The producers of The Walking Dead are known for packing a lot of story into each week’s episode. Sometimes they pack a little too much, and the show runs longer than normal. Other times, AMC just wants to shove in as many commercials as possible and that can also cause an episode to run long.
Running Long to Sell Ads
That was a common complaint against last season’s finale episode, ‘Last Day on Earth.’ The episode ran for 90 minutes — a full half-hour longer than normal. However, rather than fill that space with additional story, AMC packed it chockful of commercials. Then, to cap it off, the whole thing ended with a cliffhanger, further infuriating fans.
A Slightly Longer Premiere
Though it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it looks like this Sunday’s season premiere will run a little longer itself. It won’t be a full half-hour, though — only 6 minutes. Fans have deduced from the fact that the aftershow, Talking Dead, is scheduled to begin at 10:06 PM (EST) that night instead of its regular 10:00 PM timeslot. Now, AMC could just be putting in more commercials. Nonetheless, the premiere will run six minutes over.
An Even Longer Follow-Up
Now comes word that the second episode of Season 7 will be even longer. Earlier this week, it was rumored that the title of the episode was ‘The Well.’ AMC has now confirmed that to be the title. They’ve also announced the episode’s runtime: 76 minutes. That’s a full 16 minutes over the usual hour timeframe. It’s also exactly 10 minutes longer than the season premiere.
So what could be happening in ‘The Well’ to make it run long? We actually don’t know much about the rest of the season beyond the premiere. Along with the rumored title earlier this week, a synopsis for ‘The Well’ was also released. It’s incredibly vague but, at this point, it’s all we have to go on:
For a number of familiar faces, a new, well-established community seems too good to be true.
What Does it Mean?
A “number of familiar faces”? Could this be in reference to Carol and Morgan? It seems like a weird way to refer to only two people, but if you’re trying to be vague, it works. And it still wouldn’t be inaccurate. Last time we saw Morgan and Carol, they were headed to The Kingdom. Fans of the comic book should be intimately familiar with this community. They’re led by the eccentric Ezekiel and his pet tiger (yes, an actual tiger), Shiva.
We’ve seen in the previews for Season 7 that Ezekiel and Shiva will be making an appearance. But the vague description for ‘The Well’ could also refer to The Sanctuary. Negan and his massive army of Saviors call the Sanctuary home. And while it does seem like a “well-established community” at first glance, it is likewise “too good to be true.”
So who knows exactly what will happen in the season’s second episode. It’s likely we’ll see both The Kingdom and The Sanctuary eventually, not to mention more of The Hilltop and Alexandria.
