Can "The Walking Dead" come back to life? That's the question that looms as Season 7 resumes on Feb. 12. After a first half of the season that gave us the most brutal, tedious and misguided episodes in the show's history, even Chris Hardwick may find it tough to get excited about the series return.
 
While ratings for AMC's cash cow were still robust for the first half of "The Walking Dead" Season 7, they were down from the previous years. No doubt, many viewers were repulsed by the sadistic, cynical season opener, in which we finally found out which characters were at the wrong end of Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) baseball bat.
 
The season-opener practically drooled over Negan's torture of Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group, and the blood-soaked gore of Negan killing Abraham and Glenn.
 
And the rest of the first half of Season 7 was just as off-putting, with Rick subjecting himself to Negan's one-note, tiresome tormenting.
 
Even in less-than-great seasons, "The Walking Dead" has delivered a handful of terrific episodes. But up to this point,  Season 7 has been pretty much a wasteland.
 
So what needs to happen to reassure fans that "The Walking Dead" won't turn into zombie TV? Here are a few thoughts:
 

1. Let Rick Be Rick: Even when he's resented being a leader, or tried to get away from the burdens of being responsible for his group (remember his foray into farming back at the prison?) Rick is who we want to see at the center of the action. We don't want to watch him bowing down, metaphorically and literally, to a tinpot dictator like Negan. Enough of the scenes of Rick looking like he's about to burst into frustrated tears while he tries to do what Negan wants. The midseason finale back in December finally let Rick get his groove back. Keep it up.
 
2. Get Negan to quiet down: There was all sorts of build-up about the Negan character, and readers of Robert Kirkman's "Walking Dead" comics couldn't stop geeking out over finally seeing the leather jacket-sporting villain on the show. Problem was, Negan was simply a bully with a bat. He wasn't charismatic. He wasn't scary. He was repetitious, and the writers' inability to craft a compelling character left Morgan overacting so much you could practically see the flop sweat on his forehead. On the few occasions when Negan dialed down the volume and did something other than describe the mayhem he was going to inflict on everyone, Morgan wasn't bad.

3. Carol, Carol, Carol: It was a much-delayed relief to see core members of Rick's group finally reunited in December's midseason finale. But it bears repeating: Carol has become the show's most layered, complex character, and Melissa McBride's performance has deepened every season. Don't keep her off in that cabin, doing her loner thing, any longer. Get her back in the main story.

4. Stop wasting time with ancillary characters: Who cares about Dwight, or other members of the Saviors? There are already so many core cast members, it feels like nobody's getting enough to do. And the show's at its best when we see how the characters relate, so no more episodes built around just one character who's gone off on some sort of walkabout, OK?

5. Decide once and for all what this is: Is "The Walking Dead" a TV show, or simply an exercise in fan service for readers  of Kirkman's comics? As time has gone on, it feels like "The Walking Dead" has shifted away from being a TV series that stands on its own. Now it seems to be a show that exists primarily to satisfy fans of the comics. And that's not an improvement.
 
"The Walking Dead" returns for its midseason premiere at 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12  on AMC.
 
-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com
503-221-8227
@Kristiturnquist

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