Mid-Season Premiere just aired here In the UK.
I'm actually pretty happy and excited with it. I haven't read the comics so I don't know what's going to happen and I don't read spoilers so perhaps I enjoy it more because of that?
I enjoy the dialog between Negan and Judith.. how good an actor is the girl who plays Judith by the way! It's fun to see a character like Negan, brutal yet likeable and hateable at the same time is completely controlled and made a fool of by a little girl. I'm excited to see how Negan's character develops over the rest of the season, I don't know if he's going to attempt to work his way to become part of the community in Alexandria or if he's going to deceive everyone and do something shocking later down the line. I'm not sure what I'd prefer to see either!
I enjoyed watching Negan on his short adventure in the open world, it reminded me of early Walking Dead days, looking for the clothes, the food and having literally nothing but the clothes on his back and the pipe. I wasn't expecting his trip to end with Judith shooting at him out in the open road, but I quite liked that and their conversation that followed.
As for the Whisperers, they excite me a lot because it feels different to the typical group vs. group conflict we've seen previously. Every time I see a walker on screen I'm questioning whether or not its a genuine walker or a Whisperer.. it gives suspense and when you see characters dealing with walkers who aren't aware of the Whisperers, I find that exciting too. Daryl playing badass to get information from the Whisperer they captured (Lydia?) was fun to see and then when they showed the scene where Alpha was introduced and we see the extend of how large a group the Whisperers are.. yet Daryl and the rest believe they're a small group at this point. How will they fight them? Will the Whisperers slowly pick off members of Hill Top?
I'm excited to see how things go.