(CNN) — AMC killed it for some fans of “The Walking Dead.”
The network posted a #RIP photo on social media after the East Coast airing of the series’ midseason finale, revealing the death of a main character. Fans who had yet to watch the show were incensed.
On Monday, AMC posted an apology to viewers on the show’s official Facebook page.
“We heard your feedback to last night’s post, and we’re sorry,” the post read. “With zero negative intent, we jumped the gun and put up a spoiler. Please know we’re going to work to ensure that, in the future, possible spoilers by official AMC social feeds are killed before they can infect, certainly before the West Coast (U.S.) broadcast of The Walking Dead. As always, thank you for watching, and keep the comments coming. We appreciate all of your support. #RIPSpoiler”
The apology was met with comments ranging from “No need to apologize” to “You know…you could make up for it with a new sneak peek from February…..”
The spoiler didn’t hurt the ratings, however: 14.8 million viewers, a 23% increase from last season. According to Forbes, “The Walking Dead” took over social media during Sunday’s episode, with a 238% increase in mentions over the prior week.
“The RIP hashtag specific to the episode was used by nine percent of people engaging on social media (Sunday) night, and three percent admitted that they cried because a character on the show cried,” Forbes reported. ” ‘The Walking Dead’ has officially made the zombie genre emotional.”
The series returns on February 8.
