The Walking Dead (AMC) TV Show • Page 94

oh ok guys

 

Have you watched Fargo?

 

Gimme a chocolate glaze.

 

All of the talk about TWD's quality/pacing, in my mind, is summed up and fixed by the way one watches the show. Past the first season, I've enjoyed the seasons I've binged much more than the seasons I've watched on release. I know people that loved season two and I thought it was mostly a slog (they binged, I watched on release), just as my family hated season 5 or 6 and I very much enjoyed it for the most part (binged, they watched on release). The current season has been frustrating me because there are so few characters in the spotlight that I give a damn about. The screentime is wasted on mid-tier characters to force you into caring about their death and it's done now in a way that feels so heavy-handed that it's past predictable.

I still watch the show and (especially when I hold off on three or four episodes at a time) I still mostly enjoy the show. I care about Rick, Michonne, Daryl, the "old gang," and some of the newer "crew" have won me over, I guess, it's really just the spacing of episodes and the way they're handled. I feel like the showrunner thinks putting episodes between cliffhangers is a good module for suspense? But it's not, especially when everything in-between feels like filler. Take Game of Thrones for example - they cover so many characters, characters they're rarely afraid to kill off, but the way they're handled means you aren't often sitting through an entire episode dedicated to someone whose plot bores you (it's a few minutes here, maybe half an episode there, etc). The Walking Dead, on the other hand, gives entire episodes between larger events to characters that, while their experiences may be relevant, could have been better tackled in the confines of those little "footnote cutaways--" a few scenes dedicated to the development without taking away from the action.

All of this, also (in my opinion), makes the show feel chronologically...bonkers, for lack of better words. Even keeping up with it weekly, my wife and I find ourselves tilting our heads wondering where we are in the span of days we saw in previous episodes -- we have to catch ourselves up mentally to get a grip on what's happening in the rest of TWD-world and when it happened in comparison to what we're watching. I'm all for artfully playing with chronology (Legion has done that pretty well, at least in what I've seen), but this is just poorly done and purposeless, and again, could all be saved by better editing and pacing.

That rant ended up a lot longer than I wanted it to, but my point is that I don't think it's a bad show, but it needs to do something shocking. Not gore shocking, not death shocking, but even one of those things in a way that is unexpected would really change it up. I was sitting there thinking in the Sasha/Rosita warehouse scene "you know, if they just kill Negan right here, nothing could possibly surprise me more." But again, they just DragonBall Z the whole thing and find reasons to push off the death of their current invincible bad guy. Not to say that it would have been the right narrative call to zap him right then and there, I just mean something in that vein -- a death or occurrence that is presented in a totally out of left field way, something that really throws off the "slow burn" of the rest of the series and catalyzes everything to finally move.

 

Yeah, I said above that it was fantastic and glad people mentioned it. I just don't know what else to say lol, not only does this show have great acting and dialog but I'd be saying it to people who still watch a show they bash so much, so that's all the effort I have to give.

 

LOL at your DBZ reference. I think for me, having a scene where Eugene actually turns on one of Ricks crew, maybe even kills them would be pretty shocking. I still don't think they will go through with it and make him go back.

 

If you can't see a difference in the quality of both writing in acting between Fargo and this season of TWD, then you're right, this conversation is pointless.

 

lol yeah because Fargo doesn't have too many of the quiet characters who just stand around being awkward and making dumb decisions.....or random unexplained UROs that save the day.

 

Yep. I think keeping Eugene with the Saviors would be a pretty good move, plotwise. Break the norm, etc. I'd like to see him kill someone in Rick's crew and see someone like Rosita turn around and kill him. It would be impactful at the very least.

 

Absolutely! Since he's always wussed out in fights, I think it would be pretty crazy if when he finally killed someone it was someone on Rick's side.

 

Eugene switching sides would not be shocking whatsoever. The whole reason he's even in Rick's group was because he was lying to everyone saying he had the cure. Eugene is a coward. I don't think he cares who he's with, as long as he's protected. He most likely feels more protected and comfortable in The Saviors.

 

I dunno, they spent a lot of time last season bonding with people in Rick's crew. I agree about him being a coward, ect but I think they have set the stones for why he wouldn't. I also do not think the show will do that, he'll pull some hero act at the end showing he was faking or whatever. For that reason I think it'd be shocking for him to actually turn coat, because I don't buy that he will.

 

"Standing around being awkward and making dumb decisions..."? Solid critique.

EDIT: Look, I enjoy this show. However, the past couple seasons (and this one in particular) have been progressively and consistently getting worse. It's hard for me to care about any of the characters now. Also, the difference in quality between this season and the first season are glaring. I hope it gets better, but I haven't seen anything lately to tell me it will.

 

Yeah, I agree with this assessment. I don't think it would be shocking on a basis of Eugene's character, I think it would be shocking on a basis of the show's track record of doing anything less than the expected and I think the expected here would be the scenario of "redemption" or "haha I fooled you" on Eugene's part.

 

haha yeah that's how I would describe Kirsten Dunst's character as well as her husband, Lester and a lot of other characters. I think it just fits the show as well as what the TWD does. I do think this show is all about the high moments though. The first ep tops anything I've seen in most shows in terms of intensity and acting. I think the eps in-between are purposely the way they are, I guess they just don't click for some people.

 

People have been shitting on this show since season 1. Pretty surprised to now be seeing people saying the early seasons of this show were much better than it is now. Maybe people like the earlier seasons more because there's less episodes so it doesn't feel like it dragged as much? It still had pacing issues and dumb writing though.

 

I don't think any one season is phenomenal. I think that the change in showrunners and different directors is super obvious, because halves of seasons are sometimes excellent and then the others not so much. Biggest issue overall is the inconsistency for me. The aesthetic and (most) of the actors are all pretty spot on.

 

Speaking of mid level characters, not sure if it was posted here or not but we haven't seen or heard from heath since he disappeared.

 

It was an okay episode. So did no one from Oceanside come back to join the fight? Seemed like a bunch wanted to.

 

Great episode; the final fight with Negan is about to begin

 

So long, "Rapey Davey"

 

One of them said "Some of us want to come, but for that to happen we all have to". I think they will probably join them in right before the battle.

 

It makes no sense why some of them would want to leave but can't unless everyone leaves. Other than to use as a plot device I guess..

 

Bingo

 

It doesn't even seem like we'll get the beginning of All Out War this season