Some Walking Dead viewers were left frustrated Sunday when the broadcast was interrupted by misplaced commercials that cut off portions of the episode mid-scene. The apparent error happened twice during pivotal Season Nine episode 914, ‘Scars,’ which uncovered the mystery behind Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) identical ‘X’ scars.
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A commercial first cut into the episode when Jocelyn (Rutina Wesley), an old friend of Michonne’s who miraculously turns up at Alexandria’s front gate, integrates into the community. Another commercial was spliced into the episode during a key scene shared between Michonne and Daryl while the pair were on the hunt for missing Alexandrian children, including Michonne’s daughter Judith, who was abducted by Jocelyn and her nomadic pack of feral kids.
That disruption cut off Daryl mid-sentence and resulted in some viewers missing a small portion of the episode. These commercial splices continued on through live aftershow Talking Dead, which featured Walking Dead co-executive producer Denise Huth and super-fan Yvette Nicole Brown as guests.
The issue, which appears to have only affected DirecTV customers, prompted swift backlash online.
“Hey AMC your broadcast of The Walking Dead tonight has been atrocious. Commercials keep cutting into the show,” complained one viewer on Twitter. Others called the episode “almost unwatchable,” pointing to the “crazy interruptions” coming at the most inopportune times.
The episode climaxed with a scene some viewers called “disturbing” and “traumatizing,” which saw a heavily pregnant Michonne forced to slaughter Jocelyn’s corrupted children in self-defense when they refused to halt their vicious attack.
Slide 1
WTF ANOTHER RANDOM COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTION. Get it together @WalkingDead_AMC …. ??♀️ #TheWalkingDead
— karla anne (@auralmemories) March 18, 2019
Seriously these commercials are like in the middle of a scene! WTF! #TheWalkingDead
— WyllowWynd Storelli (@jstorelli) March 18, 2019
@AMC_TV what in the world is going on the commercials tonight? Cut up walking dead. And the mid sentence during talking dead? I feel like I am missing huge chunks of the show?
— Ashley (@Ashmo03) March 18, 2019
Okay are these commercials just completely cutting into The Walking Dead? I feel like I’m missing things?? #TWD
— ??????? (@julianarjoyce) March 18, 2019
Slide 2
These commercial are just cutting convos off The Walking Dead airing on AMC #TheWalkingDead https://t.co/EGHyvchs0H
— jeanne (@jeannemarie98) March 18, 2019
The commercials keep coming at the dumbest times!! Do better #AMC #TheWalkingDead
— Taren Griffin (@TarenGriffin) March 18, 2019
I dont think so. They were literally on the middle of talking in one scene then it went to a commercial of people dancing mid sentence. Then another time it cut out and came back mid scene then went to the real commercial 2 minutes later…lol. Someone dropped the ball
— Robert Matthews (@AcrophobiA1981) March 18, 2019
Slide 3
SERIOUSLY? FUCK YOU AMC #THEWALKINGDEAD
— Adolfo Diaz (@BigBoss550) March 18, 2019
i don’t know who edited the walking dead, or who allowed all these commercials,,, but fire them
— ? (@420bois) March 18, 2019
@AMC_TV hey AMC your broadcast of the walking dead tonight has been atrocious. Commercials keep cutting in to the show.
— Marc Casillas (@BBlazejowski12) March 18, 2019
Slide 4
Now AMC is having problems cutting to commercial #TheWalkingDead
— Ryan II (@RTIIAnimate) March 18, 2019
Really annoyed that all these Walking Dead snippets are interrupting the flow of the commercials tonight.#thewalkingdead
— Cale Berry (@CA_Berry12) March 18, 2019
Anyone else getting extra commercials while watching The Walking Dead?!? I’m missing parts of the show because of it! WTH! #TheWalkingDead
— tracy babb (@gamecockchic73) March 18, 2019
@DIRECTVService what happened to last night’s episode of The Walking Dead? Why were scenes replaced with random commercials? Wtf happened to the episode? It was almost unwatchable.
— Blazer0981 (@blazer0981) March 18, 2019
Slide 5
Did they really just cut Daryl off with a fucking commercial? ? #TheWalkingDead
— sugar aka your favorite crackhead? (@teamrichonne) March 18, 2019
@AMC_TV @DIRECTV what the crap is with the commercials at random on #TheWalkingDead tonight?!?! Y’all both suck at the moment!!!!
— Chris Chambers (@thedirtyvegas) March 18, 2019
#TheWalkingDead #TWD #Walking Dead_AMC what’s with the crazy interruptions to the story tonight? please rerun it without the extra commercials!
— Jennie Vore (@mumomoftwo) March 18, 2019
Slide 6
Seriously, what the hell is going on with the DirectTv feed of #TheWalkingDead ? Twice we’ve cut into commercial midsentence and brought back into the episode with time lost
— Mick Joest?? (@G33kyMick) March 18, 2019
@WalkingDead_AMC @AMC_TV care@to explain all THE DAMN COMMERCIALS ?#TheWalkingDead
— #TheResistance?? (@liberal4life) March 18, 2019
@AMCTalkingDead Why do commercials keep coming on in the middle of Talkinh Dead and The Walking Dead?????
— BeautifulScream?? (@napoleonkornfan) March 18, 2019
Slide 7
#thewalkingdead
— nathan hickey (@nathanhickey10) March 18, 2019
12 minutes of show. 26 of commercials. But the 12 minutes have been good.
Seriously, again with the commercials interrupting during a scene? @AMC_TV #TheWalkingDead
— A Bleeding Corpse (@ABleedingCorpse) March 18, 2019
What the heck @AMC_TV . Why are you messing up tonight. Commercials are interrupting The Walking Dead in the middle of sentances. WTF
— Shelby Taulbee (@taulbeejr31) March 18, 2019
What’s going on with all these weird commercials on The Walking Dead??? Are we missing part of the show??#talkingdead #thetalkingdead #TheWalkingDead
— Kale Kemp (@KempKale) March 18, 2019