I like the fact that WD is willing to kill off their main characters at any second. It creates an element of tension that virtually no other show has. In other shows when one of the main characters gets in a tight situation you are thinking “How will he/she get out of this” rather than “WILL they get out of this”. That takes the suspense to a whole different level. At this point I think the only “untouchables” are Rick, Darrell and Carol. Maybe Carl (”Corl”) also.
I thought about the level of violence and IMHO I think it was done for a specific purpose. The whole Alexandria thing got viewers away from horrid violence and more “domesticated”. By that, I mean it was about acorn flour cookies, pretty houses and couples (Rick and Michonne/ Glenn and Maggie). As a viewer, I saw that they could have a “somewhat” regular community. I think this episode slammed all of that in dust (no pun). Rick’s vision (after Neegan’s laughing at everyone at Sunday dinner) sort of showed me that Rick was hoping for normalcy. Well... that’s all gone. The zombies are always there.. it’s the savage humans that make this horrible.