So what happened? Carol was undercut by a sudden and strange story arc where she fell in love with a neighbor, and became worried that her newfound attachment would render her ineffectively weak. And the she met Morgan, the stick-wielding passerby from the series pilot who’d disappeared into the depths of nihilism and come out with a newfound respect for human life – a trait which automatically marked him as a dangerous, disposable liability in her eyes. While expertly imitating (and subtly mocking) the meek wife and mother she used to be, she was covertly Rick’s most ruthless operative, quietly eliminating obstacles. The coolest characters don’t stay cool for long.ĭuring TWD‘s heyday a few years back, Carol was easily the most intriguing survivor to follow from week to week. Frankly, it’s getting harder and harder to understand why anyone follows Rick – including the show’s writers. Even in this year’s finale, his army was lured into a trap, and would’ve been wiped out if their old friend Eugene hadn’t secretly sabotaged the Saviors’ weapons. Even when Negan murdered Glenn, we didn’t get to see the death until the start of the following season, because – according to Gimple – that would’ve detracted from what really mattered: Rick’s arc.īut y’know, what if there aren’t many more depths to plumb with this guy? Rick’s not especially shrewd or thoughtful, and if this season has proven anything, it’s that a lot of his success is due to dumb luck. It’s holding the show back, not steadying it. Over the course of eight seasons, however, the cast of characters around him has expanded so much that this need to tie every element of the story to this character’s personal growth has become an anchor in the worst sense of the word. He was the hero in the first episode, and unless something radical happens, he’ll carry on through to the series finale. Look, The Walking Dead‘s always going to be “the Rick Grimes Story,” first and foremost. The writers – like their characters – have too much faith in Rick. So why have the last two seasons been such a grim slog overall? So what the hell happened? On any given week, The Walking Dead is still capable of delivering episodes that are gripping, emotional and provocative. A once-deafening buzz is now more of a low, exasperated moan. The ratings have dropped steadily from a Season Five peak of around 15 million per episode. Several high-profile TV columnists have quit writing about TWD altogether. All that has changed, ever since the grueling, depressing Season Seven premiere – you know, the one where Negan bludgeoned the beloved characters Abraham and Glenn to death. For its first six seasons, The Walking Dead grew its viewership from year to year while critics griped about the pacing or questioned some iffy story-points, they generally regarded the show as a must-see. In fact, even as show-runner Scott Gimple steps aside for his successor Angela Kang, the producers are still talking in terms of five-year plans, not endgames.ħ0 Greatest Music Documentaries of All Timeįlashback: Tina Turner Covers Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson on Debut Solo Albumīut let’s be frank: The series is clearly in decline. There have been no rumors of cancellation. As a business, The Walking Dead‘s doing just fine, thanks. In this day and age, those are hit numbers – especially on basic cable, where dramas like The Americans can run for years and rarely top a million viewers per episode. (Whether his “desserts” are “just,” of course, is a matter of opinion.) will have seen the man with the bat get his just desserts. And if the ratings hold steady with the show’s recent average, by the time repeats and DVRs are factored in, around 10 million people in the U.S. It was a rare moment of triumph, in the middle of an epic saga that’s usually about human beings murdering each other while they’re running away from zombies. Last night, the eighth season of AMC’s The Walking Dead wrapped up its year-long “All Out War” storyline with a finale where our longstanding hero Rick Grimes led his people to victory over Negan & Co.
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