AMC's The Walking Dead

Supposedly, Tom Payne said in an interview that he was getting bored with his charter's arc on the show. Maybe this was a way to accommodate the actor's departure while also moving the story forward. Payne was on Talking Dead last night and said he thought it was a great end for Jesus. Seeing him taken out that way certainly helps demonstrate the threat of the Whisperers.

 

I hope others who were at first turned off by what seemed like walkers who talk at least gave it a shot. The Whisperers do introduce a new dynamic to the show. Henry seems to be taking on at least part of Carl's arc in the story. I'm curious to see how they handle the Whisperers without Rick.

That said, the show is still clearly in decline and far too much of the cast is jumping ship. Now there are reports that Danai Gurira is leaving. Honestly, I'm not sure how big a deal losing Maggie has been, but going forward without Rick and Michonne?

 

You mean the pregnant Rosita/Eugene/Siddiq love triangle isn't capturing your attention?! LOL

 

Trying but really don’t care anymore. Background noise. The Negan stuff was midly interesting.

 

Isn't it more of a quadrangle with Gabriel?

 

I liked the Negan arc in this episode more than anything else that was going on. I'm curious how they play the fact the saviors are gone and the whisperers have emerged. Negan is the antithesis of what Lydia said about walls being the danger. Is Negan going to rise up to lead the settlements in a grand battle or will his death be the marker of a new age (and season finale?)?

Basically, the show needs to end. The thing that captured my best attention can't carry things longer than a few episodes.

 

The Whisperers do make things a little more interesting. For those who know where the comic went, it's interesting how they have characters taking on different roles, especially with Rick and Carl gone.

 

I'm one of the biggest TWD apologists on here, but my God that episode was a whole lot of nothing.
Oh, we're going to have a MASH finale moment!!!! ... and we're not
Oh, there's a Mexican standoff with hostages TENSION!!!!Eleventy!!!! .... and they shrug and solve it
Kingdom is going after a projector bulb, this is going to be interest... wait a projector bulb? Really? The big oaf dropped it this is going to be amaz... no, what am I saying its a GD bulb.
Biggest revelation: YOU WENT INTO OUR TURF! WE'RE GOING TO THROW DOWN!!! TWD: Thug life version

 

The Walking Dead isn't about zombies. It is about what people do in a nightmarish situation. What difficult choices do they make? Do they lose part or all of their humanity? Do they just survive or do they reach for more.

The two main storylines seem to be exploring those questions through the contrasting of characters. Ezekiel chooses to reach for more than survival and inspires others to join him in that. It's what the entire side mission was all about.

Alpha chooses only survival and nothing more. Her people choose to surrender their humanity to walk with the dead.

Daryl and Henry, the replacement Carl, end up in conflict over the fate of Alpha's daughter, Lydia, who is clearly being abused by her mother. Daryl understands her situation, but he makes the hard choice. Henry continues to demonstrate that he can't make the tough choices. In the end, it is Lydia who makes the choice to go back even though she knows it won't go well for her. We see that with Alpha striking her almost immediately.

My point is, the episode wasn't about the standoff or the projector bulb. It was about the contrasting philosophies of Ezekiel and Alpha and the tough decisions faced by Daryl, Replacement Carl and Lydia. I'm not sure if that makes it better, but it's how I look at the show.

 

This show jumped the shark when they went to the Junction, which was like four years ago. Anyone who has continued to watch is just stubborn and throwing good money after bad.

 

How do you know about the quality of the show if you didn't throw good money after bad?

 

I get the show is human interaction in the wake of society's breakdown (with zombies). My point is the dramatic tension in this week's show was really underwhelming.