After the season six finale ended with a massive cliffhanger, the Sunday night premiere of The Walking Dead’s seventh season greeted viewers with a literal smash. Two of the shows central characters were beaten to death with a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat, given the name Lucille by its wielder. One of the victims had been part of the show since the first season.

It goes without saying that fans were left with severe emotional damage following the shocking reveal. One viewer, @miilkkk, took to Twitter saying, “My ex of 3 years cheated on me with my best friend and this episode has me deeper in my feels #TheWalkingDead.” Others called for the following Monday to be declared a national holiday to allow a day of emotional recovery.

Seventeen million viewers in total were reported to have tuned in to AMC for The Walking Dead on Sunday, nearly matching the show’s all-time high of 17.3 million viewers. Not everyone was satisfied with the unpleasant surprise, however, and many think it was an unnecessary stunt to kill off such a central character. Some claim producers seem to be “more concerned with continually shocking their audience than keeping faith with them.”

Despite some discontent, there is little doubt that The Walking Dead’s massive success ends here. Season seven will continue each Sunday at 9 p.m. and the show is already confirmed for its eighth season next year.