The Walking Dead Producer Says They Toned Down Violence After Backlash

The Walking Dead‘s Season 7 premiere prompted a lot of conversation but the loudest seemed to be complaints about violence.

In Episode 7×01 (The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be), Negan made his presence known by bashing the skulls of Abraham Ford and Glenn Rhee in front of everyon they knew and loved. He didn’t just beat them, though. He bashed their skulls right into the ground, mocked them as they were brutally injured, and swung their blood around on hit and whipped it onto Rick’s face.

The intense backlash which criticized the episode and its horrific violence prompted a change in the AMC series. The Walking Dead has toned down its violence following Negan’s introduction executive producer Gale Anne Hurd has revealed.

“We were able to look at the feedback on the level of violence,” Hurd said during a panel session at the NATPE conference (via Variety). “We did tone it down for episodes we were still filming for later on in the season.”

Some of that toning down came in the midseason finale. In Episode 7×08 (Hearts Still Beating) three characters were sent off — one was shot in the face, another was literally gutted, and the other was beaten with a pipe the same way Abraham and Glenn were beaten with a bat.

Spencer’s death was shown quite explicitly, likely filling the violence quota for the episode. One has to wonder, though, if there were more gore-filled takes which didn’t make it to air. Olivia’s death was simple. She was shot in the face and shown laying on the ground with a bullet hole in her cheek.

It was Fat Joey’s death which was toned down, according to actor Joshua Hoover.

“Yeah I took a hit. I took a hit on the head from Mr. Norman Reedus, and it was a good hit. Norman Reedus has swung a metal pipe before in his life I think,” Hoover said. “Yeah I got hit right square in the head. There was the special effects that they do with the blood packet. They had a blood packet on the pipe and it just went everywhere. Everybody said it looked so awesome, but also pretty graphic. So i’m assuming that’s why they didn’t show that angle, they probably had a little too much already with Spencer’s guts. But, yeah, there was definitely another shot, and I’d like to see that footage.”

The choices are likely influenced by a sharp drop in ratings which followed the Season 7 premiere. In just one week, the show lost almost 5 million viewers following the episode, and ended up posting numbers down by about 6.5 million from premiere to midseason finale. While The Walking Dead continues to be the number one show on cable by a considerable margin, such drops do not go unnoticed or ignored, especially when the series is AMC’s tentpole.

MORE WALKING DEAD:

Andrew Lincoln’s Epic Reaction To Season 7 Finale / New Season 7B Key Art / Violent Takes Were Removed From Midseason Finale / Best Moments of 2016 / Who Will Be The Next Major Death? / AMC Stock Takes Hit With TWD Ratings Drops / Spoilers: How Will Season 7 End? / New Characters Revealed In Season 7B Photo

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.