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2 • October 23 - 29, 2016 • Brainerd Dispatch By Kyla Brewer TV Media W ith endless television series available for binge-watching, time-shifting and old-fashioned recording, it's tough to keep view- ers tuning in these days. But mil- lions of fans are set to glue them- selves to the tube thanks to a cliff- hanger that's had the Internet and Twitterverse buzzing for months. The wait is almost over for fans of television's most popular prime- time drama as the zombie apoca- lypse continues in "The Walking Dead," airing Sunday, Oct. 23, on AMC. In last season's finale, Rick (Andrew Lincoln, "Love Actually," 2003) and some of the others had run afoul of new villain Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, "Grey's Anatomy"). Wielding a barbed wire-wrapped bat that he has af- fectionately named "Lucille," Negan was on the verge of execut- ing a member of Rick's group when the credits rolled, and view- ers have been speculating about who is about to meet an untimely end ever since. It seems no one is safe. There are a multitude of theories as to what happens next, but one thing is for certain: "The Walking Dead" has our attention. Based on the comic books of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, the show has been the highest-rated series among the coveted 18-to-49-year-old de- mographic since season 3, and that includes both broadcast net- work and cable series. The sixth season finale attracted more than 14 million viewers and hopes are even higher for the season 7 pre- miere. There are big plans for this 16-episode season, which will be broken into two parts, with the second half premiering in February 2017. Viewers will get to know Negan and his motley crew, as well as Ezekiel (Khary Payton, "Teen Titans"), a popular charac- ter from the comics. Executive producer and special effects guru Greg Nicotero talked about filming this season's heart- breaking premiere in an official Q&A about season 7. "The first episode was intense. It affected me in a way I didn't ex- pect. Every emotion that you can imagine feeling, you will feel. You think that they are at the bottom, but there is a lot further for them to go." That doesn't bode well for fans, who can't seem to bear the thought of losing any core charac- ter of this AMC drama that follows a group of survivors struggling to stay alive in a world overrun with zombies. Over the course of six seasons, there have been a num- ber of shocking deaths as writers bravely picked off popular charac- ters, but this most recent season finale seems to have taken the cake, and fans have engaged in endless debate over whether the show will follow the storyline of the comic and take out Glenn (Ste- ven Yeun, "Voltron: Legendary De- fender"). Other contenders for execution include — in no particular order — Abraham (Michael Cudlitz, "Band of Brothers"), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green, "Once Upon a Time"), Rosita (Christian Serratos, "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"), Eugene (Josh McDermitt, "Retired at 35"), Maggie (Lauren Cohan, "The Vam- pire Diaries"), Michonne (Danai Gurira, "Treme"), Aaron (Ross Marquand, "Mad Men") and fan- favorite Daryl (Norman Reedus, "The Boondock Saints," 1999), a wildcard character that doesn't appear in the comic book series. Even Rick's son Carl (Chandler Riggs, "The Wronged Man") and Rick himself may not be safe from Lucille. Rumors have swirled that there may be more than one exe- cution, but no one official has con- firmed that particular report. While at least one character is undoubtedly on the way out, someone else is on his way in. Pay- ton joins the season 7 cast as Eze- kiel, the leader of a community known as The Kingdom. Once a zookeeper in the comic books, the character of Ezekiel has a loyal ti- ger companion named Shiva. By all accounts, he's a bit eccentric, known to prance around with a scepter and insist people address him as King. He encounters Mor- gan (Lennie James, "Jericho") and Carol (Melissa McBride, "Living Proof") in season 7. So it appears that fans can rest assured Morgan and Carol probably won't be leaving right away, at least not by Negan's hand. Then again, Morgan and Tara (Alanna Master- son, "Mistresses") are seen presumably running for their lives in an offi- cial trailer for season 7, so anything could hap- pen. There's a lot of talk about killing off main char- acters, but what about the zombies? For those who worry that focus has shifted away from the undead, take heart: plenty of zom- bies bite it in the upcoming sea- son. In fact, during the "The Walk- ing Dead" panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, execu- tive producer and writer Scott M. Gimple estimated as many as 61 walkers would meet a gruesome end in the season's sec- ond episode. With zombies ga- lore, at least one character leaving and new charac- ters signing on, season 7 has the potential to be one of the best yet. "The Walk- ing Dead" uni- verse expands as Negan "adopts" the remaining mem- bers of the group and viewers enter Eze- kiel's Kingdom, so don't miss the season premiere of "The Walking Dead," air- ing Sunday, Oct. 23, on AMC. Mystery character meets his/her end when 'The Walking Dead' returns Cover Story this week Khary Payton as seen in "The Walking Dead" 501 W Washington St, Brainerd 218-828-1823 Free loaner cars available with most services! www.heartlandtireservice.com SAVE ON SELECT GOODYEAR AND DUNLOP TIRES A POTENTIAL SAVINGS UP TO See associate for details. October 1st - December 31, 2016 CONVENTIONAL OIL CHANGE Save $ 10 0 0 Off Regular Price High mileage or full synthetic Cannot be combined with other offers. 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