Andrew Lincoln Reveals When Season 7 Will Payoff

While many fans have enjoyed the first half of The Walking Dead‘s seventh season, it has been a bit divisive among the AMC series’ viewers. Some fans have learned to love to hate Negan and his merry band of Saviors while others refuse to accept that they’re watching a show in which Rick Grimes is not the man in charge.

The actor who has been portraying a broken down Rick through the past eight episodes stands by the show’s story. In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Andrew Lincoln shared his perspective on what happened and what’s going on with The Walking Dead, promising it will all pay off before the season comes to a close.

“Obviously, you don’t want [the fan reaction] to be negative, but if you’re endeavouring to make something different and unique and challenging – and hopefully dangerous and new – sometimes it might provoke different reactions from people,” Lincoln said.

“And I stand by everybody telling this story, particularly the writers and everybody directing it,” Lincoln said. “I think it’s a very brave, bold, and also challenging story that we’re attempting.”

Perhaps the frustration comes in not seeing beloved characters on a weekly basis and being forced to wait more than seven days to see our favorite faces?

“I know people want to watch more than one episode a week at a time just because it’s kind of compulsive, the storytelling, and they want to know what happens next,” Lincoln said.

However, regardless of the path to get there, Lincoln promises the finale will make every bit of Season 7 worth it — whether you have enjoyed it or not.

“I would say that this season made a lot more sense once we got the last roll of film in the can for Episode 7×16,” Lincoln said. “The brilliant writers that we have take some risks, and I admire them for it.”

That beat, which is probably one of the very last moments of The Walking Dead‘s seventh season, could be what prompted Lincoln’s epic reaction to reading the finale’s script. The actor was so excited that he put the script down and stood up to dance for a moment to celebrate a bit which Lennie James vaguely calls “sexy.”

The official synopsis for the rest of The Walking Dead Season 7 reads…

Rick’s group will find out yet again that the world isn’t what they thought it was. It’s much bigger than anything they’ve seen so far. While they have a singular purpose – to defeat Negan – it won’t come easy. More importantly, victory will require more than Alexandria. They need the numbers of the Kingdom and the Hilltop, but, similar to how Rick felt, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Gregory (Xander Berkeley) do not want bloodshed. To convince them otherwise will take more than speeches. The lengths Rick and the group will have to go to in order to find weapons, food and new fighters is nothing short of remarkable.

We’ll meet new survivors in incredible places. We’ll see Rick and the group tested in ways we’ve never seen before. We’ll see treachery from people we trust.Rick is confident as he will see his group and many others band together with the common goal of taking down Negan.But no amount of planning will prepare the group for all-out war with Negan and his army.

MORE WALKING DEAD:

Andrew Lincoln’s Epic Reaction To Season 7 Finale / Episodes 7×09-7×011 Are Extended / Violent Takes Were Removed From Midseason Finale / Negan Featured in #162 Preview / Who Will Be The Next Major Death? / AMC Stock Takes Hit With TWD Ratings Drops / Spoilers: How Will Season 7 End? / Lennie James Confirms Major Betrayal / Season 7B Director List

The Walking Dead returns for the rest of its seventh season on February 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead‘s third season does not yet have a premiere date but with The Walking Dead finale set for April 2, expectations for Fear‘s return are set for April 9. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.