Some weird reactions out here, I don't get how people who are supposedly fans of the show (you lasted 6 seasons) can have such opposite views of this episode. That was brilliant TV, that was maybe the best episode this show has ever had. The acting was perfect. The tension the highest I have ever felt for a TV show. The shock value obviously through the roof. They set out to make an episode where you see Rick become broken and to break the audience to and they did just that. All the gore was necessary, it's your loved one not just dying, but dying in the most brutal horrific way, a way that stays with you.
I was one of the ones pissed at the season finale, I agree this was not the best way to do it. The impact was lost waiting for so long and part of the episode for the audience was just a wait to see who died rather than be invested in the scene. Still they did so damn well with this episode I forgive it.
As for the critique on the show, I don't get it. It's always been gory and violent, that's the world they live in. It's never had some overall story goal, these people are in purgatory, it is just seeing what you would do to survive. It's a show about putting people in terrible situations and seeing what would they do. Would you change, would you murder others, who will you become. And that is fascinating to me. It's been getting better and better the last few years.
I watch GoT, netflix shows, seen some of the all time greats and few shows made me feel the tension I felt last night. Are there down episodes, all shows have them. Do they do some frustrating shit with fake out deaths, yeah but as a GoT fan you can't say a damn thing cause the last two books have been filled with the same thing. The characters are great and well developed. The situations they get into are extremely compelling. And the quality across the board from acting, writing, directing, makeup and so on is top notch.
I don't get where the disconnect happens for people that watched all these seasons and now it's somehow bad or the last few years it's been bad when I feel it's been some of their strongest seasons. Maybe it's comic readers, I watch GoT very differently as I am a book reader so maybe that's it. I find myself as hooked as ever to this show.