The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln highlighted the pivotal moment that he believes transformed the series forever.

Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead

Running for over a decade, The Walking Dead became one of the most popular shows, featuring captivating and heart-wrenching storylines set in a post-apocalyptic world. Andrew Lincoln, who played the series protagonist Rick Grimes and recently reprised his role in The Ones Who Live, reflected on what he believes marked a point of no return for the show.

The Walking Dead The Walking Dead | Credit: AMC

Season 7 of the show starts with a brutal ending to one of the key characters in the story, Glenn, portrayed by Steven Yeun. And Lincoln believes that the scene went a bit too far, marking a turning point from which the show would never fully recover.

Andrew Lincoln on the Pivotal Moment That Changed The Walking Dead

Throughout its run, The Walking Dead featured many memorable and intense moments, but one that continues to haunt fans is the brutal death of Glenn in the Season 7 premiere at the hands of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan.

Steven Yeun in The Walking DeadSteven Yeun as Glenn in The Walking Dead | Credit: AMC

Portrayed by Steven Yeun, the character has been part of the series since the very first season and became a fan favorite. However, Andrew Lincoln believes that the show may have crossed a line in its depiction of the gruesome scene.

“I do still think [Glenn’s death] might have been when we over-egged the omelet,” he told Empire in an interview. “Maybe it was lingering too much,” he added as he further shared how filming the sequence was “the most intense nights of shooting I’ve ever been part of.”

Describing Morgan as “one of the nicest guys you’re ever going to meet,” he recalled the filming of the scene, saying,

He had to do this extraordinary monologue on his first day at work, and everybody was on their knees and weeping when they weren’t on camera — [Morgan] came over and went, ‘Is this normal?’ I went, ‘Yeah, everybody just keeps going.’ It was an extraordinary night.

Andrew Lincoln as Rick GrimesAndrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes | Credit: AMC

While the series continued for another four seasons and expanded into a full-fledged franchise, The Walking Dead experienced a significant decline in viewership following the Season 7 premiere, from which it never fully recovered.

The Walking Dead Experienced A Significant Decline in Viewership Following Season 7 Premiere

The viewership of The Walking Dead experienced a significant decline following its Season 7 premiere, which featured the brutal death of Glenn. The first episode of Season 7 drew in strong numbers, even showing an improvement in the Season 6 premiere.

The Walking Dead The Walking Dead | Credit: AMC

However, the downward trend began with the second episode of Season 7, and throughout the season the show’s ratings in the key 18-49 demographic dropped sharply compared to the previous season.

According to Variety, the ratings for Season 7’s episodes fell drastically from their Season 6 counterparts in Nielsen’s Live+3 metrics, with episodes 6 and 7 seeing a 20% drop.

While Season 6 averaged 13.15 million viewers, Season 7 dropped to 11.35 million. This marked the beginning of a longer-term decline, with Season 8 averaging 7.82 million same-day viewers—a 30% drop from Season 7. The trend continued in subsequent seasons, each seeing viewership fall by roughly 37%, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The Walking DeadAndrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead | Credit: AMC

Despite continued delayed viewing and streaming through AMC+, The Walking Dead never fully recovered its peak numbers, making the Season 7 premiere a turning point in the show’s ratings history.

Even with a consistent decline in viewership, the series finale, Rest in Peace, provided a ratings boost. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the finale drew in 2.27 million viewers on its release day, the highest since February 2021.

The series has since expanded into a larger franchise, spawning spin-offs like The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, set to return for a second season, along with a new project titled More Tales from the Walking Dead Universe in development.

The Walking Dead is available to watch on Netflix.