Actually...there was a part that showed Negan being reasonable. It was very brief. When Arat brought over Olivia and pushed her over, Negan said "we don't do that unless they do something to deserve it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSQhRWXApF4

I also think you have to remember that not everyone's read the comic book, so not everyone will see the differences you're pointing out. I'm sure that over time, we will see more of that reasonable Negan you're describing and we saw a tiny part of that in the clip above.

Another point: right now, the writers are trying to establish how awful Negan and the Saviors are. They want viewers to hate them and if they start too early with showing Negan being reasonable...it may make viewers wonder: are we supposed to hate this guy or give this guy a chance? I'm not sure if that's what the writers have in mind, it's just a thought.

Finally, the comic and t.v. show will have its differences, and the characters have to be more in your face on the show. You have to see what the other characters are seeing from Negan. In front of Rick and the group--he's going to be a controlling prick and then some. Probably when he's with his Saviors at the Sanctuary, we'll see more of the reasonable Negan that shows itself every now and then.

Let's wait and see.

 

I'm honestly struggling with the same issues, Cow.

Actually getting some flak from friends who only watch the show, who know I'm a gigantic Negan fan, and they're horrified and don't understand how I could possibly like that tool. And... yeah, the show gives me absolutely nothing to back that up. I just kinda sigh and point at my comics and give a frowny face.

 

They knew coming in that these were going to be tough shoes to fill for comic readers. I had the most pushback in the Daryl centered episode. Really didn't like the portrayal of Negan then. This last episode pulled me back a little to the positive side of the fence. I'm trying to keep my mind open to it.

I did enjoy the last episode though. The probably went a little too far by taking the mattresses and burning them. The guns were a big enough blow. But it wasn't a deal breaker or anything for me.

 

Give it time. Negan has only been on the show for five episodes...not even half a full season. They may want to build him up as this really awful guy now so that when he shows his other side, it comes as a pleasant surprise that there is more to him than meets the eye.

 

I still don't like the cliffhanger.

 

I was coming here to post something similar but not really. Lol

I rewatched the episode last night, and I was remembering a thread somewhere on here about how Rick is not that different than Negan....and if we would have followed this story from Negan's POV from the beginning we might be a lot more sympathetic toward Negan and his tactics.

NNNNNNNNNOPE.

Don't agree. Because the BIG difference between what Negan is doing and what Rick has done in the past is...........Rick didn't look like he was having a BALL while he was doing any of it. Negan clearly enjoys the HELL out of all the psychological and physical abuse. He is having the time of his life as a bad guy. He is doing it purely for his own narcissistic enjoyment and not at all to "keep his family safe".

So yeah, they might both go to great lengths to survive.....but it's not the same at ALL.



Disclaimer....I REALLY love Negan as a villain. Whether I agree with him or not. lol

 

Agreed. I think this is what we're gonna see in the next episodes if they follow one particular story from the comic involving Carl.

 

Have to agree [MENTION=3634]PepperAnn[/MENTION]. When Negan was bashing Glenn's head in, the very last few hits you can see he was getting off on it. He's a monster for sure. Rick is a survivalist.

 

In all fairness JD Morgan did say up front his Negan was not going to be the comic book Negan.

 

To some extent I agree with you, but I actually prefer how Negan is portrayed in the show. In the comics, there are times where, at least for me, it feels that Negan is actually kind of the good guy, and I feel bad for cheering for Rick... until Negan does something evil again. In the show, however, so far there's no question. Negan is the bad guy plain and simple. Sure, I still like Show Negan in the Joker kind of way, but I still want Rick to win just like I want Batman to win against the Joker.

Anyway, Comic Negan and Show Negan are pretty much exactly the same except he's a lot more sinister in the show. In the comics, you can tell at times that there's a lot of evil beneath his brash and crude exterior, but in the show he's not afraid to hide it.

 

See, that's one of my favorite parts about Comic Negan, though - the ambiguity. The wondering if you should or shouldn't be rooting for him at some points.

Not having that makes Show Negan seem more like a one-dimensional mustache-twirling bad guy. :/

 

I don't read the comics but I do like the drawings very much.

Give me a villainous villain any day. TWD has not managed to create one yet.
Just don't give me the ridiculous panto villain that Negan is becoming. The Rosita suspense "thing" was the start last epi. And Negan did not improve much for me from there.

Lucille even is losing her power to terrify. When he gave her to Rick ( Andy by the way schooled JDM's butt in tension and acting this epi) I could totally see Rick bashing his head. Rick has torn a man's throat with his teeth and turned Gareth into mush with an axe. So iconic Lucille in Rick's hand just looked like another weapon for Grimes. Nothing mythical here. Come on Rick, find a bat and wrap some barbed wire around it.

I wait and hope. Negan is supposed to really scare me. Not make me sigh: what a boring jerk.

 

One thing that IS getting old for me is the sinister growly HAAA HAAA HAAAAAAA laugh he does every other sentence.

 

Negan is a villain/evil and we have to hear that laugh everytime. It's a reminder

 

It's a reminder that's making my ears bleed.

 

't

Can't speak for comic Negan, but TV Negan in this last episode was just boring, as well as unreasonable. Same speech, same body language every flaming 5 minutes between commercials. JDM is a better actor than that, so I blame it on the writers. But-- if that's all this character has to offer on TV -- I really hope the show kills him before the audience gets bored to death with his egotistical displays of his megalomanical power over everyone. Personally, I think if they should use Deanna's video camera to surreptitiously record Negan next time he comes -- and when they finally get their shot at him, stake him out like the Indians did the cowboys in an old Westerns and make him watch his videos until he melts in the sun. (Oops - that is kind of sounding like sadistic torture , so I take it back. But he and his men deserve a lot worse)

 

I'll have to watch again, but I'm not 100% sure Negan saw the exchange with Davy, Enid, and the balloons. Either way, I agree they did miss an opportunity there. They should have shown Negan punishing Davy for his creepiness towards a young girl.

Although to be fair, they have shown Negan being reasonable and having compassion a couple of times, briefly. He at first chastised Arat for her treatment of Olivia, and in The Cell he told Dwight that he could only take one of his women if the woman willingly agreed to it.

I think that they want us to have a first impression of Negan as being a totally menacing invincible tyrant initially, and they will start to spring his capacity for compassion on us as the season goes on. Making people absolutely hate him at first, only to later struggle with their opinion of him.

I think a good opportunity for them to show this will be when

 

Get Father Gabe to follow him around with the camera. Say he is making a "church video" for ASZ parish. He seemed spooked by Gabe.
Surprised if Negan doesn't take the vid cam. Would sure beat Polaroid when he wants to revel in his Lucille backcatalogue.

 

Yeah, I don't think he saw/overheard it either or he would have shut that shit down.