Walking Dead on AMC

Not shocking, ratings are in the shitter.

Hell… season 2 on the farm seems like a tv masterpiece compared to seasons 7 and 8.

Agreed, totally unsurprising. Fans are simply tired. Tired of the Negan nonsense. Tired of plotlines that make zero logical sense. Tired of characters that act out of character just to suit the needs of a plot twist. Tired of watching a show that should have been about survivors trying to overcome the challenges of the apocalypse turn into a show about how mercilessly the apocalypse can overcome the survivors. That’s not entertaining at all.

The shame of TWD is that it’s a great canvas on which to paint a myriad of very interesting stories about survival, hope, rebuilding, and yes, even setbacks and tragedy, but the producers and writers of the show have squandered it, instead turning it into a weekly self-absorbed mish-mash of “how gross can we get the FX” and “how depressing and depraved can we make things get for everyone?”. Surprise, no one wants to watch that.

Honestly, I gave up around the did-he-or-didn’t-he bit with Glenn back in season 6. That just blatantly seemed like the writers were phoning it in at that point, and it never really got any better.

As I’ve said before, I’d love a World War Z-style anthology series where we travel around the world and get to see how different cultures, religions, etc. relate to the ZA.

That last episode was full of so much nonsensical stuff…the writers outperformed their own idiocy.

Another opportunity to kill Negan squandered…Carl is dying anyway so why didn’t he just plug him during their “moment”?

So when Maggie’s group get “ambushed” (let’s not dwell on the fact that in a matter of hours Simon can know where & when they’re going to be & organise the whole thing), they look to actually outnumber the Saviours…but no one resists…they just hand over their weapons. Just like that.

THEN despite in the last episode we get told that Negan wants the widow, the king & Rick, Simon just lets Maggie go. Oh and no guards or anything either because reasons. I mean it’s not like they just rebelled and killed a buttload of Saviours or anything.

Please don’t make me mention the absurd Rick & the Weirdos plot line…the less said about that the better. Probably the most ill-conceived plot line of the 8 series to date.

The topper for me personally though is that having crashed the truck into the Saviours compound, the “heroes” (should be “zeroes”) apparently clocked off for the rest of the day and went home. That’s a good idea right? That’ll learn Rick for paying minimum wage with no laundry allowance. Arghhhh!!

This is just scratching the surface. I used to love this show. It’s shot to hell now. SAD!!

I felt compelled to watch tonight’s episode after hearing about its major event. And it was flat as hell, no emotional resonance for me at all.

Yeah, another episode that should have been a home run that was just heavy-handed, hammy and overwrought. And, again, it was directed by Greg Nicotero, their great FX guy who sadly has leveraged the incredible job he’s done in that role into making people think he can direct, when he lacks the requisite skills. He’s actually killing the show.

Ha ha, we’re still watching The Walking Dead!

-Tom

The Walking Dead became an actual zombie a few years ago but they haven’t decided to put a bullet in its brain yet. Or wait, maybe the rules of the show changed again & brain shots don’t work now - hard to keep track!

Nicotero, et al are still wandering around inside Hershel’s barn.

So, uh, where’s everyone else? Guys? Guys???

-Tom

Debating watching it, on the DVR even with skipping commercials and the ability to fast forward boring parts, I am struggling to find the will to watch it.

Totally skipped this season. # feelsgoodman

Wait… was that a new episode? I thought it was a re-run of the last end of season?

Right now, I’m watching Walking Dead, out of a perverse sense of obligation. The same way that if I’ve read 3/4 of book, I’ll finish the last quarter even if I know the ending and long since stop enjoying it.

Also, it is more fun that doing my taxes.

If I have to stare at Ricks face with his teary eyes and dopey look ever again, I am gonna lose it.

Also what is up with the freaking closeups this season. Lets just rub the cameras on the actors faces. The entire episode could have been summed up in 15 minutes and been better for it, then continue on pushing the story.

It has gotten so bad, I wish they would have all died back at Terminus. :(

I would stop watching this show if Darryl dies :( He;s my favorite character! Also 3 characters left from the Atlanta group and still no zombie cure!!

Every time they did the close up shot of grief-stricken Rick with those bloodshot bulging eyes I made Gollum noises and my wife laughed.

I think it is very telling that what would have been a penultimate episode where viewers said goodbye to one of the most iconic and certainly best-acted characters on the show turned out instead to be a flat and uninteresting mess of an episode thanks to poor direction and the general downward trajectory this series has taken over the past several seasons.

Even Gandalf-Rick, with the beard in the future, turned out not to be a fast-forward to actual future Rick and Company, but a fevered dream in Carl’s head where he envisioned the world as a better place. Inserting Negan into it at the end completely destroyed any impact the vision might have had, because it was such an obvious sight-gag surprise meant to shock viewers, and it had pretty much the opposite effect, making the entire sequence cringe-worthy and hollow.

It was interesting to see how the Saviors managed to escape Sanctuary, but again, the idea that in doing so they used nearly all their remaining ammunition was simply ignored by the show in the scenes that follow, as they seemed to have plenty of firepower at Alexandria and The Kingdom.

I’m basically still watching for the same reason as @Strollen, at this point I’ve invested so much time into TWD I feel like I have to see it through to move on. I cannot imagine it gets picked up for more than one more season after this, as the ratings have fallen off and once Negan and the Saviors are dealt with, they will struggle to write a villain or crisis that can compete.

It wasn’t a sight gag. Note it occurred after Carl’s death.

Not sure how you got that impression? They have lots of ammo. More than anyone else.

If it was Dwight’s comment in the tunnel, he was talking about explosives, as the Saviors were blowing up the houses in Alexandria.

It has already been picked up for a 9th season, but the ratings are starting to crater fast.