The Walking Dead

Started by modage, July 22, 2010, 09:26:52 AM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Jeremy Blackman

Nah. I'm done.

And listen. I'm the person who was delighted beyond description when, in Game of Thrones, a protagonist's head was unexpectedly popped like a grape. So yes, shock and gore can be mindblowingly great. I also love being punished or trolled. Funny Games, Dancer in the Dark, give me whatever you've got. As long as you have something to say.

What we saw last night was not great. It was meaningless. And ultimately, this serves as a perfect flash point to fully expose the meaninglessness of the show.

Had these events been wrapped into last season's finale, and executed differently, it might have worked. But this... no. This was the worst episode of television I've seen in a while. It's seven minutes of content stretched so thin that you can see right through it. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's delivery is like someone is accidentally playing a podcast on half speed. Even the "horror" falls flat. The deaths themselves are mostly just tasteless and gross — in this cold and calculating way that immediately triggers resentment.

The show has done everything it has the capacity to do. I struggle to envision TWD offering anything more of value. This premiere — a slow parade of random misery that leaves you with nothing — felt like the series finale. It seems appropriate to treat it as such.

Jeremy Blackman

The Walking Dead used to be the most popular show on TV. It even beat Sunday night football. It has now apparently dethroned itself with a slow death march into pointless misery. I wonder if they're surprised that no one actually wants to watch that.

Ratings have dropped 40% (!) in just the first half of Season 7. This has also been the lowest-rated season with critics.

As The Verge says: "In the first half of season 7, the plot moved so slowly — and said so little in the process — that the show began shedding viewers by the millions."

Has anyone kept watching? Any thoughts?

diggler

I think the inherent meanness of the Negan storyline has turned some people off. No one wants to see the hero of their show neutered for an entire season. I also think the narrative possibilities have hit a bit of a wall. Group begins to rebuild a community>bad dudes come in to fuck things up>group beats bad guys>repeat. There's only so many times you can do that before viewers get fatigued.

The show has always been inconsistent but sporadically interesting enough to keep me watching. It takes itself too seriously to be pulpy and at the same time is too silly to be taken seriously. It should have never lasted this long but I have a feeling they're going to run it into the ground. Launching a terrible spinoff show didn't help matters.



I'm not racist, I'm just slutty