7B, I was just talking about it with Andy [Lincoln] last night. It’s just a very, very different half season than the half season that preceded it. Even with structure, what we’re doing right now with the episodes and seeing where everyone is at, the structure is very, very different than the back half. There’s a lot more variety to the structure. It’s just a very, very different situation, but 6, 7, 8 … Wow, we’re really close, aren’t we? I would say the end of 7A is very different than the beginning of 7A. That’s the thing that kind of launches that different tone of 7B.”

MORE WALKING DEAD:

Fat Joey Was More Important Than You Realized / Who Is Creeping On ASZ? / Did The Whisperers Arrive? / Midseason Finale Recap / Internet Reacts To Midseason Finale / Gallery Of Negan’s Midseason Finale Kills / Important Fat Joey Detail You May Have Missed / New Season 7B Key Art

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of Season 7 on February 12, 2016. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.