THE WALKING DEAD...and all things zombie

PearlJamaholic wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

PearlJamaholic wrote:

I don't think the writers understanding pacing. If you watch 3-4 episodes in a row its not so bad but when you watch one episode every 7 days its seems like nothing happened. Dexter did this a lot too as the seasons went on. Breaking Bad was pretty great at delivering the goods while maintaining a long term story arc. With Walking Dead then need to trim the fat on some stuff, and get to the point.

I just think a lot of people don't understand this show. it can't be constant drama/killing/fighting. that would get boring and stupid. there has to be some character development somewhere. and the non-drama parts are the foreshadowing of the shit hitting the fan. it always hits it, you just don't know when.

Breaking Bad, even Dexter(when it was good) had less killing and action, then Walking Dead does. I'd even say Game of Thrones has less killing, and way more characters. With AGOT if you miss an episode you actually miss something. Walking Dead has had too many episodes where if you missed it one week you could watch the following week and not be out of the loop.

I agree. I watch and enjoy a lot of "slow burn" shows and the things that keep those going are characters and good plotting. I think the plotting on TWD is weak. For example, I loved the first half of season 3 but towards the last half it seemed like nothing was happening because nothing could happen until the season finale. Setup episodes are fine, but when every week is starting to feel like setup I think you have problems.

I'm all for character development, but the development isn't interesting.

They really aren't moving the story forward. The zombie apocalypse is like a elephant in the room....ok, we know they all have it, but why...what caused it.

Instead, we get sidetracked stories involving the Governor and a superbug in the prison.

Again, all fine and good...but it seems since Frank Darabont left, showrunners are grasping at what to do next.

What do I know though...the show continues to bring in record numbers...and in key demographics, it actually beats Sunday Night Football.

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PissBottleMan wrote:

I'm all for character development, but the development isn't interesting.

They really aren't moving the story forward. The zombie apocalypse is like a elephant in the room....ok, we know they all have it, but why...what caused it.

Instead, we get sidetracked stories involving the Governor and a superbug in the prison.

Again, all fine and good...but it seems since Frank Darabont left, showrunners are grasping at what to do next.

What do I know though...the show continues to bring in record numbers...and in key demographics, it actually beats Sunday Night Football.

PBM

I'm not sure this show is moving towards a solution or endgame as you hope it is. I think this show is, and always has been, about the fact that this is now life, this is how the world is now, and the show is dealing with life as it is now, post apocalypse. I don't think these are side stories at all. I think this IS the story. The on going story of survival. I think anyone looking for answers as to why they have it or a cure or how it all came to be will be sorely disappointed.

maybe you'll get those answers whenever the show finally ends, but I learned from Lost not to watch a show again waiting for answers. If I get them, bonus, but I'm just enjoying following the walking dead as they try to survive the ZA.

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

Lost

See, therein lies the difference, I enjoyed the ride with Lost. They always threw a twist and turn that kept me guessing and looking forward to next week. I don't get that from Walking Dead...haven't in a while. I'm invested as a viewer to see an eventual resolution, but the story has flattened out.

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PissBottleMan wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

Lost

See, therein lies the difference, I enjoyed the ride with Lost. They always threw a twist and turn that kept me guessing and looking forward to next week. I don't get that from Walking Dead...haven't in a while. I'm invested as a viewer to see an eventual resolution, but the story has flattened out.

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I, on the other hand, continued to watch Lost past season 2 because I kept hoping...and hoping....and hoping....that they'd answer some.....ANY...of the questions posed in the series. All it turned into was flashbacks of life before they became castaways. Even The Others turned out to be nothing. I was relieved when that show was done. It was horribly written and yes, they had an end date, but that's all they had. They had no story, and they openly admitted the writers didn't know what to do from week to week. It was a train wreck.

And then they started with the time travel bullshit. Ugh. Don't get me started.

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

I, on the other hand, continued to watch Lost past season 2 because I kept hoping...and hoping....and hoping....that they'd answer some.....ANY...of the questions posed in the series. All it turned into was flashbacks of life before they became castaways. Even The Others turned out to be nothing. I was relieved when that show was done. It was horribly written and yes, they had an end date, but that's all they had. They had no story, and they openly admitted the writers didn't know what to do from week to week. It was a train wreck.

And then they started with the time travel bullshit. Ugh. Don't get me started.

You didn't really know (officially) how it would end until the last few episodes...it was a nice ride...especially with all the back-stories. Actually, I think WD would be well-served with some back-stories at this point. We know a little bit about the characters, but most of it is from the post-apocalyptic world.

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PissBottleMan wrote:

You didn't really know (officially) how it would end until the last few episodes...it was a nice ride...especially with all the back-stories. Actually, I think WD would be well-served with some back-stories at this point. We know a little bit about the characters, but most of it is from the post-apocalyptic world.

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backstories via flashback could work very well. especially during the very very early days of the breakout. i still really want to know what is going on on a more global level. it would be a large bridge from now until that plot but i hope they get there and explore that one day.

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

PissBottleMan wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

Lost

See, therein lies the difference, I enjoyed the ride with Lost. They always threw a twist and turn that kept me guessing and looking forward to next week. I don't get that from Walking Dead...haven't in a while. I'm invested as a viewer to see an eventual resolution, but the story has flattened out.

PBM

I, on the other hand, continued to watch Lost past season 2 because I kept hoping...and hoping....and hoping....that they'd answer some.....ANY...of the questions posed in the series. All it turned into was flashbacks of life before they became castaways. Even The Others turned out to be nothing. I was relieved when that show was done. It was horribly written and yes, they had an end date, but that's all they had. They had no story, and they openly admitted the writers didn't know what to do from week to week. It was a train wreck.

And then they started with the time travel bullshit. Ugh. Don't get me started.

I partially agree with you. I thought most of the flashbacks started getting boring and even repetitive during the second and third seasons. They did fix this by introducing the flash forwards though. I really enjoyed the ride though, but like you, I kept hoping everything would come together in the end, but many things didn't. I only really started to lose hope in the show during its last season even though it had many flaws throughout its run like you mention above. I thought the last season was pretty bad. Still though, I know they had more episodes to work with per season but look at how far that show had progressed by its 4th season compared to TWD. In many ways, TWD is almost the same show as in season 2. They are hiding in a place, there is someone that wants to take matters into their own hands that ends up leaving the cast, they go on runs for supplies and get attacked by zombies every couple of episodes.

Better Dan wrote:

In many ways, TWD is almost the same show as in season 2. They are hiding in a place, there is someone that wants to take matters into their own hands that ends up leaving the cast, they go on runs for supplies and get attacked by zombies every couple of episodes.

If there is one thing in this show that I'm getting a bit tired of, it's the now-constant zombie attacks. I find that mindless violence to be a bit boring (I like it in small doses, but not the way it's being done right now). But I think they are doing that to facilitate them leaving the prison. it's no longer the safe haven it was.